Microbial Acid Sulfate Weathering of Basaltic Rocks: Implication for Enzymatic Reactions

Fatih Sekerci; Nurgul Balci

doi:10.1007/s10498-022-09407-8

Microbial Acid Sulfate Weathering of Basaltic Rocks: Implication for Enzymatic Reactions

Fatih Sekerci, Nurgul Balci^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Geological Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Two basaltic rocks were reacted in acid sulfate and non-acid sulfate solutions with an initial pH value of 2 in the presence and absence of A. ferrooxidans to determine if basalt dissolution can support the metabolically active growth of A. ferrooxidans. Similar elemental release rates (R_Si, R_Ca, R_Mg) calculated for both biotic and abiotic experiments suggest rather a negligible microbial impact on the dissolution of basaltic rocks within the acid sulfate solution. Nevertheless, in contrast with the abiotic experiments, measurements of remarkably high concentration of Fe(III)_aq in microbial experiments confirmed the bacterial metabolism. Moreover, detected cell division and increasing total cell numbers with the extent of the experiments provide further evidence for the growth of metabolically active A. ferrooxidans during the dissolution of the rocks. Formation of jarosite ((K, Na, H₃O)Fe₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆) only in the biotic experiments is attributed to the microbially catalyzed Fe(II)_aq oxidation. Overall, our results showed that acidic solutions that reacted with basaltic rocks can sustain the growth of Fe(II)_aq oxidizing bacteria. Furthermore, identification of jarosite only in the biotic experiments emphasizes the enzymatic Fe(II) oxidation as the key step for its formation during basalt weathering at acid conditions, highlighting its biosignature potential on Earth and Earth-like planets (e.g., Mars).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	155-184
Number of pages	30
Journal	Aquatic Geochemistry
Volume	28
Issue number	3-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-022-09407-8
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Funding

This study was supported by the Research Fund of Istanbul Technical University (42411) and the TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) grant (119Y411) to Nurgul Balci.

Funders	Funder number
Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu	119Y411
Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi	42411

Keywords

Basaltic rocks
Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria
Jarosite
Mars
Weathering

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10.1007/s10498-022-09407-8

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title = "Microbial Acid Sulfate Weathering of Basaltic Rocks: Implication for Enzymatic Reactions",

abstract = "Two basaltic rocks were reacted in acid sulfate and non-acid sulfate solutions with an initial pH value of 2 in the presence and absence of A. ferrooxidans to determine if basalt dissolution can support the metabolically active growth of A. ferrooxidans. Similar elemental release rates (RSi, RCa, RMg) calculated for both biotic and abiotic experiments suggest rather a negligible microbial impact on the dissolution of basaltic rocks within the acid sulfate solution. Nevertheless, in contrast with the abiotic experiments, measurements of remarkably high concentration of Fe(III)aq in microbial experiments confirmed the bacterial metabolism. Moreover, detected cell division and increasing total cell numbers with the extent of the experiments provide further evidence for the growth of metabolically active A. ferrooxidans during the dissolution of the rocks. Formation of jarosite ((K, Na, H3O)Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6) only in the biotic experiments is attributed to the microbially catalyzed Fe(II)aq oxidation. Overall, our results showed that acidic solutions that reacted with basaltic rocks can sustain the growth of Fe(II)aq oxidizing bacteria. Furthermore, identification of jarosite only in the biotic experiments emphasizes the enzymatic Fe(II) oxidation as the key step for its formation during basalt weathering at acid conditions, highlighting its biosignature potential on Earth and Earth-like planets (e.g., Mars).",

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AB - Two basaltic rocks were reacted in acid sulfate and non-acid sulfate solutions with an initial pH value of 2 in the presence and absence of A. ferrooxidans to determine if basalt dissolution can support the metabolically active growth of A. ferrooxidans. Similar elemental release rates (RSi, RCa, RMg) calculated for both biotic and abiotic experiments suggest rather a negligible microbial impact on the dissolution of basaltic rocks within the acid sulfate solution. Nevertheless, in contrast with the abiotic experiments, measurements of remarkably high concentration of Fe(III)aq in microbial experiments confirmed the bacterial metabolism. Moreover, detected cell division and increasing total cell numbers with the extent of the experiments provide further evidence for the growth of metabolically active A. ferrooxidans during the dissolution of the rocks. Formation of jarosite ((K, Na, H3O)Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6) only in the biotic experiments is attributed to the microbially catalyzed Fe(II)aq oxidation. Overall, our results showed that acidic solutions that reacted with basaltic rocks can sustain the growth of Fe(II)aq oxidizing bacteria. Furthermore, identification of jarosite only in the biotic experiments emphasizes the enzymatic Fe(II) oxidation as the key step for its formation during basalt weathering at acid conditions, highlighting its biosignature potential on Earth and Earth-like planets (e.g., Mars).

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Microbial Acid Sulfate Weathering of Basaltic Rocks: Implication for Enzymatic Reactions

Abstract

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Keywords

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