The Carbonate System in Hypersaline Lakes: The Case of Laguna Negra (in the Puna Region of Catamarca, Argentina)

Abstract

Carbonate precipitation in hypersaline lakes is controlled by a combination of physicochemical and microbiological processes. These processes are recorded, at least partially, in the textural and chemical signatures preserved in the resulting carbonates. Unraveling of these controls is important to have a better understanding of environmental signatures (for example, climate, local hydrology, and sedimentology) and biogeochemical signatures (for example, carbon cycling, microbe–mineral interactions) preserved there, and helps to improve our understanding of environmental evolution preserved in recent and ancient sedimentary carbonates. This chapter reviews data on the carbonate system in Laguna Negra, a hypersaline lake in the Puna–Altiplano region of northwest Argentina, where an extensive and active microbialite system has developed for at least ~2442 ± 252 years. Some first-order controls in carbonate precipitation are discussed, and some comparisons with available data from other lakes in the region are made.