Nanobacteria-like calcite single crystals at the surface of the Tataouine meteorite

Details Nanobacteria-like calcite single crystals at the surface of the Tataouine meteorite Nanobacteria-like calcite single crystals at the surface of the Tataouine meteorite

Jun 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003pnas..100.7438b&link_type=abstract

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol. 100, Issue 13, p.7438-7442

Mathematics

Logic

8

Scientific paper

Nanobacteria-like objects evidenced at the surface of the orthopyroxenes of the Tataouine meteorite in South Tunisia have been studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopies. A method of micromanipulation has been developed to ensure that exactly the same objects were studied by both methods. We have shown that the nanobacteria-like objects are spatially correlated with filaments of microorganisms that colonized the surface of the meteoritic pyroxene during its 70 years of residence in the aridic Tataouine soil. Depressions of a few micrometers in depth are observed in the pyroxene below the carbonates, indicating preferential dissolution of the pyroxene and calcite precipitation at these locations. The nanobacteria-like small rods that constitute calcium carbonate rosettes are well crystallized calcite single crystals surrounded by a thin amorphous layer of carbonate composition that smoothes the crystal edges and induces rounded shapes. Those morphologies are unusual for calcite single crystals observed in natural samples. A survey of recent literature suggests that the intervention of organic compounds derived from biological activity is likely in their formation.

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