In January 2018, BME research fellows Erica Suosaari and Sara Swaminathan traveled to northern Chile to conduct fieldwork in small lagoons with ‘stromatolite-like’ gypsum deposits. A primary goal of BME research in this locale is to determine the role of microbes in the formation of the gypsum domes. Microbes are present within the gypsum deposits, but is it unknown whether they are simply seeking protection from the high ultra violet light in this high- altitude dessert environment, or if the microbes were involved in gypsum precipitation. As gypsum has been detected on Mars, these lagoonal deposits are relevant to the field of astrobiology. Erica and Sara measured water chemistry in the field and collected water and sediment samples for lab analyses.
