Patagonia

A 1,500 km latitudinal transect from Patagonia to the Antarctic Peninsula, sampled across a documented atmospheric-river event (Feb 7–8, 2022). Air, soil, and rhizosphere 16S/ITS combined with ERA5, HYSPLIT, CHIMERE, and FEAST source-apportionment evidence show a phylogenetically broad, terrestrially-sourced Patagonian bioaerosol plume reaching Risopatrón Base — and a baseline of 56% Patagonia attribution in Antarctic-Peninsula air.

Beneath the spectacular waters of Patagonia’s Comau Fjord lives a hidden universe of microbes that regulate our climate, cycle nutrients, and bear the fingerprints of human activity. Here is what we found — and why it matters.

The Comau Fjord is an estuarine system in Northern Patagonia (42ºS), Chile: roughly 45 km long and nearly 490 m deep, with steep temperate-rainforest walls dropping straight into the water. High rainfall and snowmelt create a shallow brackish surface layer over a cold, saline body of modified Subantarctic water, producing steep vertical gradients in temperature, salinity, nutrients, and pH. The fjord region is difficult to reach and has almost no laboratory infrastructure — the Huinay Scientific Research Station is the exception that makes this work possible.