Jun
29

From Earth to the Solar System: Mono Lake

MONO LAKE: Calcium carbonate formations called tufa give California’s Mono Lake an otherworldly feel. Mountains surround the lake, forming a closed hydrological basin—water flows in, but it doesn’t flow out. Because the only way for water to leave Mono Lake is through evaporation, it is naturally hypersaline—roughly 2-3 times saltier than the ocean. Freshwater streams and underwater springs have brought trace amounts of minerals into the lake over the eons, including arsenic. Recently, bacteria which appear to incorporate arsenic rather than phosphorus into their basic biological molecules were found living in Mono Lake. This fascinating discovery may require us to rewrite our biology textbooks, and broadens the possibilities of how life elsewhere in the Universe, if it exists, might utilize the resources in its environment. Image Credit: Henry Bortman

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Posted: 29 June 2011
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.