BIOMINERALIZATION OF Fe OXIDES AND ZnS AT THE TENNYSON MINE, WI

The Tennyson Mine, underlying Tennyson, WI, is a Pb mine hosted by carbonate sedimentary rocks. The mine was abandoned in the 1960's and is now completely flooded. The flooded tunnels were explored by Tamara Ebert and colleagues (Diversions Scuba, Madison WI). Tami has worked with our geomicrobiology group at UW Madison to sample the biofilms present in the subsurface tunnel system and their surrounding solutions. Our goal is to decipher the processes that lead to microbial growth and the associated mineral formation.

Image of red biofilms on the tunnel floor

You can read about out project objectives by clicking here

Our research has shown that these biofilms contain thriving communities of bacteria and archaea. A subset of the bacteria are actively depositing new oxide and sulfide minerals. In other words, the mine is now recognized as a natural laboratory where we can study aspects of mineral formation and metal cycling and to develop a new understanding of metal removal and transport in subsurface solutions.

Here is a cartoon illustrating the site

Color field images courtesy of Tamara Thomsen Ebert and Robert Clark: Copyright 1999. Other images are copyright and were supplied by various members of our research group. These images can be reproduced with permission from Jill Banfield (jill@geology.wisc.edu) and the appropriate group member.

What's this about ZnS made by bacteria in biofilms?

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And what's the story with the red FeOOH biofilms?

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Some images documenting the sampling effort