The coastal sabkha in Ras Gemsa, Red Sea coast with its colonizing microbial mats and biofilms was investigated. The sabkha sediments consist mainly of terrigenous siliciclastic material accompanied by the development of evaporites. Halite serves as a good conduit for light and reduces the effect of intensive harmful solar radiation, which allows microbial mats to survive and flourish. The micr...

19 Sinkholes in karst areas may cause subsidence damage in transportation infrastructures, 20 demolition of buildings and even the loss of human lives when they occur in a 21 catastrophic way. Differential Interferometry (DInSAR) is a promising technology for 22 detecting and characterizing sinkholes, as well as for reducing the associated risk when 23 combined with other sources of data such a...

Introduction: Viking, Pathfinder, and the Mars Exploration Rovers and martian orbiters (e.g., Odys-sey) all support the historical and present-day existence of water on Mars. Mars Odyssey detected up to ~10 wt% equivalent H 2 O in equatorial regions of Mars where water ice is not stable [1], and a variety of hy-drated sulfate and chloride minerals have been suggested as possibly contributing to...

Travertine deposits are a kind of continental carbonates that form in specific chemical, physical and biological conditions. Garab travertines in southeast of Mashhad are studied based on field, geochemistry (elemental and stable isotope analysis) and hydro-geochemistry analysis. Field and petrographic characterization led to recognize of crystalline crust, raft, foam, shrub, laminated, black m...