Bolivia -- High Lakes Expedition: An Astrobiological Trek Across the Altiplano

Date: 2005

Expedition Leader: Dr. Nathalie Cabrol

Team Members: Dr. Edmond Grin (NASA Ames/SETI), Co-Principal Investigator; Logistics: Victor Gaete (UCN Chile), Rob Morris (SETI), and Cristian Tambley (CHEP Chile); Education/Outreach: Michèle Carbol (French Mars Society) and Peter Coppin (CMU/Eventscope); Emergency Medicine: Dr. Ross Donaldson; Science Specialists: Andrew Hock (UCLA/NASA Ames—Geophysics), Dr. Lynn Rothschild (NASA Ames—Microbiology); Research Assistants: Melissa Rice, Dana Rogoff, Clayton Woosley

Purpose: The Licancabur project aims at exploring and understanding this unique environment in hopes that it provides: (1) critical astrobiological information about the limits of life on Earth (2) scientific clues about potential analogous sites on Mars (3) elements to design science mission strategies for planetary exploration and search for life in the Solar System.

Description: Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary geologist working with the NASA Ames Research Center and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, carried Wings WorldQuest Flag #1 on a trek to the top of two volcanoes in the Andes and across the Altiplano.  Natalie and her co-principal investigator, Dr. Edmond Grin, have led three previous expeditions to lakes in this area. These highest lakes on earth are analogous to Mars in that they are low oxygen environments with intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and atmospheric pressure approximately half of the pressure at sea level. They were searching for clues as to whether or not the lakes of Mars might ever have sustained living organisms.

The Mars Underwater Project team investigated the underwater ecosystem of the summit lake of Licancabur volcano (5,916 meters) during 2002–2004. In October 2005, Nathalie and her team would try to reach the summits of both Licancabur and Poquentica (5,850 meters) volcanoes in 10 days – a challenging ambition made all the more risky due to unusually harsh weather.  Because they would be working and diving at altitudes of 20,000 feet, Nathalie and the team prepared for their expedition by training in Bolivia, acclimatizing and coping with sustained winds of over 100 kilometers per hour.

Their project began at the base of Licancabur, one of the three sacred mountains of the “triangle of fire” of the Incas, whose civilization flourished some 500 years ago.  Although the team planned high-altitude dives,  bitter cold, high wind, and frozen lakes made it impossible. During a break in the harsh weather, Nathalie and her team were able to climb to the volcano crater in record time, traveling 200 vertical meters per hour. They worked quickly to collect ice, mud, permafrost, and other samples; to retrieve the previous year's meteorological data; and to set up a new data recording station. The collected ice will be used to ascertain how spores, pollen, and other airborne material contribute to the sediment of high-altitude lakes.

On the way to the second volcano, Nathalie’s group covered more than 800 kilometers.  Traveling off the road, they typically found themselves completely isolated in an incredible landscape. The team stopped to sample from evaporating lakes and geothermal centers located at altitudes between 4,000 and 4,800 meters – Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde, Thermales, Sol de Mañana, Laguna Colorada, and an as-yet-unnamed hydrothermal spring. 

At Laguna Verde, no surface life was visible, but as soon as rocks were overturned, colonies of microbial organisms were revealed. Across the Altiplano, the team stopped at the Salar de Uyuni, a 12,000-square-kilometer salt lake with bubbling springs and orange streams containing living algae and other microorganisms. 

At the foot of Poquentica, the team saw pink lichen, dunes, lava flows, canyons, and thousands of wild llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas. After a five-hour climb up 40-degree slopes of gravel and sand, the team reached the summit, and the porters set up camp. With only limited time at the top, and battling fatigue, the team collected samples, installed the monitoring equipment, and explored the mostly frozen lake. The next day’s descent was quick, only 55 minutes, since the team simply ran down the slopes, kicking up dust, pleased with what they had accomplished.

Nathalie considers a highlight of her 2005 work to be the discovery that the Licancabur permafrost is so very rich in microbial life.  Life in high-altitude lakes appears to be diverse and abundant, and to employ both biological and physical protections.  Another highlight of the expedition is the 12 months of data retrieved from the Licancabur meteorological station.  The team also completed its geological transect of the entire paleostratigraphy of Laguna Verde.

Website: http://www.extremeenvironment.com/ www.eventscope.org/highlakes