(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists explored a volcanic lake in Costa Rica, which is a mixture of sulfur and acid, and found microbes there.
The authors of the work believe that if bacteria could survive in such an environment, then life could well exist on Mars. It is reported by Space Sciences.
This lake is called Laguna Caliente and its water is ultra-acid and contains toxic metals. Conditions in the reservoir are very harsh, the temperature in it ranges from 38 to 90 degrees Celsius.
There are repeated “phreatic eruptions” that cause unexpected explosions of steam, ash and rocks. But, despite this, bacteria mainly of the genus Acidiphilium live in the lake.
This surprised the scientists. Researchers believe that it was in the Laguna crater of the Poas volcano that the earliest forms of life on Earth could have originated.
The experts took an analysis from Mars, which indicated the similarity in structure of the Lagoon with the Gusev crater of the Red Planet, which was studied back in 2004.
Based on this, the authors of the work came to the conclusion that, perhaps, there could also be life on Mars.
Experts suggest that on the Red Planet inside the Gusev crater, as well as in Lake Laguna, there used to be a sulfuric acid environment.
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