Prokaryotic cell concentration record from the WAIS Divide ice core

This data set includes raw concentration of prokaryotic cells for the WAIS Divide deep core, WDC06A, from 1,764 m to 2,709 m. Data were collected by a method that combines acquisition of discrete samples using a continuous ice-core melting system (McConnell et al., 2002) coupled with flow cytometry of DNA-stained samples. The method is described in detail in Santibanez et al., 2016.

We present the first long-term, highly resolved prokaryotic cell concentration record obtained from a polar ice core. This record, obtained from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide (WD) ice core, spanned from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the early Holocene (EH) and showed distinct fluctuations in prokaryotic cell concentration coincident with major climatic states. This record provided strong evidence that airborne prokaryotic cell deposition differed during the LGM, LDG and EH, and that these changes in cell densities could be explained by different environmental conditions during each of these climatic periods. Our observations provide the first ice core time-series evidence for a prokaryotic response to long-term climatic and environmental processes.