• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2019

The oxidation states of structural Fe in minerals reflect the paleo-depositional redox conditions for the biologically or abiotically induced mineral formation. Particularly, nano-scale analysis using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is necessary to identify evidence for the microbial role in the biomineralization. HRTEM-EELS analysis of oxidation states of structural Fe and carbon bonding structure differentiate biological factors in mineralization by mapping the distribution of Fe(II)/Fe(III) and source of organic C. HRTEM-EELS technique provides geomicrobiologists with the direct nano-scale evidence of microbe-mineral interaction.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2011

Removal of dissolved selenium by D. michiganensis, a iron-reducing bacterium, and effects of dissolved metal elements such as iron, sulfate, and copper were investigated. Selenide that was reduced from selenite (2 mM) by D. michiganensis was gradually removed from the aqueous medium. As the reduced selenide was combined with aqueous iron, it was precipitated as a nanoparticulate iron-selenide. Sulfate and copper negatively affected the microbial selenite reduction, and the copper was especially toxic to the bacterium, inhibiting a microbial removal of dissolved selenite. These results show that it should be carefully biotreated for a selenium-contaminated site considering in situ sulfate or copper distribution and concentration. Consequently, the formation of iron-selenide by bacteria will be an important measure for preventing a long-distance migration of selenium in the subsurface environments.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.395-401
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• 2009

The smectite-illite (SI) reaction is a ubiquitous process in siliciclastic sedimentary environments. For the last 4 decades the importance of smectite to illite (S-I) reaction was described in research papers and reports, as the degree of the (S-I) reaction, termed "smectite illitization", is linked to the exploration of hydrocarbons, and geochemical/petrophysical indicators. The S-I transformation has been thought that the reaction, explained either by layer-by-layer mechanism in the solid state or dissolution/reprecipitation process, was entirely abiotic and to require burial, heat, and time to proceed, however few studies have taken into account the bacterial activity. Recent laboratory studies showed evidence suggesting that the structural ferric iron (Fe(III)) in clay minerals can be reduced by microbial activity and the role of microorganisms is to link organic matter oxidation to metal reduction, resulting in the S-I transformation. In abiotic systems, elevated temperatures are typically used in laboratory experiments to accelerate the smectite to illite reaction in order to compensate for a long geological time in nature. However, in biotic systems, bacteria may catalyze the reaction and elevated temperature or prolonged time may not be necessary. Despite the important role of microbe in S-I reaction, factors that control the reaction mechanism are not clearly addressed yet. This paper, therefore, overviews the current status of microbially mediated smectite-to-illite reaction studies and characterization techniques.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2020

The activity of living microorganism directly or indirectly affects to the biomineralization in sediments and rocks that display the unique biotic structure. Minerals in the biotic structures showed unique properties and bypass the thermodynamic and kinetic barriers. Therefore, investigations on the biotically induced microstructure is essential to identify the new mineral formation mechanism by analyzing crystal structures and morphology at a nano-scale. The significant implication as well as advantages of using scanning electron microscopy to characterize the biotic structures were discussed in this paper for the examples of hydrothermal vent area microbial mat and deep-sea ferromanganese crust sample.