Articles | Volume 18, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3331-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3331-2021
Research article
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04 Jun 2021
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 04 Jun 2021

Microbial and geo-archaeological records reveal the growth rate, origin and composition of desert rock surface communities

Nimrod Wieler, Tali Erickson Gini, Osnat Gillor, and Roey Angel

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Cited articles

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Alonso-Zarza, A. M. and Wright, V. P.: Chapter 5 Calcretes, in: Developments in Sedimentology, edited by: Alonso-Zarza, A. M. and Tanner, L. H., vol. 61 of Carbonates in Continental Settings: Facies, Environments, and Processes, 225–267, Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Oxford, UK, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0070-4571(09)06105-6, 2010. a
Amit, R., Simhai, O., Ayalon, A., Enzel, Y., Matmon, A., Crouvi, O., Porat, N., and McDonald, E.: Transition from Arid to Hyper-Arid Environment in the Southern Levant Deserts as Recorded by Early Pleistocene Cummulic Aridisols, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 312–323, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.11.007, 2011. a
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Angel, R.: Rock metagenome (ID 381355) – BioProject – NCBI, available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA381355, last access: 2 June 2021b. a
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Biological rock crusts (BRCs) are common microbial-based assemblages covering rocks in drylands. BRCs play a crucial role in arid environments because of the limited activity of plants and soil. Nevertheless, BRC development rates have never been dated. Here we integrated archaeological, microbiological and geological methods to provide a first estimation of the growth rate of BRCs under natural conditions. This can serve as an affordable dating tool in archaeological sites in arid regions.
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