Call for Abstracts
American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2004 Fall Meeting
"Biology and Biogeochemistry of Icy Ecosystems"
Abstract Submission Deadline: Thursday, 9 September 2004
For further information and electronic abstract submission, please go to:
http://www.agu.org
You can now submit your abstracts for session B 27: "Biology and
Biogeochemistry of Icy Ecosystems."
SESSION INFORMATION
Icy environments, such as glacier surfaces, interiors and beds, and
subglacial lakes were, until recently, thought to be largely devoid of
life. Current research has now shown that microbes are present in these
icy environments and are capable of biogeochemical transformations that
influence mass balances of labile ions, as well as stable isotope
signatures. As such, an understanding of microbial biogeochemistry in
icy systems will help verify paleoclimate signals found in ice cores and
expand our knowledge of life in extreme environments. These systems form
perhaps the closest Earthly analogues to geobiological conditions that
exist on Mars and other icy worlds. This session will focus on the life
forms that inhabit icy ecosystems, their genetic and physiological
traits, the energy and nutrients sources they are capable of tapping,
and their role in global carbon budgets.
This session aims to bring together microbiologists, biogeochemists,
glaciologists, and astrobiologists in an imaginative, interdisciplinary,
and vibrant area of science. We invite papers with a field, lab and
theoretical backdrop, to exhibit the spectrum of approaches used in this
field.
Abstract Submission Deadline: Thursday, 9 September 2004
For further information, please contact:
Martyn Tranter
E-mail: m.tranter [at] bristol.ac.uk
or contact:
John Priscu
E-mail: jpriscu [at] montana.edu