Nature

Microbial Life Found on the Snowy River

Unique environment discovered in Fort Stanton Cave

By Gabriel Gache, Science News Editor

25th of July 2008, 13:47 GMT

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Image of hydrologist John McLean on July 3rd walking across the fragile calcite crystal formation known as the Snowy River

The Snowy River, a massive white formation of tiny calcite crystals believed to span over as much as 6.4 kilometers or more inside the Fort Stanton Cave complex (the longest continuous cave formation in the world), is by far the latest and oddest geological finding in the world. In fact, the mineral deposit found seven years ago is so unique that the US Congress has already started the procedures to designate the Snowy River a national conservation area, which will protect it against mining and other related activities.

"I think Snowy River is one of the primo places underground in the world and there's still so much left that we haven't discovered. We don't even know how big it is," said cave specialist Jim Goodbar of the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The spectacular deposit has been investigated again this month during a survey expedition involving members of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Project, which revealed that the Snowy River, located in a passage beneath the rolling hills of southeastern New Mexico, could be much longer than previously estimated. One of the biggest subjects of interest regarding this formation of tiny calcite crystals is that they appear to be home to several species of microbial life that have been previously unknown to science.

"It's certainly a national treasure and very well worth protecting in its own right, even without Snowy River. With Snowy River, it puts it in the class of world-class caves," said hydrologist John McLean, part of the survey expedition studying the unusual deposit.

Penny Boston of New Mexico Tech says that besides the abnormal beauty of the Snowy River formation, the extreme environmental conditions it presents could allow scientists to investigate life in harsh environments. "The idea is that we're practicing to go to Mars, we're practicing to go to Europa (a moon of Jupiter) and all of these other places. It's very difficult to even prove some of the things we've studied here on this planet are alive. Imagine how much harder that is when you translate that to a robotic mission millions of miles from Earth," she said.

The manganese crust covering the walls of the caves could have just as well been created by the microorganisms found on the calcite crystal deposit, and might reveal that what once was believed to be a dead and inactive environment is in fact filled with life. The deposits are also likely to contain fossils of the newly found microbes, which could shine some light on the past of these life forms.

Although dry between 2001 and 2005, during expeditions last year researchers found that the Snowy River was flooded with flowing water, and did not dry up until several months later, suggesting that the formation may also to reveal some interesting facts about the geology of this arid region.

TAGS:

Snowy River | Fort Stanton Cave | microbes | calcite | life

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