Field Trip Stop 2:  Keane Wonder Springs

Part 2: The Spring and Surprises in Geochemistry and Biology

The part of the spring used for the mine is enclosed in a box above the main spring to assure steady flow through controlled access:

The pipeline was anchored by the use of a hole made into rock near the spring:

Looking down on the spring:

Walking down and looking back up to where the group stood by the box shown above, note the white material in the flow from the spring: sulfur!

And here is where it gets interesting.  Looking up information about these types of deposits gave me many references to Mars: apparently there is active study of the proteobacteria and cyannobacteria that convert hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur and on to sulfate because these are some of the very earliest of life forms expected to have inhabited earth.  And when they form a symbiotic relationship with calcite (meaning they grow on and actually help precipitate more calcite, forming layered mats), they are known as stromatolites and date back to the Archean!  To wit (from this NASA-related web site with many links to further information): Stromatolites are the oldest known fossils, dating back more than 3 billion years. They are colonial structures formed by photosynthesizing cyannobacteria and other microbes. Stromatolites are prokaryotes(primitive organisms lacking a cellular nucleus) that thrived in warm aquatic environments and built reefs much the same way as coral does today. Cyannobacteria were likely responsible for the creation of earth's oxygen atmosphere. They were the dominant lifeform on Earth for over 2 billion years. Today they are nearly extinct, living a precarious existence in only a few localities worldwide.

So the type of sulfur deposit seen here, as well as the actual existence of stromatlite structures downstream, make this place a wonderful site to contemplate what may be found in fossil spring deposits on Mars!  (From another page on the same site just cited): Stromatolites, rock structures built by microbial organisms, are the most conspicuous evidence of early life on Earth and, hence, are the most appropriate target for investigation on Mars. Among the modern environments in which stromatolites form are hot springs such as those of Yellowstone National Park, New Zealand and Iceland.

So there you have it.  We are back in the Archean here, billions of years before complex life developed and looking at the types of creatures that may have produced oxygen that allowed us to exist later, much later (aren't they sorry now?).  [There is another life form also still in the world dating from this same time, but different from the Cyanobacteria being discused here, called Archeans, see the link to Stop 3, Part 1, below, for Internet links about their nature and habitats.]  Here is a closer view of the white bacteria-sulfur deposits:

The interesting thing to me is that just a few feet from where the sulfur deposition ends and the water chemistry has changed, there is what looks like an algal mat but is more likely a luxuriant bloom of these same primitive bacteria joined by their later, more developed cousins who are more colorful, with much advanced photosynthesis capability indicated by the green, but still slimy):

As water continues downhill and picks up more oxygen, it becomes more acidic and hostile to life and the only thing that then grows in the water is that portion of the bacterial mix found above that, colonizing and precipitating calcite structures, re-creates a 3-billion year old life form, the stromatolite!

As the water spreads out, their characteristic shelf-like systems of colonies become more dominant:

Further downstream, they show globular colony structure:

Stromatolites dominate the flow for a considerable distance untilk the chemistry of the water hads become less hostile and other life forms pop up:

This final photo with stromatolites shows the relationship of this location to central Death Valley and that ubiquitous beacon to the south of this location: Telescope Peak:

So why even have a third page for this location when all the great surprises to be found here are already shown on this page?  Because I have more photos!

                                Go to Part 3 of this SECOND STOP  (cactus flowers and a tiny waterfall)

            Go to THIRD STOP: Monarch Canyon and Springs (in 3 parts)  

            Go to FOURTH STOP: Some interesting volcanic rocks near Scotty's Castle

             Go back to stop 1 on this guided field trip

            Go back to 2006 Yearbook page (Item 13 has other Death Valley photo pages)

          Go back to ThoughtsandPlaces.org home page