2023-12-23 00:00:00
On an expedition to the Puna de Atacama, geologist Brian Hynek (from the University of California at Boulder) and Argentine microbiologist María Farías They discovered 12 lagoons with crystalline waters, surrounded by vast saline plains. These house giant stromatolites: rock structures created by microbial communities and that grow like corals on a reef.
These stromatolites, some up to 4.5 meters wide, offer a glimpse into early life on Earth, as they resemble forms that existed more than 3.5 billion years ago. Unlike modern stromatolites, these giants attract minerals from water by building layers of gypsum and halite, and could also provide clues about conditions on Mars, according to this paper from the University of California, Boulder.
Modern stromatolites still exist on Earth and can be found in salt-rich environments, like the Australian Shark Bay or the coasts of the Bahamas, for example. However, these are usually smaller unlike the ancient ones that could reach up to six meters in height.
For their part, ancient stromatolites grew in a period when the atmosphere lacked oxygen. Thus, the microbes in the stromatolites used a type of photosynthesis that does not require oxygen and converts light energy into compounds that support living cells, called anoxygenic.
Furthermore, the expert told CNN that, Although stromatolites are found in an environment that contains oxygen, the deeper layers in the rock have little to no access to oxygen and are actively formed by microbes through anoxygenic photosynthesis. This would make the structures similar to those found on ancient Earth.
Hynek and Farías, who is co-founder of PUNABIO SA Consultoría Medioambiental, presented their findings at the 2023 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, which took place in December. Urgency looms over the team, since the area is destined for lithium miningwhich threatens the disappearance of this unique ecosystem in a matter of years.
This content was originally published in RED/ACCION and is republished as part of the “Human Journalism” program, an alliance for quality journalism between BLACK RIVER and DRAFTING.
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