Microbial precipitation of pedogenic calcite

Pedogenic calcite in desert soils has become increasingly important as an indicator of paleoclimate, landscape stability, and landscape age. This study indicates that calcic and petrocalcic horizons in desert soils are not simply the result of inorganic precipitation of calcite. Soil microorganisms...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 1991-10, Vol.19 (10), p.997-1000
Main Authors: Monger, H. Curtis, Daugherty, LeRoy A, Lindemann, William C, Liddell, Craig M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
arid environment
bacteria
biogenic processes
biominerals
calcic composition
Calcic soils
calcite
carbonates
crystal growth
Desert soils
Deserts
Dona Ana County New Mexico
fungi
geochemistry
Geology
La Mesa surface
Las Cruces New Mexico
Microcodium
mineral composition
Mineralogy
Minerals
New Mexico
nonsilicates
pedogenesis
Plantae
precipitation
processes
soil surveys
Soils
southwestern New Mexico
surveys
terrestrial environment
thallophytes
United States
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Summary:Pedogenic calcite in desert soils has become increasingly important as an indicator of paleoclimate, landscape stability, and landscape age. This study indicates that calcic and petrocalcic horizons in desert soils are not simply the result of inorganic precipitation of calcite. Soil microorganisms were found to be involved in calcite precipitation in a typical desert soil near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Fossilized remains of calcified fungal hyphae and #ITMicrocodium#ME structures are abundant in the petrocalcic horizon. Soil bacteria and fungi precipitated calcite when cultured on a Ca-rich medium. In an experiment where soil columns were irrigated with Ca-rich solutions, calcite formed in soils containing soil microorganisms, but no calcite formed in sterile soils. Thus, biomineralization of calcite by soil microorganisms appears to be an important mechanism of unknown magnitude.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<0997:MPOPC>2.3.CO;2