Soils of the Atacama Desert: reservoir and fingerprint of life (B05+)

我们在第一阶段的工作证明，在阿塔卡马沙漠中，过去生命的指纹被保存下来，这一点可以通过有机质或微生物δ18OP转化的热点得到证明，这些热点在大多数情况下都埋在地下。在第二阶段，我们假设，现在，（一）小规模的，生命的痕迹是由微浮雕，底土蓄水和底土不连续性（如裂缝和多边形形成的石膏沙漠），而（二）在大规模上，生命的痕迹也受到影响雾和灰尘沉积的程度。总之，这使我们能够考虑是什么触发和驱动了景观层面以及整个阿塔卡马沙漠的生命进化和扩散。

Our work in phase I has proved that in the Atacama Desert fingerprints of past life are preserved, as evidenced by hotspots of organic matter or microbial δ18OP transformation, which occur in most cases buried in subsurface. In the second phase, we hypothesize now that on; (i) the small-scale, traces of life are controlled by micro-relief, subsoil water storage and subsoil discontinuities (e.g. cracks and polygons formed in the gypsum desert), whereas (ii) on the large scale, traces of life are also influenced by fog and the degree of dust deposition. Altogether this enables us to consider what triggered and drives the evolution and dispersal of life on the landscape level as well as across the whole Atacama Desert.