Table 2.
The studied lagoons in the Atacama Desert: General characteristics (note that mean ocean water salinity is 35 g/Kg); anionic (ion-exchange chromatography) and cationic (inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry) compositions; and species composition (%) of main OTUs (NGS-Based 16S rRNA sequencing, ND: Not Detected). X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of sodium chloride (NaCl, halite) and sodium nitrate (NaNO3) in both the large- and medium-sized lagoons (Figure S1).
| Coordinates | Large | Medium | Small |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24°04′43.1″S, 69°56′35.2″W | 24°04′42.5″S, 69°56′28.9″W | 24°04′43.0″S, 69°56′02.0″W | |
| Length (m) | 60 | 30 | 4 |
| Wide (m) | 40 | 20 | 1 |
| Depth (cm) | 15 | 10 | 30 |
| pH | 6,4 ± 0.02 | 6,1 ± 0.02 | 3,8 ± 0.02 |
| EC (mS/cm) | 25,06 ± 0.01 | 28,31 ± 0.01 | 62,19 ± 0.01 |
| Salinity (g/Kg) | 19,8 ± 0.4 | 21,6 ± 0.4 | 38,78 ± 0.8 |
| ORP (mV) | −33,5 ± 1 | −31 ± 1 | −72,7 ± 1 |
| Anions (ppm) | |||
| Fluorides | 0,09 | 0,17 | 0,17 |
| Acetates | 0,22 | ND | 0,04 |
| Formiates | ND | ND | 0,02 |
| Chlorides | 172,11 | 1116,01 | 50,52 |
| Bromides | 0,13 | 0,91 | 0,41 |
| Nitrates | 108,58 | 654,81 | 254,10 |
| Sulfates | 2,24 | 31,17 | 368,89 |
| Cations (% weight) | |||
| Na | 7,91 | 7,77 | 7,71 |
| Mg | 0,04 | 0,04 | 0,55 |
| K | 0,10 | 0,10 | 2,13 |
| Ca | 0,91 | 0,92 | 20,61 |
| Closest Blast Match | |||
| Marinimicrobium locisalis | 80 | 43 | 48 |
| Marinobacter sp. | 9 | 23 | 52 |
| Halomonas gudaonensis | 8 | ─ | ─ |
| Acinetobacter sp. | 3 | 34 | ─ |