McGill University|Université McGill

Purpose

Astrobiology and the search for life in our solar system is a major focus of planetary exploration. In the coming decades, astrobiology investigations will be primarily focused on Mars, Europa and Enceladus which are characterized by extremely cold temperatures. In this context, the Devon Island Subglacial Lake complex, discovered in 2018 and lying ~600 m under the Devon Ice Cap in the Canadian Arctic, represents the first hypersaline subglacial lake complex discovered on Earth with estimated temperatures of ~-12°C and a salinity of ~14% (4.5 times greater than the oceans). These conditions make this subglacial waterbody one of Earth’s most extreme environments and it is the closest known analogue to the extraterrestrial habitats hypothesized to exist on Mars (subsurface lakes, residual slope linea), Europa (subsurface ocean), and Enceladus. This project will be the first phase of a program that is ultimately planned to access and sample the Devon Island Subglacial lakes, which will provide crucial data sets and experience. It will also provide excellent training and mentoring to Canadian highly qualified personnel through synergistic interactions within a multidisciplinary team with integrated project components including site characterization; instrument development, the advancement and testing of new technologies in this cryoenvironment, and the potential discovery of novel microbial ecosystems. The ice drill and life detection instrumentation could be robotized and integrated into future planetary exploration missions attached to surface rover platforms. Additionally, due to their robust and portable nature, these systems have applications in industry for field detection and identification of microorganisms in remote extreme environments, as well as health care settings. This is applicable for rapid clinical diagnoses, biomonitoring, food safety, and environmental analyses, including, for example, in monitoring, detecting, and identifying pathogens during epidemics in remote locations.