Morphoanalysis of bacterially precipitated subaqueous calcium carbonate from Weebubbie Cave, Australia

In this article, we present a previously unreported morphology of bacterial ly precipitated calcite (determined using XRD, FTIR, and SAED) occurring su baqueously in Weebubbie Cave. Observations using FESEM and TEM revealed spi ndle-shaped crystals with curved [hk.0] faces lying parallel to the c-axis. Calcite precipitated under conditions designed to mimic the inorganic solu tion chemistry of the cave revealed a different morphology. These differenc es between the crystals suggest that the formation of the cave crystals is a consequence of biologically activity.