Science & Research
Geoscience
Mysterious tunnels in garnet may be caused by munching microbes
Minerals can feature unique structures inside them, as a
result of biological or physical processes that occured after their formation. Soft minerals can hold tunnel networks left over from microbes which ate away at the mineral. Uniquely, Magnus Ivarsson and his team found tunnel networks like these in garnet, which was unique and surprizing, since biological structures are seldom found in minerals as hard as garnet. Microbial creatures normally would tunnel through softer minerals, though Dr. Ivarsson has an idea on how this could have occured in garnet. Below: Three-dimensional reconstruction produced by synchrotron-based X-ray tomography. In this reconstruction the complexity of the tunnels are seen including frequent branches and anastomosis between branches forming a coherent network of tunnels. Š 2018 Magnus Ivarsson
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