Cees Passchier / Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
15 years ago, strange and lowercase structures were found in rocks in the deserts of southern Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Scientists are now convinced that these formations were not created by a geological process, but by a mysterious, still unknown form of life.
Known as Microtúneis – Unusual tube tunnels, about half a millimeter wide and up to 3 centimeters long – These mysterious structures were found in marbles and limestone of certain desert regions.
Were first identified for about 15 years by the teacher Cees Passchierfrom the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, during geological field work in Namibia, southern Africa.
Later, Passchier found very similar marble structures of Saudi Arabia and also in Oman’s limestone.
Recently, a team of researchers led by Passchier analyzed these structures more in detail – and found Evidence of biological material inside and around it, which suggests that these unusual excavations in the rocks were created by microorganisms.
The study results were presented in a February published in Geomicrobiology Journal.
“We were surprised“Says Passchier in a university statement.“ These tunnels clearly are not resulting from a geological process“.
The microbes that colonize the interior of the rocks are known as endolitesword derived from the Greek terms to “within the rock.” They are not uncommon in deserts and other extreme environments, as they can get energy and nutrients from the interior of the rocks.
They exist Blue-Blue Endolytic Algae In the dry valleys of Earth Vitória do Sul, Antarctica, as well as similar organisms in limestone found in the deserts of the scorching of Israel and California.
The investigators team identified the presence of powder calcium carbonatethe main “ingredient” of marble, inside the microtunals of Namibia, and believes that the mysterious microorganisms excavated the marble To extract the nutrients present in the calcium carbonate, leaving this powder behind.
Cees Passchier / Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Section of a marble fragment with microtunals excavated by the unknown species
However, the team has no idea what kind of organism will have created these tunnels – if they are bacteria, lichens, fungi or other form of life. Unfortunately, investigators could not get traces of DNA or protein, since The specimens are too oldperhaps up to 2 million years old.
“We do not know if this is an extinct life form or if it still exists Somewhere, ”added Passchier.“ The most exciting in our discovery is that we don’t know that endolytic microorganism is this. It will be a known form of life or a completely unknown organism?”
“In either case, These are old structuresperhaps with one or two million years. We assumed that they were formed in a slightly more climate humid, different from the dry desert climate that currently predominates, ”said Passchier.
“This form of life, whose current existence we do not know, can be important for the global carbon cycle. It is therefore essential that the scientific community becomes aware of it, ”concluded Passchier.
