Vent Chimney REE Biomineralization

Vent Fluid Chemistry

REE concentration in vent fluid 40 nM

Fluid pH 6.5

Metabolic energy flux (H₂S / Fe²⁺) 1.0×

Simulation speed 1.0×

Biofilm & Biomineral State

Colonized surface

0.0%

REE-phosphate crystals

Accumulated REE mass

0.00 µg

Uptake rate

0.00 µg/s

How it works

Chemosynthetic bacteria (e.g. Sulfurimonas-type) colonize the chimney by oxidizing reduced vent chemicals for energy:

CH4 + 4Fe2+ + 8H2O -> CO2 + 4Fe3+ + 16H+ + 8e-

Colonized fraction P of the chimney surface follows logistic growth driven by the metabolic energy flux F:

dP/dt = r(F)*P*(1-P),   r(F) = r0 * F

Each colonized site nucleates REE-phosphate biominerals from dissolved REE³⁺ ions. Uptake follows Langmuir-type saturation kinetics, gated by a pH-dependent efficiency factor peaked near neutral-to-mildly-acidic vent fluid (biomineralization enzymes denature outside their optimum):

dC/dt = k_up * [REE] * f(pH) * P - k_diss * C
f(pH) = exp( -((pH - 6.6) / 0.9)^2 )

Total accumulated REE mass is the sum of crystal mass C over all colonized sites. A site is rendered as a growing octahedral crystal once its local C exceeds a nucleation threshold; crystal size and color brightness scale with C, and the biofilm shell brightens with local colonization.

REE concentration — raises the seawater-side driving term [REE] in the uptake equation.
Fluid pH — shifts f(pH); far from ≈6.6 the biomineralization rate collapses even with REE and energy available.
Metabolic energy flux — sets how fast the biofilm spreads across the chimney (logistic rate r).

Real-world relevance: this is a simplified model of the biomineralization pathway proposed for deep-sea "microbial mining" of rare earth elements at hydrothermal vents and methane seeps — a candidate low-impact alternative to physically strip-mining polymetallic nodules and crusts.

Microbial biofilm REE-phosphate crystal Vent fluid plume

⚠ Couldn't load the 3D engineThree.js failed to load from the CDN. Check your connection and reload.