A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community
On our planet, aqueous environments such as deep sea or high-altitude aphotic lakes, subject to present or past volcanic activity and active deglaciation, may provide analogs to the aqueous environments found on such planetary bodies as Europa, Titan or Enceladus. We report here on the methodologies...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00070/full |
| _version_ | 1811319552562167808 |
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| author | Virginie C. Tilot Virginie C. Tilot Nathalie A. Cabrol Nathalie A. Cabrol Victor Parro Alberto G. Fairén Alberto G. Fairén Rupert F. G. Ormond Rupert F. G. Ormond Rupert F. G. Ormond Enrique Moreno-Ostos Nieves Lopez-Gonzalez Fabián A. Figueroa Ignacio Gallardo-Carreño Eric W. Smith Pablo Sobrón Cecilia Demergasso Cristian Tambley Julie Robidart |
| author_facet | Virginie C. Tilot Virginie C. Tilot Nathalie A. Cabrol Nathalie A. Cabrol Victor Parro Alberto G. Fairén Alberto G. Fairén Rupert F. G. Ormond Rupert F. G. Ormond Rupert F. G. Ormond Enrique Moreno-Ostos Nieves Lopez-Gonzalez Fabián A. Figueroa Ignacio Gallardo-Carreño Eric W. Smith Pablo Sobrón Cecilia Demergasso Cristian Tambley Julie Robidart |
| author_sort | Virginie C. Tilot |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On our planet, aqueous environments such as deep sea or high-altitude aphotic lakes, subject to present or past volcanic activity and active deglaciation, may provide analogs to the aqueous environments found on such planetary bodies as Europa, Titan or Enceladus. We report here on the methodologies and technologies tested in Laguna Negra, a high altitude lake in the Central Andes, Chile, for exploring and assessing the presence of life within planetary lakes or interior oceans. We adopted a multi-parametric Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) approach centered around collecting video imagery (by an Underwater Imaging System) and sampling benthic sediments (for sedimentological, biological and geochemical analysis) to depths of 272 m, to complement physico-chemical sampling of the water column and collection of shallow sediments for microbiological analysis (reported in separate publications). This enabled us to classify and assess the apparent status of benthic habitats, based on substrata and environmental characteristics, together with floral and faunal community characteristics and bioturbation artifacts. Video imagery showed that the lower water column was characterized by a variably intense sestonic flux of particles and debris, among which were planktonic organisms such as ostracods, copepods, and possibly cladocerans. Sediment analysis revealed at all depths abundant diatom frustules, mainly of an acidophile pennade diatom Pinnularia acidicola, amid vegetal debris likely originating from littoral macrophytes. Video imagery showed that the lakebed was partly covered by microbial mats and depositional matter and harbored an unexpectedly rich assortment of macrofauna, including sponges, tubificid worms, flatworms, bivalves and crustaceans. Various forms of bioturbation were also encountered, some with the animals in the tracks. Most notably, at the deepest site, a previously undescribed faunal feature was evident, apparently formed by a mat-like community of several layers of what appeared to be polychaete tubeworms, possibly of the family Siboglinidae. It is hypothesized that the hydrothermal activity observed in the region may supply the compounds able to support the deep-water microrganisms from which such tubeworms typically gain sustenance. Such processes could be present on other deep and aphotic liquid-water-bearing planetary bodies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:43:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ae81d7172f7f47d0a2da3876251e057a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-665X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:43:56Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae81d7172f7f47d0a2da3876251e057a2022-12-22T02:46:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2019-06-01710.3389/fenvs.2019.00070441309A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm CommunityVirginie C. Tilot0Virginie C. Tilot1Nathalie A. Cabrol2Nathalie A. Cabrol3Victor Parro4Alberto G. Fairén5Alberto G. Fairén6Rupert F. G. Ormond7Rupert F. G. Ormond8Rupert F. G. Ormond9Enrique Moreno-Ostos10Nieves Lopez-Gonzalez11Fabián A. Figueroa12Ignacio Gallardo-Carreño13Eric W. Smith14Pablo Sobrón15Cecilia Demergasso16Cristian Tambley17Julie Robidart18Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, PATRINAT, Paris, FranceInstituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Málaga, SpainCarl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United StatesNASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United StatesCentro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, SpainCentro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, SpainDepartment of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United StatesCentre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United KingdomFaculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaMarine Conservation International, Edinburgh, United Kingdom0Department of Ecology and Geology, University of Málaga, Málaga, SpainInstituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Málaga, Spain1Laboratorio de Química de Productos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, ChileCentro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, SpainCarl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United StatesCarl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United States2Centro de Biotecnología, Universidad Católica de Norte, Antofagasta, Chile3Campoalto Operaciones SpA, Santiago, Chile4Ocean Technology and Engineering, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United KingdomOn our planet, aqueous environments such as deep sea or high-altitude aphotic lakes, subject to present or past volcanic activity and active deglaciation, may provide analogs to the aqueous environments found on such planetary bodies as Europa, Titan or Enceladus. We report here on the methodologies and technologies tested in Laguna Negra, a high altitude lake in the Central Andes, Chile, for exploring and assessing the presence of life within planetary lakes or interior oceans. We adopted a multi-parametric Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) approach centered around collecting video imagery (by an Underwater Imaging System) and sampling benthic sediments (for sedimentological, biological and geochemical analysis) to depths of 272 m, to complement physico-chemical sampling of the water column and collection of shallow sediments for microbiological analysis (reported in separate publications). This enabled us to classify and assess the apparent status of benthic habitats, based on substrata and environmental characteristics, together with floral and faunal community characteristics and bioturbation artifacts. Video imagery showed that the lower water column was characterized by a variably intense sestonic flux of particles and debris, among which were planktonic organisms such as ostracods, copepods, and possibly cladocerans. Sediment analysis revealed at all depths abundant diatom frustules, mainly of an acidophile pennade diatom Pinnularia acidicola, amid vegetal debris likely originating from littoral macrophytes. Video imagery showed that the lakebed was partly covered by microbial mats and depositional matter and harbored an unexpectedly rich assortment of macrofauna, including sponges, tubificid worms, flatworms, bivalves and crustaceans. Various forms of bioturbation were also encountered, some with the animals in the tracks. Most notably, at the deepest site, a previously undescribed faunal feature was evident, apparently formed by a mat-like community of several layers of what appeared to be polychaete tubeworms, possibly of the family Siboglinidae. It is hypothesized that the hydrothermal activity observed in the region may supply the compounds able to support the deep-water microrganisms from which such tubeworms typically gain sustenance. Such processes could be present on other deep and aphotic liquid-water-bearing planetary bodies.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00070/fullplanetary explorationrapid environmental assessmentlife detectionmacrophytesdiatomshigh altitude lakes |
| spellingShingle | Virginie C. Tilot Virginie C. Tilot Nathalie A. Cabrol Nathalie A. Cabrol Victor Parro Alberto G. Fairén Alberto G. Fairén Rupert F. G. Ormond Rupert F. G. Ormond Rupert F. G. Ormond Enrique Moreno-Ostos Nieves Lopez-Gonzalez Fabián A. Figueroa Ignacio Gallardo-Carreño Eric W. Smith Pablo Sobrón Cecilia Demergasso Cristian Tambley Julie Robidart A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community Frontiers in Environmental Science planetary exploration rapid environmental assessment life detection macrophytes diatoms high altitude lakes |
| title | A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community |
| title_full | A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community |
| title_fullStr | A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community |
| title_short | A Test in a High Altitude Lake of a Multi-Parametric Rapid Methodology for Assessing Life in Liquid Environments on Planetary Bodies: A Potential New Freshwater Polychaete Tubeworm Community |
| title_sort | test in a high altitude lake of a multi parametric rapid methodology for assessing life in liquid environments on planetary bodies a potential new freshwater polychaete tubeworm community |
| topic | planetary exploration rapid environmental assessment life detection macrophytes diatoms high altitude lakes |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00070/full |
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