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Bat urea-derived minerals in arid environment. First identification of allantoin, C4H6N4O3, in Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave, United Arab Emirates

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Date
05/02/2017
Author
Audra, Philippe
Bosák, Pavel
Gázquez , Fernando
Cailhol, Didier
Skála, Roman
Lisá, Lenka
Jonášová, Šárka
Frumkin, Amos
Knez, Martin
Slabe, Tadej
Zupan Hajna, Nadja
Al-Farraj, Asma
Keywords
Cave minerals
Allantoin
Bat guano
Bat urea
Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave
United Arab Emirates
GE Environmental Sciences
QE Geology
NDAS
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Abstract
Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave is a small cave in United Arab Emirates (UAE) that hosts a bat colony which is the source of guano deposits and peculiar centimeter-long yellowish stalactites. The mineralogy and geochemistry of these deposits were analyzed using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic microanalysis (EDX), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N). Urea CO(NH2)2 was found to be the main compound of these stalactites, while allantoin C4H6N4O3 was found to be an accessory urea byproduct. This paper is the first to mention allantoin in a cave environment. We also identified rare sulfate minerals (aphthitalite, alunite) and phosphates that probably correspond to the archerite-biphosphammite series. The occurrence of these rare bat-related minerals is due to the extremely dry conditions in the cave, which accounts for the extraordinary preservation of the guano deposits and allows for the crystallization of these very soluble minerals.
Citation
Audra , P , Bosák , P , Gázquez , F , Cailhol , D , Skála , R , Lisá , L , Jonášová , Š , Frumkin , A , Knez , M , Slabe , T , Zupan Hajna , N & Al-Farraj , A 2017 , ' Bat urea-derived minerals in arid environment. First identification of allantoin, C 4 H 6 N 4 O 3 , in Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave, United Arab Emirates ' , International Journal of Speleology , vol. 46 , no. 1 , pp. 81-92 . https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001
Publication
International Journal of Speleology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001
ISSN
0392-6672
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 the Author(s). Open Access. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11604

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