Hydrogeological and geological partitioning of iron and sulfur cycling bacterial consortia in subsurface coal-based mine waters.

ABSTRACT: Pyrite oxidation drives iron and sulfur availability across Earth's subsurface and is partly microbially mediated. Subsurface microbial communities accelerate this process at circumneutral pH directly by weathering pyritic surfaces and indirectly by causing changes to the surrounding microenvironment, thereby further accelerating pyrite weathering. However, our understanding of community structure dynamics and associated biogeochemistry in Fe- and S-rich lithologies, e.g. pyritic coal, is limited. Here, we present the first comprehensive regional and seasonal genus-level survey of bacterial groundwater communities in a pyritic coal-based aquifer in the South Wales Coalfield (SWC), using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Seasonal changes in community structure were limited, suggesting limi

SUBMITTER: Soares A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12001885 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature