{"id":105360,"date":"2025-02-23T02:58:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T01:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=105360"},"modified":"2025-02-24T10:22:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T09:22:52","slug":"resilient-algae-may-speed-up-greenland-ice-melt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/science\/resilient-algae-may-speed-up-greenland-ice-melt\/","title":{"rendered":"Re\u00adsi\u00adli\u00adent al\u00adgae may speed up Green\u00adland ice melt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The tiny ice in\u00adhab\u00adit\u00adants darken the gla\u00adcier sur\u00adface and can thus ac\u00adcel\u00ader\u00adate its melt\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiny algae darken the surface of glaciers and thus accelerate their melting. This is the case, for example, on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which plays an important role in our climate and is already melting increasingly fast due to global warming. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and the University of Aarhus, Denmark, now shows that the ice algae grow extremely efficiently, despite the fact that there are hardly any nutrients available to them on the ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gla\u00adciers are huge white ice masses that can re\u00adflect a lot of sun\u00adlight. However, es\u00adpe\u00adcially where the gla\u00adciers are not covered in snow and the bare ice is ex\u00adposed, they some\u00adtimes have dark patches. These are mi\u00adcro\u00adscopic al\u00adgae that grow on the ice and darken its sur\u00adface. As a res\u00adult of this dark\u00aden\u00ading, the tiny in\u00adhab\u00adit\u00adants cause the ice to warm up and melt faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mys\u00adter\u00adi\u00adous al\u00adgae growth<\/h4>\n\n\n
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Their dark coloring is clearly visible under the microscope (right, image from the publication in Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038\/s41467-025-56664-6)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Little is known about where the small al\u00adgae get the ne\u00adces\u00adsary nu\u00adtri\u00adents to sur\u00advive in this hos\u00adtile en\u00advir\u00adon\u00adment. A re\u00adsearch team around Laura Hal\u00adbach, Kath\u00adar\u00adina Kitzinger and Al\u00adex\u00adan\u00addre An\u00adesio from the Max Planck In\u00adsti\u00adtute for Mar\u00adine Mi\u00adcro\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adlogy in Bre\u00admen, Ger\u00admany, and the Dan\u00adish Uni\u00adversity of Aar\u00adhus in\u00advest\u00adig\u00adated this ques\u00adtion on the Green\u00adland Ice Sheet. They dis\u00adcovered that the al\u00adgae on the gla\u00adcier ice are true cham\u00adpi\u00adons of nu\u00adtri\u00adent up\u00adtake. \u201cI wanted to un\u00adder\u00adstand how such algal blooms can de\u00advelop in Green\u00adland,\u201d ex\u00adplains lead au\u00adthor Laura Hal\u00adbach from the Max Planck In\u00adsti\u00adtute for Mar\u00adine Mi\u00adcro\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adlogy. Us\u00ading new meth\u00adods, Hal\u00adbach was the first re\u00adsearcher ever to meas\u00adure how the al\u00adgae ab\u00adsorb and store nu\u00adtri\u00adents. \u201cThe al\u00adgae can grow and col\u00adon\u00adize the ice des\u00adpite the scarcity of nu\u00adtri\u00adents,\u201d says Hal\u00adbach. \u201cOn the west coast of Green\u00adland, around a tenth of the ice melt is already caused by these mi\u00adcro\u00adscopic in\u00adhab\u00adit\u00adants. In some cases, they darken the gla\u00adcier sur\u00adface so much that is even vis\u00adible on satel\u00adlite im\u00adages. In view of the fact that the cli\u00admate is get\u00adting warmer and ever more snow-free areas and thus more po\u00adten\u00adtial hab\u00aditat for the al\u00adgae ap\u00adpears on the Green\u00adland Ice Sheet, the al\u00adgae\u2019s abil\u00adity to ef\u00adfi\u00adciently ab\u00adsorb and store nu\u00adtri\u00adents is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlarly sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00adant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ef\u00adfi\u00adcient nu\u00adtri\u00adent up\u00adtake of global im\u00adport\u00adance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Green\u00adland Ice Sheet plays an im\u00adport\u00adant role in our cli\u00admate. Its melt\u00ading con\u00adtrib\u00adutes sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00adantly to global sea level rise, as it re\u00adleases large quant\u00adit\u00adies of fresh wa\u00adter into the oceans. Due to global warm\u00ading, the snow dis\u00adap\u00adpears from ever more gla\u00adcier areas and the ice is ex\u00adposed. This cre\u00adates new areas that can be col\u00adon\u00adized by ice al\u00adgae, which in turn ac\u00adcel\u00ader\u00adates the melt\u00ading \u2013 a cycle that ur\u00adgently needs to be un\u00adder\u00adstood in more de\u00adtail. Here, the present study takes us a big step for\u00adward: \u201cUn\u00adtil now, there have been no meas\u00adure\u00adments of how the ice al\u00adgae sup\u00adply them\u00adselves with nu\u00adtri\u00adents,\u201d says Hal\u00adbach. \u201cWe are now clos\u00ading this gap with a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlarly pre\u00adcise method that al\u00adlows us to meas\u00adure the nu\u00adtri\u00adent up\u00adtake and stor\u00adage of in\u00addi\u00advidual cells. Our res\u00adults show that the al\u00adgae can grow rap\u00adidly even though there are hardly any nu\u00adtri\u00adents avail\u00adable on the spot. In\u00adstead, they can ef\u00adfi\u00adciently take up in\u00ador\u00adganic ni\u00adtro\u00adgen and are good at stor\u00ading phos\u00adphorus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If these ice al\u00adgae are not oth\u00ader\u00adwise decim\u00adated, for ex\u00adample by para\u00adsitic fungi or a lack of trace ele\u00adments, there would be little to stop their growth. They could grow on ex\u00adposed ice sur\u00adfaces and thus in\u00adtensify the ice melt – a po\u00adten\u00adtial pos\u00adit\u00adive feed\u00adback with global warm\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The find\u00adings of the re\u00adsearch\u00aders led by Laura Hal\u00adbach are not only fas\u00adcin\u00adat\u00ading, but also im\u00adport\u00adant. They will help to bet\u00adter pre\u00addict the con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtion of the dark pig\u00admen\u00adted al\u00adgae to the melt\u00ading of the Green\u00adland Ice Sheet. Cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtions of the an\u00adnual ice melt are in\u00adcor\u00adpor\u00adated into today’s cli\u00admate mod\u00adels. The new find\u00adings could be used to im\u00adprove the rep\u00adres\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion of the al\u00adgae in mod\u00adels pre\u00addict\u00ading the ice melt, and thus bet\u00adter in\u00adcor\u00adpor\u00adate its ef\u00adfect on the global cli\u00admate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n