New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Environmental controls on iron-oxidising, sulfur-oxidising and sulfate-reducing
bacteria in mine wastes, New Zealand
Debra A. Chappell
Dave Craw
Department of Geology and Environmental
Science Programme
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand
email: dave.craw@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Abstract Historic and modern tailings piles and waste
dumps in east Otago (South Island) and the Coromandel Peninsula (North Island)
of New Zealand encompass a wide range of physico-chemical environmental conditions,
and host chemolitho(auto)trophs (iron- and sulfur-oxidising bacteria, IOB
and SOB respectively) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Sulfide mineral
grains are only marginally altered, even after up to 100 years of surficial
exposure, at all sites examined. The environmental parameters of the tailings
piles and waste rock dumps were examined to determine their effect on the
growth of these bacterial isolates. This study revealed the co-occurrence
(at the cm scale) of IOB, SOB, and SRB in many of these environments, supporting
previous findings from acidic sites and extending the spectrum to circumneutral-to-alkaline
anoxic spoils. The apparently unweathered appearance of sulfide grains supports
the idea that sulfate reduction dominates over sulfur oxidation in these
environments. Temperature, rainfall, and dissolved metal(loid) concentrations
appear to have little effect on the bacterial populations. These results
indicate that the environmental parameters investigated have very little
bearing on the presence of IOB, SOB, and SRB in the tailings piles and waste
rock dumps examined in this study.
Keywords mine waste; microbiology; bacteria; pyrite;
acid rock drainage
M02086 Received 31 October 2002; accepted 9 June 2003; Online publication
date 31 October 2003
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2003, Vol. 37:
767-775
0028-8330/03/3704-0767 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand
2003
PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (240K) |
screen-quality (90K)
This year's abstracts |
Journal home page |
All abstracts |
Publishing home page
