Biofilms in modern CaCO-supersaturated freshwater environments reveal viral proxies.

Biofilms are mucilaginous-organic layers produced by microbial activity including viruses. Growing biofilms form microbial mats which enhance sediment stability by binding particles with extracellular polymeric substances and promoting growth through nutrient cycling and organic matter accumulation. They preferentially develop at the sediment-water interface of both marine and non-marine environments, and upon the growing surfaces of modern tufa and travertine.

Viruses participate in the organomineralization of travertines.

Travertines, which precipitate from high temperature water saturated with calcium carbonate, are generally considered to be dominated by physico-chemical and microbial precipitates. Here, as an additional influence on organomineral formation, metagenomic data and microscopic analyses clearly demonstrate that highly diverse viral, bacterial and archaeal communities occur in the biofilms associated with several modern classic travertine sites in Europe and Asia, along with virus-like particles. Metagenomic analysis reveals that bacteriophages (bacterial viruses) containing icosahedral capsids and belonging to the Siphoviridae, Myoviridae and Podoviridae families are the most abundant of all viral strains, although the bacteriophage distribution does vary across the sampling sites.

Empirical equations for the temperature dependence of calcite-water oxygen isotope fractionation from 10 to 70°C.

Although the temperature dependence of calcite-water oxygen isotope fractionation seems to have been well established by numerous empirical, experimental and theoretical studies, it is still being discussed, especially due to the demand for increased accuracy of paleotemperature calculations. Experimentally determined equations are available and have been verified by theoretical calculations (considered as representative of isotopic equilibrium); however, many natural formations do not seem to follow these relationships implying either that existing fractionation equations should be revised, or that carbonate deposits are seriously affected by kinetic and solution chemistry effects, or late-stage alterations. In order to test if existing fractionation-temperature relationships can be used for natural deposits, we have studied calcite formations precipitated in various environments by means of stable isotope mass spectrometry: travertines (freshwater limestones) precipitating from hot and warm waters in open-air or quasi-closed environments, as well as cave deposits formed in closed systems.