GYPSUM AND HALITE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CYANOBACTERIUM ENTOPHYSALIS

A study has been made on stalactite-like structures formed by the cyanobacterium (blue-green alga) Entophysalis major, growing on the roof of an undercut cliff facing the lagoon of Aldabra Atoll [Indian Ocean]. The cyanobacterial cells grow in a rubbery, brown, gelatinous mucilage that contains some crystals; this mucilage surrounds a central region filled partly with gas and partly with further crystals. Halite is the predominant mineral in the mucilage, and gypsum the only mineral in the inner region. There is no evidence for a direct causal relationship between cyanobacterial metabolism and mineral crystallization, but the organic mucilate may have exerted an indirect physical control. A theory is suggested to explain the deposition of gypsum and halite, which depends on loss of water from the surface of the mucilage layer, and the layer as a whole acting as a semipermeable membrane. As the water volume decreases, gypsum will be deposited first, but subsequently, with increasing evaporation, there will be a mixture of gypsum and halite and finally halite only.