Licancabur 2002 High-Altitude Expedition: Exploring the Environment and the Limits of Life in the Highest Lake on Earth as an Analog to Martian Paleolakes
Abstract
The 5916 m-high Licancabur volcano (Chile/Bolivia) hosts the highest and one of the least explored lakes in the world. At this altitude, the environment combines low-oxygen, high-UV radiation, and low atmospheric pressure (~470 mb). While the lake is ice-covered during part of the year, its bottom water temperature remains above freezing year-round. Despite these extreme conditions, a lacustrine planktonic fauna is thriving. A NASA Ames/SETI Institute-led expedition in collaboration with the Universidad Catolic… de Norte (Antofagasta, Chile) has initiated in 2002 a multi-year project through high-altitude mountaineering and diving. The overall goal is to document this environment which provides an exceptional analog to ancient martian lakes through various approaches including geology, biology, physics, and robotics. The objectives are to: (1) explore and document the Licancabur lake and understand the foundation and survival strategies of its ecosystem still mostly unknown to date; (2) Collect and interpret data that will provide a better understanding of the limits of life on Earth and will help envision potential survival strategies for life on Mars in past analogous enviroments; and (3) develop technologies, instruments and mission strategies to robotically explore these martian paleo-environments and seek for possible traces of past life activity. This presentation focuses on the 2002 expedition results: (a) the environment of the lake, including: the survey of the volcanic structure and crater depression; the search for possible thermal source(s) or other processes maintaining the lake bottom waters at positive temperatures throughout the year; the nature and characteristics of the lake sediments and their stratification; the water column distribution and circulation process; and the variation of the lake volume; (b) the physical environment, including: variation of surface and water temperatures, and variation of UV radiations and oxygen; and (c) the biological environment, including: a survey of living organisms in the lake, their distribution and origin; their relations to each other in the ecosystem; their source of energy and nutrients, their defense against extreme conditions. This results are compared with data collected during the same expedition on three other lakes located at the foot of the Licancabur at 4100 m.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002AGUFM.P61D..06C
- Keywords:
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- 6200 PLANETOLOGY: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS (New field);
- 6207 Comparative planetology;
- 6225 Mars;
- 9350 North America