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Climatological characteristics in the extreme hyper-arid region of Pampas de La Joya, Peru. Astrobiological approach in four years of observation: 2004–2008

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2011

Julio E. Valdivia-Silva ,
Rafael Navarro-González ,
Lauren Fletcher ,
Saúl Pérez-Montaño ,
Reneé Condori-Apaza ,
Fernando Ortega-Gutiérrez  and
Christopher McKay
Julio E. Valdivia-Silva*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Química de Plasmas y Estudios Planetarios, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal 04510, México Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Rafael Navarro-González
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Química de Plasmas y Estudios Planetarios, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal 04510, México
Lauren Fletcher
Affiliation:
Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Saúl Pérez-Montaño
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA
Reneé Condori-Apaza
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional San Agustín, Arequipa, Perú
Fernando Ortega-Gutiérrez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal 04510, México
Christopher McKay
Affiliation:
Space Science and Astrobiology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
*
e-mail: jvsilva@nucleares.unam.mx
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Abstract

This study reports the environmental conditions of temperature, moisture and radiation for four years (May 2004 to July 2008) in the area known as Pampas de La Joya in southern Peru, which recently has been considered as a new Mars analogue. The period of evaluation includes the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during the months of September 2006 to March 2007, which, despite not having catastrophic effects like its predecessor on 1997–1998, showed an interesting increase in humidity. Our data describe the extreme conditions present in the region and their relationship with the presence of potential habitats that could allow for the survival of micro-organisms. The average environmental temperature was 18.9°C, with a maximum of 35.9°C and a minimum of −4.5°C. The annual average incident solar radiation was 508 W m−2, with high near 1060 W m−2 at noon during the driest period between September and March. The average relative humidity (RH) was 29.5, 20.1 and 20.4% for air, soil and rock, respectively. The RH had higher values at night due to fog during the months of June and August, and during the early morning between December and March. During the months of ENSO event there were four episodes of precipitation (1.1, 1.5, 2.0 and 0.9 mm), of which three increased soil and rock moisture on an average more than 45% and persisted for over 15 days after precipitation, while the atmospheric environment had no significant variations. Finally, quartz rocks and evaporite minerals colonized with micro-organisms were found as the only micro-habitats, in this region, capable of supporting life in this extreme environment.

Keywords

hyper-arid soilsextreme environmentsAtacama DesertPampas de La JoyaMars analogues
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 25 - 35
Creative Commons
This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011 This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.

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