Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p13b1383l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P13B-1383
Mathematics
Logic
[0456] Biogeosciences / Life In Extreme Environments, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
The study of analog evaporitic environments on Earth is of increasing importance due to the multiple reports of possible evaporite deposits across the martian surface. If life ever evolved on the red planet, these deposits could have harbored potential energy sources and preserved microfossils. Evaporite deposits on earth are often associated with preserved organic material, and understanding the relationships of evaporites and organics will be important for such detections on Mars. Additionally, naturally occurring perchlorate deposits are typically associated with evaporitic materials and further understanding of geobiological processes of this oxidant will be of great use for future habitability assessments on Mars. In order to fully evaluate the astrobiological potential of martian evaporites, a wide variety of terrestrial analog systems can be studied. One understudied system is the Great Salt Lake Desert and its associated features. The Great Salt Lake Desert is the remnant bed of ancient Lake Bonneville, one of the several giant lakes from the Pleistocene Epoch and covered about 20,000 square miles of western Utah and smaller sections of eastern Nevada and southern Idaho. The most well know remnant lake features are the Bonneville Salt Flats and the Great Salt Lake. The Bonneville Salt Flats represent a mainly closed system that receives little to no recharge. The Great Salt Lake, however, still has fresh water recharge its southern arm. The mineralogy of both systems is dominated by halite. The salt flats also have deposits of gypsum, potassium chloride, and a host of magnesium, potassium, and sodium salts. Although the Great Salt Lake Desert has high economic importance, the geobiological potential of its evaporitic features has rarely been studied and there is little to no information regarding the microbial diversity within some of the richest deposits. Here we present the preliminary results of a geobiological study of a sample transect that stretches from the Great Salt Lake to beyond the Bonneville Salt Flats. Four sediment samples were taken from various locations starting from evaporite deposits near the north arm of the Great Salt Lake and moving west towards the Nevada boarder. Preliminary geochemical analysis shows increasing nitrate concentrations which may suggest presence of accumulated perchlorate as these two are commonly associated in other evaporite systems such as the Atacama Desert in Chile. Our poster will highlight further geochemical results and the associated biological analysis.
Hoehler Tori M.
Lossing R.
Lynch Kennda
Spear John R.
Zabrusky K.
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