Fig. 1: Select physic-chemical conditions that support microbialite formation and stabilize carbonate phases. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Select physic-chemical conditions that support microbialite formation and stabilize carbonate phases.

From: Integration of multiple metabolic pathways supports high rates of carbon precipitation in living microbialites

Fig. 1

The relative proportions of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) species (CO₂, HCO₃⁻, CO₃²⁻) are shown as a function of pH. Colored bars indicate pH ranges measured across microbialite-bearing environments: Exuma Sound (green), Cuatro Ciénegas (red), Pavilion Lake (blue), and RSA peritidal sites (gray). Vertical dashed lines denote mean pH values for Exuma Sound (red), Republic of South African (RSA) peritidal (black), Pavilion Lake (blue), Lake Untersee (green), Hamelin Pools (cyan), and Cuatro Ciénegas (yellow). Corresponding temperature ranges for each environment are indicated at right. The carbonate equilibrium demonstrates how bicarbonate serves as the dominant species under buffered conditions and drives CaCO₃ precipitation, with CO₂ produced in the reaction being reincorporated into the system23,52,53,54,55,56.

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