fmicb-07-01679 October 22, 2016 Time: 14:37 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 25 October 2016 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01679 Assessing Marine Microbial Induced Corrosion at Santa Catalina Island, California Gustavo A. Ramírez1*†, Colleen L. Hoffman2†, Michael D. Lee1, Ryan A. Lesniewski1, Roman A. Barco1, Arkadiy Garber1, Brandy M. Toner2,3, Charles G. Wheat4, Katrina J. Edwards1‡ and Beth N. Orcutt5* 1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2 Department of Earth Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 3 Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, USA, 4 Global Undersea Research Unit, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Moss Landing, 5 Edited by: CA, USA, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, USA Jennifer Glass, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA High iron and eutrophic conditions are reported as environmental factors leading Reviewed by: to accelerated low-water corrosion, an enhanced form of near-shore microbial Susan Childers, Colby College, USA induced corrosion. To explore this hypothesis, we deployed flow-through colonization Joyce Margaret McBeth, systems in laboratory-based aquarium tanks under a continuous flow of surface University of Saskatchewan, Canada seawater from Santa Catalina Island, CA, USA, for periods of 2 and 6 months. *Correspondence: Beth N. Orcutt Substrates consisted of mild steel – a major constituent of maritime infrastructure –
[email protected] and the naturally occurring iron sulfide mineral pyrite. Four conditions were tested: Gustavo A. Ramírez free-venting “high-flux” conditions; a “stagnant” condition; an “active” flow-through
[email protected] †These authors have contributed condition with seawater slowly pumped over the substrates; and an “enrichment” equally to this work and should be condition where the slow pumping of seawater was supplemented with nutrient considered as co-first-authors.