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Article: Making big mountains out of tiny bacteria. (researchers discover that bacteria help produce dolomite, or calcium magnesium carbonate, at low temperatures)(Science News of the Week)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- September 23, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Dolomites, a mountain range spectacularly carved by erosion, symbolize an enduring riddle in geology. For more than two centuries, scientists have pondered how Earth constructs dolomite, a mineral that makes up more than 10 percent of all sedimentary rock, including much of the rock in these northern Italian peaks (SN: 11/30/85, p.343).
In the laboratory, using the high temperatures typical of the planet's interior, geologists can synthesize dolomite with ease. But they have never been able to manufacture the mineral at the much lower temperatures of Earth's surface, where geological evidence indicates that the vast majority of dolomite formed. Dolomite, or ...