The Contribution of Diatoms to Worldwide Crude Oil Deposits

Shukla, Sunil Kumar; Mohan, Rahul

doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5110-1_20

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…Since diatom species distributions are largely controlled by environmental variables (light, moisture conditions, temperature, current velocity, salinity, pH, oxygen, inorganic nutrients) and anthropogenic factors (e.g., organic pollution sources, acidification and eutrophication), 13,14 they have become a standard tool in geology, archaeology, and water quality research (e.g., Refs 15 and 16). Diatoms have been used extensively in a wide range of applications as bioindicators of water quality, 17 as biostratigraphical markers in marine deposits, 18,19 as stratigraphic indicators for mineral and petroleum exploration, [20][21][22][23][24] or as indicators of climate change (Box 1). [25][26][27][28] But while diatoms have been continued to be used in across the environmental sciences, their use in hydrology has been limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial diatoms as tracers in catchment hydrology: a review

et al. 2017

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Diatoms are remarkable organisms. They are present in almost all habitats containing water (e.g., lakes, streams, soils, bark) and rank among the most common algal groups in both freshwaters and marine ecosystems. The ubiquitous character of aquatic diatoms has triggered countless applications as environmental tracers for studies in water quality, paleoclimate reconstruction and sediment tracing. However, diatoms also occur in the terrestrial environment. It is this plethora of diatom life-forms that has recently triggered interest in their use as tracers of hydrological processes. The use of diatoms in catchment hydrology has been very limited. Part of the reason is that until recently, the taxonomy and ecology of terrestrial diatom assemblages were largely unknown. However, in the past decade, much work has been done to quantify terrestrial diatom reservoir size, dynamics, and potential depletion following precipitation events. Therefore, such terrestrial diatoms now hold promise for use in catchment hydrology-for tracing runoff flow sources and pathways across a wide range of spatial scales. Here we review the literature on terrestrial diatoms and describe the various sampling protocols that have been designed and tested for specific applications in hydrological processes research. We review and summarize the work on terrestrial diatom reservoir characterization, transport mechanisms and pathways to show how such diatom-based tracer work might be possible at the catchment scale for rainfall-runoff studies. Finally, we present a vision for future work that might take advantage of terrestrial diatoms in catchment hydrology and discuss the main challenges going forward. © 2017 The Authors. WIREs Water published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. How to cite this article:WIREs Water 2017Water , 4:e1241. doi: 10.1002Water /wat2.1241 INTRODUCTION D iatoms (Bacillariophyta) are present in almost all habitats containing water (e.g., lakes, streams, soils, litter, bark). They count among the most common algal groups in both freshwaters and marine ecosystems. 1 Despite their microscopic size (10-200 microns), 2 diatoms generate an impressive amount of carbon through photosynthesis: almost as much as all rainforests combined. 3 Identification of diatoms date back to the early 1700s as noted by Round et al. 1 Decades later, Otto Friedrich Müller published the first description of a diatom in 1783 (Vibrio paxillifer ≡ Bacillaria paradoxa). Since then, This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. more than 64,000 diatom species have been described-and new species are added to that list almost daily with the number of extant species extrapolated to ca 100,000. 4,5 The identification of diatoms (from the Greek 'diatomos' or 'cut in half') commonly relies on the highly differentiated cell wall (or frustule) that is mostly co...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial diatoms as tracers in catchment hydrology: a review

et al. 2017

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“…[ 179 ]). Algal fuels based on diatoms are beginning to show promise [ 27 , 90 , 157 , 158 , 176 , 300 , 301 ], which is reasonable, given their contribution to natural oil deposits [ 59 ]. Thus diatoms have the ability to produce large amounts of oil.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the use of microalgae for the production of HVM is very recent, microalgae played a crucial role in the formation of crude oil deposits in ocean floors, which are a rich natural source of fossil fuel [ 59 ]. This contribution continues today because algae are responsible for a large fraction of the organic carbon being buried on continental margins [ 60 ] and oceanic diatoms may even alleviate predicted global warming [ 61 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diatom Milking: A Review and New Approaches

et al. 2015

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The rise of human populations and the growth of cities contribute to the depletion of natural resources, increase their cost, and create potential climatic changes. To overcome difficulties in supplying populations and reducing the resource cost, a search for alternative pharmaceutical, nanotechnology, and energy sources has begun. Among the alternative sources, microalgae are the most promising because they use carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce biomass and/or valuable compounds. Once produced, the biomass is ordinarily harvested and processed (downstream program). Drying, grinding, and extraction steps are destructive to the microalgal biomass that then needs to be renewed. The extraction and purification processes generate organic wastes and require substantial energy inputs. Altogether, it is urgent to develop alternative downstream processes. Among the possibilities, milking invokes the concept that the extraction should not kill the algal cells. Therefore, it does not require growing the algae anew. In this review, we discuss research on milking of diatoms. The main themes are (a) development of alternative methods to extract and harvest high added value compounds; (b) design of photobioreactors; (c) biodiversity and (d) stress physiology, illustrated with original results dealing with oleaginous diatoms.

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“…Diatoms are the only organism on the planet to have cell walls composed of transparent, opaline silica consisting of two interlocking symmetrical valves, in addition to its uniqueness among marine algae in performing C4 photosynthesis. Diatoms, siliceous algae, are the most dominant and widespread group of eukaryotes on Earth and are responsible for 20% of carbon fixation through photosynthesis [9,10]. They are abundant in oceanic, coastal, and freshwater habitats, and occur in terrestrial environments in soils, ice, rocks, and even in some plants [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling Diatoms’ Potential for the Bioremediation of Oil Hydrocarbons in Marine Environments

Paniagua-Michel,

Banat

2024

Clean Technol.

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The search for practical solutions to alleviate the destructive impact of petroleum hydrocarbons in marine environments is contributing to the implementation of prospecting strategies for indigenous microorganisms with biodegradative and bioremediation potential. The levels of petroleum contamination entering the marine environment each year have been estimated at around 1.3 million tonnes, a figure that is expected to increase by 1.9% annually over the next decade. The recent interest in decarbonizing our energy system and accelerating the clean energy transition has created a demand for greener technologies and strategies to find innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective treatments for the marine environment. Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) are one of the most diverse and successful taxa in coastal–marine environments and are a relatively untapped pool of biodiversity for biotechnological applications. Recent reports have revealed the significant presence of diatoms associated with oil spills and petroleum hydrocarbon degradation. Most diatoms can secrete substantial amounts of exopolysaccharides (EPSs) into their environment, which can act as biosurfactants that, in addition to oxygen and other enzymes produced by diatoms, create suitable conditions to enhance hydrocarbon solubility and degradation into less toxic compounds in seawater. Recent reports on the biodegradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons by diatoms are indicative of the potential of these taxa to achieve success in the bioremediation of hydrocarbons in marine environments. This review highlights the main attributes and roles that diatoms could play in integrated strategies for biodegradation and bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants and as such represent a green, eco-friendly, and sustainable contribution to mitigate damage to biodiversity and value chains of marine ecosystems.

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The Contribution of Diatoms to Worldwide Crude Oil Deposits

Cited by 12 publications

References 126 publications

Terrestrial diatoms as tracers in catchment hydrology: a review

Terrestrial diatoms as tracers in catchment hydrology: a review

Diatom Milking: A Review and New Approaches

Unravelling Diatoms’ Potential for the Bioremediation of Oil Hydrocarbons in Marine Environments

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