Multimedia Gallery
December 16, 2004
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Researcher Jay Quade samples the Atacama soil
The driest parts of Chile's Atacama desert get rain once every few decades, yet microbial life exists a mere 8 to 12 inches below the parched terrain. Researcher Jay Quade, shown here in a test pit, samples the Mars-like landscape for soil carbonates.
Credit: Julio L. Betancourt, U.S. Geological Survey.
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.
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Related story: Of Microbes and Mars