Abstract
A cyanophyte dominated mat, desert crust, forms the ground cover in areas measuring hundreds of square meters in Utah and smaller patches in Colorado. The algal mat shows stromatolitic features such as sediment trapping and accretion, a convoluted surface, and polygonal cracking. Sand and day particles are immobilized by a dense network of filaments of the two dominating cyanophyte species, Microcoleus vaginatus and M. chthonoplastes, which secrete sheaths to which particles adhere. These microorganisms can tolerate long periods of desiccation and are capable of instant reactivation and migration following wetting. Migration occurs in two events: 1. immediately following wetting of dry mat, trichomes are mechanically expelled from the sheath as it swells during rehydration, and 2. subsequently, trichomes begin a self-propelled gliding motility which is accompanied by further production of sheath. The maximum distance traveled on solid agar by trichomes of Microcoleus vaginatus during a 12 hour period of light was 4.8 cm. This corresponds to approximately 500 times the length of the fastest trichome, and provides a measure of the potential for spreading of the mat in nature via the motility of the trichomes.
Dehydration resistence of the sheath modifies the extracellular environment of the trichomes and enables their transition to dormancy. Following prolonged wetting and evaporative drying of the mat in the laboratory, a smooth wafer-like crust is formed by the sheaths of Microcleus trichomes that have migrated to the surface. Calcium carbonate precipitates among the algal filaments under experimental conditions, indicating a potential for mat lithification and fossilization in the form of a caliche crust. It is suggested that limestones containing tubular microfossils may, in part, be of such an origin.
The formation of mature Precambrian soils may be attributable to soil accretion, stabilization, and biogenic modification by blue-green algal land mats similar to desert crust.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Booth, W. E.: 1941, Ecology 22, 38.
Brock, T. D.: 1975, J. Phycol. 11, 316.
Cohen, Y., Krumbein, W. E., Goldberg, M., and Shilo, M.: 1977, Limnol. and Ocean. 22, 597.
Doetsch, R. N. and Hageage, G.J.: 1968, Biol. Rev. 43, 317.
Elias, M.K.: 1931, Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 18, 1.
Fisher, A. G.: 1965, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 53, 1205.
Fogg, G. E., Stewart, W. D. P., Fay, P., and Walsby, A. E.: 1973, The blue-green algae, Academic Press, London and New York, p. 74.
Fryer, B. J., 1977. Geol. Abstr. and Proc. of 25th Ann. Meeting of the Lake Superior Conference.
Golubic, S.: 1976, in M. R. Walter (ed.), Stromatolites, Developments in Sedimentology, 20, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Oxford and New York, p. 113.
Golubic, S. and Hofmann, H.J.: 1976, J. Paleontol. 50, 1074.
Golubic, S. and Campbell, S.: 1979, Precambrian Research 8, 201.
Hale, L.J.: 1965. Biological Laboratory Data, Pitman Press, Bath, p. 108.
James, N. P.: 1972, J. Sediment. Petrol. 42, 817.
Kalliokoski, J.: 1975, G.S.A. Bull., 86, 371.
Knoll, A. H., Barghoorn, E. S. and Golubic, S.: 1975, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 72, 2488.
Krumbein, W. E.: 1968, in G. Muller and G. M. Friedman (eds.) Recent developments in carbonate sedimentology in central Europe, Springer Verlag, New York p. 138.
Krumbein, W. E. and Lange, C.: Sedimentology, in press.
Rippka, R., Waterbury, J. and Cohen-Bazire, G.: 1974. Arch. Microbiol. 11, 419.
Roscoe, S. M.: 1969, G. S. Canada Paper 68–40.
Schopf, J.W.: 1968, J. Paleontol. 42, 651.
Shields, L. M., Mitchell, C. and Drouet, F.: 1957, Am. J. Bot. 44, 489.
Stanier, R. Y., Kunisawa, R., Mandel, M., Cohen-Bazire, G.: 1971, Bact. Rev. 35, 171.
Swineford, A., Leonard, A. B., and Frye, J.C.: 1958. State Geological Survey of Kansas, Bull. 130, 97.
Tappan, H. and Loeblich, A.R.: 1971, in R. Kosanke and A.T. Cross (eds.) Symposium on palynology of the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, Geol. Soc. Amer. Spec. Paper 127, 247.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1980 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Campbell, S.E. (1980). Soil Stabilization by a Prokaryotic Desert Crust: Implications for Precambrian Land Biota. In: Ponnamperuma, C., Margulis, L. (eds) Limits of Life. Limits of Life, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9085-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9085-2_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-9087-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-9085-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive