Coal bed methane (CBM) is generated primarily through the microbial degradation of coal. Despite a limited understanding of the microorganisms responsible for this process, there is significant interest in developing methods to stimulate additional methane production from CBM wells. Physical techniques including hydraulic fracture stimulation are commonly applied to CBM wells, however the effec...

Carbon isotope fractionation factors associated with the aerobic consumption of methane (C1), ethane (C2), propane (C3), and nbutane (C4) were determined from incubations of marine sediment collected from the Coal Oil Point hydrocarbon seep field, located offshore Santa Barbara, CA. Hydrogen isotope fractionation factors for C1, C2 and C3 were determined concurrently. Fresh sediment samples fro...

Many 14C dating laboratories have established that coal samples exhibit a finite 14C age, apparently caused by contamination of the specimens before any laboratory preparation is undertaken. In this work, the possibility that the contamination is due to microbial and fungal activity in the coal substrate is considered and some suggestions are made for alternative sources of background test mate...

23 Coal mine drainage (CMD) is the single greatest threat to the environment of Appalachia 24 in the United States, releasing large volumes of acid and metal contaminants (e.g., Mn, Fe). 25 Passive limestone-based treatment systems are the most cost-effective method for manganese(II) 26 removal from CMD. The success of passive Mn(II)-removal systems has been variable due to a 27 poor understand...

Arsenic biogeochemistry has been studied extensively in acid sulfate-chloride hot springs, but not in acid sulfate hot springs with low chloride. In this study, Zhenzhuquan in Tengchong geothermal area, a representative acid sulfate hot spring with low chloride, was chosen to study arsenic geochemistry and microbial community structure using Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Over 0.3 million 16S rRNA ...