Prokaryote populations of extant microbialites along a depth gradient in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada

The Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) is an international, multi-disciplinary, science and exploration effort to explain the origin of freshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Fossil microbialites represent some of the earliest remnants of life on ancient Earth, and were common from ~2.5 billion to 540 million years ago. Today, microbialites are found in environments where conditions are often too harsh for most organisms. However, the microbialites in both Pavilion and Kelly lakes have provided a new environment for the scientific community to study. These lakes demonstrate that large and uniquely shaped structures can also occur in non-extreme environments that also support fish, plants and other species. The microbialites of these modern lakes are relevant to our understanding of ancient microbiaites that were once common and diverse on early Earth, as such, Pavilion Lake has become an exciting field site for Earth scientists and astrobiologists who are interested in the application of the PLRP research to the search for life in our solar system and beyond. The PLRP was founded in 2004, and has grown in exciting new directions ever since. During the 2004 field season, PLRP scientists discovered microbialites in Kelly Lake, which is approximately 20 km NW from Pavilion Lake. The PLRP team will be taking their DeepWorker Science and Exploration (DSE) program to Kelly Lake in 2011. These research activities complement those that have taken place at Pavilion Lake since 2008, and will help to broaden our understanding of modern microbialite-rich environments. Further to these science activities, the PLRP supports a thriving human exploration research component. The focus of this program element is the development of operational technologies and strategies that facilitate scientific productivity and efficiency for future human scientific exploration of our Solar System.