WASHINGTON — Hidden in the bone-chilling dark beneath an Antarctic glacier, a colony of strange bacteria is thriving.
Scientists investigating the flow of blood-red water from beneath the glacier discovered the bacteria, which have survived for millions of years, they report today in the journal Science.
“Among the big questions here are: ‘How does an ecosystem function below glaciers?’, ‘How are they able to persist below hundreds of meters of ice and live in permanently cold and dark conditions for extended periods of time, in the case of Blood Falls, over millions of years?’ ” said researcher Jill Mikucki of Harvard University.
Blood Falls, flowing from beneath Taylor Glacier, has long evoked curiosity because of its color. In the process of their research, the scientists discovered the bacteria in the water of an extremely salty pool.
John Priscu of Montana State University said that because the ecosystem has been isolated for so long in extreme conditions, it could help explain how life might exist on other planets or under ice.
