Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.p71a0435h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #P71A-0435
Other
5418 Heat Flow, 5480 Volcanism (8450), 6225 Mars, 8424 Hydrothermal Systems (8135), 9360 South America
Scientific paper
At 5916 meters above sea level, the crater lake of Licancabur volcano (22°50' S 67°53' W) is the highest lake in the world and remains largely unexplored. In particular, the physical environment of the lake is not well understood: in this part of the Andes, liquid water is uncommon above 17,000 feet (~5200 meters). Most high lakes of the region are permanently frozen, and according to one account, water was even poured and frozen for a building foundation (Rudolph 1955). However, the crater lake at Licancabur is ice covered only part of the year and has higher bottom water temperatures than predicted. Calculating the temperature of maximum density (as per Eklund 1983) suggests that bottom waters should be no warmer than 4 °C, while a high-altitude diving expedition measured them at 6 °C (Leach 1984). Here, we investigate the possibility that the bottom water temperature anomaly may be due to one or more of the following factors: 1) geothermal heating, 2) solar heating/greenhouse effect from ice cover, and 3) heating due to environment/local topography, especially seepage of heated groundwater from the crater walls. The role of geothermal heating in the energy budget of the Licancabur crater lake is estimated here using measurements of water column temperature and heat flux from the bottom sediments. We also present temperature data for the water column and bottom sediment, as well as profiles of the pH and total dissolved solids (TDS) as a function of depth. Dataloggers will also be placed in the lake and surrounding terrain to monitor the effects of solar UV flux and ice cover on the lake?s energy budget through the course of one year. Future work will continue to this end?to better understand a unique terrestrial environment in terms of its counterparts no Earth?but will also be applied to better understand the environment and history of analogous sites elsewhere in the solar system. In particular, the low temperature, low pressure, high UV environment atop Licancabur makes it a unique terrestrial analog to relict lacustrine environments (e.g. volcanic lakes, impact crater lakes, hot springs, etc.) that may have given refuge to life on Mars. Results from this and future field seasons will be applied to constrain models of martian impact crater lake cooling and to better target future astrobiological missions to Mars.
Cabrol Nathalie A.
Chong Guishu
Demergasso Cecilia
DeVore Edna
Fike David A.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Thermal Environment of the World's Highest Lake: Results from the First Field Season at Licancabur Volcano and Implications for Astrobiology does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Thermal Environment of the World's Highest Lake: Results from the First Field Season at Licancabur Volcano and Implications for Astrobiology, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Thermal Environment of the World's Highest Lake: Results from the First Field Season at Licancabur Volcano and Implications for Astrobiology will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1892320