What may seem just like any other mountain lake, the Pavilion lake in British Colombia, Canada is being termed a biological mystery, drawing teams of astro-biologists and astronauts from NASA and CSA to explore in it’s depths.
The seemingly normal picturesque lake situated 420 kilometers northeast of Vancouver among the limestone cliffs of Marble Canyon, is not unusually large or deep, not especially acidic or alkaline; nor are there high concentrations of minerals dissolved in its water. Yet, it is home to colonies of Microbialites which are carbonate rock formations that look like coral, but are thought to be produced by primitive bacteria. These ancient structures were common from 2.5 billion to 540 million years ago, and are one of the earliest remnants of life on Earth. How these microbial formations manage to survive in Pavilion Lake in such large quantities, in various shapes and sizes unlike anywhere else on Earth has baffled all. But, no one’s pondering that fact, considering themselves lucky with the discovery as research of the Microbialites and their formation in Pavilion lake may be key in the search for life on Mars and make it easier to identify potential forms of extraterrestrial life on future missions to Mars.
Space agencies like NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) along with number of research institutions all over the world set up the Pavilion Lake Research Project and have been studying the lake for several years. Scuba divers retrieved samples from as deep as 100 feet below the surface for analysis and the deeper parts explored by DeepWorker submarines just large enough for a pilot to squeeze inside. NASA and CSA sent astronauts to the scene for space exploration training saying that the lake bottom was like the surface of another planet altogether. Scientists, technicians and even astronauts with limited scientific field experience are trained to perform good scientific observations while contending with the stress of operating underwater as if it were space.
Bizzare isn’t it, that the life we’re searching for on planets like Mars may be just like what we have right here on Earth, in a Canadian lake!
*Photo Credits: All photos by SpacePhotoBill on flickr.
This is pretty amazing! I wonder what the conditions are that made this place the only one with these colonies thriving