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Minerals
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Biomineralization in Ore Forming Processes
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Biomineralization in Ore Forming Processes

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 9169

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Stephanos P. Kilias

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece
Interests: Biomineralization; Biogeochemistry; Mn- and Fe-oxides; hydrothermal vent systems; Hellenic Volcanic Arc
Dr. Ernest Chi Fru

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Guest Editor
Geomicrobiology/Biogeochemistry, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
Interests: Geomicrobiology; Marine biogeochemistry; Earth’s Chemical Evolution; The Evolution of Life
Dr. Magnus Ivarsson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark
2. Department of Paleobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Frescativägen 40, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
Interests: deep biosphere; geobiology; paleobiology; fossilized microorganisms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, biomineralization, i.e., active and passive microbial (bacterial, archaeal, and fungal) dissolution and precipitation of a wide variety of economic-grade mineral phases in the natural environment, has gained special scientific and economic interest in low-temperature ore-forming processes. Due to their metabolic ability to control sulfate reduction, Fe and Mn redox reactions, inorganic carbon fixation to organic carbon and the oxidation of the organic matter back to inorganic carbon, microbes actively exert a major influence on the formation of a variety of minerals in surface, supergene, diagenetic, and hydrothermal environments. These include the formation of world-class secondary Cu and Zn–Pb deposits, banded Fe formations, Mn nodules, Mn-carbonates, exhalative massive sulfides, phosphorites, and placer gold deposits. For example, fungi can cause gold oxidation under surface mineral bioweathering conditions, leading to gold mobilization and bioaccumulation. Through their large surface area, microbes in addition to active metabolic processes, passively bind and concentrate economically important elements, making them important particulates in the enrichment of economic grade ores in the environment. Despite these recent advances, understanding the role of microbial biomineralization from the nano- to macro-scale ore-forming process, is still in its infancy and mostly underestimated, and, therefore, constitutes a fruitful area of cutting-edge research. The proposed Special Issue emphasizes the powerful role of microbial biomineralization in low-temperature ore genesis. It highlights crucial questions to enable a wide and truly interdisciplinary viewpoint, by combining concepts and new high-resolution methods from different areas, e.g., geochemistry, mineralogy, biology, to build a comprehensive picture of microbial biomineralization processes in ore formation, at the nanoscale to the global scale. Thus, we invite studies, from macro- to molecular scale, including innovative spectroscopy, microscopy, and omics-based investigations.

Prof. Dr. Stephanos P. Kilias
Dr. Ernest Chi Fru
Dr. Magnus Ivarsson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ore mineral
  • bacterial
  • archaeal
  • fungal
  • metal sulfide
  • Fe oxide
  • Mn oxide
  • carbon fixation
  • sulfate reduction
  • geobiology
  • global geobiological cycles
  • geomicrobiology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 10516 KiB  
Article
Precipitation of Mn Oxides in Quaternary Microbially Induced Sedimentary Structures (MISS), Cape Vani Paleo-Hydrothermal Vent Field, Milos, Greece
by Stephanos P. Kilias, Magnus Ivarsson, Ernest Chi Fru, Jayne E. Rattray, Håkan Gustafsson, Jonathan Naden and Kleopatra Detsi
Minerals 2020, 10(6), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060536 - 13 Jun 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3996
Abstract
Understanding microbial mediation in sediment-hosted Mn deposition has gained importance in low-temperature ore genesis research. Here we report Mn oxide ores dominated by todorokite, vernadite, hollandite, and manjiroite, which cement Quaternary microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) developed along bedding planes of shallow-marine to [...] Read more.
Understanding microbial mediation in sediment-hosted Mn deposition has gained importance in low-temperature ore genesis research. Here we report Mn oxide ores dominated by todorokite, vernadite, hollandite, and manjiroite, which cement Quaternary microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) developed along bedding planes of shallow-marine to tidal-flat volcaniclastic sandstones/sandy tuffs, Cape Vani paleo-hydrothermal vent field, Milos, Greece. This work aims to decipher the link between biological Mn oxide formation, low-T hydrothermalism, and, growth and preservation of Mn-bearing MISS (MnMISS). Geobiological processes, identified by microtexture petrography, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, lipid biomarkers, bulk- and lipid-specific δ13Corganic composition, and field data, and, low-temperature hydrothermal venting of aqueous Mn2+ in sunlit shallow waters, cooperatively enabled microbially-mediated Mn (II) oxidation and biomineralization. The MnMISS biomarker content and δ13Corg signatures strongly resemble those of modern Mn-rich hydrothermal sediments, Milos coast. Biogenic and syngenetic Mn oxide precipitation established by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and petrography, combined with hydrothermal fluid flow-induced pre-burial curing/diagenesis, may account for today’s crystalline Mn oxide resource. Our data suggests that MISS are not unique to cyanobacteria mats. Furthermore, microbial mats inhabited by aerobic methanotrophs may have contributed significantly to the formation of the MnMISS, thus widening the spectrum of environments responsible for marine Mn biometallogenesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomineralization in Ore Forming Processes)
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33 pages, 4844 KiB  
Article
Exceptional Preservation of Fungi as H2-Bearing Fluid Inclusions in an Early Quaternary Paleo-Hydrothermal System at Cape Vani, Milos, Greece
by Magnus Ivarsson, Stephanos P. Kilias, Curt Broman, Anna Neubeck, Henrik Drake, Ernest Chi Fru, Stefan Bengtson, Jonathan Naden, Kleopatra Detsi and Martin J. Whitehouse
Minerals 2019, 9(12), 749; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9120749 - 3 Dec 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4674
Abstract
The production of H2 in hydrothermal systems and subsurface settings is almost exclusively assumed a result of abiotic processes, particularly serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. The origin of H2 in environments not hosted in ultramafic rocks is, as a rule, unjustifiably linked [...] Read more.
The production of H2 in hydrothermal systems and subsurface settings is almost exclusively assumed a result of abiotic processes, particularly serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. The origin of H2 in environments not hosted in ultramafic rocks is, as a rule, unjustifiably linked to abiotic processes. Additionally, multiple microbiological processes among both prokaryotes and eukaryotes are known to involve H2-production, of which anaerobic fungi have been put forward as a potential source of H2 in subsurface environments, which is still unconfirmed. Here, we report fungal remains exceptionally preserved as fluid inclusions in hydrothermal quartz from feeder quartz-barite veins from the Cape Vani Fe-Ba-Mn ore on the Greek island of Milos. The inclusions possess filamentous or near-spheroidal morphologies interpreted as remains of fungal hyphae and spores, respectively. They were characterized by microthermometry, Raman spectroscopy, and staining of exposed inclusions with WGA-FITC under fluorescence microscopy. The spheroidal aqueous inclusions interpreted as fungal spores are unique by their coating of Mn-oxide birnessite, and gas phase H2. A biological origin of the H2 resulting from anaerobic fungal respiration is suggested. We propose that biologically produced H2 by micro-eukaryotes is an unrecognized source of H2 in hydrothermal systems that may support communities of H2-dependent prokaryotes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomineralization in Ore Forming Processes)
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