Methanogenic activity and biomass in Holocene permafrost deposits of the Lena Delta, Siberian Arctic and its implication for the global methane budget

Permafrost environments within the Siberian Arctic are natural sources of the climate relevant trace gas methane. In order to improve our understanding of the present and future carbon dynamics in high latitudes, we studied the methane concentration, the quantity and quality of organic matter, and the activity and biomass of the methanogenic community in permafrost deposits. For these investigations a permafrost core of Holocene age was drilled in the Lena Delta (72°22′N, 126°28′E). The organic carbon of the permafrost sediments varied between 0.6% and 4.9% and was characterized by an increasing humification index with permafrost depth. A high CH4 concentration was found in the upper 4 m of the deposits, which correlates well with the methanogenic activity and archaeal biomass (expressed as PLEL concentration). Even the incubation of core material at −3 and −6°C with and without substrates showed a significant CH4 production (range: 0.04–0.78 nmol CH4 h−1 g−1). The results indicated that the methane in Holocene permafrost deposits of the Lena Delta originated from modern methanogenesis by cold-adapted methanogenic archaea. Microbial generated methane in permafrost sediments is so far an underestimated factor for the future climate development

Survival of Methanogenic Archaea from Siberian Permafrost under Simulated Martian Thermal Conditions

Since ESA mission Mars Express determined water on Mars, a fundamental requirement for life, as well as the presence of CH4 in the Martian atmosphere, which could only have originated from active volcanism or from biological sources, it is obviously that microbial life could still exist on Mars, for example in the form of subsurface lithoautotrophic ecosystems, which are also exist in permafrost regions on Earth. Present work deals with the resistance investigation of methanogenic archaea from Siberian permafrost complementary to the already well-studied methanogens from non-permafrost habitats under simulated Martian conditions. The methanogenic archaea in pure cultures as well as in permafrost samples represent higher survival potential (up to 90 percent) than the referent organisms (0.3-5.8 percent) after 22 days of exposure to thermo-physical Martian conditions at low- and mid-latitudes. It is suggested that methanogens from terrestrial permafrost seem to be more resistant against Martian conditions and could be used as a prime candidates for the search for extraterrestrial life

Microbial communities and processes in Arctic permafrost environments

In polar regions, huge layers of frozen ground, termed permafrost, are formed. Permafrost covers more than 25 % of the land surface and significant parts of the coastal sea shelfs. Its habitats are controlled by extreme climate and terrain conditions. Particularly, the seasonal freezing and thawing in the upper active layer of permafrost leads to distinct gradients in temperature and geochemistry. Microorganisms in permafrost environments have to survive extremely cold temperatures, freeze-thaw cycles, desiccation and starvation under long-lasting background radiation over geological time scales. Although the biology of permafrost microorganisms remains relatively unexplored, recent findings show that microbial communities in this extreme environment are composed by members of all three domains of life (Archaea, Bacteria, Eukarya), with a total biomass comparable to temperate soil ecosystems. This chapter describes the environmental conditions of permafrost and reviews recent studies on microbial processes and diversity in permafrost-affected soils as well as the role and significance of microbial communities with respect to global biogeochemical cycles