Sulfidic mine waste rock alkaliphilic microbial communities rapidly replaced by aerobic acidophiles following deposition

IF 3.9 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Biogeochemistry Pub Date : 2024-12-31 DOI:10.1007/s10533-024-01198-0

Anders Johnson, Erika Lönntoft, Pawel Piatek, Erik Ronne, Andrew Simons, Mark Dopson

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The increased mining of metals required to meet future demands also generates vast amounts of waste rock that depending on the ore, can contain substantial amounts of metal sulfides. Unconstrained storage of these mining biproducts results in the release of acidic metal laden effluent (termed ‘acid rock drainage’) that causes serious damage to recipient ecosystems. This study investigated the development of 16S rRNA gene based microbial communities and physiochemical characteristics over two sampling occasions in three age classes of rock, from newly mined to > 10 years in a boreal metal sulfide waste repository. Analysis of the waste rocks showed a pH decrease from the youngest to oldest aged waste rock suggesting the development of acid rock leachate. The microbial communities differed between the young, mid, and old samples with increasing Shannon’s H diversity with rock age. This was reflected by the young age microbial community beta diversity shifting towards the mid aged samples suggesting the development of a community adapted to the low temperature and acidic conditions. This community shift was characterized by the development of iron and sulfur oxidizing acidophilic populations that likely catalyzed the dissolution of the metal sulfides. In conclusion, the study showed three potential microbial community transitions from anaerobic species adapted to underground conditions, through an aerobic acidophilic community, to a more diverse acidophilic community. This study can assist in understanding acid rock drainage generation and inform on strategies to mitigate metal and acid release.

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硫化矿废石中嗜碱微生物群落沉积后迅速被好氧嗜酸菌所取代

为满足未来需求而增加的金属开采也产生了大量的废石，根据矿石的不同，这些废石可能含有大量的金属硫化物。这些采矿双产物的无限制储存导致含有酸性金属的废水（称为“酸性岩石排水”）的释放，对接收生态系统造成严重破坏。本研究通过两次采样，研究了北方金属硫化物废物库中三个年龄类别岩石（从新开采到10年）中基于16S rRNA基因的微生物群落的发展和物理化学特征。对废石的分析表明，pH值从最年轻到最老依次下降，表明酸性岩石渗滤液的发育。微生物群落在年轻、中期和年老样品之间存在差异，Shannon’s H多样性随岩石年龄的增加而增加。这反映在年轻时微生物群落β多样性向中年样品转移，表明群落的发展适应了低温和酸性条件。这种群落转变的特征是铁和硫氧化性嗜酸种群的发展，这可能催化了金属硫化物的溶解。总之，该研究显示了三种潜在的微生物群落转变，从适应地下条件的厌氧物种，到好氧嗜酸群落，再到更多样化的嗜酸群落。这项研究有助于了解酸性岩石排水的产生，并为减少金属和酸释放的策略提供信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Biogeochemistry 环境科学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

5.00%

发文量

112

审稿时长

3.2 months

期刊介绍： Biogeochemistry publishes original and synthetic papers dealing with biotic controls on the chemistry of the environment, or with the geochemical control of the structure and function of ecosystems. Cycles are considered, either of individual elements or of specific classes of natural or anthropogenic compounds in ecosystems. Particular emphasis is given to coupled interactions of element cycles. The journal spans from the molecular to global scales to elucidate the mechanisms driving patterns in biogeochemical cycles through space and time. Studies on both natural and artificial ecosystems are published when they contribute to a general understanding of biogeochemistry.