Definition
Destruction of rocks and minerals by biological activities has been termed bioerosion (Neumann, 1966). It includes mechanical as well as chemical effects, that is, bioabrasion and biocorrosion (Schneider, 1976; Golubic and Schneider, 1979). However, both the processes often co-occur; they are functionally interconnected and mutually supportive. Biocorrosion can result from the activity of macro- or microorganisms and, thus, is called macrobiocorrosion and microbiocorrosion. Microbiocorrosion can also be closely associated with microbial rock formation and consolidation in stromatolitic structures (Reid et al., 2000; Macintyre et al., 2000; Garcia-Pichel et al., 2004; Dupraz and Visscher, 2005). In fact, the oldest known fossils of microboring organisms were located in lithified horizons of silicified stromatolites (Zhang and Golubic, 1987).
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Tribollet, A., Golubic, S., Radtke, G., Reitner, J. (2011). Microbiocorrosion. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_23
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