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Lichens, cyanobacteria and molds growing in humidity of simulated Martian atmosphere: Difference between revisions
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Lichens, cyanobacteria and molds growing in humidity of simulated Martian atmosphere (edit)
Revision as of 09:01, 3 January 2023
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===Brines still present down to 30% external humidity in micropores in salt pillars===
The researchers, Wierzchos et al., did detailed studies with scanning electron microscopes. At 75% relative humidity then brine was abundant inside the salt pillars. As the humidity was reduced, even at 30% RH, the cyanobacteria aggregates shrunk due to water loss, but still there were small pockets of brine in the salt pillars.<ref name="WierzchosDavila2012">{{cite journal|url=
{{quote|Endolithic communities inside halite pinnacles in the Atacama Desert take advantage of the moist conditions that are created by the halite substrate in the absence of rain, fog or dew. The tendency of the halite to condense and retain liquid water is enhanced by the presence of a nano-porous phase with a smooth surface skin, which covers large crystals and fills the larger pore spaces inside the pinnacles... Endolithic microbial communities were observed as intimately associated with this hypothetical nano-porous phase. While halite endoliths must still be adapted to stress conditions inside the pinnacles (i.e. low water activity due to high salinity), these observations show that hygroscopic salts such as halite become oasis for life in extremely dry environments, when all other survival strategies fail.}}
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