Experimental vs. Natural Mineral Precipitation in Modern Microbialites: The Case Study of the Alkaline Bagno Dell’acqua Lake (Pantelleria Island, Italy)
Microbial activity has been documented in various lacustrine environments, suggesting its fundamental role in mineral precipitation and, therefore, in the formation of organo-deposits such as microbialites. Many studies are currently focused on documenting how the association of microbes and extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) may influence the authigenesis of Mg-rich clay minerals and the subsequent carbonate precipitation in growing microbialites in lacustrine environments. In this study, we investigate the present-day microbialites of the alkaline Bagno dell’Acqua lake (Pantelleria Island, Italy) using X-ray diffraction (XRD) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Our results reveal the intimate association of Mg-smectite/carbonate minerals with the EPS and microbes, and, for the first time, we selected microbes belonging to phylum Firmicutes (Bacillus sp.), from natural microbialites, to carry out laboratory experiments that testify their direct role in the precipitation of clay and carbonate minerals.
Authors
- Marino Domenico Barberio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3319-2355)
- Cristina Mazzoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1504-6189)
- Michela Ingrassia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8022-9512)
- Stefano Fazi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7688-7179)
- Aida Maria Conte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6733-6113)
- Luca Aldega (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4665-1373)
- Tania Ruspandini
- Letizia Di Bella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6676-667X)
- Francesco Giuseppe Falese (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3660-6595)
- Francesca Gori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7750-6657)
- Francesco Latino Chiocci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4584-2258)
- Cristina Perinelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2308-461X)
- Benedetta Caraba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0609-3679)
- Andrea Bonfanti
- Agnese Piacentini
Institutions
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (IT)
- Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering (IT)
- Water Research Institute (IT)
- National Research Council (IT)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- University of Palermo (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Minerals
- Published
- 2024-10-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/min14101013
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.35