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Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Using Flexible Gold-Titanium Reaction Cells to Simulate Pressure-Dependent Microbial Activity in the Context of Subsurface Biomining
Published on: October 5, 2019
High reactivity of deep biota under anthropogenic CO2 injection into basalt
Rosalia Trias1,2, Bénédicte Ménez3,4, Paul le Campion1,2
1Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Univ. Paris Diderot, CNRS UMR 7154, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238, Paris cedex 05, France.
Abstract:
Basalts are recognized as one of the major habitats on Earth, harboring diverse and active microbial populations. Inconsistently, this living component is rarely considered in engineering operations carried out in these environments. This includes carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that seek to offset anthropogenic CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by burying this greenhouse gas in the subsurface. Here, we show that deep ecosystems respond quickly to field operations associated with CO2 injections based on a microbiological survey of a basaltic CCS site. Acidic CO2-charged groundwater results in a marked decrease (by ~ 2.5-4) in microbial richness despite observable blooms of lithoautotrophic iron-oxidizing Betaproteobacteria and degraders of aromatic compounds, which hence impact the aquifer redox state and the carbon fate. Host-basalt dissolution releases nutrients and energy sources, which sustain the growth of autotrophic and heterotrophic species whose activities may have consequences on mineral storage.
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