Potysz and Bartz reported in early 2023 that petrological and geochemical approach was implemented to decipher red sandstone dissolution under biotic conditions with bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens. Bacteria accelerated dissolution by up to 3.4 times as compared to abiotic weathering rates. The degree of sandstone dissolution was calculated at 0.2–0.6% and 0.2–3.7% for Kopulak and Tumlin sandstones, respectively. Further, goethite was found to be more susceptible to bacterially mediated Fe releases as compared to hematite. Cement structure was also found to affect leaching potential, while abiotic weathering revealed dissolution not exceeding 0.5%.
Study proves that bioweathering processes may affect durability of sandstones used as construction and building materials and cultural heritage objects. Furthermore, this work is a new contribution demonstrating the impact of bacteria on the dissolution kinetics of sandstones in the presence of Pseudomonas
fluorescens bacteria. Based on the applied geochemical approach, the following conclusions can be made:
• Considering the sandstones as a whole sample, Tu sandstone was the most susceptible to biodissolution, whereas Ko had higher durability.
• Cement and matrix minerals were found to be the most vulnerable to dissolution in the presence of P. fluorescens, whereas framework minerals (quartz) had much higher stability.
• The presence of pyoverdine siderophore molecules in solution improved the dissolution rate of the sandstones, promoting the release of Fe and Al.
• Goethite and illite are more susceptible to dissolution than hematite and kaolinite in the presence of Pseudomonas fluorescens.
• Biomass was found to play a role in capturing Al and Fe.
• Siderophore revealed an important contribution to controlling Al solubility in the studied weathering system.
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