The carbonate system in hypersaline lakes: the Laguna Negra case (Puna of Catamarca, Argentina)

GOMEZ, F.J.; BOIDI, F.J.; MLEWSKI, C; GERARD, E.

Microbial Ecosystems in Central Andes Extreme Environments

Springer

Año: 2020;

Carbonate precipitation in hypersaline lakes is controlled by a combination of physicochemical as well as microbiological processes. These processes are recorded, at least partially, in the textural and chemical signatures preserved in the resulting carbonates. Unravelling these controls is important to have a better understanding of environmental (e.g. climate, local hydrology and sedimentology) and biogeochemical (e.g. carbon cycling, microbe-mineral interactions) signatures there preserved, and helps to improve our understanding of environmental evolution preserved in recent and ancient sedimentary carbonates.Here a review of data about the carbonate system in the Laguna Negra is done. The Laguna Negra is a hypersaline lake in the Altiplano-Puna region of northwest Argentina, where an extensive and active microbialites system has developed for at least ~2442 ± 252 years. Some first-order controls in carbonate precipitation are discussed and some comparisons with available data of other lakes in the region are made.