Laminated Cyanobacterial Mats

Formation of microlaminated sediments in solar salt works along the mediterranean coast in southern france only occurs within a restricted salinity range of 60 150 gl 1 these salinities are associated with development of a laminated cyanobacterial mat composed primarily of the filamentous cyanobacteria microcoleus chthonoplastes interbedded with detrital laminae.

Laminated cyanobacterial mats.

They colonize environments ranging in temperature from 40 c to 120 c. Stal lj grossberger s krumbein we 1984 nitrogen fixation associated with the cyanobacterial mat of a marine laminated microbial ecosystem. Algal mats are one of many types of microbial mat that forms on the surface of water or rocks. Materials and methods sample collections the hard and encrusted subaerial mats were remo ved from the side wall of the canal with the help of a geological hammer and.

Weakly laminated silica layers among filamentous cyanobacteria were observed in both mats. Specific representatives of the meiofauna and the macrofauna disrupt and ingest the cyanobacterial mats. Cyanobacterial bacterial consortial associations are taxonomically complex metabolically interactive self sustaining prokaryotic communities representing pioneer and often the only biota inhabiting extreme aquatic and terrestrial environments. A few are found as endosymbionts of animals.

Cyanobacteria dominated hypersaline laminated mats are a useful model ecosystem for the study of c flow in complex communities as they use photosynthesis to sustain a more or less closed system. These finely laminated siliceous sinters were composed of a heterogeneously nucleated amorphous silica matrix which seemed to precipitate in the spaces between filaments. Laminated mats and aggregates exemplify such communities. Mar biol 82 217 224 crossref google scholar stal lj van gemerden h krumbein we 1985 structure and development of a benthic marine microbial mat.

They are typically composed of blue green cyanobacteria and sediments. Forms of laminated cyanobacterial mats and their res pective species composition structure and stratifica tion in relation to ecology and topography in a lotie setting. The cyanobacterial mats are completely destroyed within 1 to 2 wk after colonisation by benthic animals. Flat laminated mats found in very shallow pools lagoons and salt marshes often have a distinct layer of anoxygenic purple phototrophs with bacteriochlorophyll b below layers of cyanobacteria and purple and green phototrophs nicholson et al 1987 pierson et al 1987 stolz 1990.