Sulfate-dependant microbially induced corrosion of mild steel in the deep sea: a 10-year microbiome study.

The corrosion rate observed was higher than what could be expected from abiotic corrosion mechanisms under these environmental conditions. High corrosion rate and the form of corrosion (deep pitting) suggest that the corrosion of the chain links was driven by both abiotic and biotic processes. We posit that the corrosion is driven by deep-sea sulfur-cycling microorganisms which may gain energy by accelerating the reaction between metallic iron and elemental sulfur. The results of this field study provide important new insights on the ecophysiology of the corrosion process in the deep sea.