Subsurface Microbial Ecology at Sediment-Groundwater Interface in Sulfate-Rich Playa; White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.

ABSTRACT: The hypersaline sediment and groundwater of playa lake, Lake Lucero, at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico were examined for microbial community composition, geochemical gradients, and mineralogy during the dry season along a meter and a half depth profile of the sediment vs. the groundwater interface. Lake Lucero is a highly dynamic environment, strongly characterized by the capillary action of the groundwater, the extreme seasonality of the climate, and the hypersalinity. Sediments are predominantly composed of gypsum with minor quartz, thenardite, halite, quartz, epsomite, celestine, and clays. Geochemical analysis has revealed the predominance of nitrates over ammonium in all of the analyzed samples, indicating oxygenated conditions throughout the sediment column and in gr

SUBMITTER: Glamoclija M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6861310 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature