What do you think they will find in the lake? Click on image for full size (29K JPG) Windows Original

By studying the small life forms in lakes almost 20,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains of Chile, scientists hope to learn how life may survive in other harsh environments throughout the solar system.

One of the lakes that is being studied this month is a caldera that sits atop Licancabur volcano in Chile. A caldera is the name for a lake that forms in the collapsed top of a volcano. The harsh environmental conditions at this caldera make it one of the most Mars-like places on Earth.

The environment is tough to survive in because at high altitudes pressure is lower so there are less oxygen molecules in each breath of air, more ultraviolet (UV) sunlight, and it is very cold.

Even though the caldera on top of Licancabur volcano is in harsh environmental conditions, certain microorganisms can survive there and the scientist team from NASA, the SETI Institute and other organizations hope to learn how they survive. “Only by going there will we find out,” says Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, the principle investigator of the project. If scientists know how organisms survive in harsh environments on Earth, they will better understand the ways that life may have adapted to exist in environments such as those on Mars, or Jupiter’s moon Europa, today or in the past.

The 25-day mission to the high mountains of the Andes began on October 16, 2002 and will include mapping the crater’s geology and topography, surveying the depth of the lake and the temperature of the lake bottom, characterizing the organisms that live in the lake and testing a 2-wheeled Mars mini-rover.

What do you think they will find in the lake? Click on image for full size (29K JPG) Windows Original

By studying what lives in the highest lakes on Earth, scientists hope to learn how life may survive in other harsh environments throughout the solar system.

One of the lakes that will be studied is a caldera that sits atop Licancabur volcano in the Andes Mountains of Chile. A caldera is the name for a lake that forms in the collapsed top of a volcano. The harsh environmental conditions at this caldera make it one of the most Mars-like places on Earth.

The environment is tough to survive in because at high altitudes pressure is lower so there are less oxygen molecules in each breath of air, more ultraviolet (UV) sunlight, and it is very cold.

Even though the lakes are in harsh environmental conditions, certain tiny life forms can survive and the scientist team hopes to learn how they do this. “Only by going there will we find out,” says Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, the principle investigator of the project, whose team will identify and describe the organisms that they find in the lake during the 25-day mission to the Andes Mountains which began on October 16, 2002. If the scientists know how these life forms survive harsh conditions on Earth, they can understand the ways that life may have adapted to exist on Mars, or Jupiter’s moon Europa, today or in the past.

What do you think they will find in the lake? Click on image for full size (29K JPG) Windows Original

Scientists are studying what lives in lakes high in the Andes Mountains to learn how life may survive in other places in the solar system.

One of the lakes is on top of a volcano in Chile. Being so far up on a mountaintop would be a tough place to live! In fact, scientists think this place is very much like Mars because there is less oxygen, more sunlight and it is very cold.

Even though it is a harsh environment, tiny life forms survive there. The scientist team hopes to learn how they survive. The team will look at the life in the lake during their trip to the Andes Mountains this month.

If we know how these life forms survive harsh conditions on Earth we will understand the ways that life may have been able to exist on Mars, or Jupiter’s moon Europa, today or in the past.