This is an astonishing discovery which was made under 14 meters of ice in Antarctica: a vibrant ecosystem where we expected to find only cold and silence. THE Lac Enigmanestled in the Northern Foothills of Victoria Land, was previously considered completely frozen. This discovery shakes up our ideas about life in extreme environments and opens fascinating doors for researchers.
An international scientific adventure
ENIGMA, supported by the National Antarctic Research Program. Scientists from diverse backgrounds, including those fromNational Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)led this quest from the Mario Zucchelli base in Italy. The goal of ENIGMA? Discover what the Antarctic ice sheets hide and understand how life can develop there. Lake Enigma was not discovered yesterday! It was already in 1989but it was only after radar searches in November 2019 and January 2020 that the existence of oligotrophic liquid water stratified under a thick layer of ice was confirmed. This water is home to a unique microbial ecosystem that makes scientists’ heads spin.
Microbes that defy expectations
By analyzing the water, we found lots of ultrasmall bacteria from the superphylum Patescibacteria. Unlike many other aquatic environments, Enigma Lake is almost devoid of cyanobacteria in its ice and water. On the other hand, it is filled with varied benthic microbial mats, made up of colonies which form stratified films. The largest measured approximately 40 cm high and 60 cm large!
These discoveries raise the question: what role do these bacteria play in this isolated ecosystem? The unexpected complexity of the food webs in these lakes suggests that there may be symbiotic or predatory lifestyles, in addition to simple phototrophic and chemoautotrophic metabolisms.
What if it existed elsewhere?
But that’s not all! These finds extend well beyond the Antarctic Polar Circle. They show us how life can survive in extreme conditions on Earth. Stefano Urbini, project coordinator at the INGV, emphasizes that these findings offer a fascinating look at this question.
They could also shed light on what could exist elsewhere in our solar system. We think in particular of the moons Europa around Jupiter and Enceladus around Saturn where subterranean oceans could shelter microbial life.
-What future for this research?
The publication entitled “The perennially ice-covered Lake Enigma, Antarctica supports unique microbial communities” in Nature Communications Earth & Environment highlights how valuable this research is for better understanding living things in all their possible forms. This work pushes us to review our vision of extreme life here and why not elsewhere!
This discovery invites not only scientists but also each of us to imagine the infinite possibilities hidden in our universe. As we continue to explore the frozen corners of the globe, each new advance brings us one step closer to a complete understanding of the biological potential that may exist elsewhere in our solar system.
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