Silicified Biota in High-Altitude, Geothermally Influenced Ignimbrites at El Tatio Geyser Field, Andean Cordillera (Chile)

Barbieri, Roberto; Cavalazzi, Barbara; Stivaletta, Nunzia

doi:10.1080/01490451.2013.836691

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…25), as well as ancient analogs from the Devonian of Australia26. Palisade microtextures also were documented previously among El Tatio silica oncoids and crusts1027. Based on the suite of textural and microbial features apparent in thin sections and SEM images, we infer that El Tatio digitate silica structures are microbially mediated microstromatolites.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

Silica deposits on Mars with features resembling hot spring biosignatures at El Tatio in Chile

2016

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The Mars rover Spirit encountered outcrops and regolith composed of opaline silica (amorphous SiO2·nH2O) in an ancient volcanic hydrothermal setting in Gusev crater. An origin via either fumarole-related acid-sulfate leaching or precipitation from hot spring fluids was suggested previously. However, the potential significance of the characteristic nodular and mm-scale digitate opaline silica structures was not recognized. Here we report remarkably similar features within active hot spring/geyser discharge channels at El Tatio in northern Chile, where halite-encrusted silica yields infrared spectra that are the best match yet to spectra from Spirit. Furthermore, we show that the nodular and digitate silica structures at El Tatio that most closely resemble those on Mars include complex sedimentary structures produced by a combination of biotic and abiotic processes. Although fully abiotic processes are not ruled out for the Martian silica structures, they satisfy an a priori definition of potential biosignatures.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

Silica deposits on Mars with features resembling hot spring biosignatures at El Tatio in Chile

2016

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“…has also been reported in another site located 65 km west, in the Coastal Range of the Atacama, as part of a community of at least 70 other species belonging to the three domains of life 22 . Halomonas and Marinimicrobium species were also identified as part of a community of about 75 species existing at the El Tatio geyser field at the foothills of the Andes, located 260 km east of Yungay at the eastern edge of the hyperarid core of the Atacama 23 . Besides, Halomonas and Marinobacter species have been reported as part of a community of about 30 species found in two salt pans located in the northeastern part of the hyperarid core of the desert 24 , helping to confirm that the species reported here are indigenous from the core Atacama.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unprecedented rains decimate surface microbial communities in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert

Azua‐Bustos

Fairén

González-Silva

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, the driest and oldest desert on Earth, has experienced a number of highly unusual rain events over the past three years, resulting in the formation of previously unrecorded hypersaline lagoons, which have lasted several months. We have systematically analyzed the evolution of the lagoons to provide quantitative field constraints of large-scale impacts of the rains on the local microbial communities. Here we show that the sudden and massive input of water in regions that have remained hyperarid for millions of years is harmful for most of the surface soil microbial species, which are exquisitely adapted to survive with meager amounts of liquid water, and quickly perish from osmotic shock when water becomes suddenly abundant. We found that only a handful of bacteria, remarkably a newly identified species of Halomonas, remain metabolically active and are still able to reproduce in the lagoons, while no archaea or eukaryotes were identified. Our results show that the already low microbial biodiversity of extreme arid regions greatly diminishes when water is supplied quickly and in great volumes. We conclude placing our findings in the context of the astrobiological exploration of Mars, a hyperarid planet that experienced catastrophic floodings in ancient times.

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“…The El Tatio region also includes abundant products of explosive volcanic eruptions, such as the ignimbrites, and similar friable surface deposits have also been detected on Mars and (at least in part) interpreted as pyroclasts (including ignimbrites) [82,84]. Because of their easy alterability the ignimbrites can easily record the effect of hydrothermal activity and this is well documented at El Tatio [69][70][71], where opaline deposits (geyserite) hold together the profoundly altered ignimbrite rock making up most of the substrate of the entire geothermal field. The three above-mentioned points make El Tatio a solid analog of Martian volcanic environments.…”

Section: Los Gé Iseres Del Tatiomentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Ringed by high volcanoes, El Tatio includes the environmental factors mentioned above to which are subjected the local microbiotic components. This biota, however, can leave a permanent record mainly through permineralization by the silica of a rich variety of morphologies and sub-environments [69][70][71] (Figures 2 and 3). The field has, therefore, a unique potential in the practical evaluation of the role of hydrothermal sites for the search for life on Mars.…”

Section: Hydrothermalism: Martian Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 98%

How Do Modern Extreme Hydrothermal Environments Inform the Identification of Martian Habitability? The Case of the El Tatio Geyser Field

Barbieri

Cavalazzi

2014

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Despite the success in knowledge gained by the Mars missions in the last two decades, the search for traces of life on Mars is still in progress. The reconstruction of (paleo-) environments on Mars have seen a dramatic increase, in particular with regard to the potentially habitable conditions, and it is now possible to recognize a significant role to subaerial hydrothermal processes. For this reason, and because the conditions of the primordial Earth-when these extreme environments had to be common-probably resembled Mars during its most suitable time to host life, research on terrestrial extreme hydrothermal habitats may assist in understanding how to recognize life on Mars. A number of geological and environmental reasons, and logistics opportunities, make the geothermal field of El Tatio, in the Chilean Andes an ideal location to study.

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Silicified Biota in High-Altitude, Geothermally Influenced Ignimbrites at El Tatio Geyser Field, Andean Cordillera (Chile)

Cited by 19 publications

References 51 publications

Silica deposits on Mars with features resembling hot spring biosignatures at El Tatio in Chile

Silica deposits on Mars with features resembling hot spring biosignatures at El Tatio in Chile

Unprecedented rains decimate surface microbial communities in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert

How Do Modern Extreme Hydrothermal Environments Inform the Identification of Martian Habitability? The Case of the El Tatio Geyser Field

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