Microbial release of potassium from K-bearing minerals by thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus

A strain of thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured with K-bearing minerals to determine if microbe-mineral interactions enhance the release of mineralic potassium. Experiments were carried out in two settings, one with the mineral grains and the fungal cells in direct contact, and the other employing a membrane (pore size 0.22 μm) to separate the two. Measurements over a period of 30 days showed that, irrespective of the experimental setup, the concentration of free K in the culture was drastically higher than those in any of the control experiments where no living organism was present. Moreover, the occurrence of mineral-cell physical contact enhanced potassium release by an additional factor of 3 to 4 in comparison to the separation experiments. For contact experiments, Electron Probe Microanalysis revealed the formation of mycelium-mineral aggregates, and Atomic Force Microscopy imaging further indicated the possible ingestion of mineral particles by the fungus cells. Contrasting to what was observed and expected in control experiments, the potassium solubilization rate showed a positive dependence upon pH when fungi and minerals were mixed directly, and exhibited no correlations with solution acidity if cell-rock contact was restrained. These results appear to suggest that A. fumigatus promoted potassium release by means of at least three likely routes, one through the complexation of soluble organic ligands, another appealing to the immobile biopolymers such as the insoluble components of secretion, and the third related to the mechanical forces in association with the direct physical contact between cells and mineral particles.     

Variations in the Rate of Anaerobic Succinate Accumulation within the Central and Marginal Regions of an Euryoxic Bivalve Mantle

Abstract. Anaerobic metabolism in the central and marginal portions of the mantle of Mercenaria mercenaria was compared. Anaerobic succinate accumulation was more rapid in the central region. This difference may be due to higher phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in the central region. Thus, the central region is more specialized for anaerobic metabolism and the marginal region more for net shell growth. The original rate of succinate accumulation in the mantle is similar in isolated mantles and intact clams, suggesting that mantle succinate production does not require translocation of precursors from other tissues. However, in intact clams, the rate of succinate accumulation in the central region of the mantle slows after four hours. The reduced rate is probably caused by reducing the metabolic rate. Succinate accumulation and shell dissolution are slower in freshly collected clams than in clams that had been stored anaerobically. The difference may be due to induction of PEPCK synthesis during storage. Shell derived calcium did not accumulate in the mantle and, therefore did not alter the intracellular calcium concentration in the mantle.     

红海及亚丁湾间之海水交换

分析表观耗氧量、滴定碱度及总二氧化碳量等资料来研判红海及亚丁湾间之海水交换。结果显示,红海深层水的方解石及霰石饱和度均比亚丁湾和阿拉伯海深层水的饱和度高。红海全水柱之方解石和霰石都处於过饱和状态,亚丁湾和阿拉伯海中各深度之方解石亦呈过饱和状态,但霰石的饱和探度则大约在500m左右。分析深层水之生物体无机碳与有机碳的分解比值,可以发现此地区深层水中,大约有25％的总二氧化碳增加量是由无机碳酸钙溶解而来。     

The Levant Slumps and the Phoenician Structures: collapse features along the continental margin of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Two distinct series of slumps deform the upper part of the sedimentary sequence along the continental margin of the Levant. One series is found along the base of the continental slope, where it overlies the disrupted eastern edge of the Messinian evaporites. The second series of slumps transects the continental margin from the shelf break to the Levant Basin. It seemed that the two series were triggered by two unrelated, though contemporaneous, processes. The shore-parallel slumps were initiated by basinwards flow of the Messinian salt, that carried along the overlying Plio-Quaternary sediments. Seawater that percolated along the detachment faults dissolved the underlying salt to form distinctly disrupted structures. The slope-normal slumps are located on top of large canyons that cut into the pre-Messinian sedimentary rocks. A layer of salt is found in the canyons, and the Plio-Quaternary sediments were deposited on that layer. The slumps are bounded by large, NW-trending faults where post-Messinian faulted offset was measured. We presume that the flow of the salt in the canyons also drives the slope-normal slumps. Thus thin-skinned halokynetic processes generated the composite post-Tortonian structural patterns of the Levant margin. The Phoenician Structures are a prime example of the collapse of a distal continental margin due to the dissolution of a massive salt layer.     

Nature of the connection between the Northern and Southern Zechstein Basins across the Mid North Sea High

The seismic expression of a salt-filled channel which cuts across the Mid North Sea High in Quadrant 37 is described, with features interpreted as being produced by salt-edge dissolution forming both eastern and western margins of the channel. The apparent half-graben nature of the channel is shown to be only superficial, and due to complex faulting associated with, but not defining, its western margin. The shallower faulting here is a Mesozoic to early Tertiary growth fault related to local dissolution of Zechstein salt. The dissolution effect appears in turn to have been localized by the presence of a deeper fault that was already downthrown to the east in Zechstein times, when it seems to have limited the eastward progradation of Zechstein shelf carbonates and anhydrites, and had probably ceased to move significantly before the onset of the Late Cimmerian erosional phase. The origin of this arcuate fault is tentatively ascribed to subsidence around a granite batholith. Zechstein salt originally spread some distance to the east and west of the channel; it was dissolved from the edges inwards, mainly before the Late Cretaceous, giving rise to a thicker Mesozoic sequence on parts of the flanks of the channel than in the middle. Besides providing an interesting structural case history, the features described have implications regarding Zechstein sedimentation, reservoir potential, the tectonic history of the North Sea, and the nature of the Mid North Sea High itself.     

Impact of Montmorillonite and Calcite on Release and Adsorption of Cyanobacterial Fatty Acids at Ambient Temperature

Minerals might act as important sorbents of sedimentary organic matter and reduce biodegradation, which favors the formation of hydrocarbon source rocks in the earth's history. Since most organic matter is degraded during the sinking process, at ambient temperature, it is important to investigate the adsorption capacity of different minerals during this process, to assess the organic loss from primary productivity to sedimentary organic matter. In this study, montmorillonite and calcite have been selected to study the impact of different minerals on the release, adsorption, and deposition of cyanobacterial (Synechococcus elonpata) fatty acids (FAs) at ambient temperature. Gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) have been utilized to detect the variation in fatty acids. Primary results suggest that minerals have a different impact on dissolved organic matter. Montmorillonite can specifically enhance the release of fatty acids from cyanobacterial cells by lowering the pH values of the solution. The adsorption of the dissolved organic matter by montmorillonite will also be enhanced under a lower pH value. Conjunction of fatty acids with montmorillonite to form a complex will favor the sinking and preservation of these organics. Selective adsorption is observed among fatty acids with different carbon numbers. In contrast, calcite does not show any impact on the release and adsorption of organic matter even though it is reportedly capable of acting as a catalyst during the transformation of organic matter at high temperature. The primary data bridge a link between primary productivity and sedimentary organic matter, suggesting the relative importance of claystones in the formation of hydrocarbon source rocks in the earth's history.     

利用矿物方解石进行水体除磷实验研究

为探索解决水体富营养化问题的新方法,利用矿物方解石对含磷溶液进行了除磷实验。实验结果表明,方解石晶芽可以促进磷的沉淀,降低溶液磷浓度;其降磷效果与溶液初始磷浓度有关,初始磷浓度为1.2mg/L,除磷率为12.68%,初始磷浓度为3mg/L,除磷率为69.94%,初始磷浓度为5mg/L,除磷率为88.48%;同样,实验温度升高,可使方解石降磷效果明显提高。经透射电子显微镜测试,除磷沉淀物没有明显的晶质体特征。     

天然气溶解过程中组分分馏模型及其应用

天然气不同组分在水中溶解度的差异,导致溶解相与残留游离相天然气组分组成不同,即发生组分的溶解分馏效应。溶解分馏效应在天然气水溶运移、溶解散失等过程中均有发生。揭示天然气组分的溶解分馏规律、建立定量分馏模型,有助于天然气气源对比和成藏过程示踪。以Henry定律为依据,对不同组分溶解特征分析,提出了溶解度分数的概念,并建立了溶解分馏模型。根据该模型和各组分的溶解度分数和天然气溶解量,可计算各组分的溶解分馏量,恢复天然气初始组成特征。计算表明,威远震旦系气藏初期的天然气组成为:CH4为72.70%,C2H6为0.09%,CO2为22.41%,N2为4.07%,干燥系数(C1/C1-5)为99.876%。溶解作用使天然气中CO2含量显著降低,烃类气体含量增加,而天然气干燥系数降低。结果有助于天然气成因判识和气源对比等。     

微生物对碳酸盐岩的风化作用

微生物-矿物相互作用可以促进许多表生生物地球化学反应过程,是表生地球化学研究的重要内容。通过综合岩石表面的微生物类群及其地质作用,分析碳酸盐岩微生物风化的各种现象,特别是微观尺度上的各种形态,阐述碳酸盐岩的微生物风化机制与风化产物,笔者提出微生物对碳酸盐岩风化的4种途径:(1)通过微生物在岩石表面和缝隙中生长,导致岩石表层发生生物溶蚀、生物磨蚀和生物钻孔作用,加速岩石风化进程;(2)微生物群体形成的钻孔网络可以增强岩石化学溶蚀的有效表面积并导致其表面强度减弱而促进机械侵蚀作用,微生物对周围岩石颗粒胶结结构的破坏、疏松作用也会导致岩石矿物颗粒的分解;(3)微生物的持水作用,微生物分泌的有机酸以及微生物呼吸所释放的CO2对岩表水分的酸化过程亦加速岩石矿物的分解;(4)微生物生长过程中从岩石内摄取营养元素和产生复杂的有机配体,能促进矿物元素的释放。文中提出在开展微生物对碳酸盐岩风化过程和机理研究的基础上,有必要引入微生物生物技术来综合开发本地低品位含钾磷矿产资源,加速岩溶地区山地土壤的形成与演化。     

Paleohydrology and paleochemistry of Lake Manitoba,Canada: the isotope and ostracode records

Lake Manitoba, the largest lake in the Prairie region of North America, contains a fine-grained sequence of late Pleistocene and Holocene sediment that documents a complex postglacial history. This record indicates that differential isostatic rebound and changing climate have interacted with varying drainage basin size and hydrologic budget to create significant variations in lake level and limnological conditions. During the initial depositional period in the basin, the Lake Agassiz phase (12–9 ka), ¹⁸O of ostracodes ranged from –16 to –5 (PDB), implying the lake was variously dominated by cold, dilute glacial meltwater and warm to cold, slightly saline water.Candona subtriangulata, which prefers cold, dilute water, dominates the most negative ¹⁸O intervals, when the basin was part of proglacial Lake Agassiz. At times during this early phase, the ¹⁸O of the lake abruptly shifted to higher values; euryhaline taxa such asC. rawsoni orLimnocythere ceriotuberosa, and halobiont taxa such asL. staplini orL. sappaensis are dominant in these intervals. This positive covariance of isotope and ostracode records implies that the lake level episodically fell, isolating the Lake Manitoba basin from the main glacial lake.¹⁸O values from inorganic endogenic Mg-calcite in the post-Agassiz phase of Lake Manitoba trend from –4 at 8 ka to –11 at 4.5 ka. We interpret that this trend indicates a gradually increasing influence of isotopically low (–20 SMOW) Paleozoic groundwater inflow, although periods of increased evaporation during this time may account for zones of less negative isotopic values. The ¹⁸O of this inorganic calcite abruptly shifts to higher values (–6) after 4.5 ka due to the combined effects of increased evaporative enrichment in a closed basin lake and the increased contribution of isotopically high surface water inflow on the hydrologic budget. After 2 ka, the ¹⁸O of the Mg-calcite fluctuates between –13 and –7, implying short-term variability in the lake's hydrologic budget, with values indicating the lake varied from outflow-dominated to evaporation-dominated. The ¹³C values of Mg-calcite remain nearly constant from 8 to 4.5 ka and then trend to higher values upward in the section. This pattern suggests primary productivity in the lake was initially constant but gradually increased after 4.5 ka.This is the sixth in a series of papers published in this issue on the paleolimnology of arid regions. These papers were presented at the Sixth International Palaeolimnology Symposium held 19–21 April, 1993 at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Dr A. R. Chivas served as guest editor for these papers.