Textural and chemical effects of bacterial activity on basaltic glass: an experimental approach

doi:10.1016/0009-2541(94)00098-S

Chemical Geology

Volume 119, Issues 1–4, 5 January 1995, Pages 139-160

https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(94)00098-S Get rights and content

Abstract

Naturally altered basaltic glass may show features such as pitted textures and variable degree of element mobilization relative to the fresh parent. The alteration process has generally been considered from only a chemical/physical point of view, but recent observations of bacteria in altered glass have, however, led to questions about the importance of microbial activity. In order to examine this, an experiment has been performed in which basaltic glass samples were immersed in growth media at room temperature for up to 394 days, inoculated with bacteria derived from a naturally altered pyroclastic deposit (Surtsey tuff).

During the experiment it was observed that bacteria had a great affinity for attachment to the glass surface, which is in most cases connected to the production of extracellular polymers. Further, different species of bacteria were dominant at different time intervals. The bacteria activity caused a general decrease in pH from 8.0 to 5.8 during the time of the experiment.

After 46 days of incubation, SEM studies of samples show rare examples of clear etching marks on the surface corresponding in size and shape of a minor group of bacteria. A local corrosion in a more irregular manner was observed after 181 days. Chemical analyses of the glass surface show no difference in composition compared to the fresh glass at this stage, i.e. any dissolution is congruent. Bacteria and biofilms attached to the glass surface show accumulation of elements, of which Al and Si could only have been derived by dissolution of the glass. However, the extent of accumulation of various elements may differ pronouncedly within and between the runs at 44, 77 and 181 days. This scatter probably reflects the diversity of the community and the ability of the different species of bacteria to accumulate elements.

After 394 days the outermost glass rim, 1 μm in thickness, is highly depleted in all cations, except Si, which is relatively enriched. This incongruent dissolution of the glass, has only been active during the last 7 months of the experiment. The alteration rate is increased, at least, by a factor of 10 compared to that of the first 6 months. This is thought to be caused by the activity of a new, dominant bacterium group during this period. Microanalyses of the bacteria attached to the residual, leached glass rim, show more frequent accumulation of Si, and generally their chemistries are more homogenous than that observed in the other, shorter-termed runs.

Bacterial activity may hence have a great influence on the textural and chemical developments commonly observed in naturally altered basaltic glass deposits.

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Citation Excerpt :
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Research paperTextural and chemical effects of bacterial activity on basaltic glass: an experimental approach

Abstract

Biofilm-associated exopolysaccharides

Microbiol. Eur.

The weathering of a late Tertiary volcanic ash: importance of organic solutes

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Microbiological factors in the extraction of silicon from slightly-soluble natural compounds

Sov. Soil Sci.

The occurrence and accumulation of heavy metals by iron bacterial biofilms in Norwegian hard rock aquifers

Bacterial leaching patterns on pyrite crystal surfaces

J. Bacteriol.

Quartz dissolution in organic-rich aqueous systems

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Increased solubility of quartz in water due to complexing by organic compounds

Nature (London)

The dissolution of quartz in aqueous solutions of organic acids at 25°C

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Fundamental processes controlling the first stage of alteration of a basalt glass by seawater: An experimental study between 200 and 320°C

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

Mechanism of feldspar weathering, II. Observations of feldspars from soils

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Mechanisms of pyroxene and amphibole weathering, II. Observations of soil grains

Am. J. Sci.

Études expérimentales de mécanismes d'altération des minéraux par des microorganismes hétérotrophes

Metal fixation by bacterial cell walls

Can. J. Earth Sci.

Monte Carlo simulations of surface reaction rate laws

Dissolution at dislocation etch pits in quartz

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Biogenic etching of microfractures in amorphous and crystalline silicates

Nature (London)

X-ray microanalysis in the electron microscope

Dissolution of basaltic glass in seawater: Mechanism and rate

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

In situ metal-staining of biological membranes in sediments

Nature (London)

Solubilization of minerals and related materials by 2-ketogluconic acid producing bacteria

Soil. Sci.

Geomicrobiology

Iron-silica crystalline nucleation by bacteria in a geothermal sediment

Nature (London)

Bacteria as nucleation sites for authigenic minerals in a metal-contaminated lake sediment

Chem. Geol.

Metallic ion binding by Bacillus subtilis: Implications for the fossilization of microorganisms

Geology

Chemical changes during progressive subaerial palagonitization of a subglacial olivine tholeiite hyaloclastite: A microprobe study

Chem. Geol.

Chemical changes and authigenic mineral formation during palagonitization of a basanite hyaloclastite, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Neues Jahrb. Mineral. Abh.

From molecules to planetary environments: understanding global change

Microbial exopolymers: Ecological and economic considerations

Am. Soc. Microbiol. News

Meteoric water-basalt interaction, I. A laboratory study

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

The relationship between blue-green algae and carbonate deposits

Multisite surface reaction versus transport control during the hydrolysis of a complex oxide

Nature and origin of palagonite tuffs of the Honolulu Group on Oahu, Hawaii

Geol. Soc. Am. Mem.

Petrology of palagonite tuffs of the Koko Craters, Oahu, Hawaii

Contrib. Mineral. Petrol.

Leaching of silica and uranium and other quantitative aspects of the lithobiontic colonization in a radioactive thermal spring

Microb. Ecol.

The bacteria Azotobacter, Beggiatoa, and Desulfovibria in the Surtsey soil

Surtsey Res. Progr. Rep.

Beggiatoas as pioneers in volcanic soils of Surtsey, Iceland

Acta Bot. Islandica

Nitrogen fixation by blue-green algae on the island of Surtsey, Iceland

Surtsey Res. Progr. Rep.

Concerning the nitrogen fixation on Surtsey

Surtsey Res. Progr. Rep.

La palagonitisation, l'alteration sousmarine du verre volcanique basique de Palagonia (Sicile)

On the consolidation and palagonitization of the tephra of the Surtsey volcanic island

Surtsey Prog. Rep.

Environmental factors controlling the palagonitization of the Surtsey tephra, Iceland

Bull. Geol. Soc. Den.

Research paper
Textural and chemical effects of bacterial activity on basaltic glass: an experimental approach