Fossil microorganisms and tracks of their life in KMA boxytes

Abstract

The article includes materials on studying the bauxite of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). As a result we found numerous microorganisms (fragments of filamentous and coccoid bacteria, trichomes of cyanobacteria, hyphae of micro fungi) and their metabolic products (glycocalyx and biofilms). Microorganisms performed a destructive function, expressed in the destruction of the minerals of the parent rocks, and also acted as an accumulator of bauxite substance.