Patterns of air mass incursions from Southern Ocean play a role on microbial dispersions into West Antarctic Ice Sheet

Patterns of air mass incursions from Southern Ocean play a role on microbial dispersions into West Antarctic Ice Sheet | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Patterns of air mass incursions from Southern Ocean play a role on microbial dispersions into West Antarctic Ice Sheet Amanda Bendia, Sérgio Gonçalves Jr, Julio Moreira, Renato Romano, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4151151/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The cryosphere microbiomes are mostly inoculated by airborne microorganisms, which can accumulate year by year over the accreted snow. The detection of sea salt, pollutants, volcanic glass and other lithogenic materials in the interior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is evidence of a continuous inflow of exogenous microparticles to that site. In this work we demonstrate, that, likewise, marine microorganisms follow same pattern and can be long-range transported through the Antarctic troposphere reaching out high latitudes. To evidence it, we constructed an excavated 2m-depth pit named “Criolab’ in the surroundings of the Brazilian Criosfera1 remote laboratory at WAIS to collect snow and firn samples for microbial diversity analysis, together with snow and airborne microparticle composition measurements. Origin of air masses reaching Criosfera 1 were inferred from air masses backward trajectories modelling. We found a discontinuous profile of microbial taxa abundances and diversity, which is likely a result of the air mass back trajectories changes that carried microorganisms from distinct Antarctic sources during an estimated period of 4 years. Our study indicates that different marine groups, such as SAR11, Idiomarina , and Nitrosopumilus , are shared between the WAIS snow and AP seawater communities, suggesting they are long-range transported over Antarctica. Considering their low and interspersed abundances, we postulate a pre- and post-depositional selection in the face of the extreme atmosphere and cryosphere conditions. Our observations have implications for the understanding of the aeolian dispersion patterns over Antarctica, indicating the importance of the marine microbiomes in seeding the interior of the continent. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Biological sciences/Microbiology/Microbial communities Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science Cryosphere microbiomes aeolian transportation aerosols West Antarctic Ice Sheet Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4151151","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":284599819,"identity":"1008b4bf-01a8-4ba5-a774-f5ede8c7a9b6","order_by":0,"name":"Amanda Bendia","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLACHgaGBCBlcIChAkgxMzeQouUMSAsjCVoYGNtAXAJa+KcdfvbgTU1tHr9088YDP+fVRvO3A7X8qNiGU4vE7TRzwznHjhdLzjlWcLB32/HcGYcZGxh7ztzGbc3tBDNpHrZjiRtu5Bgc4N12LLcBqIWZsQ23Fvnb6d+kef4dS9wP1HLw75xjufMJaTG4nWMmzdtWk7hBIsfgMG9DTe4GQloMb+eUSc7tO1AscSOt4LDMsQO5G4FaDuLzi9zt9G0Sb77V5fHPSN788U1NXe6884cPPvhRgcf7EHAYlXGAkHogqMNgjIJRMApGwSiAAwDEfmVocTjS3QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0042-8990","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amanda","middleName":"","lastName":"Bendia","suffix":""},{"id":284599820,"identity":"37fac1b0-ceec-4c5b-929b-dddda1ecee15","order_by":1,"name":"Sérgio Gonçalves Jr","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rio de Janeiro State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sérgio","middleName":"","lastName":"Gonçalves","suffix":"Jr"},{"id":284599821,"identity":"08e69ace-6e30-48aa-a486-1a6f83164fa9","order_by":2,"name":"Julio Moreira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julio","middleName":"","lastName":"Moreira","suffix":""},{"id":284599822,"identity":"af34e769-3b5f-47cc-8f55-dd38f4f419e5","order_by":3,"name":"Renato Romano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Renato","middleName":"","lastName":"Romano","suffix":""},{"id":284599823,"identity":"31f9358f-3f14-48e4-91d0-65af17974750","order_by":4,"name":"Emanuele Kuhn","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Emanuele","middleName":"","lastName":"Kuhn","suffix":""},{"id":284599824,"identity":"8a4ce804-3d30-4ae4-828b-38911475ee5e","order_by":5,"name":"Juliana Ferreira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Juliana","middleName":"","lastName":"Ferreira","suffix":""},{"id":284599825,"identity":"3298c3b8-81d2-49fe-bbe2-a921a9f88b26","order_by":6,"name":"Camila Signori","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Camila","middleName":"","lastName":"Signori","suffix":""},{"id":284599826,"identity":"51adcea3-d497-4dd6-a006-b650828e801f","order_by":7,"name":"Natascha Bergo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Natascha","middleName":"","lastName":"Bergo","suffix":""},{"id":284599827,"identity":"e2470279-da9f-47f3-afd1-3ab694096d90","order_by":8,"name":"Egberto Pereira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rio de Janeiro State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Egberto","middleName":"","lastName":"Pereira","suffix":""},{"id":284599828,"identity":"f665c6b8-b22d-4acf-b2df-d117fa74ad59","order_by":9,"name":"Heitor Evangelista","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rio de Janeiro State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Heitor","middleName":"","lastName":"Evangelista","suffix":""},{"id":284599829,"identity":"9fe9440e-277d-4fd3-834a-e70143198287","order_by":10,"name":"Vivian Pellizari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sao Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vivian","middleName":"","lastName":"Pellizari","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-22 16:50:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4151151/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4151151/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":60422833,"identity":"24182419-0cce-44d3-a519-d7a6ac924f9d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-07-16 15:08:38","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":6315088,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Bendiaetal2024Criosferanaturecommfinal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4151151/v1_covered_a40d1b39-f00f-470c-9405-1fa4fe5e694d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Patterns of air mass incursions from Southern Ocean play a role on microbial dispersions into West Antarctic Ice Sheet","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Cryosphere microbiomes, aeolian transportation, aerosols, West Antarctic Ice Sheet","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4151151/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4151151/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe cryosphere microbiomes are mostly inoculated by airborne microorganisms, which can accumulate year by year over the accreted snow. The detection of sea salt, pollutants, volcanic glass and other lithogenic materials in the interior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is evidence of a continuous inflow of exogenous microparticles to that site. In this work we demonstrate, that, likewise, marine microorganisms follow same pattern and can be long-range transported through the Antarctic troposphere reaching out high latitudes. To evidence it, we constructed an excavated 2m-depth pit named “Criolab’ in the surroundings of the Brazilian Criosfera1 remote laboratory at WAIS to collect snow and firn samples for microbial diversity analysis, together with snow and airborne microparticle composition measurements. Origin of air masses reaching Criosfera 1 were inferred from air masses backward trajectories modelling. We found a discontinuous profile of microbial taxa abundances and diversity, which is likely a result of the air mass back trajectories changes that carried microorganisms from distinct Antarctic sources during an estimated period of 4 years. Our study indicates that different marine groups, such as SAR11, \u003cem\u003eIdiomarina\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eNitrosopumilus\u003c/em\u003e, are shared between the WAIS snow and AP seawater communities, suggesting they are long-range transported over Antarctica. Considering their low and interspersed abundances, we postulate a pre- and post-depositional selection in the face of the extreme atmosphere and cryosphere conditions. Our observations have implications for the understanding of the aeolian dispersion patterns over Antarctica, indicating the importance of the marine microbiomes in seeding the interior of the continent.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Patterns of air mass incursions from Southern Ocean play a role on microbial dispersions into West Antarctic Ice Sheet","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-03-28 01:43:36","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4151151/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7aa11a12-bc00-4058-95bc-ba2833512320","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 28th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":29961640,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":29961641,"name":"Biological sciences/Microbiology/Microbial communities"},{"id":29961642,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-07-16T15:00:22+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-03-28 01:43:36","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4151151","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4151151","identity":"rs-4151151","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}