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Ancient Permafrost Microbes Revived, Then Surge After Months in Lab Tests

Researchers used heavy‑water tracers on Alaska cores to illustrate how longer warm seasons could intensify greenhouse‑gas release.

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Abundance of Archaea across samples collected from the Permafrost Research Tunnel near Fairbanks, Alaska. Image credit: Caro et al., doi: 10.1029/2025JG008759.

Overview

  • A CU Boulder–led team thawed permafrost samples up to about 40,000 years old from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Permafrost Research Tunnel near Fairbanks, Alaska.
  • Incubations at 39°F and 54°F showed extremely slow initial turnover, then a marked community shift by roughly six months, including visible biofilm formation.
  • Using deuterium-labeled water, the study traced lipid synthesis to quantify resuscitation and growth rates under above‑freezing, wetted conditions.
  • Hotter short-term temperatures did not significantly speed awakening, suggesting the length of the warm season is more consequential than brief heat spikes for emissions.
  • Authors said the studied microbes likely could not infect people and were handled in sealed labs, and they cautioned that results from this single site may not generalize globally.