Advances in geomicrobiology have progressed at an accelerated pace in recent years. Ehrlich's Geomicrobiology, Sixth Edition surveys various aspects of the field, including the microbial role in elemental cycling and in the formation and degradation of minerals and fossil fuels. Unlike the fifth edition, the sixth includes many expert contributors besides the editors, providing added depth to each topic and broadening this edition's overall insight into geomicrobiology. The Sixth Edition Includes: Extensive revisions and updates to most chapters from the fifth edition A new chapter on terrestrial subsurface ecosystems A new chapter summarizing important principles of geomicrobiology New discussions and references on the latest findings and theories in geomicrobiology Through revisions, updates, and the introduction of new authors who are specialists on the topics covered, this new edition is the most in-depth and current overview of geomicrobiology. The research presented has applications in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, marine science, the metals industry, and more. The new breadth and scope as well as the current and developing applications which this book addresses make it a must-have source in geomicrobiology.

Advances in geomicrobiology have progressed at an accelerated pace in recent years. Ehrlich's Geomicrobiology, Sixth Edition surveys various aspects of the field, including the microbial role in elemental cycling and in the formation and degradation of minerals and fossil fuels. Unlike the fifth edition, the sixth includes many expert contributors besides the editors, providing added depth to each topic and broadening this edition's overall insight into geomicrobiology. The Sixth Edition Includes: Extensive revisions and updates to most chapters from the fifth edition A new chapter on terrestrial subsurface ecosystems A new chapter summarizing important principles of geomicrobiology New discussions and references on the latest findings and theories in geomicrobiology Through revisions, updates, and the introduction of new authors who are specialists on the topics covered, this new edition is the most in-depth and current overview of geomicrobiology. The research presented has applications in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, marine science, the metals industry, and more. The new breadth and scope as well as the current and developing applications which this book addresses make it a must-have source in geomicrobiology.

Microbes can respire on metals. This seemingly simple finding is one of the major discoveries that were made in the field of microbiology in the last few decades. The importance of this observation is evident. Metals are highly abundant on our planet. Iron is even the most abundant element on Earth and the forth most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Hence, in some environments iron, but also other metals or metalloids, are the dominant respiratory electron acceptors. Their reduction massively drives the carbon cycle in these environments and establishes redox cycles of the metallic electron acceptors themselves. These redox cycles are not only a driving force for other biotic reactions but are furthermore necessary for initiating a number of geochemically relevant abiotic redox conversions. Although widespread and ecologically influential, electron transfer onto metals like ferric iron or manganese is biochemically challenging. The challenge is to transfer respiratory electrons onto metals that occur in nature at neutral pH in the form of metal oxides or oxihydroxides that are effectively insoluble. Obviously, it is necessary that the microbes specially adapt in order to catalyze the electron transfer onto insoluble electron acceptors. The elucidation of these adaptations is an exciting ongoing process. To sum it up, dissimilatory metal reduction has wide-spread implications in the field of microbiology, biochemistry and geochemistry and its discovery was one of the major reasons to establish a novel scientific field called geomicrobiology. Recently, the discovery of potential applications of dissimilatory metal reducers in bioremediation or current production in a microbial fuel cell further increased the interest in studying microbial metal reduction.

The interplay between Geology and Biology has shaped the Earth from the early Precambrian, 4 billion years ago. Moving beyond the borders of the classical core disciplines, Geobiology strives to identify chains of cause-and-effect and synergisms between the geo- and the biospheres that have been driving the evolution of life in modern and ancient environments. Combining modern methods, geobiological information can be extracted not only from visible remains of organisms, but also from organic molecules, rock fabrics, minerals, isotopes and other tracers. An understanding of these processes and their signatures reveals enormous applied potentials with respect to issues of environment protection, public health, energy and resource management. The Encyclopedia of Geobiology has been designed to act as a key reference for students, researchers, teachers, and the informed public and to provide basic, but comprehensible knowledge on this rapidly expanding discipline that sits at the interface between modern geo- and biosciences.