Microbial Mats and the Search for Their Biosignatures in Deep Time and Space

[摘要] Cyanobacterial mats provide insights into ancient benthic microbial communities and their biosignatures. Thick mats occupy hypersaline saltern ponds at Guerrero Negro, Baja California, Mexico. Mat biota maintains rapid rates of biogeochemical processes under steep and rapidly changing environmental gradients. Cycling of C, O, and S all increased identically with temperature, indicating the tight coupling of these cycles. An enormous microbial diversity exhibits a highly structured spatial distribution of populations.

[发布日期] 2019-10-28

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）

[关键词] BIOMARKERS;MICROORGANISMS;PONDS;SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION;BIOGEOCHEMISTRY;MARS SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS;LOWER CALIFORNIA (MEXICO)