| Oct. 25th, 2002
Brian Grigsby
Human side of the expedition: Today was our planned
training on Licancabur. But yesterday (the 24th)
a storm blew in and dropped snow all the way down
to the refuge. It started out as a few high clouds
over the distant mountains, but it began to get
colder and the clouds descended upon us. The temperature
dropped, and soon we were seeing snow sticking
on the ground outside. The wind howled as the
snow whipped into the refuge.
In the night, the bright moon illuminated the
frigid landscape with an eerie glow. What a site.
In the morning, a light dusting of snow also covered
the surrounding mountains and Licancabur. Because
of safety concerns, we postponed the climb for
1 day or until the weather allowed a safe ascent.
Yesterday, Team B visited and there were all
stunned by the possibilities for science there.
It was great to meet the rest of the team.
Today, Team A was split into 2 teams, one team
to visit the stromatalite site, and the other
to install Plexiglas UV plates.
SCIENCE ACTIVITIES:
Stromatalite
field: What an amazing find! This is a very
large stromatalite field. Stromatalites are formed
by piling up of sediment or through minerals forming
in the water. The bacteria bind to this sediment
then to form the stromatalites. Fresh water stromatalites
are restricted to calcium rich lakes, but this
is not the case here. We started the characterizing
of the field.
UV
Plate Placements: These plates were placed at
4 areas in Laguna Blanca, and at 2 places in Laguna
Verde. The plates are in pairs, 1 plate blocks
the UV radiation, and one plate does not block
the radiation. This is a long term experiment.
After 10 days, we will take samples and send them
to UCN, Ames, and Hungary. These samples will
then have their DNA sequenced and compared to
see if the UV radiation affects it. This is a
unique experiment to study organisms such as these
at high altitudes. We hope to learn from this
experiment more about the possibilities of life
on Mars or throughout the solar system.
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