Abstract
Dolomite complex rock of the Upper Jurassic and biocalcarenite (Bateig stone) used for monuments in Novelda (Alicante, Spain) support a considerable biocomplexity of biofilms. The climate of the Novelda region is described as Iberolevantinemesomediterranean. The La Mola quarry, from which samples were obtained for the present study, was opened at the end of the 19th century and remained in use until the end of the 1970s. The Novelda monuments studied were constructed at the end of the 19th century. In the quarry boundary zone there is an abundance of lichens, such as Collema,Catapyrenium and Lecidea, mosses and chroococcoid cyanobacteria (Gloeocapsa sp. and Chroococcus sp.). Fragments of quarry rock and monument stone were investigated by SEM-BSE and/or EDS analysis according to a new methodology. In the Mola quarry, the combined action of epilithic and endolithic microorganisms (mostly cyanobacteria) degrade the rock, becoming truly euendolithic since they bore into the rock. Alteration of the biocalcarenite by lichen thalli and microorganisms can be modelled: the mycobiont of the algal zone and upper cortex harbor biomineral fragments of the substratum including calcium oxalate. A second layer lying close to the lithic substratum is composed on the mycobiont intermixed with the bioclasts and minerals detached from it, resulting in significant mechanical alteration. Within the rock, microorganisms are present between the hollows and cavities: here the bioclasts and minerals shelter the microorganisms and important element biomobilization phenomena take place.
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Ascaso, C., Del Cura, G., De Los Ríos, A. (2004). Microbial Biofilms on Carbonate Rocks from a Quarry and Monuments in Novelda (Alicante, Spain). In: St.Clair, L.L., Seaward, M.R.D. (eds) Biodeterioration of Stone Surfaces. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2845-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2845-8_6
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