When Catherine La Farge threads her way through the recently exposed terrain left behind by retreating glaciers, she looks at the ancient plant remains a lot closer than most. Now, […]
Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Dinoflagellate Fossils: Antarctic Icecap is 33.6 Million Years Old
The Antarctic continental ice cap came into existence during the Oligocene epoch, some 33.6 million years ago, according to data from an international expedition led by the Andalusian Institute of […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology
Blood Falls Becomes First Subglacial Antarctic Specially Protected Area to Protect Scientific Values
Blood Falls, one of the more bizarre features found anywhere in Antarctica, has fascinated scientists since it was first discovered a century ago by Griffith Taylor, the senior geologist on […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrobiology (general), Mars
Bacterium from Canadian High Arctic and life on Mars
The temperature in the permafrost on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic is nearly as cold as that of the surface of Mars. So the recent discovery by a […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Brinicles or sea stalactites provide clues to origin of life
Life on Earth may have originated not in warm tropical seas, but with weird tubes of ice — sometimes called “sea stalactites” — that grow downward into cold seawater near […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Conferences and Meetings
2013 Polar and Alpine Microbiology Conference
Registration and abstract submission deadline: June 1, 2013. The 5th International Conference on Polar and Alpine Microbiology (PAM5) will be held in Big Sky, Montana (USA) from 8-12 September 2013. […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Press Release
Earth’s Saltiest Pond: Implications for Water on Mars
Antarctica’s Don Juan Pond might be the unlikeliest body of water on Earth. Situated in the frigid McMurdo Dry Valleys, only the pond’s high salt content — by far the […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Fennoscandian Arctic Russia – Drilling Early Earth Project FAR-DEEP
Earth’s present-day environments are the outcome of a 4.5 billion year period of evolution reflecting the interaction of global-scale geological and biological processes punctuated by several extraordinary events and episodes […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Dale Andersen's Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen Status Report 2 December 2012, Lake Untersee, Antarctica
Keith’s note: Dale Andersen just phone in his latest status report from his base camp at Lake Untersee, Antarctica. Dale was able to make his first dive under the ice […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
NASA Researchers Discover Ancient Microbes in Antarctic Lake
In one of the most remote lakes of Antarctica, nearly 65 feet beneath the icy surface, scientists from NASA, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nev., the University of […]