Overview: Microbes are everywhere in the biosphere – in fact where they live determines the extent of the biosphere: from the deep subsurface to the troposphere, in hot springs, salt lakes, acid and alkaline waters, on and inside us and all other life forms, and they are the first colonisers of sterile cooling volcanic lava. And because microbes are ‘the great transformers’ – they metabolise many things that contain carbon and/or energy which they use for growth – they have a major impact on the geology of the planet and its evolution. They mediate the cycling of major elements like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, various metals, etc., of essentially all biological wastes, and of many industrial wastes, some of which are polluting chemicals. They are key players in the production and disassembly of minerals and geological formations and soil, and in the biodeterioration of materials, including works of art. Let’s learn more about the varied impacts of the great microbial transformers on our planet Earth!
Creation of the TFs is a work in progress: those already available are indicated by titles that are live links. Titles of those still in the pipeline are shown for context.
(For vignettes of some of the star actors in these stories, see theMicroCyclers and MicroPests Portrait Galleries)
- Carbon cycle
- Phosphorus cycle
- Nitrogen cycle
- Hydrogen cycle
- Oxygen cycle
- Halogen cycles
- Metal cycles
- Rare earth element cycles
- Metalloid cycles
- Silica cycle
Microbial production of minerals and creation of geological formations
- Biomineralisation: creation of geological formations and sediments
- Micropearls – small rocks inside some microbes
- Long-lived microbes in salt
Microbial disassembly of geological formations and soil formation
- Microbes that eat rock
- Snottites et al: microbial remodelling of caves
- Soil Health
Surface:atmosphere interactions
Surface:subsurface interactions
- Salt deposits
Surface:interior interactions
- Cold seeps
- Lava colonisation
Biodeterioration
- Biodeterioration of buildings
- Biodeterioration of stonework