Microbial Trace-Fossil Formation, Biogenous, and Abiotic Weathering in the Antarctic Cold Desert
- 8 May 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 236 (4802) , 703-705
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.11536571
Abstract
In the Antarctic cold desert (Ross Desert), the survival of the cryptoendolithic microorganisms that colonize the near-surface layer of porous sandstone rocks depends on a precarious equilibrium of biological and geological factors. An unfavorable shift of this equilibrium results in death, and this may be followed by formation of trace fossils that preserve the characteristic iron-leaching pattern caused by microbial activity. Similar microbial trace fossil may exist in the geological record. If life ever arose on early Mars, similar processes may have occurred there and left recognizable traces.Keywords
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