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Evidence for Biogenic Synthesis of an Unusual Ferric Oxide Mineral during Alteration of Basalt by a Tropical Lichen

Abstract

THE lichen Stereocaulon vulcani greatly accelerates the chemical weathering of recent basalt lava flows on the Island of Hawaii, as a comparative study of weathering crusts with and without a covering of the lichen has shown1. Evidence of biogeochemical activity includes mineralogical differences between the iron oxides of these weathering crusts.

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References

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JACKSON, T., KELLER, W. Evidence for Biogenic Synthesis of an Unusual Ferric Oxide Mineral during Alteration of Basalt by a Tropical Lichen. Nature 227, 522–523 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/227522a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/227522a0

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