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Welcome to the Global Serpentine Ecology Database |
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In order to submit publications or edit content (articles), registration and logging-in is a requirement. All articles on the website can be edited and saved and new content can be added. Some sections are easily edited and added by all users, while other sections will go through peer-review before changes are published online. It is also possible to comment on each others texts. This will hopefully generate vast amounts of reliable knowledge on serpentine ecology around the globe by a principle of ‘integrative reflective and self-corrective’ authoring by a multitude of different experts from different backgrounds/disciplines. This database is live, but is a work in progress and therefore needs to be filled with information. You can upload and list your own papers, articles and theses, of which already some 200 are posted. The main aim is to provide an extensive, searchable, online resource about serpentine localities around the globe. At the moment about 500 localities in 6 continents and 38 countries are listed. We would like to invite you to make a write-up of one locality that you are familiar/knowledgeable about and post it to us at:
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). Your entry will be placed (under your name as author) in the respective place on the website. In a later stage it will be possible to edit and add to these entries. |
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Mineral Falls at The Cedars a 7 M waterfall coated in calcium carbonate |
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Detail of pH meter reading at Mineral Falls at The Cedars |
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The Cedars : Mars and early Earth analogue on present day Earth surface |
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The Cedars site is of great astrobiological significance. At this site of active serpentinization in Sonoma County, CA, there are deep canyons with ultrabasic (pH >11.0) springs. These springs release calcium bicarbonate and bubble with gases composed mainly of hydrogen and methane with smaller amounts of higher molecular weight hydrocarbons. Unique algae and microorganisms have been identified in these extreme environments. Peridotites like those at The Cedars have been identified on Mars. The process of serpentinization is thought to be a source of abiogenic gases, while also providing the energy necessary for chemolithotrophic life. The Cedars is a living window of how primitive microbial life on early Earth and other planets like Mars may form in association with geochemical reactions.

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