Hypersaline Environments: Microbiology and Biogeochemistry (Brock Springer Series in Contemporary Bioscience)

Hypersaline environments are the principal habitats of petroleum deposition. They are also of intense evolutionary and ecological interest. This book presents a cross-disciplinary examination of the variety of halophilic microorganisms and their roles in modifying the ecology and geochemistry of hypersaline environments. The book also covers in detail the various inland and coastal habitats where halophilic microorganisms thrive. Geographically, hypersaline environments extend from the tropics to the poles, and from the terrestrial to the submarine. Organisms capable of living in such environments have faced unique evolutionary challenges. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-4 Geology and Chemistry....Pages 5-25 Biology....Pages 26-41 The Effects of Dissolved Organic Carbon on Evaporite Minerals....Pages 42-52 The Fate of Carbon and Sulfur in Hypersaline Environments....Pages 53-76 Halophilic and Halotolerant Non-phototrophic Eubacteria....Pages 77-100 Halophilic Archaebacteria....Pages 101-124 Phototrophic Bacteria....Pages 125-133 Cyanobacteria....Pages 134-146 Dunaliella and Other Halophilic, Eucaryotic Algae....Pages 147-158 Protozoa....Pages 159-162 Yeasts and Fungi....Pages 163-175 Deep Sea Hypersaline Basins....Pages 176-188 Solar Salterns....Pages 189-204 Solar Lake....Pages 205-221 Gavish Sabkha and Other Hypersaline Marine Sabkhas, Pools, and Lagoons....Pages 222-235 Antarctic Lakes....Pages 236-260 Lake Eyre and Other Temperate Lakes....Pages 261-269 Great Salt Lake....Pages 270-281 Dead Sea....Pages 282-291 Hypersaline, Alkaline Lakes....Pages 292-312 Back Matter....Pages 313-328