ArticlePloS one2016
An Unusual Inverted Saline Microbial Mat Community in an Interdune Sabkha in the Rub' al Khali (the Empty Quarter), United Arab Emirates.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sulfide-oxidizing potential and hypersalinity tolerance strategies in salt-crust covered coastal microbial mats.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Seismic characterization of inland and coastal sabkhas using VScientific reports · 2025Article
- Microbial diversity in polyextreme salt flats and their potential applications.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2024Review
- Microbiome Variation Across Populations of Desert HalophyteFrontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Limitation of Microbial Processes at Saturation-Level Salinities in a Microbial Mat Covering a Coastal Salt Flat.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2021Article
- Robust Archaeal and Bacterial Communities Inhabit Shallow Subsurface Sediments of the Bonneville Salt Flats.mSphere · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Salt flats (sabkha) are a recognized habitat for microbial life in desert environments and as analogs of habitats for possible life on Mars. Here we report on the physical setting and microbiology of interdune sabkhas among the large dunes in the Rub' al Khali (the Empty Quarter) in Liwa Oasis, United Arab Emirates. The salt flats, composed of gypsum and halite, are moistened by relatively fresh ground water. The result is a salinity gradient that is inverted compared to most salt flat communities with the hypersaline layer at the top and freshwater layers below. We describe and characterize a rich photosynthetically-based microbial ecosystem that is protected from the arid outside environment by a translucent salt crust. Gases collected from sediments under shallow ponds in the sabkha contain methane in concentrations as high as 3400 ppm. The salt crust could preserve biomarkers and other evidence for life in the salt after it dries out. Chloride-filled depressions have been identified on Mars and although surface flow of water is unlikely on Mars today, ground water is possible. Such a near surface system with modern groundwater flowing under ancient salt deposits could be present on Mars and could be accessed by surface rovers.
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