@article{MogrovejoAriasBrillWagner2020,
  author    = {Mogrovejo Arias, Diana Carolina and Brill, Florian H. H. and Wagner, Dirk},
  title     = {Potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated from diverse habitats in Spitsbergen, Svalbard},
  series = {Environmental earth sciences},
  volume    = {79},
  journal   = {Environmental earth sciences},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin ; Heidelberg},
  issn      = {1866-6280},
  doi       = {10.1007/s12665-020-8853-4},
  pages     = {9},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {The Arctic ecosystem, a reservoir of genetic microbial diversity, represents a virtually unlimited source of microorganisms that could interact with human beings. Despite continuous exploration of Arctic habitats and description of their microbial communities, bacterial phenotypes commonly associated with pathogenicity, such as hemolytic activity, have rarely been reported. In this study, samples of snow, fresh and marine water, soil, and sediment from several habitats in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard were collected during Summer, 2017. Bacterial isolates were obtained after incubation on oligotrophic media at different temperatures and their hemolytic potential was assessed on sheep blood agar plates. Partial (alpha) or true (beta) hemolysis was observed in 32 out of 78 bacterial species. Genes expressing cytolytic compounds, such as hemolysins, likely increase the general fitness of the producing microorganisms and confer a competitive advantage over the availability of nutrients in natural habitats. In environmental species, the nutrient-acquisition function of these compounds presumably precedes their function as toxins for mammalian erythrocytes. However, in the light of global warming, the presence of hemolytic bacteria in Arctic environments highlights the possible risks associated with these microorganisms in the event of habitat melting/destruction, ecosystem transition, and re-colonization.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{EllingSpiegelEstradaetal.2016,
  author    = {Elling, Felix J. and Spiegel, Cornelia and Estrada, Solveig and Davis, Donald W. and Reinhardt, Lutz and Henjes-Kunst, Friedhelm and Allroggen, Niklas and Dohrmann, Reiner and Piepjohn, Karsten and Lisker, Frank},
  title     = {Origin of Bentonites and Detrital Zircons of the Paleocene Basilika Formation, Svalbard},
  series = {Frontiers in Earth Science},
  volume    = {4},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Earth Science},
  publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation},
  address   = {Lausanne},
  issn      = {2296-6463},
  doi       = {10.3389/feart.2016.00073},
  pages     = {23},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The Paleocene was a time of transition for the Arctic, with magmatic activity of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) giving way to magmatism of the North Atlantic Large Igneous Province in connection to plate tectonic changes in the Arctic and North Atlantic. In this study we investigate the Paleocene magmatic record and sediment pathways of the Basilika Formation exposed in the Central Tertiary Basin of Svalbard. By means of geochemistry, SmNd isotopic signatures, and zircon UPb geochronology we investigate the characteristics of several bentonite layers contained in the Basilika Formation, as well as the provenance of the intercalated clastic sediments. Our data show that the volcanic ash layers of the Basilika Formation, which were diagenetically altered to bentonites, originate from alkaline continental-rift magmatism such as the last, explosive stages of the HALIP in North Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. The volcanic ash layers were deposited on Svalbard in a flat shelf environment with dominant sediment supply from the east. Dating of detrital zircons suggests that the detritus was derived from Siberian sources, primarily from the Verkhoyansk Fold-and-Thrust Belt, which would require transport over similar to 3000 km across the Arctic.},
  language  = {en}
}