TY - JOUR
T1 - Río Tinto
T2 - A geochemical and mineralogical terrestrial analogue of Mars
AU - Amils, Ricardo
AU - Fernández-Remolar, David
AU - Parro, Victor
AU - Rodríguez-Manfredi, José Antonio
AU - Oggerin, Monike
AU - Sánchez-Román, Mónica
AU - López, Francisco J.
AU - Fernández-Rodríguez, José Pablo
AU - Puente-Sánchez, Fernando
AU - Briones, Carlos
AU - Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga
AU - Tornos, Fernando
AU - Gómez, Felipe
AU - García-Villadangos, Miriam
AU - Rodríguez, Nuria
AU - Omoregie, Enoma
AU - Timmis, Kenneth
AU - Arce, Alejandro
AU - Sanz, José Luis
AU - Gómez-Ortiz, David
AU - IPBSL Team
PY - 2014/9/15
Y1 - 2014/9/15
N2 - The geomicrobiological characterization of the water column and sediments of Río Tinto (Huelva, Southwestern Spain) have proven the importance of the iron and the sulfur cycles, not only in generating the extreme conditions of the habitat (low pH, high concentration of toxic heavy metals), but also in maintaining the high level of microbial diversity detected in the basin. It has been proven that the extreme acidic conditions of Río Tinto basin are not the product of 5000 years of mining activity in the area, but the consequence of an active underground bioreactor that obtains its energy from the massive sulfidic minerals existing in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Two drilling projects, MARTE (Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment) (2003–2006) and IPBSL (Iberian Pyrite Belt Subsurface Life Detection) (2011–2015), were developed and carried out to provide evidence of subsurface microbial activity and the potential resources that support these activities. The reduced substrates and the oxidants that drive the system appear to come from the rock matrix. These resources need only groundwater to launch diverse microbial metabolisms. The similarities between the vast sulfate and iron oxide deposits on Mars and the main sulfide bioleaching products found in the Tinto basin have given Río Tinto the status of a geochemical and mineralogical Mars terrestrial analogue.
AB - The geomicrobiological characterization of the water column and sediments of Río Tinto (Huelva, Southwestern Spain) have proven the importance of the iron and the sulfur cycles, not only in generating the extreme conditions of the habitat (low pH, high concentration of toxic heavy metals), but also in maintaining the high level of microbial diversity detected in the basin. It has been proven that the extreme acidic conditions of Río Tinto basin are not the product of 5000 years of mining activity in the area, but the consequence of an active underground bioreactor that obtains its energy from the massive sulfidic minerals existing in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Two drilling projects, MARTE (Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment) (2003–2006) and IPBSL (Iberian Pyrite Belt Subsurface Life Detection) (2011–2015), were developed and carried out to provide evidence of subsurface microbial activity and the potential resources that support these activities. The reduced substrates and the oxidants that drive the system appear to come from the rock matrix. These resources need only groundwater to launch diverse microbial metabolisms. The similarities between the vast sulfate and iron oxide deposits on Mars and the main sulfide bioleaching products found in the Tinto basin have given Río Tinto the status of a geochemical and mineralogical Mars terrestrial analogue.
KW - Acidophiles
KW - Iberian pyrite belt
KW - Iron cycle
KW - Iron minerals
KW - Iron oxidation
KW - Jarosite
KW - Mars
KW - Metal sulfides
KW - Río tinto
KW - Sulfur cycle
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U2 - 10.3390/life4030511
DO - 10.3390/life4030511
M3 - Review article
SN - 2075-1729
VL - 4
SP - 511
EP - 534
JO - Life
JF - Life
IS - 3
ER -