Exploring ancient lake life
Flash video, (1 min 45 sec)
Location videography by Rafferty Pendery
Underwater videography by Dale Andersen
Interview and UC Davis videography by Ken Zukin
Produced by Andy Fell, UC Davis News Service
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‘Living rocks’ in lake may give clues to life on other planets
Earlier this year, UC Davis geology graduate student Bekah Shepard piloted a mini-submersible into the depths of Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, as part of an expedition to map strange life forms that could give clues to the history of life on Earth and other planets.
Led by Darlene Lim from NASA’s Ames Research Center and including researchers from McMaster University and the University of British Columbia, the team used one-person “Deepworker” submersibles supplied by Nuytco Inc. to map and sample microbialites — formations of living microbes and minerals thought to be similar to some of the earliest forms of life on Earth.
Pavilion Lake is unique in the diversity of microbialites of different sizes and shapes present in the lake, Shepard said. UC Davis undergraduate Natalie Stork was also part of the research team.
Shepard and Stork have been studying for their doctorates with UC Davis geology professor Dawn Sumner, who studies ancient forms of life on Earth and how their billion-year-old fossils can be distinguished from purely mineral traces. The same knowledge could be applied to look for evidence of life on other planets, notably Mars.
The researchers have previously explored the lake by scuba diving and with remote-operated vehicles. The manned submersibles allowed them to reach the deepest parts of the lake — about 180 feet — collect samples, and map microbialite colonies.
Joining the expedition were Canadian astronaut Dave Williams, now a professor of surgery at McMaster University, and NASA astronaut Michael Gernhardt.
On the UC Davis home page : UC Davis graduate student Bekah Shepard was at the controls of a Deepworker minisubmersible, Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, in June 2008. NASA/photo