Formation of iron-rich shelled structures by microbial communities

In this paper, we describe the discovery and characterization of shelled structures that occur inside galleries of Pyrenees mines. The structures are formed by the mineralization of iron and zinc oxides, dominantly franklinite (ZnFe₂O₄) and poorly ordered goethite (α-FeO(OH)). Subsurface oxidation and hydration of polymetallic sulfide orebodies produce solutions rich in dissolved metal cations including Fe^2+/3+ and Zn²⁺. The microbially precipitated shell-like structure grows by lateral or vertical stacking of thin laminae of iron oxide particles which are accreted mostly by fungal filaments. The resulting structures are composed of randomly oriented aggregates of needle-like, uniform-sized crystals, suggesting some biological control in the structure formation. Such structures are formed by the integration of two separated shells, following a complex process driven likely by different strategies of fungal microorganisms that produced the complex macrostructure.