McMurdo region meltwater ponds bacterioplankton survey

The investigation of bacterioplankton, mat and sediment microbial communities from the Bratina Island meltwater ponds in Late November 2009, January 2012 and January 2013 and from meltwater ponds at the mouth of the Miers Valley in January 2013 using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. Ponds range in size from 1 to several hundred square meters in surface area, 1-4m in depth and represent a broad variety of unique geochemistries. They are formed in the landscape depressions and are maintained from local ice and snow melt.