Diversity of Holocene life forms in fossil glacier ice
10.1073/pnas.96.14.8017
Crossref journal-article
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)
Abstract

Studies of biotic remains of polar ice caps have been limited to morphological identification of plant pollen and spores. By using sensitive molecular techniques, we now demonstrate a much greater range of detectable organisms; from 2000- and 4000-year-old ice-core samples, we obtained and characterized 120 clones that represent at least 57 distinct taxa and reveal a diversity of fungi, plants, algae, and protists. The organisms derive from distant sources as well as from the local arctic environment. Our results suggest that additional taxa may soon be readily identified, providing a plank for future studies of deep ice cores and yielding valuable information about ancient communities and their change over time.

Bibliography

Willerslev, E., Hansen, A. J., Christensen, B., Steffensen, J. P., & Arctander, P. (1999). Diversity of Holocene life forms in fossil glacier ice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96(14), 8017–8021.

Authors 5
  1. Eske Willerslev (first)
  2. Anders J. Hansen (additional)
  3. Bent Christensen (additional)
  4. Jørgen Peder Steffensen (additional)
  5. Peter Arctander (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 23 years ago (July 26, 2002, 10:35 a.m.)
Deposited 3 years, 2 months ago (June 6, 2022, 10:49 p.m.)
Indexed 2 weeks, 4 days ago (Aug. 6, 2025, 9:08 a.m.)
Issued 26 years, 1 month ago (July 6, 1999)
Published 26 years, 1 month ago (July 6, 1999)
Published Online 26 years, 1 month ago (July 6, 1999)
Published Print 26 years, 1 month ago (July 6, 1999)
Funders 0

None

@article{Willerslev_1999, title={Diversity of Holocene life forms in fossil glacier ice}, volume={96}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.96.14.8017}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.96.14.8017}, number={14}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Willerslev, Eske and Hansen, Anders J. and Christensen, Bent and Steffensen, Jørgen Peder and Arctander, Peter}, year={1999}, month=jul, pages={8017–8021} }