Manganese oxides as biominerals in a granitic subterranean environment

• Author(s): Miller, A. ; Dionísio, A. ; Braga, M. A. Sequeira ; Afonso, M. J. ; Jurado, V. ; Fernandez-Cortes, A. ; Cuezva, S. ; Sanchez-Moral, S. ; Saiz-Jimenez, C. ; Chaminé, H.
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/15850
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Manganese oxides; Biominerals; Black coatings; Granitic subterrain environment
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

Black coatings were detected on granite surfaces in groundwater catch work tunnels from Porto city (NW Portugal). XRD, FTIR, Micro-Raman, ICP-MS, TEM-EDS, SEM-EDS and SEM-FIB were the analytical procedures carried out to investigate the origin of the black coatings. In this subterranean environment, the enrichment in metals and other trace elements, such as Mn and Fe, and clay minerals characterize the black microbial mats, mainly composed of Mn/Fe-oxidising bacteria.