Geomicrobiology of Acid Mine Drainage in the weathering zone of pyrite-bearing schists in the Rudawy Janowickie Mountains (Poland)

摘要

We report geomicrobiological analysis of acid water reservoirs and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) developed in the weathering zone of pyrite-bearing schists near the closed-down pyrite mine in Wiesciszowice (southwestern Poland). The analysis focused on two reservoirs characterized by different physical and chemical properties (pH, redox potential, content of sulphates and heavy metals), emphasizing geomicrobiological relationships taking place in this AMD setting and describing the microbiological processes that significantly influence biogeochemical cycles of sulphur and iron in the water reservoirs analysed. The reservoir water also harbours numerous large, organized microbial structures in the form of streamers, studied in detail here using optical and electron microscopy and by microbiological cultivation and molecular methods. The Wiesciszowice mine slime streamers are characterized by the co-occurrence of typical chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms oxidizing sulphur and iron together with sulphate-reducing bacteria. These structures probably depend on the occurrence of iron(II) in the surrounding environment.