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Yi Q, Wu S, Southam G, Robertson L, You F, Liu Y, Wang S, Saha N, Webb R, Wykes J, Chan TS, Lu YR, Huang L. Acidophilic Iron- and Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Drives Alkaline pH Neutralization and Mineral Weathering in Fe Ore Tailings. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:8020-8034. [PMID: 34043324 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c00848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The neutralization of strongly alkaline pH conditions and acceleration of mineral weathering in alkaline Fe ore tailings have been identified as key prerequisites for eco-engineering tailings-soil formation for sustainable mine site rehabilitation. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans has great potential in neutralizing alkaline pH and accelerating primary mineral weathering in the tailings but little information is available. This study aimed to investigate the colonization of A. ferrooxidans in alkaline Fe ore tailings and its role in elemental sulfur (S0) oxidation, tailings neutralization, and Fe-bearing mineral weathering through a microcosm experiment. The effects of biological S0 oxidation on the weathering of alkaline Fe ore tailings were examined via various microspectroscopic analyses. It is found that (1) the A. ferrooxidans inoculum combined with the S0 amendment rapidly neutralized the alkaline Fe ore tailings; (2) A. ferrooxidans activities induced Fe-bearing primary mineral (e.g., biotite) weathering and secondary mineral (e.g., ferrihydrite and jarosite) formation; and (3) the association between bacterial cells and tailings minerals were likely facilitated by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The behavior and biogeochemical functionality of A. ferrooxidans in the tailings provide a fundamental basis for developing microbial-based technologies toward eco-engineering soil formation in Fe ore tailings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Yi
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
- Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
- The Key Laboratory of Groundwater Pollution Mechanism and Remediation, China Geological Survey and Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
| | - Songlin Wu
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Gordon Southam
- School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Lachlan Robertson
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Fang You
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Yunjia Liu
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Sicheng Wang
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Narottam Saha
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Richard Webb
- Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Jeremy Wykes
- Australian Synchrotron, Melbourne, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Ting-Shan Chan
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre, Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
| | - Ying-Rui Lu
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre, Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
| | - Longbin Huang
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
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Rizzo V, Cantasano N. Structural parallels between terrestrial microbialites and Martian sediments: are all cases of ‘Pareidolia’? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 16:297-316. [DOI: 10.1017/s1473550416000355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
AbstractThe study analyses possible parallels of the microbialite-known structures with a set of similar settings selected by a systematic investigation from the wide record and data set of images shot by NASA rovers. Terrestrial cases involve structures both due to bio-mineralization processes and those induced by bacterial metabolism, that occur in a dimensional field longer than 0.1 mm, at micro, meso and macro scales. The study highlights occurrence on Martian sediments of widespread structures like microspherules, often organized into some higher-order settings. Such structures also occur on terrestrial stromatolites in a great variety of ‘Microscopic Induced Sedimentary Structures’, such as voids, gas domes and layer deformations of microbial mats. We present a suite of analogies so compelling (i.e. different scales of morphological, structural and conceptual relevance), to make the case that similarities between Martian sediment structures and terrestrial microbialites are not all cases of ‘Pareidolia’.
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Microbial mediated formation of Fe-carbonate minerals under extreme acidic conditions. Sci Rep 2014; 4:4767. [PMID: 24755961 PMCID: PMC3996482 DOI: 10.1038/srep04767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2013] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Discovery of Fe-carbonate precipitation in Rio Tinto, a shallow river with very acidic waters, situated in Huelva, South-western Spain, adds a new dimension to our understanding of carbonate formation. Sediment samples from this low-pH system indicate that carbonates are formed in physico-chemical conditions ranging from acid to neutral pH. Evidence for microbial mediation is observed in secondary electron images (Fig. 1), which reveal rod-shaped bacteria embedded in the surface of siderite nanocrystals. The formation of carbonates in Rio Tinto is related to the microbial reduction of ferric iron coupled to the oxidation of organic compounds. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time, that Acidiphilium sp. PM, an iron-reducing bacterium isolated from Rio Tinto, mediates the precipitation of siderite (FeCO3) under acidic conditions and at a low temperature (30°C). We describe nucleation of siderite on nanoglobules in intimate association with the bacteria cell surface. This study has major implications for understanding carbonate formation on the ancient Earth or extraterrestrial planets.
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Rizzo V, Cantasano N. Possible organosedimentary structures on Mars. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ASTROBIOLOGY 2009; 8:267-280. [DOI: 10.1017/s1473550409990152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
AbstractThis study, using the Microscopic Imager (MI) of NASA Rover Exploration Mission's (REM) ‘Opportunity’, aims to explain the origin of laminated sediments lying at Meridiani Planum of Mars, and of the strange spherules, known as blueberries, about which several hypotheses have been formulated. To this purpose, images of the sedimentary textures of layers and fragments captured by REM have been analysed; sediments that NASA has already established as ‘pertinent to water presence’. Our study shows that such laminated sediments and the spherules they contain could be organosedimentary structures, probably produced by microorganisms. The laminated structures are characterized by a sequence of a thin pair of layers, which have the features of skeletal/agglutinated laminae and whose basic constituents are made by a partition of septa and vacuoles radially arranged around a central one. The growth of these supposed organosedimentary masses is based on the ‘built flexibility’ of such a basal element; it may be a coalescing microfossil formed by progressive film accretion (calcimicrobe), in a variety of geometrical gross forms, such as a repeated couplet sequence of laminae or domal mass and large composite polycentric spherule, both in elevation. The acquired structural and textural data seem to be consistent with the existence of life on Mars and could explain an origin of sediments at Meridiani Planum similar to that of terrestrial stromatolites. The Martian deposits, probably produced by cyanobacterial activity, and the embedded blueberries could represent a recurrent and multiform product of colonies with sheath forms, resembling in shape those of the fossil genus Archaeosphaeroides (stromatolites of Fig Tree, South Africa).
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O'Neill C, Lenardic A, Jellinek AM, Kiefer WS. Melt propagation and volcanism in mantle convection simulations, with applications for Martian volcanic and atmospheric evolution. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Chan MA, Beitler Bowen B, Parry W, Ormö J, Komatsu G. Red rock and red planet diagenesis: Comparisons of Earth and Mars concretions. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1130/1052-5173(2005)015[4:rrarpd]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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