Great Lakes Sinkholes Harbour Exotic Ecosystems

In Lake Huron, one of North America’s Great Lakes, sinkholes formed by water erosion host exotic organisms in what looks like an alien world.

Instead of the large fish common to the rest of the lake, the bizarre life forms that thrive in the lake’s sinkholes include purple cyanobacteria, ghostly floating pony-tails, and other organisms similar to those found in Antarctic sinkholes and deep-sea, hydrothermal vents.

“You have this pristine fresh water lake that has what amounts to materials from 400 million years ago … being pushed out into the lake,” says team co-leader Steven A. Ruberg of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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Further research of the sinkholes will be funded by the National Science Foundation and NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. Researchers hope the studies will reveal a better understanding of similar life in Antarctica’s sinkholes, lead to the discovery of new life forms, and help shed light on unknown biochemical processes.

Image credit: Top image shows a 1-2 m thick nepheloid-like plume layer (potential microbial hotspot) prevailing just over the lake floor in the Isolated Sinkhold. Image courtesy of University of Michigan’s MROVER. All images are public domain. For more images, click here, here and here.

Via: EurekAlert!

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