Hypersaline Ecosystems

A. Introduction.- Obituary.- Purpose of this Book.- Synopsis.- B. General Framework of Hypersaline Environments with Special Reference to the Red Sea.- 1. Introduction and Definitions.- 2. The Northern Red Sea, a Historical Sketch.- 3. Gulf of Elat (Aqaba). Geological and Sedimentological Framework.- 4. Coastal Evaporite Systems.- 5. Hypersaline Sea-marginal Flats of the Gulfs of Elat and Suez.- 6. Anchialine Pools -- Comparative Hydrobiology.- 7. Botanical Studies on Coastal Salinas and Sabkhas of the Sinai.- C. The Gavish Sabkha -- A Case Study.- 8. Introduction.- 9. Geomorphology, Mineralogy and Groundwater Geochemistry as Factors of the Hydrodynamic System of the Gavish Sabkha.- 10. The Ras Muhammad Pool: Implications for the Gavish Sabkha.- 11 Salinity and Water Activity Related Zonation of Microbial Communities and Potential Stromatolites of the Gavish Sabkha.- 12. Structure and Physiology of Square-shaped and Other Halophilic Bacteria from the Gavish Sabkha.- 13. Photoactive Pigments in Halobacteria from the Gavish Sabkha.- 14. Photosynthetic Microorganisms of the Gavish Sabkha.- 15. The Fauna of the Gavish Sabkha and the Solar Lake -- a Comparative Study.- 16. Trace Metal Concentrations in Sediments from the Gavish Sabkha.- 17. Biogeochemistry of Gavish Sabkha Sediments I. Studies on Neutral Reducing Sugars and Lipid Moieties by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.- 18. Biogeochemistry of Gavish Sabkha Sediments II. Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry of the Laminated Microbial Mat in the Permanently Water-Covered Zone Before and After the Desert Sheetflood of 1979.- 19. Carbon Isotope Geochemistry and 14C Ages of Microbial Mats from the Gavish Sabkha and the Solar Lake.- D. Applied Aspects and Paleoecology.- 20. Introduction.- 21. A Paleobiological Perspective onSabkhas.- 22. Applied and Economic Aspects of Sabkha Systems -- Genesis of Salt, Ore and Hydrocarbon Deposits, and Biotechnology.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Taxonomic Index.