Table 1. Basic physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the water samples from the Socompa lake (site 5 in Figure 1) and from the hydrothermal spring (HTS).
| Site 5 | HTS | ||
| Temperature | (°C) | 20–24 | 26 |
| pH | 8.6 | 6.5 | |
| Total hardness | (mg CaCO3 l−1) | 22,788 | 231 |
| Conductivity | (mS cm−1) | 115 | 0.9 |
| Sodium | (mg l−1) | 37,113 | 91 |
| Potassium | (mg l−1) | 5,298 | 12.8 |
| Magnesium | (mg l−1) | 4,090 | 20.9 |
| Calcium | (mg l−1) | 2,383 | 59.5 |
| Chloride | (mg l−1) | 52,234 | 255 |
| Sulfate | (mg l−1) | 31,847 | 322 |
| Arsenic | (mg l−1) | 18.5 | 0.05 |
| Nitrate | (mg l−1) | 59 | 6.5 |
| Phosphate | (mg l−1) | 25 | 2.5 |
| Silicate | (mg l−1) | 73 | 82.6 |
| Iron | (mg l−1) | 1 | <0.1 |
| Manganese | (mg l−1) | <0.05 | 0.5 |
| Total organic carbon | (mg l−1) | 50 | 1.9 |
| Cell count | (cells ml−1) | 200 | NA |
| Chlorophyll a | (µg l−1) | 3 | NA |