Lakes and glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau, often referred to as the "Third Pole", is the largest area of glacial ice outside of the polar regions. It serves as an important water storage mechanism, which is currently threatened by rising global temperatures. Since 2013, the Vick-Majors lab has collaborated with Dr. Yongqin Liu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on a series of projects examining the microbial diversity of glacier ice, cryoconite, and lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. Currently, we are planning a collaborative project comparing Tibetan Plateau microbial communities and their relationship to carbon cycling to those found other polar regions.