Program areas at Bahamas Marine Ecocentre
Research and education activities in the Bahamas were largely carried out at the Darby Island Research Station, Bahamas. which is maintained and operated by Bahamas Marine EcoCentre. As in 2021, research activities at the station in 2022 were restricted due to CoVid19; costs were mainly associated with station maintenance and travel.
A third area of research activity was Western Australia,where we cont'd research into modern marine stromatolites in Shark Bay. This research involved one PhD student and one post doc. The following two papers were published: (1) Vitek, B.E.; Suosaari, E.P.; Stolz, J.F.; Oehlert, A.M.; Reid, R.P. Initial Accretion in Hamelin Pool Microbialites: The Role of Entophysalis in Precipitation of Microbial Micrite. Geosciences 2022, 12, 304. httpsdoiorg103390geosciences12080... (2) Suosaari, E.P., Reid, R.P. Mercadier, C., Vitek, B.E, Oehlert, A.M., Stolz, J.F., Giusfredi, P.E., Eberli, G.P. (2022) The microbial carbonate factory of Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay, Western Australia: Scientific Reports (2022) 12:12902 | httpsdoiorg101038s4159802216651z
Our second geographic area of research was the Atacama Desertof northern Chile where we continued monitoring stromatolite growth in saline lagoons. This research involved one post doctoral fellow. Program expenses pertain to field activities and laboratory analyses. The following peer reviewed papers were published in 2022: (1) Oehlert AM, Suosaari EP, Kong T, Piggot AM, Maizel D, Lascu I, Demergasso C, Chong Díaz G, Reid RP. (2022) Physical, chemical, and microbial feedbacks controlling brine geochemistry and lake morphology in polyextreme salar environments. Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 25;836:155378. doiorg101016jscitotenv2022155378 Epub 2022 Apr 27. PMID: 35489513. (2) Suosaari, E.P., Lascu, I., Oehlert, A.M., Parlanti, P., Machabee, P.F., Piggot, A.M., Reid, R.P. 2022. Mg-clay biomineralization as a prerequisite to microbial carbonate precipitation in non-marine settings: a case study from the Puquios, Salar de Llamara, Northern Chile. Nature Communications Earth and Environment 2022 DOI 10.1038/s43247-022-00658-5. (3) Suosaari, E.P.; Oehlert,A.M.; Lascu, I.; Decho, A.W.; Piggot, A.M.; Palma, A.T.; Machabee, P.F.; Reid, R.P. (2022) Environmental and Biological Controls on Sedimentary Bottom Types in the Puquios of the Salar de Llamara, Northern Chile. Geosciences 2022, 12, 247. https:// doiorg103390geosciences12060247