NATURE'S TINIEST GEOENGINEERS

Abstract

HISTORICALLY, GEOCHEMICAL processes were thought to be largely, if not entirely, driven by abiotic chemical reactions. People ignored what bacterial metabolism might be contributing, noted Andrew L. Neal, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. But now we know that many important geochemical reactions are driven by bacteria. The relationship between microorganisms and geochemistry was the subject of a symposium held last month at the American Chemical Society national meeting in New York City. The symposium was cosponsored by the Geochemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Biological Chemistry Divisions. And it was co-organized by Neal and Craig Cooper, a geochemist at the Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Bacteria and other microbes impact just about every geochemical process that one can think of, including the weathering of rocks, the fate of metal-based contaminants in streams and rivers, and the formation and disappearance ...