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GULKANA GLACIER -- A scientist wearing plastic boots and cramponsknelt on a sheet of ice and pointed at the king of beasts, a snowflea. He is the top of the food chain on this glacier, said biologistNozomu Takeuchi. The snow flea, a tiny wingless insect also knownas a springtail, sprung away at the advance of Takeuchi s finger,landing near a stream of meltwater. Takeuchi opened a notebook andscribbled with a pencil. He was on the Alaska Range glacier on arainy day to study algae, the food of the snow flea and the key tolife on the surface of glaciers. Algae are microscopic plant-like organisms that use the energy ofsunlight to make their own food. The many species of algae on Earthcapture more of the sun's energy and produce more oxygen than allplants combined. In adapting to life on ice, algae have providedfood for the snow flea and many other wee creatures on the ice. Call him a glacial biologist On that day, Takeuchi, a professor at Chiba University in Japan,was collecting algae with a stainless steel scoop. Millions ofalgae living on the surface of ice and snow stain the glacier redin some areas, and give it a dusty appearance in others. A former researcher at the International Arctic Research Center atUAF, Takeuchi has spent hours crouching on the surface of Alaskaglaciers, scooping up individual alga too small to see without amicroscope. His face is tanned the color of leather, except forlight patches beneath his sunglasses. He calls himself a glacialbiologist. Takeuchi gathered ice from the glacier surface in clean plasticbags. Later, he would dry the bags to measure the earthy materialproduced by the algae. In plastic bottles the size of his palm, hescooped snow samples in which he will later count the algae. Withthese, he will try to figure out the population of algae on GulkanaGlacier. It is a staggering amount of life, so dense in areas thatit can alter the face of a glacier. Walking up the glacier, Takeuchi pointed out tiny water-filledpocks in the ice. Called cryoconite holes, they are produced whenan accumulation of algae and the organic material it attracts forma dark spot that absorbs sunlight and melts its own pool. Here, thealgae have everything they need: plenty of water and sunlight, anda buffer from streams on the surface of the glacier that wouldflush algae away. They want to stay in the same place, Takeuchi says. Polar bear of glaciers Bacteria, snow fleas, ice worms and dozens of invisible speciescongregate in the cryoconite holes to eat algae. Algae thrive inthe summer but die in the winter, when water on the top of aglacier turns to ice. Algae survive by producing spores that hatch the following spring. In addition to counting algae, Takeuchi also takes note of how theyaffect the surface of a glacier. Gulkana, for example, is a ratherdirty glacier, due in large part to algae and the organic materialbroken down by creatures that live with the algae. Dark patches ofthe glacier absorb more sunlight than light patches, and Takeuchisaid melting beneath dark areas can be three times as great as thatbeneath clean surfaces. As part of his studies, he checks thereflection of light from different parts of the glacier with aspectrometer he carries in a backpack. While scientists have blamed the increased warmth of the air forthe shrinking of Alaska s glaciers, the sun absorbed by algae alsoplays a part. Takeuchi wants to find out how the tiny world on thesurface of the glacier affects these giant sheets of ice. To dothis, he walks on glaciers, stopping now and then to ponder a snowflea, the glacial equivalent of a polar bear on sea ice. Ned Rozell is a science writer at the University of AlaskaFairbanks Geophysical Institute. Used with permission. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Titanium Investment Casting Manufacturer , Titanium Foil Sheet, and more. For more , please visit Seamless Titanium Pipe today!
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