ABSTRACT
Anaerobic, acidic, sulfidic, thermophilic springs (AASTS) with a diverse assemblage of thermophilic microbial communities were recently described in the Philippines (Abrajano et al. 2004). Geochemical conditions exemplified by AASTS are not common in modem environments, but they are thought to represent important and prevalent habitats for the earliest organisms on Earth. It is this analogy that motivated the present study of the geochemistry of these microbial communities (cf. House et al. 2003).
2 SAMPLED LOCALITIES AND METHODS
