Biogenic calcium carbonate as evidence for life

Ronca, Sara; Mura, Francesco; Brandano, Marco; Cirigliano, Angela; Benedetti, Francesca; Grottoli, Alessandro; Reverberi, Massimo; Maras, Daniele Federico; Negri, Rodolfo; Di Mauro, Ernesto; Rinaldi, Teresa

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4135-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4135-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4135-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 19

Research article

|

09 Oct 2023

Research article |

| 09 Oct 2023

Biogenic calcium carbonate as evidence for life

Sara Ronca, Francesco Mura, Marco Brandano, Angela Cirigliano, Francesca Benedetti, Alessandro Grottoli, Massimo Reverberi, Daniele Federico Maras, Rodolfo Negri, Ernesto Di Mauro, and Teresa Rinaldi

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https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4135-2023-supplement

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Biogenic calcium carbonate as evidence for life National Center for Biotechnology Information https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA1022455

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The history of Earth is a story of the co-evolution of minerals and microbes. We present the evidence that moonmilk precipitation is driven by microorganisms within the rocks and not only on the rock surfaces. Moreover, the moonmilk produced within the rocks contributes to rock formation. The calcite speleothem moonmilk is the only known carbonate speleothem on Earth with undoubted biogenic origin, thus representing a biosignature of life.