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An “alien” ecosystem has just been discovered in a remote part of the Atacama desert that is “unlike anything” seen before, a group of scientists revealed.
It is located in the Puna de Atacama in Argentina – a large plateau over 12,000 feet above sea level.
One of the driest environments on earth, rain rarely – if ever – falls here and the sun’s rays bathe the landscape, creating an environment with few animals or plants can grow.
However, in April of last year, Brian Hynek, of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), a geologist was studying some satellite images of the region and stumbled upon a what appears to be a network of lagoons.
Curious, he and Maria Farías drove to study the microbes as far as they could toward the mysteries, then walked several miles in the hot sun, according to a man’s story. news published by CU.
“In some places, we were up to our knees in salt water,” Hynek said.
But once they arrived at the site, they knew the effort was worth it: they stumbled upon something truly amazing.
Green stromatolite mounds thrive at the bottom of one of the Atacama lagoons (Brian Hynek)
There, they found a network of 12 lagoons, about 25 acres (10.1 hectares) and surrounded by barren mountains in the distance.
Beneath its sparkling waters, Hynek saw huge mounds of green life, about 15 feet (4.5 meters) across and several feet high.
He identified them as stromatolites – complex microbial communities that form large rocks as they grow, like corals that form reefs.
However, these are unlike any scientists have seen before.
These communities may be like stromatolites that existed during a period in the history of the Earth called the ancient Archaean, when there was almost no oxygen in the atmosphere, suggests the previous research.
“This lagoon may be one of the best modern examples of the first signs of life on Earth,” Hynek said.
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen or, really, like anything a scientist has ever seen.”
While stromatolites exist around the world today, including off the coast of the Bahamas, these modern microbial clusters are likely very small. They subsist by catching grains of sand and other debris floating in the sea, CU notes in its press release.
In contrast, Ancient stromatolites can stretch up to 20 feet high, and absorb calcium and carbon dioxide from the surrounding water, causing them to form mineral fear them.
Hynek used a sledgehammer to crack a stromatolite base and reveal its pink core(Brian Hynek)
The mounds found in the Atacama lagoon are more similar to Archaean civilizations than anything else alive in the world today.
Their rocks usually contain gypsum, a mineral commonly seen in stromatolite fossils but absent in almost all modern stromatolites.
Biologically, it consists of an outer group of photosynthetic microbes called cyanobacteria and a pink core that is rich in archaea—single-celled organisms that are often found in Earth’s most extreme environments.
Hynek also pointed out that the environment of the lake can be similar to the conditions in the ancient world, with salt, acidic water and exposure to the heat of the sun (due to its high altitude).
In addition, the stromatolite community can also offer scientists unprecedented insights into how life evolved on Mars, which is like our planet in billions of years. last year.
“If life developed on Mars at the level of fossils, it would have been like this,” said the geologist and space physicist.
“Understanding these modern structures on Earth can tell us what to look for as we look for similarities in Martian rocks.”
Hynek (pictured) described discovering the lagoons as the ‘biggest eureka moment’ of his life.(Bryan Hynek)
Hynek and Farías hope to conduct further experiments to confirm that these previously unknown stromatolites are active in their rock formations, and to determine whether how microbes survive in such harsh conditions.
However, time may be running out.
A company based out of Argentina has already classified the site for lithium mining.
Once this process begins, all of the Atacama lagoons can be destroyed.
“This entire, unique ecosystem could disappear in a few years,” Hynek said. “We hope we can protect some of these places, or better understand what’s there before it’s gone or disrupted forever.”
He described discovering the alien environment as “the biggest eureka moment I’ve ever had in my life.”
“It’s amazing that you can still find things that aren’t proven like our planet,” he said.
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