Microbial mats in a thermomineral sulfurous cave

The thermomineral sulfurous waters at Mangalia in southeastern Dobrogea, Romania, have been known and used as spa facilities for well over 2,000 years (Feru and Capotà 1991). Hydrogeologieal studies performed during the last 60 years (Macovei 1912; Ciocîrdel and Protopopescu-Pache 1955; Moissiu 1968; Feru and Capotà 1991) identified a deep captive sulfurous aquifer located in Barremian-Jurassic limestones, extending 15 km to the North and 50 km to the South of Mangalia. In the Mangalia region, a system of geological faults allows the deep water to ascend toward the surface and mix with the Sarmatian oxygenated waters (Lascu et al. 1993). The biological investigation of the subsurface ecosystems associated with the sulfurous waters at Mangalia commenced in the late eighties, after the discovery of Movile Cave and its unique subterranean chemoautotrophically based ecosystem (Sarbu, 1990).