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Biogenic Weathering of Mineral Substrates (Review)

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Biogenic—Abiogenic Interactions in Natural and Anthropogenic Systems

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Earth System Sciences ((LNESS))

Abstract

A biological impact on weathering was recognized already at the beginning of the twentieth century, when biochemical influence of the lichen growth on rocks was convincingly demonstrated. Later it was shown that the progress of solid rock weathering initiated by biological colonization was affected by the initial porosity system and sensitivity of mineral association. In the meantime a considerable amount of diverse scientific data confirm the importance of biological rock colonizers (lichens and free-living rock biofilms) in mineral material dynamics as they occur at the atmosphere-exposed rock surfaces on local as well as global scale. Subaerial rock biofilms—microbial ecosystem including free-living heterotrophic and phototrophic settlers of bare rock surfaces—are characteristic for the first stage of primary succession of terrestrial ecosystems on mineral substrates. These cultivable and free-living communities are dominated by fungi and set the stage for the later development of a lichen cover, but in comparison to lichens also represent a new tool for laboratory experimentation and thus open a new stage of work in geomicrobiology. The minerals sensitivity to microbially induced biological weathering can be demonstrated by studies of natural samples as well as by the laboratory mesocosm experiments.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (14-04-00327), St. Petersburg State University (18.38.418.2015) and grant of Freie Universität Berlin and Saint Petersburg State University (18.60.468.2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, RAS, Moscow, Russia

    Natalia P. Chizhikova

  2. Institute of Earth Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Sofia N. Lessovaia

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Department of Biology Chemistry Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Anna A. Gorbushina

  4. Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany

    Anna A. Gorbushina

Authors
  1. Natalia P. Chizhikova
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  2. Sofia N. Lessovaia
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  3. Anna A. Gorbushina
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalia P. Chizhikova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Olga V. Frank-Kamenetskaya

  2. Department of Geochemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Elena G. Panova

  3. Department of Botany, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Dmitry Yu. Vlasov

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Chizhikova, N.P., Lessovaia, S.N., Gorbushina, A.A. (2016). Biogenic Weathering of Mineral Substrates (Review). In: Frank-Kamenetskaya, O., Panova, E., Vlasov, D. (eds) Biogenic—Abiogenic Interactions in Natural and Anthropogenic Systems. Lecture Notes in Earth System Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24987-2_2

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