Figure 1

(A) Surface of KAAS-1 during March 2016. (B) Surface of KAAS-1October 2016. (C) Surface of KAAS-1 February 2018. (D) Vertical profile of KAAS-1 during March 2016 consisting of the thin upper green layer with intermixed pink and red layers (≈0.5 cm), the thicker middle black layer (≈4.5 cm), and the bottom-most grey layers composing the rest of the profile. (E) Vertical profile of KAAS-1 October 2016 with the uppermost orange layer and intermixed pink and orange layer (≈0.5 cm), the middle black layer (≈5 cm), and upper (6 cm), middle (8 cm) and lower grey (> 8 cm) layers. (F) Vertical profile of KAAS-1 in February 2018 with green, red and orange layers intermixed (≈0.5 cm), middle black layer (5 cm) and bottom grey layer (> 5 cm) (G) Surface of KAAS-2 during March 2016 with extracted portion of mat (middle). (H) Dried out surface of KAAS-2 October 2016. (I) Salt encrusted surface of KAAS-2 February 2018 and extracted mat portion (left). (J) Vertical profile of KAAS-2 during March 2016 showing the orange and red layers (≈0.2 cm), middle black layer (4 cm), and bottom grey layer (> 4 cm). (K) Vertical profile of KAAS-2 in October 2016 showing a surficial crust and desiccated core. (L) Vertical profile of February 2018 showing a clear-gel underneath the removed salt-encrustation, an intermixed orange, green and red layer (≈1 cm), followed by a middle black layer (3 cm) and the intermixed transition between the black and bottom grey layers (> 3 cm).