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Review
.2017 Jul 28:8:1407.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01407. eCollection 2017.

Glaciers and Ice Sheets As Analog Environments of Potentially Habitable Icy Worlds

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Review

Glaciers and Ice Sheets As Analog Environments of Potentially Habitable Icy Worlds

Eva Garcia-Lopez et al. Front Microbiol..

Abstract

Icy worlds in the solar system and beyond have attracted a remarkable attention as possible habitats for life. The current consideration about whether life exists beyond Earth is based on our knowledge of life in terrestrial cold environments. On Earth, glaciers and ice sheets have been considered uninhabited for a long time as they seemed too hostile to harbor life. However, these environments are unique biomes dominated by microbial communities which maintain active biochemical routes. Thanks to techniques such as microscopy and more recently DNA sequencing methods, a great biodiversity of prokaryote and eukaryote microorganisms have been discovered. These microorganisms are adapted to a harsh environment, in which the most extreme features are the lack of liquid water, extremely cold temperatures, high solar radiation and nutrient shortage. Here we compare the environmental characteristics of icy worlds, and the environmental characteristics of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets in order to address some interesting questions: (i) which are the characteristics of habitability known for the frozen worlds, and which could be compatible with life, (ii) what are the environmental characteristics of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets that can be life-limiting, (iii) What are the microbial communities of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms that can live in them, and (iv) taking into account these observations, could any of these planets or satellites meet the conditions of habitability? In this review, the icy worlds are considered from the point of view of astrobiological exploration. With the aim of determining whether icy worlds could be potentially habitable, they have been compared with the environmental features of glaciers and ice sheets on Earth. We also reviewed some field and laboratory investigations about microorganisms that live in analog environments of icy worlds, where they are not only viable but also metabolically active.

Keywords: analog environments; cold adaptation; extremophiles; glaciers; habitability; ice sheets; icy worlds; psychrophiles.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A schematic diagram of cold environments. Surface layers of(A) a terrestrial glacier and(B) an icy satellite such as Europa. (Adapted from Marion et al., 2003; Priscu and Hand, 2012; Garcia-Lopez and Cid, 2017).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Overview of the microorganisms in glaciers and ice sheets with their food requirements. (Adapted from Hodson et al., 2008; Anesio and Laybourn-Parry, 2012; Garcia-Lopez and Cid, 2017).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Stratification of nutrients and temperatures in cold habitats. Microbial metabolism in terrestrial glaciers (left) is driven by coupling surface oxidants with reductants associated with the subglacial rocks (Rankin et al., 1999; Hodson et al., 2008; Murray et al., 2012). The same mechanism could be possible in icy worlds (right), in which come of this nutrients have been detected (Cockell et al., 2016). Temperature on the surface of Europa is around -180°C, but the interior ocean can have a much warmer temperature that reaches -3°C (Spencer et al., 1999). At the coldest point of the Earth’s surface (Base Vostok, Antartica) temperatures can reach -90°C, but inside the Antarctic Lake Vostok the temperature is also around -3°C (Priscu and Hand, 2012).
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