Biocrusts and adjacent sediments were collected from the so-called loess plateau of Northern Iran and
the loess deposits on the foothills of Alborz Mountains. The mineralogical and granulometric analyses
characterized sediments as quartz-rich clayey or sandy silts. Cyanobacterial diversity, colony morphology
and grain stabilization were studied by light and scanning electron microscopy, which showed glue-like
layers of cyanobacterial EPS and dense networks of filamentous cyanobacteria immobilizing finer and
bigger grains, respectively. Amorphous, tuft and globular cyanobacterial colony structures were also
detected. 15 cyanobacterial genera were ...
Tamara Dulić, Jussi Meriluoto, Tamara Palanački Malešević, Violeta Gajić, Tamara Važić, Nada Tokodi, Igor Obreht, Bojan Kostić, Petar Kosijer, Farhad Khormali, Zorica Svirčev. "Cyanobacterial diversity and toxicity of biocrusts from the Caspian Lowland loess deposits, North Iran" in Quaternary International (2016)
