Ricardo Amils

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Molecular Biology, Faculty Member

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Emeritus Professor of Microbiology

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Papers by Ricardo Amils

Carbonate precipitation under bulk acidic conditions as a potential biosignature for searching life on Mars

Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2012

ABSTRACT Recent observations of carbonate minerals in ancient Martian rocks have been interpreted... more ABSTRACT Recent observations of carbonate minerals in ancient Martian rocks have been interpreted as evidence for the former presence of circumneutral solutions optimal for carbonate precipitation. Sampling from surface and subsurface regions of the low-pH system of Río Tinto has shown, unexpectedly, that carbonates can form under diverse macroscopic physicochemical conditions ranging from very low to neutral pH (1.5–7.0). A multi-technique approach demonstrates that carbonate minerals are closely associated with microbial activity. Carbonates occur in the form of micron-size carbonate precipitates under bacterial biofilms, mineralization of subsurface colonies, and possible biogenic microstructures including globules, platelets and dumbbell morphologies. We propose that carbonate precipitation in the low-pH environment of Río Tinto is a process enabled by microbially-mediated neutralization driven by the reduction of ferric iron coupled to the oxidation of biomolecules in microbially-maintained circumneutr

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Multidisciplinary integrated field campaign to an acidic Martian Earth analogue with astrobiological interest: Rio Tinto

International Journal of Astrobiology, 2011

Recently reported results from latest Mars Orbiters and Rovers missions are transforming our opin... more Recently reported results from latest Mars Orbiters and Rovers missions are transforming our opinion about the red planet. That dry and inhospitable planet reported in the past is becoming a wetter planet with high probabilities of water existence in the past. Nowadays, some results seem to indicate the presence of water beneath the Mars surface. But also mineralogy studies by NASA Opportunity Rover report iron oxides and hydroxides precipitates on Endurance Crater. Sedimentary deposits have been identified at Meridiani Planum. These deposits must have generated in a dune aqueous acidic and oxidizing environment. Similarities appear when we study Rio Tinto, and acidic river under the control of iron.The discovery of extremophiles on Earth widened the window of possibilities for life to develop in the Universe, and as a consequence on Mars and other planetary bodies with astrobiological interest. The compilation of data produced by the ongoing missions offers an interested view for l...

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Subsurface geomicrobiology in a Mars terrestrial analogue, Río Tinto (SW, Spain)

European Planetary Science Congress 2008, Sep 1, 2008

... Authors: Amils, R.; Fernández-Remolar, D.; Gómez, F.; González-Toril, E.; Rodríguez, N.; Prie... more ... Authors: Amils, R.; Fernández-Remolar, D.; Gómez, F.; González-Toril, E.; Rodríguez, N.; Prieto-Ballesteros, O.; Sanz, JL; Díaz, E.; Stoker, C. ... [1] Stevens, TO and McKinley, JP (1995) Scienc,, 270, 450-454. [2] Amis, R. et al. (2007) Planet Space Sci, 55, 370-381. ...

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Review Río Tinto: A Geochemical and Mineralogical Terrestrial Analogue of Mars

The geomicrobiological characterization of the water column and sediments of Río Tinto (Huelva, S... more The geomicrobiological characterization of the water column and sediments of Río Tinto (Huelva, Southwestern Spain) have proven the importance of the iron and the sulfur cycles, not only in generating the extreme conditions of the habitat (low pH, high concentration of toxic heavy metals), but also in maintaining the high level of microbial diversity detected in the basin. It has been proven that the extreme acidic conditions of Río Tinto basin are not the product of 5000 years of mining activity in the area, but the consequence of an active underground bioreactor that obtains its energy from the massive sulfidic minerals existing in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Two drilling projects, MARTE (Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment) (2003-2006) and IPBSL (Iberian Pyrite Belt Subsurface Life Detection) (2011-2015), were developed and carried out to

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Río Tinto: A Geochemical and Mineralogical Terrestrial Analogue of Mars

Life, 2014

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Lessons learned from thirty years of geomicrobiological studies of Río Tinto

Río Tinto (SW Spain) is an extreme acidic environment with a remarkable concentration of toxic he... more Río Tinto (SW Spain) is an extreme acidic environment with a remarkable concentration of toxic heavy metals. The geomicrobiological characterization of the Tinto basin, carried out over the last thirty years, has proven the importance of the iron cycle in not only generating the river's extreme conditions, but also in maintaining the high level of microbial diversity. This work also shows that the extreme conditions found in the Tinto basin are not, as previously thought, the product of mining activities, but are, in fact, the result of the active subsurface bioreactor that obtains energy from the high concentration of massive sulfide minerals present in the Iberian Pyrite Belt.

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