There have been trials of microbial mats for purifying water, both for human use and in fish farming, and studies of their potential for cleaning up oil spills.
en.wikipedia.org The structures commonly form when microbial mats (which may comprise bacteria, fungi, protozoans, archaea or algae) are preserved in the sedimentary geological record.
en.wikipedia.org In the biofilms and/or microbial mats, which are formed in the caves, the principal organisms associated are bacteria, particularly cyanobacteria, small algae and fungi.
en.wikipedia.org For instance, microbial mats that grow in rivers will create a different set of associations than those that grow in seasonally flooded environments.
phys.org The boundary between oxygen-rich and oxygen-free layers in microbial mats would have moved upwards when photosynthesis shut down overnight, and then downwards as it resumed on the next day.
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