Chapter 3

Microbial Weathering of Minerals and Rocks in Natural Environments

Toby Samuels

Toby Samuels

UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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Casey Bryce

Casey Bryce

Geomicrobiology Group, Centre for Applied Geoscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

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Hanna Landenmark

Hanna Landenmark

UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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Claire Marie-Loudon

Claire Marie-Loudon

UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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Natasha Nicholson

Natasha Nicholson

UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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Adam H. Stevens

Adam H. Stevens

UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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Charles Cockell

Charles Cockell

UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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First published: 10 February 2020
Citations: 29
Book Series:Geophysical Monograph Series

Summary

Microbes are active agents of environmental change. From the depths of the Earth's crust to the heights of the upper atmosphere, microorganisms alter the physicochemical conditions surrounding them. Their activity provides important ecosystem services to the wider biosphere, making essential elements such as carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and iron available for higher organisms. One such environmental interaction is the weathering of minerals and rocks by microbial communities, a key process that underpins soil formation and global biogeochemical cycles. By facilitating mineral dissolution and rock degradation, microbes enhance the release of elements from their geological reservoirs and perform significant elemental transformations. Under what conditions microbes perform these activities and to what extent they impact their surrounding environment, are key topics in geobiology. In this chapter, various aspects of microbial mineral and rock weathering will be explored. Key concepts and terminology will be introduced, followed by an overview of the mechanisms used by microorganisms to perform weathering activity. Sections covering the methodological approaches used by researchers to study microbial rock weathering processes, including detecting the traces or “biosignatures” such microbial activity leaves behind on geological materials, will be provided. The effect of microbial rock weathering on the wider microbial ecosystem, including the endurance and functional capacity of microbial communities, is also explored. Finally, this chapter will discuss the emerging field of microbial biogeomorphology, the study of how biological activity at the micron scale can impact the environment at meter to kilometer scales, contributing to the processes that shape Earth's landscapes.