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

Philippe  Audra; Pavel Bosák; Fernando Gázquez; Didier  Cailhol; Roman  Skála; Lenka  Lisá; Šárka Jonášová; Amos  Frumkin; Martin Knez; Tadej  Slabe; Nadja Zupan Hajna; Asma Al-Farraj

doi:10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001

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

Philippe Audra, Pavel Bosák, Fernando Gázquez , Didier Cailhol, Roman Skála, Lenka Lisá, Šárka Jonášová, Amos Frumkin, Martin Knez, Tadej Slabe, Nadja Zupan Hajna, Asma Al-Farraj

School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	81-92
Journal	International Journal of Speleology
Volume	46
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001
Publication status	Published - 5 Feb 2017

Keywords

Cave minerals
Allantoin
Bat guano
Bat urea
Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave
United Arab Emirates

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10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001Licence: CC BY-NC

Gazquez_2017_IJS_Allantoin_CC
© 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.
Final published version, 10 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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, C₄H₆N₄O₃, in Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave, United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Speleology, 46(1), 81-92. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001

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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.",

keywords = "Cave minerals, Allantoin, Bat guano, Bat urea, Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave, United Arab Emirates",

author = "Philippe Audra and Pavel Bos{\'a}k and Fernando G{\'a}zquez and Didier Cailhol and Roman Sk{\'a}la and Lenka Lis{\'a} and {\v S}{\'a}rka Jon{\'a}{\v s}ov{\'a} and Amos Frumkin and Martin Knez and Tadej Slabe and {Zupan Hajna}, Nadja and Asma Al-Farraj",

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doi = "10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001",

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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, C₄H₆N₄O₃, 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

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AU - Audra, Philippe

AU - Bosák, Pavel

AU - Gázquez , Fernando

AU - Cailhol, Didier

AU - Skála, Roman

AU - Lisá, Lenka

AU - Jonášová, Šárka

AU - Frumkin, Amos

AU - Knez, Martin

AU - Slabe, Tadej

AU - Zupan Hajna, Nadja

AU - Al-Farraj, Asma

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N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Cave minerals

KW - Allantoin

KW - Bat guano

KW - Bat urea

KW - Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave

KW - United Arab Emirates

U2 - 10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001

DO - 10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2001

M3 - Article

SN - 0392-6672

VL - 46

SP - 81

EP - 92

JO - International Journal of Speleology

JF - International Journal of Speleology

IS - 1

ER -