Abstract On the edge of Don Juan Pond in the Wright Valley of Antarctica lies a mat of mineral and detritus cemented by organic matter. In spite of a CaCl2 concentration of about 33% (w/v), the mat contains and other cyanobacteria, unicellular forms, colonial forms rich in carotenoids, and diatoms. Bacteria are rare; fungal filaments are not. showed motility, but only at temperatures <10°C. Acetone extracts of the mat and nearby muds yielded visible spectra similar to those of laboratory grown , with 50- to 70-fold molar ratio of chlorophyll a to b. Although rare, tardigrades were also found. The algal mat had enzymatic activities characteristic of peroxidase, catalase, dehydrogenase, and amylase. Cellulose, chitin, protein, lipid and ATP were present. Previously, algae in the Wright Valley have been described in melt water, not in the brine itself. Wright Valley has been used as a near sterile Martian model. It obviously contains an array of hardy terrestrial organisms.
An extraterrestrial habitat on earth: The algal mat of Don Jaun Pond
Advances in Space Research ; 3 , 8 ; 39-42
1983-01-01
4 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
RESILIENCE-ORIENTED DESIGN OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL HABITAT SYSTEMS
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|The extraterrestrial Earth: Antarctica as analogue for space exploration
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|NTRS | 1966
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