STORIES

For nearly 40 years, Olivier Grunewald and Bernadette Gilbertas have been immersing themselves in the heart of the planet's wildest spaces, often accompanying scientific missions, to share its beauty and diversity.

Atacama salars: windows on the past

Atacama desert, Chile

A Franco-Chilean scientific mission came to explore the salars and lagoons of the Chilean altiplano.

At an altitude of more than 4000 meters, in the middle of the shimmering colors that illuminate the desert plateau of the Atacama, microbiologists came to collect micro-organisms adapted to these extreme conditions. The salars could well be similar to the ecosystems of the primitive earth, and the abundant microbial communities could be analogues of those that dominated on Earth, before the appearance of the more complex cells from which plants and animals, including humans, have evolved.

Scientists venture out with a small canoe on the Laguna Roja to collect samples at different depths.

The Salar Quisquiro on the Chilean Altiplano presents microbial mats of particular interest to the scientific team.

At 4700 meters above sea level on the Altiplano, the Laguna Pujsa is a salar with a very bright color thanks to the presence of mineral elements and microorganisms.

At the edge of the Laguna Pujsa, the scientists collect water and carry out cores to search microorganisms.

The Huasco salar has lost a large part of its water. Either it is the climate change or it is the exploitation of the Lithium which are the cause.

Laguna Brava is one of the many salars that dot the Chilean Atacama. Scientists are looking for microorganisms that are adapted to it.

Gorongosa, the park of reconciliation

Gorongosa national park, Mozambique

The Gorongosa wilderness was, until the late 1970s, the richest and most diverse ecosystem in southern Africa.

But sixteen years of violent civil war wiped out this vibrant haven of life. By 1992, Gorongosa had lost 95% of its wildlife. Today, the national park is emerging from its ashes. Behind this miracle, the dynamism of the ecosystems and the collaboration between the Mozambican government and an American philanthropist around an idea: to make the protected area an engine of development for the local populations.

The alternation of land and water creates a great diversity of ecological environments. Today the animal populations have recovered their pre-war levels.

The elephants were decimated during the war, their ivory being used to buy weapons. The older ones keep the memory of this period and are often aggressive.

The pangolin is the most poached animal in Africa. In the park a rehabilitation center is dedicated to them and a team is looking for them on the black market.

The "girls club" was created to provide educational support to young girls, to encourage them to choose a profession and to encourage them to refuse early marriage.

The mobile clinics, supported by the park, will bring health care and vaccines to the most isolated communities in the outlying area of Gorongosa.

On Mount Gorongosa, in the north of the park, coffee plantations associated with reforestation projects are launched to allow the revival of the rain forest.

Fagradalsfjall, the volcano at the doors of the city

Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland

The Icelandic peninsula of Reykjanes had not been set on fire for 8 centuries.

The earth opened on March 19, 2021, 40 km from the capital. The visitors followed one another during nearly 6 months to benefit from an imposing spectacle, for once very easy of access, without danger, and under the permanent monitoring of the civil protection, that of the longest eruption occurred during the last 50 years.

Fagradalsfjall an eruption at the doors of the city

Easy access, without danger, at a short distance from the Icelandic capital, this eruption attracted the crowds who often went up in family to attend the spectacle.

The eruption lasted 6 months and alternated periods of very varied activities. At times, the crater emptied completely, only to fill up again a few minutes later.

During several weeks, lava fountains were gushing out and producing incandescent flows of material which filled the valleys little by little.

Located not far from the coast, the eruption made the authorities fear a cut of the coastal road as well as the destruction of the electric cables and Internet transmission.

It is difficult to resist to such a spectacle. During months, night and day, hikers took the hiking trails which led to the site.

Lava lake, incandescent fountains, lava flows, the eruption of Fagradalsfjall allowed to observe a great diversity of volcanic phenomena.

The Northern Lights and Space Weather

The polar auroras, magical and poetic, are the visible signature of the magnetic activity triggered by the sun in the polar night.

Born about twenty years ago, space meteorology allows to predict the impact of solar flares on human installations. The sun has entered a phase of strong activity for the next few years, and the new meteorologists are excited to see auroras of a rare intensity.

In a research station, in Svalbard, bubbles protect a whole series of devices which will allow to collect data for the scientists.

Depending on the intensity of the solar wind, different gas molecules located in the upper atmosphere will produce different light and colors.

Auroras can take many different forms, but we generally see an arc that appears on the horizon and then comes to life at speeds that can be extremely rapid.

Auroras can occur very often, but when a solar flare throws particle winds toward Earth, the auroras will be more spectacular.

Behind this beautiful spectacle are hidden phenomena that can have a huge impact on human activities in the fields of electricity, satellites and internet.

In many Nordic countries, scientific observation stations permanently follow the solar activity and the reactions of the upper atmosphere.

Maryam Dengelat, the vertiginous Faith

East Tigray, Ethiopia

God once entrusted the Ethiopians with the art of revealing his home. They dug more than two hundred troglodyte churches in the cliffs of Tigray.

The church of Maryam Dengelat, isolated at a height of 30 meters, became inaccessible following successive collapses of the cliff, has opened its door again and revealed its magnificent paintings after 400 years of oblivion, thanks to the will of a philosopher-historian and a team of mountaineers.

Isolated for more than 400 years by a collapse of the wall, the troglodyte church of Maryam Dengelat dominates a recently built church.

In these red sandstone walls, Maryam Dengelat is very important for the religious history of Ethiopia, with inside, several tombs and many paintings.

The numerous paintings that adorn the walls and pillars of the church correspond to a very particular period in Ethiopian history.

With the help of a winch, the priests were brought into the church to celebrate the first mass after 400 years of absence.

A prophecy had announced it, men would come one day crossing lands and seas to allow a priest to return to the church.

A very intense moment for these priests who celebrated this first mass 30 meters high in the middle of the wall overlooking thousands of faithful.

Dallol, at the frontiers of life

Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

The geothermal site of Dallol combines the most extreme conditions on Earth, temperatures, hyperacidity, salinity, aridity.

A volcano located under thick layers of salt favors the ascent of hot water which is loaded with mineral elements deposit on the surface a real mineral rainbow. Since 2016, an international team of microbiologists, geologists, and crystallographers have been examining the site in the hope of finding traces of life, where everything seems to oppose its existence.

It is only in 2016, that a first scientific research mission in biology of extreme environments could explore this site remained isolated for a long time.

This unique site combines the most extreme conditions on earth: acidity, salinity, temperature. Can life develop in such conditions?

For several years, the scientific team will collect water, mud and salt samples to search for microorganisms in the laboratory.

This hydrothermal site is in constant evolution. Some areas dry up, water resurfaces elsewhere and the oxidation of salt and minerals produces a real mineral rainbow.

In parallel to the research in biology, research in crystallography represents an important contribution to try to understand the passage from mineral to life.

Whether on the multicolored dome or in the salt flats, scientists collect samples everywhere to look for microorganisms.

The blue nights of the sulphur convicts

Kawah Ijen, Java Island, Indonesia

At nightfall an unusual incandescence appears at the bottom of the crater of the volcano Kawah Ijen, flares of bluish flames reaching up to 5 meters high.

The high temperature liquid sulfur, which flows from the sulphur pit located at the edge of the largest lake of hydrochloric acid in the world, is at their origin. At the foot of these strange glows, miners are busy in the middle of toxic gases, extracting and bringing up the sulfur that will serve the chemical industry at the cost of their health.

In the heart of the crater of Kawah Ijen, lies the largest lake of acid on the planet. On its shore, high temperature sulfuric gas naturally ignites.

The gas that ignites produces flames that can reach 5 meters high and sometimes flow in real incandescent rivers of an electric blue.

At night, by the light of torches in the middle of extremely toxic gases, without any protection, miners collect the very pure sulfur and go back up to the summit, heavily loaded.

In order to be able to lift two loads and thus double their meager wages, the miners work at night, while being well aware of the impact on their health.

To increase the production of sulphur, the miners installed pipes to channel the gases, which will crystallize more quickly as they cool.

In these extreme conditions, the pipes deteriorate very quickly and miners regularly go to monitor the installations in order to make the necessary repairs.

Journey to the center of Earth

Niyragongo volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo

At the bottom of the Nyiragongo volcano boils the planet’s largest lava lake.

This African giant is the most active volcano in Africa. Its eruptions have devastated the capital and its more than one million inhabitants in 1977 and again in 2002. Anticipating the risk of Nyiragongo’s eruption has become a major concern for the people living at the foot of the volcano.

Nyiragongo, journey to the center of the Earth

At the bottom of the immense crater bubbles the largest lava lake on the planet. The activity of the volcano poses an enormous risk to the city of Goma at its foot.

Trying to monitor the activity of the volcano permanently with a webcam could give information to anticipate the risks of eruptions.

To work in the volcano, a team has set up camp on one of the terraces in the heart of the crater overlooking the lava lake.

To get as close as possible to the lava lake, a team from the Société de Volcanologie de Genève uses ropes to descend to the floor of the crater.

For these volcano enthusiasts, being alone on the edge of the largest lava lake on the planet is a unique experience.

The activity of the lake varies permanently and it is always necessary to anticipate the risks of very important overflows of the lake.