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Surface and Subsurface Coal Environments: From Environmental Formation and Chemistry to Microbial Communities

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Book cover Microbial Communities Utilizing Hydrocarbons and Lipids: Members, Metagenomics and Ecophysiology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology ((HHLM))

Abstract

Coal and coal extracts fuel a large portion of global trade by contributing to industries in energy production, infrastructure development, and chemical/material processing. The mining and recovery of these resources have tremendous economic and environmental impacts in coal-rich nations. Coal-associated habitats (e.g., coalbeds, coal mines, and spoil heaps) are highly complex ecosystems that support a wide array of microbial life and biogeochemical processes influenced by ancient and near-term hydrogeological properties. Subsurface formation waters support syntrophic assemblages of Bacteria and Archaea that cooperatively mineralize coal-derived organic material to form coalbed methane. Spoil heaps of surface extraction wastes contribute large masses of toxic metals and sulfide-rich minerals to top soils and aquatic habitats, driving microbial redox cycles that promote acidification and metal leaching. Microbiology is, therefore, intricately linked to the coal industry and plays critical roles in aspects ranging from production to remediation.

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Acknowledgments

The preparation of this chapter was funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant (MCB-1329890).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Groundwater, Watershed, and Ecosystem Restoration Division, Ada, OK, USA

    Christopher R. Marks

  2. Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Amy V. Callaghan

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Correspondence to Amy V. Callaghan .

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  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Terry J. McGenity

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Marks, C.R., Callaghan, A.V. (2019). Surface and Subsurface Coal Environments: From Environmental Formation and Chemistry to Microbial Communities. In: McGenity, T. (eds) Microbial Communities Utilizing Hydrocarbons and Lipids: Members, Metagenomics and Ecophysiology . Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14785-3_9

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