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A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environmental impact.[1][2]
The word quarry can also include the underground quarrying for stone, such as Bath stone.
Types of rock
Types of rock extracted from quarries include:
- Chalk
- China clay
- Cinder
- Clay
- Coal
- Construction aggregate (sand and gravel)
- Coquina
- Diabase
- Gabbro
- Granite
- Gritstone
- Gypsum
- Limestone
- Marble
- Ores
- Phosphate rock
- Quartz
- Sandstone
- Slate
- Travertine
Stone quarry
Stone quarry is an outdated term for mining construction rocks (limestone, marble, granite, sandstone, etc.). There are open types (called quarries, or open-pit mines) and closed types (mines and caves).
For thousands of years, only hand tools had been used in quarries. In the eighteenth century, the use of drilling and blasting operations was mastered.[3]
The term remains used to describe a method of cutting into a certain shape that was used applications, however, such as for glass and tile, as a "quarry cut".
Methods of quarrying
The method of removal of stones from their natural bed by using different operations is called quarrying. Methods of quarrying include:
- a) Digging – This method is used when the quarry consists of small & soft pieces of stones.
- b) Heating – This method is used when the natural rock bed is horizontal and small in thickness.
- c) Wedging –This method is used when the hard rock consists of natural fissure. When natural fissures are absent then artificial fissures are prepared by drilling holes.
- d) Blasting – It is the process of removal of stones with the help of controlled explosives is filled in the holes of the stones. Line of least resistance plays very important role in the blasting process.
Following steps are used in the blasting process;
- 1) Drilling holes – Blast holes are drilled by using drilling machines.
- 2) Charging – Explosive powders are fed into the cleaned & dried blast holes.
- 3) Tamping – The remaining portion of the blast holes are filled by clay, ash, fuse and wirings.
- 4) Firing –The fuses of blasting holes are fired by using electrical power supply or match sticks.
Slabs
Many quarry stones such as marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone are cut into larger slabs and removed from the quarry. The surfaces are polished and finished with varying degrees of sheen or luster. Polished slabs are often cut into tiles or countertops and installed in many kinds of residential and commercial properties. Natural stone quarried from the earth is often considered a luxury and tends to be a highly durable surface, thus highly desirable.
Problems
Quarries in level areas with shallow groundwater or which are located close to surface water often have engineering problems with drainage. Generally the water is removed by pumping while the quarry is operational, but for high inflows more complex approaches may be required. For example, the Coquina quarry is excavated to more than 60 feet (18 m) below sea level.
To reduce surface leakage, a moat lined with clay was constructed around the entire quarry. Groundwater entering the pit is pumped up into the moat. As a quarry becomes deeper, water inflows generally increase and it also becomes more expensive to lift the water higher during removal; this can become the limiting factor in quarry depth. Some water-filled quarries are worked from beneath the water, by dredging.
Many people and municipalities consider quarries to be eyesores and require various abatement methods to address problems with noise, dust, and appearance. One of the more effective and famous examples of successful quarry restoration is Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.[4]
A further problem is pollution of roads from trucks leaving the quarries. To control and restrain the pollution of public roads, wheel washing systems are becoming more common.
Quarry lakes
Many quarries naturally fill with water after abandonment and become lakes. Others are made into landfills.
Water-filled quarries can be very deep, often 50 ft (15 m) or more, and surprisingly cold, so swimming in quarry lakes is generally not recommended. Unexpectedly cold water can cause a swimmer's muscles to suddenly weaken; it can also cause shock and even hypothermia.[5] Though quarry water is often very clear, submerged quarry stones, abandoned equipment, dead animals and strong currents make diving into these quarries extremely dangerous. Several people drown in quarries each year.[6][7] However, many inactive quarries are converted into safe swimming sites.[8][9]
Such lakes, even lakes within active quarries, can provide important habitat for animals.[10]
See also
References
- Sievers, Michael (19 May 2017). "Sand quarry wetlands provide high-quality habitat for native amphibians". Web Ecology. 17 (1): 19–27. doi:10.5194/we-17-19-2017.
S.K Duggal "Building Materials" (2003) 3rd revised edition Quarries
External links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarry
Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals,[1] such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the same techniques used to excavate ores of gems, such as diamonds and rubies. Soft-rock mining refers to the excavation of softer minerals, such as salt, coal, and oil sands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_hard-rock_mining
Tunnels are dug in types of materials varying from soft clay to hard rock. The method of tunnel construction depends on such factors as the ground conditions, the ground water conditions, the length and diameter of the tunnel drive, the depth of the tunnel, the logistics of supporting the tunnel excavation, the final use and shape of the tunnel and appropriate risk management. Tunnel construction is a subset of underground construction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_construction
There are three basic types of tunnel construction in common use:
- Cut-and-cover tunnel, constructed in a shallow trench and then covered over.
- Bored tunnel, constructed in situ, without removing the ground above. They are usually of circular or horseshoe cross-section. Some concepts of underground mining apply. Modern techniques include Shotcrete used in the New Austrian tunnelling method, use of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) or tunnelling shield. But still tunnels are constructed which are secured with pit props and shoring and then are steined or timer supports are set. Techniques known from barrel vaults are helpful.
- Immersed tube tunnel, sunk into a body of water and laid on or buried just under its bed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_construction
A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used during the excavation of large, man-made tunnels. When excavating through ground that is soft, liquid, or otherwise unstable, there is a potential health and safety hazard to workers and the project itself from falling materials or a cave-in. A tunnelling shield can be used as a temporary support structure. It is usually in place for the short-term from when the tunnel section is excavated until it can be lined with a permanent support structure. The permanent structure may be made up of, depending on the period, bricks, concrete, cast iron, or steel. Although modern shields are commonly cylindrical, the first "shield", designed by Marc Isambard Brunel, was actually a large, rectangular, scaffold-like iron structure with three levels and twelve sections per level, with a solid load-bearing top surface. The structure protected the men from cave-ins as they laboured within it, digging the tunnel out in front of the shield.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnelling_shield
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A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore through hard rock, wet or dry soil, or sand. Tunnel diameters can range from one metre (3.3 ft) (micro-TBMs) to 17.6 metres (58 ft) to date. Tunnels of less than a metre or so in diameter are typically done using trenchless construction methods or horizontal directional drilling rather than TBMs. TBMs can be designed to excavate non-circular tunnels, including u-shaped, horseshoe, square or rectangular tunnels.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Tunnel boring machines are used as an alternative to drilling and blasting (D&B) methods in rock and conventional "hand mining" in soil. TBMs have the advantages of limiting the disturbance to the surrounding ground and producing a smooth tunnel wall. This significantly reduces the cost of lining the tunnel, and makes them suitable to use in urban areas. The major disadvantage is the upfront cost. TBMs are expensive to construct, and can be difficult to transport. The longer the tunnel, the less the relative cost of tunnel boring machines versus drill and blast methods. This is because tunneling with appropriate TBMs is much more efficient and shortens completion times. Drilling and blasting however remain the preferred method when working through heavily fractured and sheared rock layers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_boring_machine
The New Austrian tunneling method (NATM), also known as the sequential excavation method (SEM) or sprayed concrete lining method[1] (SCL), is a method of modern tunnel design and construction employing sophisticated monitoring to optimize various wall reinforcement techniques based on the type of rock encountered as tunneling progresses. This technique first gained attention in the 1960s based on the work of Ladislaus von Rabcewicz, Leopold Müller, and Franz Pacher between 1957 and 1965 in Austria. The name NATM was intended to distinguish it from earlier methods, with its economic advantage of employing inherent geological strength available in the surrounding rock mass to stabilize the tunnel wherever possible rather than reinforcing the entire tunnel.[2]
NATM/SEM is generally thought to have helped revolutionise the modern tunneling industry. Many modern tunnels have used this excavation technique.
The works built by the Sequential Excavation Method are very attractive from the economic point of view and reasonable in karst conditions.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Austrian_tunneling_method
Underground mining
Sub-surface mining consists of digging tunnels or shafts into the earth to reach buried ore deposits. Ore, for processing, and waste rock, for disposal, are brought to the surface through the tunnels and shafts. Sub-surface mining can be classified by the type of access shafts used, and the extraction method or the technique used to reach the mineral deposit. Drift mining uses horizontal access tunnels, slope mining uses diagonally sloping access shafts, and shaft mining uses vertical access shafts. Mining in hard and soft rock formations requires different techniques.[53]
Other methods include shrinkage stope mining, which is mining upward, creating a sloping underground room, long wall mining, which is grinding a long ore surface underground, and room and pillar mining, which is removing ore from rooms while leaving pillars in place to support the roof of the room. Room and pillar mining often leads to retreat mining, in which supporting pillars are removed as miners retreat, allowing the room to cave in, thereby loosening more ore. Additional sub-surface mining methods include hard rock mining, bore hole mining, drift and fill mining, long hole slope mining, sub level caving, and block caving.[citation needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining#Underground_Mining
Shotcrete, gunite (/ˈɡʌnaɪt/), or sprayed concrete is concrete or mortar conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface. This construction technique was invented by Carl Akeley and first used in 1907.[1]: 7 The concrete is typically reinforced by conventional steel rods, steel mesh, or fibers.
The concrete or mortar is formulated to be sticky and resist flowing when at rest to allow use on walls and ceilings, but exhibit sufficient shear thinning to be easily pumpable through hoses.
Shotcrete is usually an all-inclusive term for both the wet-mix and dry-mix versions invented by Akeley. In pool construction, however, shotcrete refers to wet mix and gunite to dry mix. In this context, these terms are not interchangeable.
Shotcrete is placed and compacted/consolidated at the same time, due to the force with which it is ejected from the nozzle. It can be sprayed onto any type or shape of surface, including vertical or overhead areas.
Shotcrete has the characteristics of high compressive strength, good durability, water tightness and frost resistance.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotcrete
Mine access
Underground access
Accessing underground ore can be achieved via a decline (ramp), inclined vertical shaft or adit.
- Declines can be a spiral tunnel which circles either the flank of the deposit or circles around the deposit. The decline begins with a box cut, which is the portal to the surface. Depending on the amount of overburden and quality of bedrock, a galvanized steel culvert may be required for safety purposes. They may also be started into the wall of an open cut mine.
- Shafts are vertical excavations sunk adjacent to an ore body. Shafts are sunk for ore bodies where haulage to surface via truck is not economical. Shaft haulage is more economical than truck haulage at depth, and a mine may have both a decline and a ramp.
- Adits are horizontal excavations into the side of a hill or mountain. Adits are used for horizontal or near-horizontal ore bodies where there is no need for a ramp or shaft.
Declines are often started from the side of the high wall of an open cut mine when the ore body is of a payable grade sufficient to support an underground mining operation, but the strip ratio has become too great to support open cast extraction methods. They are also often built and maintained as an emergency safety access from the underground workings and a means of moving large equipment to the workings.
Ore access
Levels are excavated horizontally off the decline or shaft to access the ore body. Stopes are then excavated perpendicular (or near perpendicular) to the level into the ore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_hard-rock_mining
Development mining vs. production mining
There are two principal phases of underground mining: development mining and production mining.
Development mining is composed of excavation almost entirely in (non-valuable) waste rock in order to gain access to the orebody. There are six steps in development mining: remove previously blasted material (muck out round), scaling (removing any unstable slabs of rock hanging from the roof and sidewalls to protect workers and equipment from damage), installing support or/and reinforcement using shotcrete etceteras, drill face rock, load explosives, and blast explosives. To start the mining, the first step is to make the path to go down. The path is defined as 'Decline' as describe above. Before the start of a decline, all pre-planning of the power facility, drilling arrangement, de-watering, ventilation and, muck withdrawal facilities are required.[2]
Production mining is further broken down into two methods, long hole and short hole. Short hole mining is similar to development mining, except that it occurs in ore. There are several different methods of long hole mining. Typically, long hole mining requires two excavations within the ore at different elevations below surface, (15 m – 30 m apart). Holes are drilled between the two excavations and loaded with explosives. The holes are blasted and the ore is removed from the bottom excavation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_hard-rock_mining
Ventilation
One of the most important aspects of underground hard rock mining is ventilation. Ventilation is the primary method of clearing hazardous gases and/or dust which are created from drilling and blasting activity (e.g., silica dust, NOx), diesel equipment (e.g., diesel particulate, carbon monoxide), or to protect against gases that are naturally emanating from the rock (e.g., radon gas). Ventilation is also used to manage underground temperatures for the workers. In deep, hot mines ventilation is used to cool the workplace; however, in very cold locations the air is heated to just above freezing before it enters the mine. Ventilation raises are typically used to transfer ventilation from surface to the workplaces, and can be modified for use as emergency escape routes. The primary sources of heat in underground hard rock mines are virgin rock temperature, machinery, auto compression, and fissure water. Other small contributing factors are human body heat and blasting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_hard-rock_mining
Ground support
Some means of support is required in order to maintain the stability of the openings that are excavated. This support comes in two forms; local support and area support.
Area ground support
Area ground support is used to prevent major ground failure. Holes are drilled into the back (ceiling) and walls and a long steel rod (or rock bolt) is installed to hold the ground together. There are three categories of rock bolt, differentiated by how they engage the host rock.[3] They are:
Mechanical bolts
- Point anchor bolts (or expansion shell bolts) are a common style of area ground support. A point anchor bolt is a metal bar between 20 mm – 25 mm in diameter, and between 1 m – 4 m long (the size is determined by the mine's engineering department). There is an expansion shell at the end of the bolt which is inserted into the hole. As the bolt is tightened by the installation drill the expansion shell expands and the bolt tightens holding the rock together. Mechanical bolts are considered temporary support as their lifespan is reduced by corrosion as they are not grouted.[3]
Grouted bolts
- Resin grouted rebar is used in areas which require more support than a point anchor bolt can give. The rebar used is of similar size as a point anchor bolt but does not have an expansion shell. Once the hole for the rebar is drilled, cartridges of polyester resin are installed in the hole. The rebar bolt is installed after the resin and spun by the installation drill. This opens the resin cartridge and mixes it. Once the resin hardens, the drill spinning tightens the rebar bolt holding the rock together. Resin grouted rebar is considered a permanent ground support with a lifespan of 20–30 years.[3]
- Cable bolts are used to bind large masses of rock in the hanging wall and around large excavations. Cable bolts are much larger than standard rock bolts and rebar, usually between 10–25 metres long. Cable bolts are grouted with a cement grout.[3]
Friction bolts
- Friction stabilizer (frequently called by the genericized trademark Split Set) are much easier to install than mechanical bolts or grouted bolts. The bolt is hammered into the drill hole, which has a smaller diameter than the bolt. Pressure from the bolt on the wall holds the rock together. Friction stabilizers are particularly susceptible to corrosion and rust from water unless they are grouted. Once grouted the friction increases by a factor of 3-4.[3]
- Swellex is similar to Friction stabilizers, except the bolt diameter is smaller than the hole diameter. High pressure water is injected into the bolt to expand the bolt diameter to hold the rock together. Like the friction stabilizer, swellex is poorly protected from corrosion and rust.[3]
Local ground support
Local ground support is used to prevent smaller rocks from falling from the back and ribs. Not all excavations require local ground support.
- Welded Wire Mesh is a metal screen with 10 cm x 10 cm (4 inch) openings. The mesh is held to the back using point anchor bolts or resin grouted rebar.
- Shotcrete is fibre-reinforced spray-on concrete which coats the back and ribs preventing smaller rocks from falling. Shotcrete thickness can be between 50 mm – 100 mm.
- Latex Membranes can be sprayed on the backs and ribs similar to shotcrete, but in smaller amounts.
Stope and retreat vs. stope and fill
Stope and retreat
Using this method, mining is planned to extract rock from the stopes without filling the voids; this allows the wall rocks to cave in to the extracted stope after all the ore has been removed. The stope is then sealed to prevent access.
Stope and fill
Where large bulk ore bodies are to be mined at great depth, or where leaving pillars of ore is uneconomical, the open stope is filled with backfill, which can be a cement and rock mixture, a cement and sand mixture or a cement and tailings mixture. This method is popular as the refilled stopes provide support for the adjacent stopes, allowing total extraction of economic resources.
Methods
The mining method selected is determined by the size, shape, orientation and type of orebody to be mined. The orebody can be narrow vein such as a gold mine in the Witwatersrand, the orebody can be massive similar to the Olympic Dam mine, South Australia, or Cadia-Ridgeway Mine, New South Wales. The width or size of the orebody is determined by the grade as well as the distribution of the ore. The dip of the orebody also has an influence on the mining method for example a narrow horizontal vein orebody will be mined by room and pillar or a longwall method whereas a vertical narrow vein orebody will be mined by an open stoping or cut and fill method. Further consideration is needed for the strength of the ore as well as the surrounding rock. An orebody hosted in strong self-supporting rock may be mined by an open stoping method and an orebody hosted in poor rock may need to be mined by a cut and fill method where the void is continuously filled as the ore is removed.
Selective mining methods
- Cut and fill mining is a method of short-hole mining used in steeply dipping or irregular ore zones, in particular where the hanging wall limits the use of long-hole methods. The ore is mined in horizontal or slightly inclined slices, and then filled with waste rock, sand or tailings. Either fill option may be consolidated with concrete or left unconsolidated. Cut and fill mining is an expensive but selective method, with the advantages of low ore loss and dilution.[4]
- Drift and fill is similar to cut and fill, except that it is used in ore zones, which are wider than the method of drifting will allow to be mined. In this case, the first drift is developed in the ore, and is backfilled using consolidated fill. The second drift is driven adjacent to the first drift. This carries on until the ore zone is mined out to its full width, at which time the second cut is started atop of the first cut.
- Shrinkage stoping is a short-hole mining method which is suitable for steeply dipping orebodies. This method is similar to cut and fill mining with the exception that after being blasted, broken ore is left in the stope where it is used to support the surrounding rock and as a platform from which to work. Only enough ore is removed from the stope to allow for drilling and blasting the next slice. The stope is emptied when all of the ore has been blasted. Although it is very selective and allows for low dilution, since most of the ore stays in the stope until mining is completed, there is a delayed return on capital investments.[4]
- VRM/ VCR: Vertical retreat mining (VRM) also known as Vertical crater retreat (VCR) is a method where mine is divided in vertical zones[clarification needed] with depth of about 50 meters using open stoping, bottom-up mining. Long-hole large-diameter holes are drilled vertically into the ore body from the top using in-the-hole (ITH)[5][clarification needed] drills, and then blasting horizontal slices of the ore body into an undercut. Ore blasted in retrieval taken in phase. This retrieval is done from bottom of the section developed. Last cleaning of ore is done through remote controlled LHD machines. A system of primary and secondary stopes is often used in VCR mining, where primary stopes are mined in the first stage and then backfilled with cemented fill to provide wall support for the blasting of successive stopes. Side chambers will be mined in pre-planned sequence after the fill has solidified.[6][7]
Bulk mining methods
- Block caving is used to mine massive steeply dipping orebodies (typically low grade) with high friability. An undercut with haulage access is driven under the orebody, with "drawbells" excavated between the top of the haulage level and the bottom of the undercut. The drawbells serve as a place for caving rock to fall into. The orebody is drilled and blasted above the undercut, and the ore is removed via the haulage access. Due to the friability of the orebody the ore above the first blast caves and falls into the drawbells. As ore is removed from the drawbells the orebody caves in, providing a steady stream of ore.[4] If caving stops and removal of ore from the drawbells continues, a large void may form, resulting in the potential for a sudden and massive collapse and potentially catastrophic windblast throughout the mine.[8][better source needed] Where caving does continue, the ground surface may collapse into a surface depression such as those at the Climax and Henderson molybdenum mines in Colorado. Such a configuration is one of several to which miners apply the term "glory hole".
Orebodies that do not cave readily are sometimes preconditioned by hydraulic fracturing, blasting, or by a combination of both. Hydraulic fracturing has been applied to preconditioning strong roof rock over coal longwall panels, and to inducing caving in both coal and hard rock mines.
- Room and pillar mining : Room and pillar mining is commonly done in flat or gently dipping bedded ore bodies. Pillars are left in place in a regular pattern while the rooms are mined out. In many room and pillar mines, the pillars are taken out starting at the farthest point from the stope access, allowing the roof to collapse and fill in the stope. This allows for greater recovery as less ore is left behind in pillars.
Ore removal
In mines which use rubber tired equipment for coarse ore removal, the ore (or "muck") is removed from the stope (referred to as "mucked out" or "bogged") using center articulated vehicles (referred to as boggers or LHD (Load, Haul, Dump machine)). These pieces of equipment may operate using diesel engines or electric motors, and resemble a low-profile front end loader. LHD operated through electricity utilize trailing cables which are flexible and can be extended or retracted on a reel. [9]
The ore is then dumped into a truck to be hauled to the surface (in shallower mines). In deeper mines, the ore is dumped down an ore pass (a vertical or near vertical excavation) where it falls to a collection level. On the collection level, it may receive primary crushing via jaw or cone crusher, or via a rockbreaker. The ore is then moved by conveyor belts, trucks or occasionally trains to the shaft to be hoisted to the surface in buckets or skips and emptied into bins beneath the surface headframe for transport to the mill.
In some cases the underground primary crusher feeds an inclined conveyor belt which delivers ore via an incline shaft direct to the surface. The ore is fed down ore passes, with mining equipment accessing the ore body via a decline from surface.
Deepest mines
- The deepest mines in the world are the Mponeng and TauTona (Western Deep Levels) gold mines in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, which are currently working at depths exceeding 3,900 m (12,800 ft).[10]
- The deepest inactive mine in Asia is the Kolar in the Karnataka region of India. Closed in 2001, the main shaft had reached a depth of 10,560 ft (3,220 m).
This region is also the location of the harshest conditions for hard rock mining, with air temperatures of up to 45 °C (113 °F). However, massive refrigeration plants are used to bring the temperature down to around 28 °C (82 °F). - The deepest inactive hard rock mine in North America is the Empire mine in Grass Valley California. Closed in 1956 the main shaft had reached an incline depth of 11,007 ft (3,355 m). The combined length of all shafts is 367 miles (591 km).
- The deepest active hard rock mine in North America is Kidd Mine in Canada, which mines zinc and copper in Timmins, Ontario. At the maximum depth of 9,889 feet (3,014 m) this mine is the deepest base metal mine in the world, and its low surface elevation means that the bottom of the mine is the deepest accessible non-marine point on earth.[11][12]
- LaRonde's Penna shaft (#3 shaft) is believed to be the deepest single lift shaft in the Western Hemisphere. The new #4 shaft bottoms out at 2,840 m (9,320 ft) down. LaRonde mine expansion was completed in June 2016 at the depth of 3,008 m (9,869 ft), the deepest longhole open stopes in the world.[13]
- The deepest active mine in Eurasia and in Asia is Skalisty Mine of Nornickel, located in Talnakh. In September 2018 it reaches depth of 2,056 m (6,745 ft) below surface.[14]
- The deepest mine in Europe is the 16th shaft of the uranium mines in Příbram, Czech Republic at 1,838 m (6,030 ft).[15]
- The deepest hard rock mines in Australia are the copper and zinc lead mines in Mount Isa, Queensland at 1,800 m (5,900 ft).[citation needed]
- The deepest platinum-palladium mines in the world are on the Merensky Reef, in South Africa, with a resource of 203 million troy ounces, currently worked to a depth of approximately 2,200 m (7,200 ft).[citation needed]
- The deepest borehole is the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. At 12,262 m (40,230 ft), it is the deepest artificial extreme point of Earth.
See also
References
- "Mineral deposits: from their origin to their environmental impacts". Taylor & Francis. 1995. ISBN 978-9054105503.
Further reading
- Brown, Ronald C. Hard-Rock Miners: The InterMountain West, 1860–1920. (2000)[ISBN missing]
- de la Vergne, Jack. Hard Rock Miner's Handbook. (2003) Tempe/North Bay: McIntosh Engineering. ISBN 0-9687006-1-6.
- McElfish Jr., James M. Hard Rock Mining: State Approaches to Environmental Protection. (1996)[ISBN missing]
- Wyman, Mark. Hard Rock Epic: Western Miners and the Industrial Revolution, 1860–1910. (1989)[ISBN missing]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_hard-rock_mining
Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining,[1] is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_hard-rock_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drift_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longwall_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borehole_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mining
An open-pit sulfur mine at Tarnobrzeg, Poland, undergoing land rehabilitation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mining
In mining, gangue (/ɡæŋ/)[1] is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. It is thus distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or materials overlying an ore or mineral body that are displaced during mining without being processed, and from tailings, which is rock already stripped of valuable minerals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangue
In the field of extractive metallurgy, mineral processing is the process of separating commercially valuable minerals from their ores.[1] Depending on the processes used in each instance, it is often also known as ore dressing or ore milling.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_processing
Typical open cut grades
Gold is generally extracted in open-pit mines at 1 to 5 ppm (parts per million) but in certain cases, 0.75 ppm gold is economical. This was achieved by bulk heap leaching at the Peak Hill mine in western New South Wales, near Dubbo, Australia.[28]
Nickel, generally as laterite, is extracted via open-pit down to 0.2%. Copper can be extracted at grades as low as 0.11% to 0.2%.
Materials typically extracted from open-pit mines include:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mining
 The Udachnaya pipe | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Udachnaya pipe Location in Sakha Republic, Russia | |
| Location | Mirninsky District |
| Federal subject | Sakha Republic |
| Country | Russia |
| Coordinates | 66°26′N 112°19′E |
| Production | |
| Products | Diamonds |
| Owner | |
| Company | Alrosa |
The Udachnaya pipe (Russian: тру́бка Уда́чная, literally lucky pipe) is a diamond deposit in the Daldyn-Alakit kimberlite field in Sakha Republic, Russia.[1] It is an open-pit mine,[2] and is located just outside the Arctic circle at 66°26′N 112°19′E.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udachnaya_pipe
.jpg) The Mir mine in Yakutia | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
Mir Mine Location in Sakha Republic, Russia | |
| Location | Mirny, Sakha Republic |
| Region | Siberia |
| Country | Russia |
| Coordinates | 62°31′45″N 113°59′36″E |
| Production | |
| Products | Diamonds |
| Production | 10,000,000 carats (2,000 kg) per year |
| Financial year | 1960s |
| History | |
| Opened | 1957 |
| Closed | 2004 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Alrosa |
| Website | Link[permanent dead link] |
| Year of acquisition | 1992 |
The Mir mine (Russian: кимберлитовая алмазная трубка «Мир» kimberlitovaya almaznaya trubka "Mir"; English: kimberlite diamond pipe "Peace"), also called the Mirny mine, is an open pit diamond mine located in Mirny, Sakha Republic, in the Siberian region of eastern Russia. The mine is more than 525 meters (1,722 ft) deep (4th in the world), has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft),[1] and is one of the largest excavated holes in the world.
Open-pit mining began in 1957 and was discontinued in 2001. Since 2009, it has been active as an underground diamond mine.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir_mine
Volcanic pipes or volcanic conduits are subterranean geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of diatreme. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narrow cone of solidified magma (described as "carrot-shaped"), and are usually largely composed of one of two characteristic rock types — kimberlite or lamproite. These rocks reflect the composition of the volcanoes' deep magma sources, where the Earth is rich in magnesium. They are well known as the primary source of diamonds, and are mined for this purpose. Volcanic pipes are relatively rare by this definition based on minerals and depth of the magma source, but on the other hand volcanic diatremes are common, indeed the second commonest form of volcanic extrusion (that is magma that reaches the surface).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_pipe
A lava cave is any cave formed in volcanic rock, though it typically means caves formed by volcanic processes, which are more properly termed volcanic caves. Sea caves, and other sorts of erosional and crevice caves, may be formed in volcanic rocks, but through non-volcanic processes and usually long after the volcanic rock was emplaced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_cave
Inflationary caves can reside inside pressure ridges such as this one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_cave#/media/File:Tumulus-inflationary_cave.jpg
A lava tree mold, sometimes erroneously called a lava tree cast, is a hollow lava formation that formed around a tree trunk. They are created when lava flows through an area of trees, coating their exterior. The lava cools just enough to create a solid crust around the trunk, but the tree inside burns away leaving a cavity.[1] Molds of trees may be vertical or horizontal.[2] In many cases, mold formation requires slow moving lava, as well as enough time for the mold to chill.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tree_mold
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magma_chamber
_Horno_de_Bustamante.png)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_of_Mercury._Almad%C3%A9n_and_Idrija
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_lake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
Talus
Talus caves are formed by the openings among large boulders that have fallen down into a random heap, often at the bases of cliffs.[12] These unstable deposits are called talus or scree, and may be subject to frequent rockfalls and landslides.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
In southern Africa, early modern humans regularly used sea caves as shelter starting about 180,000 years ago when they learned to exploit the sea for the first time.[23] The oldest known site is PP13B at Pinnacle Point. This may have allowed rapid expansion of humans out of Africa and colonization of areas of the world such as Australia by 60–50,000 years ago. Throughout southern Africa, Australia, and Europe, early modern humans used caves and rock shelters as sites for rock art, such as those at Giant's Castle. Caves such as the yaodong in China were used for shelter; other caves were used for burials (such as rock-cut tombs), or as religious sites (such as Buddhist caves). Among the known sacred caves are China's Cave of a Thousand Buddhas[24] and the sacred caves of Crete.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
Caves and acoustics
The importance of sound in caves predates a modern understanding of acoustics. Archaeologists have uncovered relationships between paintings of dots and lines, in specific areas of resonance, within the caves of Spain and France, as well as instruments depicting paleolithic motifs,[25] indicators of musical events and rituals. Clusters of paintings were often founds in areas with notable acoustics, sometimes even replicating the sounds of the animals depicted on the walls. The human voice was also theorized to be used as an echolocation device to navigate darker areas of the caves where torches were less useful.[26] Dots of red ochre are often found in spaces with the highest resonance, where the production of paintings was too difficult.[27]
Caves continue to provide usage for modern-day explorers of acoustics. Today Cumberland Caverns provides one of the best examples for modern musical usages of caves. Not only are caves utilized for the reverberations, but for the dampening qualities of their abnormal faces as well. The irregularities in the walls of the Cumberland Caverns diffuse sounds bouncing off the walls and give the space and almost recording studio-like quality.[28] During the 20th century musicians began to explore the possibility of using caves as locations as clubs and concert halls, including the likes of Dinah Shore, Roy Acuff, and Benny Goodman.[citation needed] Unlike today, these early performances were typically held in the mouths of the caves, as the lack of technology made depths of the interior inaccessible with musical equipment.[29] In Luray Caverns, Virginia, a functioning organ has been developed that generates sound by mallets striking stalactites, each with a different pitch.[30]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
The first early hominid ever found in Africa, the Taung Child in 1924, was also thought for many years to come from a cave, where it had been deposited after being predated on by an eagle. However, this is now debated (Hopley et al., 2013; Am. J. Phys. Anthrop.). Caves do form in the dolomite of the Ghaap Plateau, including the Early, Middle and Later Stone Age site of Wonderwerk Cave; however, the caves that form along the escarpment's edge, like that hypothesised for the Taung Child, are formed within a secondary limestone deposit called tufa. There is numerous evidence for other early human species inhabiting caves from at least one million years ago in different parts of the world, including Homo erectus in China at Zhoukoudian, Homo rhodesiensis in South Africa at the Cave of Hearths (Makapansgat), Homo neanderthalensis and Homo heidelbergensis in Europe at Archaeological Site of Atapuerca, Homo floresiensis in Indonesia, and the Denisovans in southern Siberia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fluvial_landforms
A pit cave, shaft cave or vertical cave—or often simply called a pit (in the US) and pothole or pot (in the UK); jama in South Slavic languages scientific and colloquial vocabulary (borrowed since early research in the Western Balkan Dinaric Alpine karst)—is a type of cave which contains one or more significant vertical shafts rather than being predominantly a conventional horizontal cave passage. Pit caves typically form in limestone as a result of long-term erosion by water. They can be open to the surface or found deep within horizontal caves. Among cavers, a pit is a vertical drop of any depth that cannot be negotiated safely without the use of ropes or ladders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_cave
A speleothem (/ˈspiːliəθɛm/; from Ancient Greek σπήλαιον (spḗlaion) 'cave', and θέμα (théma) 'deposit') is a geological formation by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves.[1] Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depending on their depositional history and environment. Their chemical composition, gradual growth, and preservation in caves make them useful paleoclimatic proxies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem
Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). The term speleology is also sometimes applied to the recreational activity of exploring caves, but this is more properly known as caving, potholing (British English), or spelunking. Speleology and caving are often connected, as the physical skills required for in situ study are the same.
Speleology is a cross-disciplinary field that combines the knowledge of chemistry, biology, geology, physics, meteorology, and cartography to develop portraits of caves as complex, evolving systems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleology
Sacred caves and peak sanctuaries are characteristic holy places of ancient Minoan Crete. Most scholars agree that sacred caves were used by the Minoans for religious rites, and some for burial. While all peak sanctuaries have clay human figurines, only Idaeon, Trapeza and Psychro have them among the sacred caves. Clay body parts, also called votive body parts, common among peak sanctuaries, appear in no caves with the exception of a bronze leg in Psychro.
One author, Tyree (1974), restricts "sacred caves" to those with architectural additions such as "paved areas, partition walls, and low walls surrounding stalagmites", as well as the presence (upon excavation) of "cult implements" of various kinds.[1]
Some were "burial caves", used in the Neolithic and Early Minoan periods as secondary burial sites for a community. It is thought that the primary burial site was probably a tholos beehive tomb in the area, from which remains were moved into the cave after a period. Whether this usage overlapped with usage for religious cult, or whether the two phases were distinct, is uncertain and a matter of discussion.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_caves_of_Crete
A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a common form of burial for the wealthy in ancient times in several parts of the world.
Important examples are found in Egypt, most notably in the town of Deir el-Medina (Seet Maat), located between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.[1] Other notable clusters include numerous rock-cut tombs in modern Israel, at Naghsh-e Rostam necropolis in Iran, at Myra in Turkey, Petra in modern Jordan, Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia, Sicily (Pantalica) and Larnaca.[2] Indian rock-cut architecture is very extensive, but does not feature tombs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-cut_tomb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_caves
;_Josephine_County,_Oregon.jpg)
Biospeleology, also known as cave biology, is a branch of biology dedicated to the study of organisms that live in caves and are collectively referred to as troglofauna.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biospeleology
A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves. These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live underground (eutroglophiles), and species that are only cave visitors (subtroglophiles and trogloxenes).[1] Land-dwelling troglobites may be referred to as troglofauna, while aquatic species may be called stygofauna, although for these animals the term stygobite is preferable.
Troglobites typically have evolutionary adaptations to cave life. Examples of such adaptations include slow metabolism, reduced energy consumption, better food usage efficiency, decrease or loss of eyesight (anophthalmia), and depigmentation (absence of pigment in the integument). Conversely, as opposed to lost or reduced functions, many species have evolved elongated antenna and locomotory appendages, in order to better move around and respond to environmental stimuli. These structures are also full of chemical, tactile and humidity receptors. Troglobites commonly do not survive well outside caves and therefore cannot travel between separate cave systems. As a result, many troglobiotic species are endemic to a single cave or system of caves.[2][3][4][5]
Not all cave dwelling species are considered to be troglobites. An animal found in an underground environment may be a troglophile (a species living both in subterranean and in epigean habitats, e.g. bats and cave swallows) or a trogloxene (a species only occurring sporadically in a hypogean habitat and unable to establish a subterranean population).[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_troglobites
| Tumbling Creek cavesnail | |
|---|---|
| |
| A live individual of Antrobia culveri | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Littorinimorpha |
| Family: | Cochliopidae |
| Subfamily: | Cochliopinae |
| Genus: | Antrobia Hubricht, 1971[2] |
| Species: | A. culveri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Antrobia culveri | |
The Tumbling Creek cavesnail (Antrobia culveri) is a species of freshwater cave snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Amnicolidae.[3]
Antrobia culveri is the only species in the genus Antrobia.[2][4] This is an endangered species.
The common name refers to Tumbling Creek Cave, a National Natural Landmark, in Taney County, Missouri, USA.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbling_Creek_cavesnail
| Cavernicola | |
|---|---|
| |
| Hausera hauseri | |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Order: | Tricladida |
| Suborder: | Cavernicola Sluys, 1990 |
| families | |
Cavernicola is a suborder of planarians found mostly in freshwater habitats of caves, although some species occur on the surface.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavernicola_(suborder)
The phantom cave snail or phantom cavesnail (Pyrgulopsis texana) is a species of very small freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod in the family Hydrobiidae.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_cave_snail
| Peripatopsis alba | |
|---|---|
_Figure_1_(cropped).jpg)
| |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Class: | Udeonychophora |
| Order: | Euonychophora |
| Family: | Peripatopsidae |
| Genus: | Peripatopsis |
| Species: | P. alba
|
| Binomial name | |
| Peripatopsis alba Lawrence, 1931
| |
Peripatopsis alba, the white cave velvet worm,[1] is a species of velvet worm in the family Peripatopsidae.[2][3] This species has 18 pairs of clawed legs, with the last pair reduced, and no eyes.[4][5] Specimens range from 32 mm to 48 mm in length.[4] Like other velvet worms in this genus, this species exhibits matrotrophic viviparity, that is, mothers in this genus retain eggs in their uteri and supply nourishment to their embryos, but without any placenta.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatopsis_alba
| Trogloraptor | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
| |
| Male Trogloraptor marchingtoni | |
;_captive_specimen.jpg)
| |
| Female Trogloraptor marchingtoni | |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Trogloraptoridae Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012[1] |
| Genus: | Trogloraptor Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012[1] |
| Species: | T. marchingtoni
|
| Binomial name | |
| Trogloraptor marchingtoni Griswold, Audisio & Ledford, 2012[1]
| |
Trogloraptor is a genus of large spiders found in the caves of southwestern Oregon. It is the sole genus in the family Trogloraptoridae, and includes only one species, Trogloraptor marchingtoni.[1] These spiders are predominantly yellow-brown in color with a maximum leg span of 3 in (7.6 cm). They are remarkable for having hook-like claws on the raptorial last segments of their legs.
Trogloraptor belongs to one of only three new spider families described since 1990. The specific name is in honor of the amateur cave biologist and deputy sheriff Neil Marchington.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trogloraptor
Sinopoda scurion is a species of huntsman spider discovered in 2012 in a Laotian cave. It has a leg span of about 6 centimetres (2.4 in) and a body span of about 12 millimetres (0.47 in). It is the first recorded huntsman spider to lack eyes.[1] Due to its dark cave habitat, it has no requirement of vision for hunting.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinopoda_scurion
| Stalita taenaria | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stalita taenaria, cave in Slovenian Karst | |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Dysderidae |
| Genus: | Stalita |
| Species: | S. taenaria
|
| Binomial name | |
| Stalita taenaria | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Stalita taenaria is an araneomorph spider species in the family Dysderidae.[2] The species is classified as a member of troglofauna, more precisely a troglobiont species, meaning such spiders are obligate cave-dwellers adapted to living in dark surroundings.[3][4] Stalita taenaria is a species of a few European countries.[5] The spider is thought to be the first described species of true (eyeless[6]) cave spider in the world.[7][8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalita_taenaria
| Chthonius Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Chthonius sp., from W Serbia, 2016 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Superfamily: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Chthonius C. L. Koch, 1843
|
| Species | |
|
121, see text | |
Chthonius is a genus of pseudoscorpions, first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1843.[1]
There are more than 100 species which are distributed from Europe to Iran, North Africa, Balearic Islands and the USA. There is one cosmopolitan species. There are also fossil species from the Eocene of Poland and the Russian Federation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chthonius_(arachnid)
| Titanophyllum | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Subphylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Titanophyllum Akkari, Stoev, & Enghoff, 2011
|
| Type species | |
| Titanophyllum spiliarum Akkari, Stoev, & Enghoff, 2011
| |
Titanophyllum spiliarum is a species of cave-dwelling millipede in the family Julidae. The only known species of the genus Titanophyllum, it was described in 2011 from specimens discovered in a cave in Greece. It has several unusual characteristics including eyelessness and a small hook on its hind-most body section that may be involved in keeping the animal ‘locked’ when it coils-up defensively.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanophyllum
| Trichopetalum whitei | |
|---|---|
| |
| Head (1), enlarged 6th leg (2), and normal leg (3) of a male T. whitei | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Subphylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | T. whitei
|
| Binomial name | |
| Trichopetalum whitei (Ryder, 1881)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Zygonopus whitei | |
Trichopetalum whitei, common name Luray Caverns blind cave millipede, is a rare troglobitic (obligate cavernicolous) millipede of the upper Potomac River drainage in four Virginia counties and three West Virginia counties. It has been recorded from 12 caves across this range, including the Luray Caverns where it was first discovered and described.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichopetalum_whitei
| Eupolybothrus cavernicolus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Chilopoda |
| Order: | Lithobiomorpha |
| Family: | Lithobiidae |
| Genus: | Eupolybothrus |
| Species: | E. cavernicolus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Eupolybothrus cavernicolus (Komerički & Stoev, 2013)
| |
Eupolybothrus cavernicolus is a species of centipede so far only found in two caves near the village of Kistanje, in Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia.[1]
It has been dubbed the cyber-centipede as it is the first eukaryotic species for which, in addition to the traditional morphological description, scientists have provided a transcriptomic profile, DNA barcoding data, detailed anatomical X-ray microtomography (micro-CT), and a movie of the living specimen.[1][2]
It was discovered in by 2013 by biospeciesologists Komerički and Stoev.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eupolybothrus_cavernicolus
| Desmoxytes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Desmoxytes purpurosea, the "shocking pink dragon millipede" from Thailand | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923
|
| Type species | |
| Desmoxytes planata Pocock, 1895
| |
| Species | |
|
18, see text | |
Desmoxytes, whose species are commonly known as the dragon millipedes, is a genus of millipedes of the family Paradoxosomatidae found in Southeast Asia. The genus was described by Ralph Vary Chamberlin in 1923, and reviewed by Sergei Golovatch and Henrik Enghoff in 1994.[1] At least 18 species are known from to Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.[2] One species, D. planata, has also been observed in Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands, Seychelles, Java, Great Coco Island, and Fiji; however, this species has expanded its range by being transported through human activity.[1][3] Several species have only recently been discovered, and some have yet to be officially described.[3]
Generally, species in this genus are striking in coloration and spiny,[3] although several species are cave-dwelling, and show troglomorphic characteristics, such as pale brownish coloration and long, narrow spines.[4] This genus is unique for its sculptured, ornamented dorsum, and elaborate paranota.[5] The maximum length for a species in this genus is around 3 cm (1.2 in).[3] Species in this genus also have the ability to produce hydrogen cyanide to ward off predators, which can give the dragon millipedes an almond-like smell.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmoxytes
| Mammamia | |
|---|---|
| |
| The gonopods of M. profuga | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Subphylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Mammamia Akkari, Stoev, & Enghoff, 2011
|
| Type species | |
| Mammamia profuga Akkari, Stoev, & Enghoff, 2011
| |
Mammamia profuga is a species of cave-dwelling millipede in the family Julidae. The only known species of the genus Mammamia, it was described in 2011 from a specimen discovered in a cave in Italy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammamia
| Orconectes australis | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
| |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Family: | Cambaridae |
| Genus: | Orconectes |
| Species: | O. australis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Orconectes australis (Rhoades, 1941)
| |
Orconectes australis, the southern cave crayfish,[1][2] is a species of crayfish in the family Cambaridae found in Alabama and Tennessee.[3] Ages of 176 years have been claimed for O. australis, though this was reduced to ≤22 years in a 2012 study.[4]
Media related to Orconectes australis at Wikimedia Commons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orconectes_australis
| Cambarus aculabrum | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Family: | Cambaridae |
| Genus: | Cambarus |
| Species: | C. aculabrum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cambarus aculabrum Hobbs & Brown, 1987
| |
Cambarus aculabrum is a rare species of cave-dwelling crayfish known by the common name Benton county cave crayfish.[2][3] It is native to Arkansas in the United States, where it is known from only four locations.[3] It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambarus_aculabrum
Procambarus horsti, known as the Big Blue Spring crayfish or Big Blue Spring cave crayfish, is a species of crayfish in the family Cambaridae. It is endemic to subterranean springs in Jefferson County and Leon County, Florida.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procambarus_horsti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_troglobites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allocrangonyx
| Niphargus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Niphargus ictus Grotte di Frasassi | |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Superorder: | Peracarida |
| Order: | Amphipoda |
| Family: | Niphargidae |
| Genus: | Niphargus Schiødte, 1847 |
| Type species | |
| Niphargus stygius Schiødte, 1847
| |
| Species | |
|
Over 300; see text | |
Niphargus is by far the largest genus of its family, the Niphargidae, and the largest of all freshwater amphipod genera.[1]
Usually, these animals inhabit caves or groundwater. They occur in western Eurasia, in regions that were not covered by the Pleistocene ice sheets. They are found throughout most of Europe with the notable exception of the Nordics and they are also largely missing from Iberia. The genus extends into Asia as far as the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.[2] In their main range – the central Mediterranean region through Central and Eastern Europe to the Ukraine – they are among the most significant organisms inhabiting the groundwater.[1] In the Dinaric Alps alone there are at least 45 species.[2] There are also six species in the British Isles (the northernmost Niphargus): N. aquilex, N. fontanus, N. glenniei and N. kochianus of Great Britain, and N. irlandicus and N. wexfordensis of Ireland.[3][4] Although the individual species often have very small ranges and only live at a narrow water temperature range, the genus includes both species of cold and relatively warm places, taken to the extreme in N. thermalis from thermal waters.[2]
Niphargus are extremely variable in their appearance (more so than even some amphipod families),[2] but are whitish and completely lack eyes.[5] They are fairly small, ranging from about 2 mm (0.08 in) in length in the smallest species to about 35 mm (1.4 in) in the largest.[2] At least some of the species are highly resistant to starvation and able to survive for more than 200 days without food.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niphargus
| Troglocaris | |
|---|---|
| |
| Troglocaris anophthalmus |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglocaris
| Typhlatya | |
|---|---|
.jpeg)
| |
| Typhlatya arfeae |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhlatya
| Typhlocaris | |
|---|---|
| |
| T. galilea (male). Plate from Calman, 1909 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhlocaris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macromaxillocaris
| Munidopsis polymorpha | |
|---|---|
_(Martyx).jpg)
| |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Family: | Munidopsidae |
| Genus: | Munidopsis |
| Species: | M. polymorpha
|
| Binomial name | |
| Munidopsis polymorpha Koelbel, 1892
| |
Munidopsis polymorpha is a species of squat lobster (also known as the blind albino cave crab) that is endemic to Lanzarote, Canary Islands. They are small, blind and pale, and can be found in the caves of Jameos del Agua, in lava tubes formed by volcanic eruptions 15,000 - 13,000 years ago.[1] Ovigerous females carry only two eggs which are relatively big in contrast to the numerous small eggs in other anomuran crustaceans.[2] It is the animal symbol of the island of Lanzarote.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munidopsis_polymorpha
| Typhlopseudothelphusa | |
|---|---|
_001.jpeg)
| |
| Typhlopseudothelphusa mitchelli |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhlopseudothelphusa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villalobosius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cave_fish
| Blind swamp eel | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Synbranchiformes |
| Family: | Synbranchidae |
| Genus: | Ophisternon |
| Species: | O. infernale
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ophisternon infernale (C. L. Hubbs, 1938)
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
The blind swamp eel (Ophisternon infernale) is a species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It is endemic to Mexico where it lives in cave systems and is known in Spanish as the anguila ciega. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated this cavefish as "endangered".[1]
Taxonomy
The blind swamp eel was first described by the American ichthyologist Carl Leavitt Hubbs in 1938, the holotype having been collected two years earlier by A.S.Pearse. Hubbs named the fish Pluto infernalis because he liked to associate creatures living underground with the devil, who supposedly dwelt underground, and gave diabolical names to cave fishes; infernale comes from the Latin for Hell.[3] The fish was later transferred to the genus Ophisternon, the swamp eels. The genus name is derived from the Greek, "ophis", meaning a serpent, and "sternon", meaning chest.[2] Synonyms for this species include Furmastix infernalis and Synbranchus infernalis.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_swamp_eel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cave_fish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bostrychus_microphthalmus
| Amblyopsis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ozark cavefish A. rosae | |
| |
| Northern cavefish A. spelaea |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblyopsis
| Amblyopsidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Hoosier cavefish, Amblyopsis hoosieri |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblyopsidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyaline_fish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistura_jarutanini
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistura_lingyunensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinocyclocheilus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speolabeo_musaei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothless_blindcat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uegitglanis_zammaranoi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreonectes_macrolepis
| Milyeringidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Typhleotris madgascarensis |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milyeringidae
.jpg)
Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have been classified in the order Perciformes as the suborder Gobioidei but in the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World this suborder is elevated to an order Gobiiformes within the clade Percomorpha.[1] Not all the species in the Gobiiformes are referred to as gobies and the "true gobies" are placed in the family Gobiidae, while other species referred to as gobies have been placed in the Oxudercidae.[1] Goby is also used to describe some species which are not classified within the order Gobiiformes, such as the engineer goby or convict blenny Pholidichthys leucotaenia.[2] The word goby derives from the Latin gobius meaning "gudgeon",[3] and some species of goby, especially the sleeper gobies in the family Eleotridae and some of the dartfishes are called "gudgeons", especially in Australia.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigenmannia_vicentespelaea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier_cavefish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prietella_lundbergi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossogobius_ankaranensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotto_sculpin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreonectes_anophthalmus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglocyclocheilus_khammouanensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_salamander
Trogloxenes or subtroglophiles, also called cave guests, are animal species which periodically live in underground habitats such as caves or at the very entrance, but cannot live exclusively in such habitats.[1][2] Among many scientists, trogloxenes and subtroglophile have slightly different but closely related meanings, with the former covering species that are occasional visitors to underground habitat and the latter species that live more permanently there, but have to go outside (for example, to find food).[2] Both these are in contrast to troglobites, which strictly live in underground habitats.[2]
Examples of trogloxene/subtroglophile species are bats, rats, raccoons and some opiliones (this last group also has fully troglobitic species). Several extinct trogloxenes are known like cave bears, cave lions, cave leopards, and cave hyenas. Indications trusted by geologists and archaeologists combine to show that these animals lived there in the latter part, at least, of the third interglacial epoch, and on through the fourth and last glacial advance, when, although central Europe was free from an ice cap, an almost Arctic climate prevailed, with much rain. This is what is known as the Upper Paleolithic when humanity in Europe was represented by the Neanderthals.[3] During the Upper Paleolithic, many carnivores gradually adapted by increased fur and resorting far more than previously to the shelter of caves. The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) was the most habitual in its use of caves, and occupied caves before humans began to do so.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trogloxene
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erpobdella_mestrovi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglofauna#Ecological_categories
| Texas blind salamander | |
|---|---|
| |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_blind_salamander
| Alabama cave shrimp | |
|---|---|
_Figure_2.jpg)
| |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_cave_shrimp
| Rhaphidophoridae | |
|---|---|
| |
| A cricket of uncertain species |
| Tooth Cave spider | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tooth Cave spider from Gallifer Cave, Travis County, TX |
| tube-dwelling spiders | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ryuthela tanikawai, female |
| Bulblet fern | |
|---|---|
| |
.jpg)
A cenote (English: /sɪˈnoʊti/ or /sɛˈnoʊteɪ/; American Spanish: [seˈnote]) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The term originated on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly used for water supplies by the ancient Maya, and occasionally for sacrificial offerings. The term derives from a word used by the lowland Yucatec Maya—tsʼonoʼot—to refer to any location with accessible groundwater.[2][3]
The Yucatán Peninsula alone has an estimated 10,000 cenotes,[4] water-filled sinkholes naturally formed by the collapse of limestone, located across the Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico. Some of these cenotes are at risk from the construction of the new tourist Maya Train.[4]
Cenotes are common geological forms in low-altitude regions, particularly on islands, coastlines, and platforms with young post-Paleozoic limestone with little soil development. The term cenote, originally used only to describe the features in Yucatán, has since been applied to similar karst features in other countries such as Cuba, Australia, and the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenote
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_hyena
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_spelaea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_bear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stygofauna
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therianthropy#Animal_ancestors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Cave_National_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Caves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn_Cave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhudiyar_Caves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhudiyar_Caves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapetum_lucidum
| Vibrionaceae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Vibrio cholerae |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrionaceae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwa_puravida
Bathymodiolus thermophilus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathymodiolus_thermophilus
.jpg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathymodiolus_thermophilus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis#:~:text=In_biochemistry,_chemosynthesis_is_the,energy,_rather_than_sunlight,_as
In molecular nanotechnology, chemosynthesis is any chemical synthesis where reactions occur due to random thermal motion, a class which encompasses almost all of modern synthetic chemistry. The human-authored processes of chemical engineering are accordingly represented as biomimicry of the natural phenomena above, and the entire class of non-photosynthetic chains by which complex molecules are constructed is described as chemo-.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis_(nanotechnology)
In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon-containing molecules (usually carbon dioxide or methane) and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic compounds (e.g., hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide) or ferrous ions as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis. Chemoautotrophs, organisms that obtain carbon from carbon dioxide through chemosynthesis, are phylogenetically diverse. Groups that include conspicuous or biogeochemically-important taxa include the sulfur-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria, the Campylobacterota, the Aquificota, the methanogenic archaea, and the neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria.
Many microorganisms in dark regions of the oceans use chemosynthesis to produce biomass from single-carbon molecules. Two categories can be distinguished. In the rare sites where hydrogen molecules (H2) are available, the energy available from the reaction between CO2 and H2 (leading to production of methane, CH4) can be large enough to drive the production of biomass. Alternatively, in most oceanic environments, energy for chemosynthesis derives from reactions in which substances such as hydrogen sulfide or ammonia are oxidized. This may occur with or without the presence of oxygen.
Many chemosynthetic microorganisms are consumed by other organisms in the ocean, and symbiotic associations between chemosynthesizers and respiring heterotrophs are quite common. Large populations of animals can be supported by chemosynthetic secondary production at hydrothermal vents, methane clathrates, cold seeps, whale falls, and isolated cave water.
It has been hypothesized that anaerobic chemosynthesis may support life below the surface of Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa, and other planets.[1] Chemosynthesis may have also been the first type of metabolism that evolved on Earth, leading the way for cellular respiration and photosynthesis to develop later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis#:~:text=In_biochemistry,_chemosynthesis_is_the,energy,_rather_than_sunlight,_as
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis
The Aquificota phylum is a diverse collection of bacteria that live in harsh environmental settings.[2][3] The name Aquificota was given to this phylum based on an early genus identified within this group, Aquifex (“water maker”), which is able to produce water by oxidizing hydrogen.[4] They have been found in springs, pools, and oceans. They are autotrophs, and are the primary carbon fixers in their environments. These bacteria are Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rods.[5] They are true bacteria (domain Bacteria) as opposed to the other inhabitants of extreme environments, the Archaea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquificota
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movile_Cave
| Gammaproteobacteria | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Vibrio cholerae | |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
| Class: | Gammaproteobacteria Garrity et al. 2005 |
| Orders | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Gammaproteobacteria is a class of bacteria in the phylum Pseudomonadota (synonym Proteobacteria). It contains about 250 genera, which makes it the most genus-rich taxon of the Prokaryotes.[1] Several medically, ecologically, and scientifically important groups of bacteria belong to this class. It is composed by all Gram-negative microbes and is the most phylogenetically and physiologically diverse class of Proteobacteria.[2]
These microorganisms can live in several terrestrial and marine environments, in which they play various important roles, including extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents. They generally have different shapes - rods, curved rods, cocci, spirilla, and filaments[3] and include free living bacteria, biofilm formers, commensals and symbionts,[4] some also have the distinctive trait of being bioluminescent.[5] Metabolisms found in the different genera are very different; there are both aerobic and anaerobic (obligate or facultative) species, chemolithoautotrophics, chemoorganotrophics, photoautotrophs and heterotrophs.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gammaproteobacteria
Photoautotrophs are organisms that use light energy and inorganic carbon to produce organic materials. Eukaryotic photoautotrophs absorb energy through the chlorophyll molecules in their chloroplasts while prokaryotic photoautotrophs use chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls present in free-floating thylakoids in their cytoplasm. All known photoautotrophs perform photosynthesis. Examples include plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoautotrophism
Prokaryotic photoautotrophs
Prokaryotic photoautotrophs include Cyanobacteria, Pseudomonadota, Chloroflexota, Acidobacteriota, Chlorobiota, Bacillota, Gemmatimonadota, and Eremiobacterota.[4]
Cyanobacteria is the only prokaryotic group that performs oxygenic photosynthesis. Anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria use PSI- and PSII-like photosystems, which are pigment protein complexes for capturing light.[5] Both of these photosystems use bacteriochlorophyll. There are multiple hypotheses for how oxygenic photosynthesis evolved. The loss hypothesis states that PSI and PSII were present in anoxygenic ancestor cyanobacteria from which the different branches of anoxygenic bacteria evolved.[5] The fusion hypothesis states that the photosystems merged later through horizontal gene transfer.[5] The most recent hypothesis suggests that PSI and PSII diverged from an unknown common ancestor with a protein complex that was coded by one gene. These photosystems then specialized into the ones that are found today.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoautotrophism
Origin and the Great Oxidation Event
Chemical and geological evidence indicate that photosynthetic cyanobacteria existed about 2.6 billion years ago and anoxygenic photosynthesis had been taking place since a billion years before that.[1] Oxygenic photosynthesis was the primary source of oxygenation and led to the Great Oxidation Event (the Oxygen Catastrophe) roughly 2.4 to 2.1 billion years ago.[2] Although the end of the Great Oxidation Event was marked by a significant decrease in gross primary productivity that eclipsed extinction events,[3] the development of aerobic respiration enabled energy extraction from organic molecules, allowing multi-cellular growth and diversification of life on Earth.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoautotrophism
| Marine habitats |
|---|
 |
A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. Cold does not mean that the temperature of the seepage is lower than that of the surrounding sea water. On the contrary, its temperature is often slightly higher.[1] The "cold" is relative to the very warm (at least 60 °C or 140 °F) conditions of a hydrothermal vent. Cold seeps constitute a biome supporting several endemic species.
Cold seeps develop unique topography over time, where reactions between methane and seawater create carbonate rock formations and reefs. These reactions may also be dependent on bacterial activity. Ikaite, a hydrous calcium carbonate, can be associated with oxidizing methane at cold seeps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_seep
Iron-oxidizing bacteria (or iron bacteria) are chemotrophic bacteria that derive energy by oxidizing dissolved iron. They are known to grow and proliferate in waters containing iron concentrations as low as 0.1 mg/L. However, at least 0.3 ppm of dissolved oxygen is needed to carry out the oxidation.[1]
When de-oxygenated water reaches a source of oxygen, iron bacteria convert dissolved iron into an insoluble reddish-brown gelatinous slime that discolors stream beds and can stain plumbing fixtures, clothing, or utensils washed with the water carrying it.[2] Organic material dissolved in water is often the underlying cause of an iron-oxidizing bacteria population. Groundwater may be naturally de-oxygenated by decaying vegetation in swamps. Useful mineral deposits of bog iron ore have formed where groundwater has historically emerged and been exposed to atmospheric oxygen.[3] Anthropogenic hazards like landfill leachate, septic drain fields, or leakage of light petroleum fuels like gasoline are other possible sources of organic materials allowing soil microbes to de-oxygenate groundwater.[4] A similar reaction may form black deposits of manganese dioxide from dissolved manganese but is less common because of the relative abundance of iron (5.4%) in comparison to manganese (0.1%) in average soils.[5] The sulfurous smell of rot or decay sometimes associated with iron-oxidizing bacteria results from the enzymatic conversion of soil sulfates to volatile hydrogen sulfide as an alternative source of oxygen in anaerobic water.[6]
Iron is a very important chemical element required by living organisms to carry out numerous metabolic reactions such as the formation of proteins involved in biochemical reactions. Examples of these proteins include iron–sulfur proteins, hemoglobin, and coordination complexes. Iron has a widespread distribution globally and is considered one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust, soil, and sediments. Iron is a trace element in marine environments.[7] Its role in the metabolism of some chemolithotrophs is probably very ancient.[8]
As Liebig's law of the minimum notes, the essential element present in the smallest amount (called limiting factor) is the one that determines the growth rate of a population. Iron is the most common limiting element in phytoplankton communities and has a key role in structuring and determining their abundance. It is particularly important in the high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll regions, where the presence of micronutrients is mandatory for the total primary production.[9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron-oxidizing_bacteria
| Giant tube worms | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Subclass: | Sedentaria |
| Family: | Siboglinidae |
| Genus: | Riftia M. L. Jones, 1981 |
| Species: | R. pachyptila
|
| Binomial name | |
| Riftia pachyptila M. L. Jones, 1981
| |
Riftia pachyptila, commonly known as the giant tube worm and less commonly known as the giant beardworm, is a marine invertebrate in the phylum Annelida[1] (formerly grouped in phylum Pogonophora and Vestimentifera) related to tube worms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones. R. pachyptila lives on the floor of the Pacific Ocean near hydrothermal vents, the vents provide a natural ambient temperature in their environment ranging from 2 to 30 °C,[2] at the same time it can tolerate extremely high hydrogen sulfide levels. These worms can reach a length of 3 m (9 ft 10 in),[3] and their tubular bodies have a diameter of 4 cm (1.6 in).
Its common name "giant tube worm" is, however, also applied to the largest living species of shipworm, Kuphus polythalamius, which despite the name "worm", is a bivalve mollusc rather than an annelid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila
Endosymbiosis with chemoautotrophic bacteria
A wide range of bacterial diversity is associated with symbiotic relationships with R. pachyptila. Many bacteria belong to the phylum Campylobacterota (formerly class Epsilonproteobacteria)[36] as supported by the recent discovery in 2016 of the new species Sulfurovum riftiae belonging to the phylum Campylobacterota, family Helicobacteraceae isolated from R. pachyptila collected from the East Pacific Rise.[37] Other symbionts belong to the class Delta-, Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria.[36] The Candidatus Endoriftia persephone (Gammaproteobacteria) is a facultative R. pachyptila symbiont and has been shown to be a mixotroph, thereby exploiting both Calvin Benson cycle and reverse TCA cycle (with an unusual ATP citrate lyase) according to availability of carbon resources and whether it is free living in the environment or inside a eukaryotic host. The bacteria apparently prefer a heterotrophic lifestyle when carbon sources are available.[31]
Evidence based on 16S rRNA analysis affirms that R. pachyptila chemoautotrophic bacteria belong to two different clades: Gammaproteobacteria[38][20] and Campylobacterota (e.g. Sulfurovum riftiae)[37] that get energy from the oxidation of inorganic sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S, HS−, S2-) to synthesize ATP for carbon fixation via the Calvin cycle.[20] Unfortunately, most of these bacteria are still uncultivable. Symbiosis works so that R. pachyptila provides nutrients such as HS−, O2, CO2 to bacteria, and in turn it receives organic matter from them. Thus, because of lack of a digestive system, R. pachyptila depends entirely on its bacterial symbiont to survive.[39][40]
In the first step of sulfide-oxidation, reduced sulfur (HS−) passes from the external environment into R. pachyptila blood, where, together with O2, it is bound by hemoglobin, forming the complex Hb-O2-HS− and then it is transported to the trophosome, where bacterial symbionts reside. Here, HS− is oxidized to elemental sulfur (S0) or to sulfite (SO32-).[20]
In the second step, the symbionts make sulfite-oxidation by the "APS pathway", to get ATP. In this biochemical pathway, AMP reacts with sulfite in the presence of the enzyme APS reductase, giving APS (adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate). Then, APS reacts with the enzyme ATP sulfurylase in presence of pyrophosphate (PPi) giving ATP (substrate-level phosphorylation) and sulfate (SO42-) as end products.[20] In formulas:
![{\displaystyle {\ce {AMP + SO3^2- ->[APSreductase] APS}}}](https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/5a0283a7fee90c7f00145861829174efd51ffebc)
![{\displaystyle {\ce {APS + PPi ->[ATP sulfurylase] ATP + SO4^2-}}}](https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9441326fb74dffe447bc25506f599bbc64c2387a)
The electrons released during the entire sulfide-oxidation process enter in an electron transport chain, yielding a proton gradient that produces ATP (oxydative phosphorylation). Thus, ATP generated from oxidative phosphorylation and ATP produced by substrate-level phosphorylation become available for CO2 fixation in Calvin cycle, whose presence has been demonstrated by the presence of two key enzymes of this pathway: phosphoribulokinase and RubisCO.[26][41]
To support this unusual metabolism, R. pachyptila has to absorb all the substances necessary for both sulfide-oxidation and carbon fixation, that is: HS−, O2 and CO2 and other fundamental bacterial nutrients such as N and P. This means that the tubeworm must be able to access both oxic and anoxic areas.
Oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds requires the presence of oxidized reagents such as oxygen and nitrate. Hydrothermal vents are characterized by conditions of high hypoxia. In hypoxic conditions, sulfur-storing organisms start producing hydrogen sulfide. Therefore, the production of in H2S in anaerobic conditions is common among thiotrophic symbiosis. H2S can be damaging for some physiological processes as it inhibits the activity of cytochrome c oxidase, consequentially impairing oxidative phosphorilation. In R. pachyptila the production of hydrogen sulfide starts after 24h of hypoxia. In order to avoid physiological damage some animals, including Riftia pachyptila are able to bind H2S to haemoglobin in the blood to eventually expel it in the surrounding environment.
Carbon fixation and organic carbon assimilation
Unlike metazoans, which respire carbon dioxide as a waste product, R. pachyptila-symbiont association has a demand for a net uptake of CO2 instead, as a cnidarian-symbiont associations.[42] Ambient deep-sea water contains an abundant amount of inorganic carbon in the form of bicarbonate HCO3−, but it is actually the chargeless form of inorganic carbon, CO2, that is easily diffusible across membranes. The low partial pressures of CO2 in the deep-sea environment is due to the seawater alkaline pH and the high solubility of CO2, yet the pCO2 of the blood of R. pachyptila may be as much as two orders of magnitude greater than the pCO2 of deep-sea water.[42]
CO2 partial pressures are transferred to the vicinity of vent fluids due to the enriched inorganic carbon content of vent fluids and their lower pH.[20] CO2 uptake in the worm is enhanced by the higher pH of its blood (7.3–7.4), which favors the bicarbonate ion and thus promotes a steep gradient across which CO2 diffuses into the vascular blood of the plume.[43][20] The facilitation of CO2 uptake by high environmental pCO2 was first inferred based on measures of elevated blood and coelomic fluid pCO2 in tubeworms, and was subsequently demonstrated through incubations of intact animals under various pCO2 conditions.[30]
Once CO2 is fixed by the symbionts, it must be assimilated by the host tissues. The supply of fixed carbon to the host is transported via organic molecules from the trophosome in the hemolymph, but the relative importance of translocation and symbiont digestion is not yet known.[30][44] Studies proved that within 15 min, the label first appears in symbiont-free host tissues, and that indicates a significant amount of release of organic carbon immediately after fixation. After 24 h, labeled carbon is clearly evident in the epidermal tissues of the body wall. Results of the pulse-chase autoradiographic experiments were also evident with ultrastructural evidence for digestion of symbionts in the peripheral regions of the trophosome lobules.[44][45]
Sulfide acquisition
In deep-sea hydrothermal vents, sulfide and oxygen are present in different areas. Indeed, the reducing fluid of hydrothermal vents is rich in sulfide, but poor in oxygen, whereas sea water is richer in dissolved oxygen. Moreover, sulfide is immediately oxidized by dissolved oxygen to form partly, or totally, oxidized sulfur compounds like thiosulfate (S2O32-) and ultimately sulfate (SO42-), respectively less, or no longer, usable for microbial oxidation metabolism.[46] This causes the substrates to be less available for microbial activity, thus bacteria are constricted to compete with oxygen to get their nutrients. In order to avoid this issue, several microbes have evolved to make symbiosis with eukaryotic hosts.[47][20] In fact, R. pachyptila is able to cover the oxic and anoxic areas to get both sulfide and oxygen[48][49][50] thanks to its hemoglobin that can bind sulfide reversibly and apart from oxygen by functional binding sites determined to be zinc ions embedded in the A2 chains of the hemoglobins.[51][52][53] and then transport it to the trophosome, where bacterial metabolism can occur. It has also been suggested that cysteine residues are involved in this process.[54][55][56]
Symbiont acquisition
The acquisition of a symbiont by a host can occur in these ways:
- Environmental transfer (symbiont acquired from a free-living population in the environment)
- Vertical transfer (parents transfer symbiont to offspring via eggs)
- Horizontal transfer (hosts that share the same environment)
Evidence suggests that R. pachyptila acquires its symbionts through its environment. In fact, 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that vestimentiferan tubeworms belonging to three different genera: Riftia, Oasisia, and Tevnia, share the same bacterial symbiont phylotype.[57][58][59][60][61]
This proves that R. pachyptila takes its symbionts from a free-living bacterial population in the environment. Other studies also support this thesis, because analyzing R. pachyptila eggs, 16S rRNA belonging to the symbiont was not found, showing that the bacterial symbiont is not transmitted by vertical transfer.[62]
Another proof to support the environmental transfer comes from several studies conducted in the late 1990s.[63] PCR was used to detect and identify a R. pachyptila symbiont gene whose sequence was very similar to the fliC gene that encodes some primary protein subunits (flagellin) required for flagellum synthesis. Analysis showed that R. pachyptila symbiont has at least one gene needed for flagellum synthesis. Hence, the question arose as to the purpose of the flagellum. Flagellar motility would be useless for a bacterial symbiont transmitted vertically, but if the symbiont came from the external environment, then a flagellum would be essential to reach the host organism and to colonize it. Indeed, several symbionts use this method to colonize eukaryotic hosts.[64][65][66][67]
Thus, these results confirm the environmental transfer of R. pachyptila symbiont.
Reproduction
R. pachyptila[68] is a dioecious vestimentiferan.[69] Individuals of this species are sessile and are found clustered together around deep-sea hydrothermal vents of the East Pacific Rise and the Galapagos Rift.[70] The size of a patch of individuals surrounding a vent is within the scale of tens of metres.[71]
The male's spermatozoa are thread-shaped and are composed of three distinct regions: the acrosome (6 μm), the nucleus (26 μm) and the tail (98 μm). Thus, the single spermatozoa is about 130 μm long overall, with a diameter of 0.7 μm, which becomes narrower near the tail area, reaching 0.2 μm. The sperm is arranged into an agglomeration of around 340-350 individual spermatozoa that create a torch-like shape. The cup part is made up of acrosomes and nucleus, while the handle is made up by the tails. The spermatozoa in the package are held together by fibrils. Fibrils also coat the package itself to ensure cohesion.[citation needed]
The large ovaries of females run within the gonocoel along the entire length of the trunk and are ventral to the trophosome. Eggs at different maturation stages can be found in the middle area of the ovaries, and depending on their developmental stage, are referred to as: oogonia, oocytes, and follicular cells. When the oocytes mature, they acquire protein and lipid yolk granules.[citation needed]
Males release their sperm into sea water. While the released agglomerations of spermatozoa, referred to as spermatozeugmata, do not remain intact for more than 30 seconds in laboratory conditions, they may maintain integrity for longer periods of time in specific hydrothermal vent conditions. Usually, the spermatozeugmata swim into the female's tube. Movement of the cluster is conferred by the collective action of each spermatozoon moving independently. Reproduction has also been observed involving only a single spermatozoon reaching the female's tube. Generally, fertilization in R. pachyptila is considered internal. However, some argue that, as the sperm is released into sea water and only afterwards reaches the eggs in the oviducts, it should be defined as internal-external.[citation needed]
R. pachyptila is completely dependent on the production of volcanic gases and the presence of sulfide-oxidizing bacteria. Therefore, its metapopulation distribution is profoundly linked to volcanic and tectonic activity that create active hydrothermal vent sites with a patchy and ephemeral distribution. The distance between active sites along a rift or adjacent segments can be very high, reaching hundreds of km.[70] This raises the question regarding larval dispersal. R. pachytpila is capable of larval dispersal across distances of 100 to 200 km[70] and cultured larvae show to be viable for 38 days.[72] Though dispersal is considered to be effective, the genetic variability observed in R. pachyptila metapopulation is low compared to other vent species. This may be due to high extinction events and colonization events, as R. pachyptila is one of the first species to colonize a new active site.[70]
The endosymbionts of R. pachyptila are not passed to the fertilized eggs during spawning, but are acquired later during the larval stage of the vestimentiferan worm. R. pachyptila planktonic larvae that are transported through sea-bottom currents until they reach active hydrothermal vents sites, are referred to as trophocores. The trophocore stage lacks endosymbionts, which are acquired once larvae settle in a suitable environment and substrate. Free-living bacteria found in the water column are ingested randomly and enter the worm through a ciliated opening of the branchial plume. This opening is connected to the trophosome through a duct that passes through the brain. Once the bacteria are in the gut, the ones that are beneficial to the individual, namely sulfide- oxidizing strains are paghocytized by epithelial cells found in the midgut are then retained. Bacteria that do not represent possible endosymbionts are digested. This raises questions as to how R. pachyptila manages to discern between essential and nonessential bacterial strains. The worm's ability to recognise a beneficial strain, as well as preferential host-specific infection by bacteria have been both suggested as being the drivers of this phenomenon.[11]
Growth rate and age
R. pachyptila has the fastest growth rate of any known marine invertebrate. These organisms have been known to colonize a new site, grow to sexual maturity, and increase in length to 4.9 feet (1.5 m) in less than two years.[73]
Because of the peculiar environment in which R. pachyptila thrives, this species differs greatly from other deep-sea species that do not inhabit hydrothermal vents sites; the activity of diagnostic enzymes for glycolysis, citric acid cycle and transport of electrons in the tissues of R. pachyptila is very similar to the activity of these enzymes in the tissues of shallow-living animals. This contrasts with the fact that deep-sea species usually show very low metabolic rates, which in turn suggests that low water temperature and high pressure in the deep sea do not necessarily limit the metabolic rate of animals and that hydrothermal vents sites display characteristics that are completely different from the surrounding environment, thereby shaping the physiology and biological interactions of the organisms living in these sites.[32]
See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riftia_pachyptila
Life cycle
The larvae of Bathymodiolus thermophilus drift with the currents and are planktotrophic, feeding on phytoplankton and small zooplankton. This method of feeding is likely to give them good dispersal capabilities and it has been shown by DNA analysis that there is a high rate of gene flow between populations round different vents.
The Bathymodiolus species represents one of the most well-known fauna to colonize hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.[11] In particular, B. thermophilus has been extensively studied due to their chemosynthetic symbioses and their crucial roles in ecosystem productivity. In early stages of development, deep-sea mussels appear to follow similar growth processes of gametogenesis in comparison to shallow-water mytilidae. It has been observed that Bathymodiolins produce small oocytes which may predict high fecundity levels for this species.[11] While there are limited studies regarding fecundity of B. thermophilus, one way to improve understanding of both fecundity as well as spawning patterns would to observe a spawning event with use of yearly sampling.[11]
Adult stages of the bathymodioline species have received the most attention, especially when studying the bacterial symbionts that are fundamental to the mussels nutritional needs.[11] When reaching maturity, adults form close aggregations along seeps and vents.[11]
The mantle of B. thermophilus serves two physiological roles, one being the accumulation of somatic reserves, and the other being the development of the gonads.[11] Gonads likely originate from germinal stem cells that appear in germinal stem-cell clumps around the dorsal region, between the mantle and the gill of the animal. In larger adult specimens, gonads can extend along the mantle epithelium.[11] Gametogenesis occurs in small saclike cavity in a matrix of connective tissue supplied with seminal cells. In males, sertoli cells deliver nutrients to the developing gametes, where follicle cells perform the analogous role in female mussels.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathymodiolus_thermophilus
| Scaly-foot / Sea pangolin | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chrysomallon squamiferum from Longqi. Scale bar is 1 cm. | |
| Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Neomphaliones |
| Order: | Neomphalida |
| Family: | Peltospiridae |
| Genus: | Chrysomallon Chen, Linse, Copley & Rogers, 2015 |
| Species: | C. squamiferum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chrysomallon squamiferum Chen, Linse, Copley & Rogers, 2015[2]
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Crysomallon squamiferum (orth. error) | |
Chrysomallon squamiferum, commonly known as the scaly-foot gastropod, scaly-foot snail, sea pangolin, or volcano snail[3][4] is a species of deep-sea hydrothermal-vent snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Peltospiridae.[2] This vent-endemic gastropod is known only from deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean, where it has been found at depths of about 2,400–2,900 m (1.5–1.8 mi). C. squamiferum differs greatly from other deep-sea gastropods, even the closely related neomphalines.[5] In 2019, it was declared endangered on the IUCN Red List,[6] the first species to be listed as such due to risks from deep-sea mining of its vent habitat.[7]
The shell is of a unique construction, with three layers; the outer layer consists of iron sulphides, the middle layer is equivalent to the organic periostracum found in other gastropods, and the innermost layer is made of aragonite. The foot is also unusual, being armored at the sides with iron-mineralised sclerites.
The snail's oesophageal gland houses symbiotic gammaproteobacteria from which the snail appears to obtain its nourishment. This species is considered to be one of the most peculiar deep-sea hydrothermal-vent gastropods, and it is the only known extant animal that incorporates iron sulfide into its skeleton (into both its sclerites and into its shell as an exoskeleton).[2] Its heart is, proportionately speaking, unusually large for any animal: the heart comprises approximately 4% of its body volume.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaly-foot_gastropod
| Mirocaris | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mirocaris fortunata |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirocaris
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