The lake is home to ancient organisms

The white beach of Lake Bagno dell'Acqua on which you have walked is unique in Italy for its microbialites, formed thanks to the activity of microbial communities that favor the precipitation of minerals and the rock formation process of the shore. The main culprits of these rare structures are cyanobacteria, organisms that played a crucial role in enriching the Earth's atmosphere with oxygen about 2.5 billion years ago, allowing the evolution of life on Earth as we know it today through photosynthesis.
Microbialites, dating back to about 3.2 billion years ago (the age of the Earth is estimated to be about 4.6 billion), are among the oldest fossils on the planet, and the study of these structures is fundamental to understanding the origin of life in extreme environments, both on Earth and on other planets.