BACKGROUND Free-living amoebae (FLA) are a group of ubiquitous protozoan, which are distributed in the natural and artificial environment sources. The main aim of the current study was to identify the presence of FLA in the recreational hot springs of Sarein in Ardebil Province of Iran. METHODS Seven recreational hot springs were selected in Sarein City and 28 water samples (four from each ho...

The American naturalist, W . H. W e e d, was the first who pointed out the possibillity that plants found' in hot springs might be the oldest organisms on the earth. In his paper on »The Vege­ tation of Hot Springs« printed already in 1889., he said: »The1 ability possessed by the vegetation found in such waters to withstand such extreme and adverse conditions of environment shows the possible ...

Terrestrial CaCO3 precipitates, including travertines, tufas, and speleothems, are currently of great interest because of their potential as archives of environmental, climatic, and biologic information (e.g., Andrews et al. 1997; Bar-Matthews et al. 1997; Walter and Des Marais 1993). Detailed studies of examples of these terrestrial carbonates therefore provide valuable information to aid inte...

According to legend and the historian Geoffrey of Monmouth (Historia Regum Brittaniae, 1136), the hot springs at Bath were discovered in the 9th century BC by Bladud, a Celtic prince who was so disfigured by leprosy that he became a wandering swineherd so that his people would not have to look upon his disfigurement. When he chanced upon the springs and noticed that the sores on his pigs were h...

Introduction: Hydrochemical properties of waters used in balneotherapy are very important, as they play a key role in success or failure of this kind of treatment. There are 30 mineral and hot spas in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran, which are traditionally used for treating diseases. In this study, hydrochemical properties of Fotoyeh and Sanguyeh Springs, in western Hormozgan Province, are d...

The micromorphological structure of microbial mats (biomats) from the hot springs of the Vilyuchinskaya hydrothermal system, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, were investigated. The Vilyuchinskie hot springs had a discharge temperature of 55-56 degrees C and Na-Ca-HCO3-type waters rich in silicic and boric acids. Water and biomats had high concentrations of Fe, Mn, Sr, and As. Enumeration of total b...