Directory

Start date:
October 2013
End date:
January 2014
Locations:
Lake Joyce, Lake Vanda
Principle Investigator:
Dawn Sumner
Organisation:
University of California Davis
Field proposal includes to: use previously collected field data and samples to quantitatively compare Lake Joyce mats to other microbial structures in Antarctic lakes as well as to Archean cuspate microbialites; and return to Lake Joyce to evaluate morphological variations in webbed pinnacles as a function of sedimentation rate and calcite precipitation. Our primary field research tasks include: B) Characterize Variations in Webbed Pinnacle Morphology − to study how the morphology of webbed pinnacles varies with water depth and with proximity to sediment sources; C) Evaluate Sedimentation in Lake Joyce − to constrain how sedimentation affects webbed pinnacle morphology; D) Characterize Calcite Precipitation − to evaluate how the timing and location of calcite precipitation relative to microbial community growth affects microbialite morphology.