| 1. |
- A. Marques, Ana F., et al.
(författare)
-
The Seven Sisters Hydrothermal System : First Record of Shallow Hybrid Mineralization Hosted in Mafic Volcaniclasts on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Minerals. - : MDPI AG. - 2075-163X.
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We document the discovery of an active, shallow, seafloor hydrothermal system (known as the Seven Sisters Vent Field) hosted in mafic volcaniclasts at a mid-ocean ridge setting. The vent field is located at the southern part of the Arctic mid-ocean ridge where it lies on top of a flat-topped volcano at ~130 m depth. Up to 200 deg C phase-separating fluids vent from summit depressions in the volcano, and from pinnacle-like edifices on top of large hydrothermal mounds. The hydrothermal mineralization at Seven Sisters manifests as a replacement of mafic volcaniclasts, as direct intraclast precipitation from the hydrothermal fluid, and as elemental sulfur deposition within orifices. Barite is ubiquitous, and is sequentially replaced by pyrite, which is the first sulfide to form, followed by Zn-Cu-Pb-Ag bearing sulfides, sulfosalts, and silica. The mineralized rocks at Seven Sisters contain highly anomalous concentrations of ‘epithermal suite’ elements such as Tl, As, Sb and Hg, with secondary alteration assemblages including silica and dickite. Vent fluids have a pH of ~5 and are Ba and metal depleted. Relatively high dissolved Si (~7.6 mmol/L Si) combined with low (0.2–0.4) Fe/Mn suggest high-temperature reactions at ~150 bar. A delta-13C value of -5.4 permil in CO2 dominated fluids denotes magmatic degassing from a relatively undegassed reservoir. Furthermore, low CH4 and H2 (<0.026 mmol/kg and <0.009 mmol/kg, respectively) and 3He/4He of ~8.3 R/Racorr support a MORB-like, sediment-free fluid signature from an upper mantle source. Sulfide and secondary alteration mineralogy, fluid and gas chemistry, as well as delta-34S and 87Sr/86Sr values in barite and pyrite indicate that mineralization at Seven Sisters is sustained by the input of magmatic fluids with minimal seawater contribution. 226Ra/Ba radiometric dating of the barite suggests that this hydrothermal system has been active for at least 4670 +/- 60 yr.
|
|
| 2. |
- Abalde, Samuel, et al.
(författare)
-
A Combined Transcriptomics and Proteomics Approach Reveals the Differences in the Predatory and Defensive Venoms of the Molluscivorous Cone Snail Cylinder ammiralis (Caenogastropoda: Conidae)
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Toxins. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6651. ; 13:9, s. 642-642
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Venoms are complex mixtures of proteins that have evolved repeatedly in the animal kingdom. Cone snail venoms represent one of the best studied venom systems. In nature, this venom can be dynamically adjusted depending on its final purpose, whether to deter predators or hunt prey. Here, the transcriptome of the venom gland and the proteomes of the predation-evoked and defensive venoms of the molluscivorous cone snail Cylinder ammiralis were catalogued. A total of 242 venom-related transcripts were annotated. The conotoxin superfamilies presenting more different peptides were O1, O2, T, and M, which also showed high expression levels (except T). The three precursors of the J superfamily were also highly expressed. The predation-evoked and defensive venoms showed a markedly distinct profile. A total of 217 different peptides were identified, with half of them being unique to one venom. A total of 59 peptides ascribed to 23 different protein families were found to be exclusive to the predatory venom, including the cono-insulin, which was, for the first time, identified in an injected venom. A total of 43 peptides from 20 protein families were exclusive to the defensive venom. Finally, comparisons of the relative abundance (in terms of number of peptides) of the different conotoxin precursor superfamilies showed that most of them present similar abundance regardless of the diet.
|
|
| 3. |
- Abalde, Samuel, et al.
(författare)
-
Hidden species diversity and mito-nuclear discordance within the Mediterranean cone snail, Lautoconus ventricosus
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 186, s. 107838-107838
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Mediterranean cone snail, Lautoconus ventricosus, is currently considered a single species inhabiting the whole Mediterranean basin and the adjacent Atlantic coasts. Yet, no population genetic study has assessed its taxonomic status. Here, we collected 245 individuals from 75 localities throughout the Mediterranean Sea and used cox1 barcodes, complete mitochondrial genomes, and genome skims to test whether L. ventricosus represents a complex of cryptic species. The maximum likelihood phylogeny based on complete mitochondrial genomes recovered six main clades (hereby named blue, brown, green, orange, red, and violet) with sufficient sequence divergence to be considered putative species. On the other hand, phylogenomic analyses based on 437 nuclear genes only recovered four out of the six clades: blue and orange clades were thoroughly mixed and the brown one was not recovered. This mito-nuclear discordance revealed instances of incomplete lineage sorting and introgression, and may have caused important differences in the dating of main cladogenetic events. Species delimitation tests proposed the existence of at least three species: green, violet, and red + blue + orange (i.e., cyan). Green plus cyan (with sympatric distributions) and violet, had West and East Mediterranean distributions, respectively, mostly separated by the Siculo-Tunisian biogeographical barrier. Morphometric analyses of the shell using species hypotheses as factor and shell length as covariate showed that the discrimination power of the studied parameters was only 70.2%, reinforcing the cryptic nature of the uncovered species, and the importance of integrative taxonomic approaches considering morphology, ecology, biogeography, and mitochondrial and nuclear population genetic variation.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Abalde, Samuel, et al.
(författare)
-
The draft genome of the microscopic Nemertoderma westbladi sheds light on the evolution of Acoelomorpha genomes
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Genetics. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-8021. ; 14
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Xenacoelomorpha is a marine clade of microscopic worms that is an important model system for understanding the evolution of key bilaterian novelties, such as the excretory system. Nevertheless, Xenacoelomorpha genomics has been restricted to a few species that either can be cultured in the lab or are centimetres long. Thus far, no genomes are available for Nemertodermatida, one of the group’s main clades and whose origin has been dated more than 400 million years ago.Methods: DNA was extracted from a single specimen and sequenced with HiFi following the PacBio Ultra-Low DNA Input protocol. After genome assembly, decontamination, and annotation, the genome quality was benchmarked using two acoel genomes and one Illumina genome as reference. The gene content of three cnidarians, three acoelomorphs, four deuterostomes, and eight protostomes was clustered in orthogroups to make inferences of gene content evolution. Finally, we focused on the genes related to the ultrafiltration excretory system to compare patterns of presence/absence and gene architecture among these clades.Results: We present the first nemertodermatid genome sequenced from a single specimen of Nemertoderma westbladi. Although genome contiguity remains challenging (N50: 60 kb), it is very complete (BUSCO: 80.2%, Metazoa; 88.6%, Eukaryota) and the quality of the annotation allows fine-detail analyses of genome evolution. Acoelomorph genomes seem to be relatively conserved in terms of the percentage of repeats, number of genes, number of exons per gene and intron size. In addition, a high fraction of genes present in both protostomes and deuterostomes are absent in Acoelomorpha. Interestingly, we show that all genes related to the excretory system are present in Xenacoelomorpha except Osr, a key element in the development of these organs and whose acquisition seems to be interconnected with the origin of the specialised excretory system.Conclusion: Overall, these analyses highlight the potential of the Ultra-Low Input DNA protocol and HiFi to generate high-quality genomes from single animals, even for relatively large genomes, making it a feasible option for sequencing challenging taxa, which will be an exciting resource for comparative genomics analyses.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Adroit, Benjamin, et al.
(författare)
-
Are morphological characteristics of Parrotia (Hamamelidaceae) pollen species diagnostic?
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. - Amsterdam : Elsevier BV. - 0034-6667 .- 1879-0615. ; 307, s. 104776-104776
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parrotia persica is one of the most notable endemic relict tree species growing in the Hyrcanian forest at the southern Caspian Sea. The recent discovery of sibling species Parrotia subaequalis, occurring in the temperate forests of south-eastern China, offers the opportunity to compare their morphology and ecological preferences and to dig deeper into the paleophytogeographic history of the genus from a perspective. Since pollen morphology of these species would be essential to unravel the origin and evolution of these Arcto-Tertiary species, the present study aimed to investigate whether it is possible to segregate pollen from these two species. Therefore, a detailed combined light- and scanning electron microscopy-based pollen-analysis of each taxon was conducted, the pollen was described, measured, and compared using statistical approaches and principal component analyses to establish unbiased results. The correlation-based principal component analysis achieved for each species shows an overall good superposition of pollen grains measured in equatorial and polar views in the first principal plane, revealing that the P. persica pollen is morphometrically as homogeneous as that of P. subaequalis. Then, the significant difference, mainly driven by lumen density, has been highlighted between the two species. Ultimately, the cross-validation of the resulting two-species linear discriminants classifier shows that based upon this reference dataset, (sub)fossil pollen grain can now be confidently assigned to either of the two species with an 85.8% correct-assignment rate. This opens new doors in the affiliation of fossil Parrotia pollen and suggests that previous pollen records need to be revised.
|
|
| 8. |
- Adroit, Benjamin, et al.
(författare)
-
Patterns of insect damage types reflect complex environmental signal in Miocene forest biomes of Central Europe and the Mediterranean
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Global and Planetary Change. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0921-8181 .- 1872-6364. ; 199
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecosystems are defined by the community of living organisms and how they interact together and with theirenvironment. Insects and plants are key taxa in terrestrial ecosystems and their network determines the trophicstructure of the environment. However, what drives the interactions between plants and insects in modern andfossil ecosystems is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed insect damage richness and frequency in 5000 fossil leaves deposited during the early Miocene at 20–17 Ma along a latitudinal gradient from Europe (twolocalities in Czech Republic) to Turkey (one locality) in a temperate climate setting. Damage frequency wasmainly linked with abiotic factors (temperature, precipitation seasonality) whereas damage richness was mainlylinked with biotic factors (plant richness, biome). Univariate analysis of insect damage types consistently suggested closer trophic similarity between the Mediterranean and either the one or the other Central European plant assemblage. In contrast, multivariate analysis of all insect damage types indicated closer similarity between the two Central European sites highlighting the importance of biogeographic legacy and geographic closeness to the plant-insect interaction patterns. Our results underscore the high complexity of the herbivory network andcall for careful interpretations of plant-insect interaction patterns in palaeoecological studies. Finally, comparing the trophic similarity between different localities using total evidence plots as done in this work might be apromising complementary method in comparative studies of plant-insect interactions.
|
|
| 9. |
- Ahmed, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
-
A draft transcriptome of a parasite Neocamacolaimus parasiticus (Camacolaimidae, Plectida)
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Journal of nematology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 0022-300X .- 2640-396X. ; 53
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Camacolaimidae is a clade of nematodes that include both freeliving epistrate feeding forms and parasites of marine protozoans and invertebrates. Neocamacolaimus parasiticus is a parasite of marine polychaete worms. Given its phylogenetic affinities to free-living species, Neocamacolaimus can be a reference for research of the origin of parasitism in an aquatic environment. Here, we present a draft transcriptome obtained from a single post-parasitic juvenile individual of this species. The final assembly consists of 19,180 protein coding sequences (including isoforms) with the following BUSCO scores for Nematoda: 65.38% complete, 9.06% partial, and 25.56% missing, and for Metazoa: 79.45% complete, 3.17% partial, and 17.38% missing.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
- Ahmed, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
-
Description of a new marine predatory nematode Latronema dyngi sp. nov. (Nematoda, Chromadorida, Selachinematidae) from the west coast of Sweden and an updated phylogeny of Chromadoria
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Marine Biodiversity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1867-1616 .- 1867-1624. ; 50:113, s. 1-11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new nematode species, Latronema dyngi sp. nov., is described from Skagerrak off the west coast of Sweden with the type locality near Dyngö island. Latronema dyngi sp. nov. is characterized by multispiral amphideal fovea with circular outline, 0.2– 0.3 corresponding body diameters wide in males and 0.1–0.2 corresponding body diameters wide in females, 12 cuticular longitudinal ridges and 18–27 precloacal supplements in males. Latronema dyngi sp. nov. most closely resembles L. orcinum in terms of body length; demanian ratios a, b, c and c′; number of amphid turns in males; and the ratio of spicule length to cloacal body diameter. The two species can be differentiated by the number longitudinal ridges on the cuticle (12 for Latronema dyngi sp. nov. vs 20–22 for L. orcinum) and spicule length (65–78 μm for L. dyngi vs 60 for L. orcinum) and shape (weakly arcuate for L. dyngi sp. nov. vs strongly arcuate for L. orcinum). We also performed a maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis on over 250 nematodes of the subclass Chromadoria based on their nearly full-length 18S rDNA sequences. In agreement with previous studies, our analysis supported Selachinematidae as a monophyletic group and placed Richtersia Steiner, 1916 within Desmodoridae Filipjev, 1922 or just outside of the main Desmodorida clade with the latter placement not well supported.
|
|
| 12. |
- Ahmed, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
-
Phylogenomic Analysis of the Phylum Nematoda: Conflicts and Congruences With Morphology, 18S rRNA, and Mitogenomes
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phylogenetic relationships within many lineages of the phylum Nematoda remainunresolved, despite numerous morphology-based and molecular analyses. Weperformed several phylogenomic analyses using 286 published genomes andtranscriptomes and 19 new transcriptomes by focusing on Trichinellida, Spirurina,Rhabditina, and Tylenchina separately, and by analyzing a selection of species fromthe whole phylum Nematoda. The phylogeny of Trichinellida supported the divisionof Trichinella into encapsulated and non-encapsulated species and placed them assister to Trichuris. The Spirurina subtree supported the clades formed by species fromAscaridomorpha and Spiruromorpha respectively, but did not support Dracunculoidea.The analysis of Tylenchina supported a clade that included all sampled species fromTylenchomorpha and placed it as sister to clades that included sampled speciesfrom Cephalobomorpha and Panagrolaimomorpha, supporting the hypothesis thatpostulates the single origin of the stomatostylet. The Rhabditina subtree placed a cladecomposed of all sampled species from Diplogastridae as sister to a lineage consistingof paraphyletic Rhabditidae, a single representative of Heterorhabditidae and a cladecomposed of sampled species belonging to Strongylida. It also strongly supportedall suborders within Strongylida. In the phylum-wide analysis, a clade composedof all sampled species belonging to Enoplia were consistently placed as sister toDorylaimia + Chromadoria. The topology of the Nematoda backbone was consistentwith previous studies, including polyphyletic placement of sampled representatives ofMonhysterida and Araeolaimida.
|
|
| 13. |
- Ahmed, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
-
Revision of the genus Cobbionema Filipjev, 1922 (Nematoda, Chromadorida, Selachinematidae)
- 2020
-
Ingår i: European journal of taxonomy. - : Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle. - 2118-9773. ; 702, s. 1-34
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on the genus Cobbionema Filipjev, 1922 in Sweden with the description of four species and a revision of the genus. Cobbionema acrocerca Filipjev, 1922 is relatively small in size, with a tail that has a conical proximal and a digitate distal section. Cobbionema cylindrolaimoides Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1950 is similar to C. acrocerca in most characters except having a larger body size and heavily cuticularized mandibles. Cobbionema brevispicula sp. nov. is characterised by short spicules and a conoid tail. Cobbionema acuminata sp. nov. is characterised by a long two-part spicule, a conical tail and three (one mid dorsal and two ventrosublateral) sharply pointed tines in the anterior chamber of the stoma that are located more anterior than in all the other species. We also present a molecular phylogeny of the family based on the nearly full-length 18S and the D2-D3 expansion segment of the 28S rRNA genes. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian trees inferred from both genes strongly support a clade that included Cobbionema, Demonema Cobb, 1894 and Halichoanolaimus de Man, 1888 and another clade with Gammanema Cobb, 1920 and Latronema Wieser, 1954 nested together. None of the trees supported the monophyly of the subfamilies Choniolaiminae and Selachinematinae.
|
|
| 14. |
|
|
| 15. |
- Ahmed, Mohammed, et al.
(författare)
-
Twenty Years after De Ley and Blaxter—How Far Did We Progress in Understanding the Phylogeny of the Phylum Nematoda?
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Animals. - : MDPI AG. - 2076-2615. ; 11:12, s. 3479-3479
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecular phylogenetics brought radical changes to our understanding of nematode evolution, resulting in substantial modifications to nematode classification implemented by De Ley and Blaxter and widely accepted now. Numerous phylogenetic studies were subsequently published that both improved and challenged this classification. Here we present a summary of these changes. We created cladograms that summarise phylogenetic relationships within Nematoda using phylum-wide to superfamily-wide molecular phylogenies published in since 2005, and supplemented with the phylogenetic analyses for Enoplia and Chromadoria with the aim of clarifying the position of several taxa. The results show which parts of the Nematode tree are well resolved and understood, and which parts require more research, either by adding taxa that have not been included yet (increasing taxon coverage), or by changing the phylogenetic approach (improving data quality, using different types of data or different methods of analysis). The currently used classification of the phylum Nematoda in many cases does not reflect the phylogeny and in itself requires numerous improvements and rearrangements.
|
|
| 16. |
|
|
| 17. |
|
|
| 18. |
- ALARIE, YVES, et al.
(författare)
-
Larval morphology of the Madagascan endemic diving beetle genus Hovahydrus Biström, 1982 (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) and phylogenetic comparison with other known Hyphydrini
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Zootaxa. - : Magnolia Press. - 1175-5326 .- 1175-5334. ; 5219:3, s. 227-246
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe for the first time the instar III larva of the diving beetle genus Hovahydrus Biström, 1982, based on H. praetextus (Guignot, 1951) and a new species yet to be described (identified here as Hovahydrus sp. near H. minutissimus (Régimbart, 1903)). We include detailed morphometric and chaetotaxic analyses of the cephalic capsule, head appendages, legs, last abdominal segment and urogomphi in order to discover useful characters for distinguishing Hovahydrus larvae from those of other known Hyphydrini (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae). A provisional parsimony analysis based on larval characteristics of 11 Hyphydrini species in eight genera was conducted using the program TNT. Larval morphology supports a close relationship between Hovahydrus, Hyphydrus Illiger, 1802, and the endemic South Africa genera Andex Sharp, 1882, Coelhydrus Sharp, 1882, Darwinhydrus Sharp, 1882 and Primospes Sharp, 1882.
|
|
| 19. |
- ALARIE, YVES, et al.
(författare)
-
Morphology of the larvae of Rhantaticus congestus (Klug, 1833) and phylogenetic comparison with other known Aciliini (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Dytiscinae)
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Zootaxa. - 1175-5326 .- 1175-5334. ; 5380:3, s. 247-264
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe the second- and third instar larvae of the diving beetle Rhantaticus congestus (Klug, 1833), including detailed morphometric and chaetotaxic analyses of the cephalic capsule, head appendages, legs, terminal abdominal segment and urogomphi in order to discover useful characters for distinguishing Rhantaticus Sharp, 1882 larvae from those of other known Aciliini (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Dytiscinae). A parsimony analysis based on 94 larval characteristics of nine Aciliini species in five genera (Acilius Leach, 1817, Graphoderus Dejean, 1833, Rhantaticus, Sandracottus Sharp, 1882, Thermonectus Dejean, 1833) was conducted using the program TNT. Rhantaticus shares with all these genera several larval character states which support its inclusion in the Aciliini. Whereas Rhantaticus larva stands out from other known genera by several unique character states, our parsimony analysis did not recover any clear phylogenetic position of this genus within the Aciliini.
|
|
| 20. |
|
|
| 21. |
|
|
| 22. |
- Alipanah, Helen, et al.
(författare)
-
A new species of Sitochroa Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Pyraustinae) from Iran, with taxonomic notes on the genus
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Nota lepidopterologica. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 0342-7536 .- 2367-5365. ; 43, s. 61-76
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sitochroa urmiensis sp. nov. is described based on a single male collected in West Azarbaijan Province, Iran. Sitochroa palealis (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) is considered as a senior synonym of Loxostege farsalis Amsel, 1950 syn. nov. Loxostege malekalis Amsel, 1950 is transferred to the genus Sitochroa Hübner, as S. malekalis (Amsel, 1950) comb. nov. And the hitherto unknown female of S. malekalis is described and illustrated.
|
|
| 23. |
- ALIPANAH, HELEN, et al.
(författare)
-
Taxonomic study of the subfamily Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)in Iran
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Zootaxa. - 1175-5326 .- 1175-5334. ; 5289:1, s. 1-82
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sixty-seven species of the subfamily Pyraustinae from 17 genera and two tribes are listed. Anania verbascalis verbascalis ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1949) is considered as a senior synonym of A. verbascalis parvalis (Osthelder, 1935) syn. n.; Pyrausta virginalis Duponchel, 1832 as a senior synonym of P. perkeo Amsel, 1970 syn. n.; and P. ferrealis (Hampson, 1900) as a senior synonym of P. euergestalis Amsel, 1954 syn. n. Thirteen species, namely Anania coronata (Hufnagel, 1767), A. murcialis (Ragonot, 1895), A. terrealis (Treitschke, 1829), Pyrausta ferrealis (Hampson, 1900), P. armeniaca Slamka, 2013, P. zeitunalis Caradja, 1916, P. cingulata (Linnaeus, 1758), P. delicatalis Caradja, 1916, P. tatarica Kemal et al., 2020, Loxostege sedakowialis (Eversmann, 1852), L. wagneri Zerny in Wagner, 1929, L. mucosalis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1848) and L. peltaloides (Rebel in Wagner, 1932), are newly reported from Iran. Additionally, a redescription of the male of P. delicatalis and the female of L. sedakowialis, as well as description of the hitherto unknown female of P. delicatalis are presented. The intraspecific variations of the species if present are discussed and additional new diagnostic characters to separate the closely related species are presented. Data on the geographical distribution of the Iranian species of this subfamily are provided.
|
|
| 24. |
- Allard, Bert, 1945-, et al.
(författare)
-
Metal Exchangeability in the REE-Enriched Biogenic Mn Oxide Birnessite from Ytterby, Sweden
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Minerals. - : MDPI. - 2075-163X. ; 13:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A black substance exuding from fractures was observed in 2012 in Ytterby mine, Sweden, and identified in 2017 as birnessite with the composition Mx[Mn(III,IV)](2)O-4 center dot(H2O)n. M is usually calcium and sodium, with x around 0.5. The Ytterby birnessite is unique, with M being calcium, magnesium, and also rare earth elements (REEs) constituting up to 2% of the total metal content. The biogenic origin of the birnessite was established in 2018. Analysis of the microbial processes leading to the birnessite formation and the REE enrichment has continued since then. The process is fast and dynamic, as indicated by the depletion of manganese and of REE and other metals in the fracture water during the passage over the precipitation zone in the mine tunnel. Studies of the exchangeability of metals in the structure are the main objective of the present program. Exposure to solutions of sodium, calcium, lanthanum, and iron led to exchanges and altered distribution of the metals in the birnessite, however, generating phases with almost identical structures after the exchanges, and no new mineral phases were detected. Exchangeability was more efficient for trivalent elements (REE) over divalent (calcium) and monovalent (sodium) elements of a similar size (ionic radii 90-100 pm).
|
|
| 25. |
|
|
