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Figure 7.
Scanning electron micrograph of “rusticles” recovered from the hull of the Titanic. The
rusticles consist of ropes or chains of heavily mineralized bacteria. This figure was adapted from one
kindly provided by H. Mann.
number of years, it has been estimated that the rusticle formation rate is about 1 ton per
year over the ship. At this rate, the remaining lifetime of the hull must be measured in
years, not centuries. This illustrates the fact that bacteria working over geologic time
scales can effect enormous mineral transformations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank K.J. Edwards, W.C. Ghiorse, G. Southam and H. Mann for providing
figures and T.J. Williams for reviewing the manuscript. DAB is grateful for support from
National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant EAR-0311950 and National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center Grant NAG 9-1115.
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