Strange , tiny construction have been find in the rock’n’roll around the deserts of southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula . Scientists are now confident that these unusual formations were not made by a geological process , but by a mysterious lifeform that remains obscure .
The structures are roll in the hay as micro - burrow , unusual tube - like tunnels – about half a mm wide and up to 3 centimeters long – found in the wits and limestones of certain derelict regions .
They were first identified around 15 years ago by Professor Cees Passchier from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz during geological fieldwork in Namibia , southern Africa . He then found very similar structures in the marble of Saudi Arabia , as well as the limestone of Oman .
Band of heavily eroded micro-burrows that had been exposed to the surface.Image credit: ©Cees Passchier
Upon further investigation with his fellow worker , he institute evidence of biological textile in and around the micro - burrow , indicating that microorganisms had created the strange bunker within the rock .
" We were surprised because these tubes are clearly not the solvent of a geological appendage , " Professor Passchier , first writer of a new study on the micro - burrows , say in astatement .
Microbes that colonise the interior of rocks are be intimate asendoliths , derived from the Greek words for “ inner John Rock ” . They are not uncommon in comeupance and other extreme environs as they can obtain their energy and nutrients from inside the rock . There are endolithic grim - unripened algaeliving under the surfaceof rocks in the teetotal valleys of southerly Victoria Land in Antarctica , as well as similar alga organisms living in limestonefound in the broil raging desertsof Israel and California .
Marble from Namibia in which micro-burrows have grown in parallel arrangement downwards from a fracture filled with white calcium carbonate.Image credit: ©Cees Passchier
Inside the Namibian micro - burrows , the squad discover the presence of powdery Ca carbonate , the chief " ingredient " of marble . They believe that the mystery microorganisms may have burrowed into the marble to press out nutrients present in the calcium carbonate , leaving behind this powder .
However , the team is clueless about what kind of being could have created these burrow , whether they ’re bacteria , lichen , fungi , oranother form of life . alas , the investigator were unable to obtain any traces of no DNA or proteins because the specimens were too old , perhaps up to 2 million year old .
" We do n’t presently know whether this is a life-time shape that has become out or is still animated somewhere , " added Passchier . “ What is so exciting about our uncovering is that we do not know which endolithic micro-organism this is . Is it a roll in the hay form of spirit or a completely unknown being ? "
" In any typesetter’s case , these are old structures , perhaps one or two million years sure-enough . We accept that they were formed in a slenderly more humid climate , not in the ironic desert mood that prevails today , ” say Passchier .
come up the perpetrator could have some big implications for theglobal carbon copy cycle , as these microorganisms may wreak a previously nameless persona in break down carbonate minerals , influencing C storage and release in Earth ’s ecosystems .
" This soma of liveliness , of which we do not experience whether it still exists , could be important for the orbicular atomic number 6 bicycle . It is therefore essential that the scientific community becomes aware of it , " concluded Passchier .
The written report is published in theGeomicrobiology Journal .
