Silician magnetite and iron-rich clay derived from Si ferrihydrite by iron reducing bacteria

Abstract

The vials containing two-line silica-ferrihydrite and iron-reducing bacteria were incubated in the dark at 30 ºC for up to two months. Si-bearing magnetite and iron-rich sheet silicate with ~0.7 nm spacing and were formed. We confirmed that iron-reducing bacteria can change two-line silica-ferrihydrite to sicilian magnetite and greenalite-like clays, which are both common in the least-metamorphosed Banded Iron Formation.