Oct 27 started with our normal breakfast meeting. We outlined a plan for the day:

• Clay and Rob would fix our generator.
• Andy would keep trouble shooting his sensor systems and install some experiments for Lynn Rothschild who would arrive later in the week.
• Edmond would check on some of his UV plate experiments.
• Ross, Melissa, and myself would join Nathalie's group.

Our goal with Nathalie's group: Head to Laguna Verde in order to engage in a geologic sampling process. Laguna is spanish for lake. In this case, Laguna Verde is a high altitude evaporating lake. The sampling process would basically track the various stages of the shoreline recession that was caused by evaporation. Taking samples would enable the team to reconstruct the age of the Laguna Verde.

We drove down a very bumpy, windy road. After a while, a beautiful green body of water came into view. This was Laguna Verde. Verde means green in spanish.





I stepped out of the car and immediately took a look at the ground. The ground's texture was result of it's nearness to the laguna. I took some pictures of the texture.





We walked further from the vehicle that took us there. You can see how the ground changes when we get further from the laguna. This water's impact on the terrain would be the theme throughout the day, because most features that we would look at that day were shaped somehow by the laguna or by water.









Near the shore, Ross pounds open a rock. Beneath the rock is a yellow substance.







Each time a sample is found, Melissa describes the environment in a notebook,Cristian places the sample in a sample bag, and Ross logs it's location using a GPS unit.





We headed up a hill. Nathalie and Cristian quickly found a stromatolite. Stromatolites are structures that can be formed either abiogenically by simple precipitation of minerals, or biogenically, when the precipitation of minerals is induced by the activity of tiny microorganisms, such as blue and green algae.







We headed further up the hill to look for even more samples.







Nathalie makes a discovery!







For the first time since the trip began, I started to feel the impact of the altitude. At 4468 meters [plus or minus seven meters], it is worth noting that we are at the approximate altitude of Mount Rainier in the United States. Ross, the team physician, decided to measure the oxygen in my blood. Fortunately, everything checked out normally.









Here is a panoramic image of the team working:


[click image to see a larger view]

This is Macario, our world renowned guide who knows this part of the Andes like the back of his hand.



After a long afternoon of sampling, we decided to return back to our home base at the Refuge.

Our day was spent at an extraordinary site with stunning beauty. This panoramic image shows the mountain behind us [bottom], my feet on the ground [middle], and the laguna [top].


[click the image to see a larger view]

Quote of the day:

"I dub you E3/PO.
This stands for Extreme Environment Education and Public Outreach"