{"id":1076,"date":"2025-12-16T22:06:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T22:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=1076"},"modified":"2025-12-16T22:06:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T22:06:27","slug":"positively-rocking-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=1076","title":{"rendered":"Positively Rocking It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a0954f096433&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a0954f096433\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1077\" style=\"width:1320px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-16-Bigelow-Laboratory-Microbialites-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa\u2019s coast is home to some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth: <strong>microbialites<\/strong>. These \u201cliving rocks\u201d are built by microbes that turn dissolved minerals into stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a0954f096b85&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a0954f096b85\" class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-1024x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1078\" style=\"width:385px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-1536x854.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-2048x1138.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Microbialites_1-500x278.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A new study co-led by <strong>Bigelow Laboratory<\/strong> and <strong>Rhodes University<\/strong> shows these ancient formations aren\u2019t just hanging on \u2014 they\u2019re thriving. Published in <em><strong>Nature Communications<\/strong><\/em>, the research reveals that coastal microbialites are actively absorbing carbon and rapidly building new layers of calcium carbonate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By combining field measurements with genetic analyses, the team found these microbial communities take up carbon both day and night, a surprising find for a system assumed to rely purely on photosynthesis.. They rival the carbon uptake of coastal marshes, but lock that carbon into stable mineral rock instead of easily degraded organic matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings provide a reminder that some of Earth\u2019s oldest life forms still have powerful lessons to teach us about resilience and discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bigelow.org\/news\/articles\/2025-12-15.html\">Read the Full Story<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa\u2019s coast is home to some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth: microbialites. These \u201cliving rocks\u201d are built by microbes that turn dissolved minerals into stone.\u00a0 A new study co-led by Bigelow Laboratory and Rhodes University shows these ancient formations aren\u2019t just hanging on \u2014 they\u2019re thriving. Published in Nature Communications, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[22,32,93],"class_list":["post-1076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-ocean-function","tag-climate","tag-press-release","tag-rachel-sipler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1079,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions\/1079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}