User:Dpshah25/New sandbox

= Group Sandbox for Biogeochemical Class - editing Subglacial lakes page =

Background (everyone)
Definition


 * 1) Subglacial lakes are bodies of water that form underneath polar ice sheets.

Why are they important?


 * 1) They help us better understand the dynamic relationships between water, ice and earth in subglacial biome; they also are record keepers for climate change.

Summary/explanation of following sections

Characteristics (Deepa)

 * 1) Where they form
 * 2) How they form
 * 3) Combination of geothermal activity and thermal insulation due to gravitational pressure.
 * 4) Bathymetry
 * 5) Hydrologic connectivity between lakes, recharge + discharge cycles
 * 6) How are they observed/studied
 * 7) With the use of NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite laser altimeter, the European Space Agency’s radar altimeter, and WISSARD’s in-situ GPS station, to better understand the flow of water through the lake network system.
 * 8) SALSA Project (Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access)
 * 9) Geophysical techniques (ii)

History and Expeditions (Layla)

 * Discovery of subglacial lakes
 * Major research expeditions
 * Controversy, drill fluid contamination

Distributions of Subglacial Lakes (Alyson)

 * Antarctica (link to existing pages for Vostok & Ellsworth)
 * Since the discovery of subglacial lakes by the Soviet Antarctic Expedition between 1959 and 1964, 387 subglacial lakes have been found in Antarctica through the use of aerial surveys and various remote sensing technologies.
 * Greenland
 * Elsewhere (Canada [paleo?], Iceland, etc.)
 * Extraterrestrial

Biogeochemical Cycles (Michelle)
Nutrients (C, PO4, NO3)

Biology of Subglacial Lakes (Tasha)

 * Cool microbes
 * Evolutionary implications of fossil water (see: SALSA expedition tardigrades)
 * Astrobiological implications of subglacial lake extremophiles