Underground oasis under the world's driest desert

Researchers from the Spanish Center for Astrophysics and the Catholic University of Northern Chile have discovered a 2-meter underground micro-oasis under the surface of the Atacama desert, the most arid Chile in the world, thanks to machines. Life detectors used for future Mars exploration projects.

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'Call this ' micro-oasis ' because we have found microorganisms growing in an environment rich in rock salt and highly moisture-absorbing compounds , ' said Victor Parro, researcher. According to the Spanish Astronomical Biology Institute.

In addition, these microbial substrates give priority to decomposition, which means they can attract scarce moisture in the air, condensing moisture on the surface of the salt crystals. Therefore, it helps to form thin water films only a few micrometers thick.

2 meters below the driest desert surface
gender is an oasis of bacteria and bacteria that are proliferating.

In this environment, underground microorganisms grow thanks to all the things needed for life: food and water. These species resemble species that live in similarly saline environments, but unique in that we have never found them at depths of 2 to 3 meters where there is no oxygen and sunlight.

To conduct the study, scientists used a device called SOLID ( Life Detector ), which was developed to serve future Mars exploration projects. Therefore, this is a useful lesson for upcoming Mars dating projects.

'If there are microorganisms similar to the microbes that we find at Atacama in the soil, we can detect them with devices like SOLID detectors , ' Parro stressed.

The researcher explained that mineral salts were found on the red planet, so it is likely that there are also super-saline habitats on the soil layer below the surface of the planet.'High mineral salts have a dual benefit: it absorbs water between crystals and helps reduce freezing, so they can have thin films of water at temperatures of only a few degrees negative, up to minus 20. ^o C ".

High levels of mineral salts and water scarcity help preserve biological molecules, so it is likely that we will find life in these dry layers, even though the microbes are in That habitat has died millions of years ago.