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ABSTRACT
The present study was an attempt to demonstrate the capabilities of the microbial strains from the unexplored Labit cave in India to precipitate calcite providing evidence for biotic processes involved in formation of speleothem deposits. Six calcifying bacterial strains majority belonging to genus Bacillus were isolated from the cave. SEM studies revealed an array of various in vitro crystal polymorphs generated by the isolated bacteria which are similar to microscopic observations on natural formations in speleothems. The EDX spectrum of the precipitated crystals predominately composed of calcium carbonate indicating the relevance of bacterial biofilm in cave geomicrobiology and biogenic evolution of cave formations in the studied cave, which is further supported by XRF analysis and Raman spectroscopy.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility (SAIF), NEHU, Shillong for providing the SEM-EDX services; Department of Instrumentation and USIC, Gauhati University, Guwahati for providing the XRF services and Central Instruments Facility (CIF), Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati for Laser Micro Raman system services. SB would also like to acknowledge the financial assistance received from the DeitY and DST-PURSE programs of NEHU, Shillong.
Funding
The study was accomplished within the framework of a research project supported by Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), Government of India.