Microbial calcification of gypsum-rock and sulfated marble

Abstract

AbstractAbstractA broth containing the sulfate reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans was used to treat samples of reagent calcium sulfate, gypsum-rock specimens, fragments from a marble monument with a black weathering crust rich in gypsum, and a marble monument with similar crust. Calcite was found to have formed on all treated surfaces suggesting that this microbe has the potential to clean crusted marble monuments whilst also regenerating calcite, the parent mineral of the marble.