Growth rate observation from the moss-built Checa travertine terrace, central Spain

In situ observations of fossil and living specimens of the calcicolous mosses Bryum pseudotriquetrum, Cratoneuron commutatum and Catoscopium nigritum revealed very fast calcite depositional rates. Rhythmic layering in the fossil mosses corresponding with the seasonal climatic cycle suggests that the moss curtain occupied by these three mosses maintains the deposition of spongeous travertine layers at a mean rate of 4 cm a⁻¹. A mean depositional rate of 4.2 cm a⁻¹ may be calculated from measurements of the loss of bicarbonate from the springwater after it percolated through the moss curtain. These rates suggest that the 8 m high travertine terrace of Checa with a surface area of 800 m² did not exist two millennia ago. Mosses could be put to man's use for creating natural overgrowths on artificial surfaces, an idea based on an allusion by Wallner. He observed that the thread-forming, blue-green algae Vaucheria builds travertine deposits at an annual rate of 0.7-1.4 cm. We observed that the mosses Cratoneuron commutatum and Bryum pseudotriquetrum may form spongeous travertine layers at respective maximum rates of 11 and 14 cm a⁻¹. This would reduce the time required to build natural overgrowths on artificial objects to a practical period of months.