Lost World of Lagoons Discovered in Argentina

Researchers accidentally came across a lost world of lagoons in Puna de Atacama when they noticed odd pools on satellite images of the northwestern Argentine desert. Puna de Atacama, a massive plateau towering over 12,000 feet (3,660 meters) above sea level, sits on the border of Argentina and Chile.

Only a handful of plants and animals survive in this challenging environment of high altitude, extreme dryness, and intense sunlight. It is a mysterious and fascinating world waiting to be unraveled.

Brian Hynek, a geological sciences associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Maria Farías, a microbiologist and co-founder of PunaBio environmental consultancy, trekked miles across the desolate terrain before encountering the remarkable lagoons.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen or, really, like anything any scientist has ever seen,” remarked Hynek in a statement.

Twelve pools of shallow water

The recently discovered extraterrestrial-like ecosystem comprises twelve pools of shallow, crystal-clear water surrounded by mountains, spreading across 25 acres (10 hectares) of the desert, as described in the statement.

Below the surface of these lagoons, the researchers observed small hills covered in green microbial growth. “It’s just amazing that you can still find undocumented things like that on our planet,” remarked Hynek, describing the discovery as “the biggest eureka moment I’ve ever had in my life.”

According to Hynek, these living mounds offer a glimpse into the earliest stages of life on Earth and potentially ancient life on Mars.

Initial stromatolite suspects

Initial observations suggest they may be stromatolites—complex communities of microbes whose secretions solidify into rock layers. These are similar to those present during the Archaean period (4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) when Earth’s atmosphere lacked oxygen.

While stromatolites continue to form in various marine and freshwater environments today, they are much smaller than their ancient counterparts.

The Atacama lagoon mounds closely resemble Archaean stromatolites, reaching sizes of up to 20 feet (6 meters) high, as indicated by fossil discoveries. Notably, the Atacama stromatolites were primarily composed of gypsum—a mineral commonly found in fossilized stromatolites but absent in contemporary examples.

Argentina's Puna de Atacama, a high plateau desert (one of the driest biomes on Earth) more than 12,000 feet above sea level, has salt lagoons with stromatolites; proffering up insights into the emergence of life on Earth, c. 4 billion years ago. pic.twitter.com/zo3ECNCNP7

— George William (@GeorgeW78246413) December 6, 2023

The elevated formations, immersed in the salty, acidic waters of the lagoons and exposed to intense solar radiation, hosted two types of microbes. The outer layers were coated with photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria, while the core harbored communities of single-celled organisms known as archaea.

Hynek speculated, “Understanding these modern communities on Earth could inform us about what we should look for as we search for similar features in the Martian rocks.” However, time is of the essence to validate these initial findings, as the site has been leased for lithium mining.