A sulfidic mine-tailings community model centered on a weathered volcanogenic massive sulfide dump in arid Western Australia and related Pb-Zn tailings acidification studies. Oxidative weathering of S- and Fe-rich waste rock disperses mobile ions including zinc, sulfur, chloride, and aluminium, while Pb-Zn tailing impoundments at progressive acidification stages contain Acidithiobacillus, Leptospirillum, and Ferroplasma acidophiles associated with iron oxidation, sulfur oxidation, carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation, and acid mine drainage generation. The curated causal graph therefore represents acidophile-driven Fe/S oxidation, Pb-Zn tailings acidification, and pH-ordered community succession as community-level processes rather than unsupported species-by-species exchanges.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans | NCBITaxon:920 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
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COMMON |
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| Leptospirillum ferriphilum | NCBITaxon:178606 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
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COMMON |
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| Ferroplasma acidiphilum | NCBITaxon:74969 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
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ABUNDANT |
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Ecological Interactions
The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.
Surface Iron and Sulfur Oxidation Potential
PARTIAL - Fankou Pb-Zn metagenomes from China support community sulfur-oxidation and carbon/nitrogen-metabolism potential; separate Chinese surveys associate iron-oxidizing acidophiles and Ferroplasma with oxidized zones. These are not measured Fe/S fluxes in the Australian record site. The listed Ferroplasma entry represents the 2011 survey association, not a demonstrated partner carrying every pathway. Leptospirillum sulfur-assimilation genes must not be treated as dissimilatory sulfur oxidation.
Participating Taxa: Ferroplasma acidiphilum
Metabolites: Fe(II) (CHEBI:29033 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), Fe(III) (CHEBI:29034 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), sulfuric acid (CHEBI:26836 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Biological Processes:
- sulfur compound metabolic process (GO:0006790 · PathwayMech)
HYPOTHESIZED - realized microbial Fe/S oxidation could regenerate ferric iron and acidity that promote sulfide weathering. The linked studies propose this biogeochemical mechanism but do not resolve its flux across the composite Australian and Chinese systems.
Evidence
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PMID:23574280 - PARTIAL (COMPUTATIONAL)"Furthermore, metagenomic analysis of the microbial communities of T2 and T6 indicated that the genes encoding key enzymes for microbial carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation and sulfur oxidation in T2 were largely from Thiobacillus and Acidithiobacillus, Methylococcus capsulatus, and Thiobacillus denitrificans respectively; while those in T6 were mostly identified in Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum, Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum, and Acidithiobacillus respectively"
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doi:10.1128/aem.02458-10 - PARTIAL (IN_VIVO)"were consistently present in the acidic tailings, acidophilic archaea, mostly Ferroplasma acidiphilum , were predominant in the oxidized zones and the oxidation front, indicating their importance to generation of acid mine drainage."
Pb-Zn Tailings Acidification and Metal Mobilization
PARTIAL - weathered S/Fe-rich waste rock at Teutonic Bore, Western Australia, showed elemental dispersal and mobile ionic S, Zn, Cl and Al. Chinese Pb-Zn studies separately describe communities across oxidation stages. These observations support a proposed abiotic-biotic weathering process, not measured lead-mobilization flux or syntrophic coupling among the representative species. The Pb-Zn designation identifies the site material, not a flux assay.
Participating Taxa: Ferroplasma acidiphilum
Metabolites: galena (CHEBI:46718 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), sphalerite (CHEBI:46718 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), Fe(III) (CHEBI:29034 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), zinc(2+) (CHEBI:29105 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), sulfuric acid (CHEBI:26836 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Biological Processes:
- sulfur compound metabolic process (GO:0006790 · PathwayMech)
- response to metal ion (GO:0010038 · PathwayMech)
Evidence
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doi:10.1128/aem.02458-10 - PARTIAL (IN_VIVO)"Analysis of spatial and temporal variations in the microbial community in the abandoned tailings impoundment of a Pb-Zn mine revealed distinct microbial populations associated with the different oxidation stages of the tailings"
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PMID:22092956 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)"Weathering of waste rock, high in S and Fe, had resulted in a varying elemental dispersal down a face of the tailings hill"
pH-Structured Acidophile Succession
PARTIAL - Chinese Pb-Zn and copper-tailings surveys associate pH/oxidation gradients with changes in acidophile composition. The six-zone Fankou and spatial copper surveys infer succession using space-for-time comparisons. The earlier Pb-Zn study also sampled seasons, with little seasonal change; this is not controlled tracking of one community through acidification. These observations concern community filtering, not demonstrated resource partitioning or cellular pH homeostasis.
Participating Taxa: Ferroplasma acidiphilum
Metabolites: hydron (CHEBI:15378 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Biological Processes:
- response to pH (GO:0009268 · PathwayMech)
- response to metal ion (GO:0010038 · PathwayMech)
HYPOTHESIZED - pH-associated selection could change the abundance of organisms encoding Fe/S metabolism. Spatial and statistical associations do not independently establish pH causality or realized metabolic flux.
Evidence
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PMID:23574280 - SUPPORT (IN_VIVO)"16S rRNA pyrosequencing revealed a contrasting microbial composition between the six tailings: Proteobacteria-related sequences dominated T1-T3 with relative abundance ranging from 56 to 93%, whereas Ferroplasma-related sequences dominated T4-T6 with relative abundance ranging from 28 to 58%"
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doi:10.1128/aem.00294-14 - PARTIAL (COMPUTATIONAL)"Together, these results suggest that pH is primarily responsible for structuring whole communities in the extreme and heterogeneous mine tailings, although the diverse microbial taxa may respond differently to various environmental conditions."
Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Do same-site flux measurements and pH perturbations confirm the proposed oxidation-weathering-filtering links?
This record combines an Australian weathering study with Chinese Pb-Zn and copper surveys. Species-resolved Fe/S flux, thermodynamic coupling through partner product removal and resource partitioning are not established by the reviewed passages. Australian results/discussion remain incompletely accessed, so their unreviewed experiments are not certified absent. Broader record identity and non-graph metadata may need a separate split review.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Surface Iron and Sulfur Oxidation Potential, ecological_interactions#Pb-Zn Tailings Acidification and Metal Mobilization, ecological_interactions#pH-Structured Acidophile Succession
Environmental Factors
| Factor | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Acidic pH Filtering | 2.7 to 5.7 | pH units in semiarid Pb-Zn tailings samples |
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| Pb-Zn Oxidation Stages | primary to oxidized tailings | qualitative acidification stage |
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| Ferroplasma-Rich Late Acidification Stages | 28-58% | Ferroplasma-related 16S rRNA sequences in T4-T6 |
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| S- and Fe-Rich Weathering Substrate | elevated sulfur and iron | qualitative waste-rock composition |
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| Surface and Deeper Tailings Redox Potential | surface oxidation and deeper reduction | qualitative depth trend |
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| Arid Climate with Wetting-Drying Cycles | arid to semiarid | climate classification |
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| Genome-Resolved AMD Tailings Metabolism | 406 | intermediate- or high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes |
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| Abandoned Pb-Zn Tailings | abandoned | site status |
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