What is it about?
It shows precipitation of secondary manganese oxide minerals associated to microorganisms in biofilms growing on solid surfaces inside river water.
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Why is it important?
The area is subject to precary gold mining techniques and also small, frequent iron mining waste spills, which revolve and increase iron and manganese load to the sediments. This work shows active manganese cycling between water and sediments of Rio Gualaxo do Norte and its affluent Rio Água Suja.
Perspectives
On november 2015 (soon after publication), the failure of an iron mining waste dam (Fundão Dam) released 40-50 million tons of mining waste into Rio Gualaxo do Norte, and downstream into Rio Doce, reaching more than 600 km of rivers until it reached the Atlantic Ocean. The areas used for field work in this research were not affected, because they are located a few kilometers upstream. The importance of this work rely on the undertanding of iron and manganese cycling in the river before the disaster.
Dr. Carolina Neumann Keim
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Manganese Oxide Biominerals from Freshwater Environments in Quadrilatero Ferrifero, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Geomicrobiology Journal, October 2014, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/01490451.2014.978513.
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