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Science 9 October 1992:
Vol. 258. no. 5080, pp. 278 - 281
DOI: 10.1126/science.258.5080.278
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Articles

Microbial Control of Silicate Weathering in Organic-Rich Ground Water

Franz K. Hiebert 1 and Philip C. Bennett 1

1 Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 79713

An in situ microcosm study of the influence of surface-adhering bacteria on silicate diagenesis in a shallow petroleum-contaminated aquifer showed that minerals were colonized by indigenous bacteria and chemically weathered at a rate faster than theoretically predicted. Feldspar and quartz fragments were placed in anoxic, organic-rich ground water, left for 14 months, recovered, and compared to unreacted controls with scanning electron microscopy. Ground-water geochemistry was characterized before and after the experiment. Localized mineral etching probably occurred in a reaction zone at the bacteria-mineral interface where high concentrations of organic acids, formed by bacteria during metabolism of hydrocarbon, selectively mobilized silica and aluminum from the mineral surface.

Submitted on May 20, 1992
Accepted on August 4, 1992


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)