This water contains minerals and salt accumulated over thousands of years of erosion and glacial movement. The resulting water layer is ten times as salty as sea water, which is why it doesn't freeze. It's called the Dry Valleys because it never rains, and the surrounding mountains shield it from snow. It's one of the few places where you can see exposed soil. The soil is where the bugs get their start.
Winds are high here, so some of the dirt blows onto the lake and accumulates in the cracks.
The dark clumps absorb sunlight and gradually melt their way down through the ice, taking the bugs with them. The scientists wondered how this relatively complex community developed from a simple particle of soil. At Lake Bonney, the trickle that collects around each aggregate is enough to wake the bugs from their dormant state, called cryptobiosis. It's like instant life. T o stay alive, the bugs need nutrients.