Kinetic modelling of mineral dissolution and growth: biomorph formation, surface morphologies, and bacterial tracers

Mineral surfaces can be considered fascinating records of geochemical environments. Microscopic surface features, such as growth spirals, etch pits, macrosteps, twinning, and intergrowths, reveal the history of their formation and alteration. Nanoparticles and micro-size particles can often have diverse and rich morphology in some cases resembling living organisms. Bacteria and other organisms often leave morphological signatures of their presence as etch pits, incrusting precipitates, stromatolites, or other fossilized forms. In order to understand which structures can be read as biogenic or abiotic, it is necessary to consider different molecular-scale scenarios leading to their development.

Kinetic modelling of mineral-water interaction provides important insights into the mechanistic relationships between mineral structure, water chemical composition, and morphological surface features. In this talk, I will show mechanisms and pathways for etch pit formation, crystal and biomorph growth, derived from my kinetic Monte Carlo and Cellular Automata simulations. I will also discuss bacterial etch pit tracers and their formation mechanisms.

References:

 Kurganskaya, I., 2024. Dissolution Mechanisms and Surface Charge of Clay Mineral Nanoparticles: Insights from Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations. Minerals 14, 900. https://doi.org/10.3390/min14090900

Kurganskaya, I., Churakov, S.V., 2018. Carbonate Dissolution Mechanisms in the Presence of Electrolytes Revealed by Grand Canonical and Kinetic Monte Carlo Modeling. J. Phys. Chem. C 122, 29285–29297. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b08986

Kurganskaya, I., Luttge, A., 2021. Mineral Dissolution Kinetics: Pathways to Equilibrium. ACS Earth Space Chem. 5, 1657–1673. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.1c00017

Kurganskaya, I., Luttge, A., 2013a. Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Silicate Dissolution: Model Complexity and Parametrization. J. Phys. Chem. C 117, 24894–24906. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp408845m

Kurganskaya, I., Luttge, A., 2013b. A comprehensive stochastic model of phyllosilicate dissolution: Structure and kinematics of etch pits formed on muscovite basal face. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 120, 545–560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2013.06.038

García-Ruiz, J.M., 2023. Biomorphs, in: Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp. 395–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65093-6_5464

García-Ruiz, J.M., Nakouzi, E., Kotopoulou, E., Tamborrino, L., Steinbock, O., 2017. Biomimetic mineral self-organization from silica-rich spring waters. Science Advances 3, e1602285. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1602285