Cryoconite holes are small, water filled, cylindrical melt-holes on glacial ice surface. Cryoconite, 'cold dust,' refers to the thin layer of sediment at the hole bottom. The holes form from surficial sediment...

Microbial communities on polar glacier surfaces are found dispersed on the ice surface, or concentrated in cryoconite holes and cryolakes, which are accumulations of debris covered by a layer of ice for some or...

Glacier surface ecosystems, including cryoconite holes and cryolakes, are significant contributors to regional carbon cycles. Incubation experiments to determine the net production (NEP) of organic matter in...

Nutrient recycling occurs in hydrologically isolated cryoconite holes on the glaciers of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Biogeochemical processes enrich the cryoconite holes with solute and nutrients...

The seasonal melting of ice entombed cryoconite holes on McMurdo Dry Valley glaciers provides oases for life in the harsh environmental conditions of the polar desert where surface air temperatures only...

The cryoconite holes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys are simple, closed biogeochemical systems involving water, ice, mineral and organic debris, which serve as ecosystems for consortia of microorganisms. This study...

Cryoconite holes are ice-bound habitats that can act as refuges for aquatic and terrestrial microorganisms on glacier surfaces. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, these holes are often capped by an ice...