The lower abounds with dissolved mineral salts (sulphate, magnesium, calcium, carbonate) originating from sublacustrine springs, whereas the separate upper layer is permanently oxygenated.

Anaerobic phototrophic bacteria – among them Chromatium okenii—thrive between the two layers where they find the ideal conditions for their development.

For the last 25 years the area has been increasingly used for scientific purposes, both for teaching and researching various environmental subjects.

The Microbiology Institute of the canton of Ticino is responsible both for managing the center and coordinating its activities.

Cyclobotryococcatriene, a botryococcene-related hydrocarbon, was isolated from and identified in organic-rich sediments in Lake Cadagno in 2000.