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Earth's perennially frozen environments as a model of cryogenic planet ecosystems
Author(s) -
Rivkina Elizaveta,
Abramov Andrey,
Spirina Elena,
Petrovskaya Lada,
Shatilovich Anastasia,
Shmakova Lyubov,
Scherbakova Viktoria,
Vishnivetskaya Tatiana
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
permafrost and periglacial processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-1530
pISSN - 1045-6740
DOI - 10.1002/ppp.1987
Subject(s) - permafrost , astrobiology , planet , extraterrestrial life , geology , earth science , ecosystem , terrestrial planet , physical geography , ecology , oceanography , astronomy , geography , physics , biology
Permafrost and ice are important components of cryogenic planets and other bodies, which are abundant in the universe. Earth is one of many planets of the cold type. Earth's permafrost and ice provide an opportunity to test hypotheses that could be applied in the search for possible ecosystems and potential life on extraterrestrial cryogenic planets. Permafrost sediments in polar and alpine regions are natural ecosystems with a unique feature of low‐temperature preservation of the biological material and its genetic information. Therefore, permafrost studies allow reconstruction of the events that occurred in the Cenozoic and the prediction of possible life that might have been preserved before the effect of anthropogenic factors on these ecosystems, and could be found within ice or permafrost on other cryogenic planets.