Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers

Sporosarcina newyorkensis is an indigenous microbe found in sedimentary layers bearing methane hydrates in the oceans around Japan’s main islands. It can survive extremely cold temperatures and precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO3). This has led to interest in applying the microbe in microbiological...

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Main Authors: Joyce Nakayenga, Toshiro Hata, Alexandra Clarà Saracho, Stuart Kenneth Haigh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Soils and Foundations
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003808062500085X
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author Joyce Nakayenga
Toshiro Hata
Alexandra Clarà Saracho
Stuart Kenneth Haigh
author_facet Joyce Nakayenga
Toshiro Hata
Alexandra Clarà Saracho
Stuart Kenneth Haigh
author_sort Joyce Nakayenga
collection DOAJ
description Sporosarcina newyorkensis is an indigenous microbe found in sedimentary layers bearing methane hydrates in the oceans around Japan’s main islands. It can survive extremely cold temperatures and precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO3). This has led to interest in applying the microbe in microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) to improve the properties of the surrounding sand and to facilitate the exploration of methane hydrates. Using the injection method, a large-scale laboratory experiment was conducted in this study on sand columns with a diameter of 60 cm and a height of 70 cm to evaluate the MICP performance of S. newyorkensis under high overburden pressures of 3.5 and 20 MPa. The results indicated that S. newyorkensis can precipitate CaCO3 at high overburden pressures and reduce the permeability of sand. The unconfined compressive strength and amount of precipitated CaCO3 were seen to decrease with the distance from the injection well, but they remained sufficient to distances of up to 20 cm. S. newyorkensis was also found to increase the pH level, which would further promote CaCO3 precipitation and, in turn, lower hydraulic conductivity and stabilize hydrate-bearing sand formations.
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spelling doaj-art-0ab4b9cd92844413bffd27ad40fc4e892025-08-20T03:50:05ZengElsevierSoils and Foundations2524-17882025-08-0165410165110.1016/j.sandf.2025.101651Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layersJoyce Nakayenga0Toshiro Hata1Alexandra Clarà Saracho2Stuart Kenneth Haigh3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima shi, JapanDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima shi, Japan; Corresponding author.Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, United States of AmericaDepartment of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UKSporosarcina newyorkensis is an indigenous microbe found in sedimentary layers bearing methane hydrates in the oceans around Japan’s main islands. It can survive extremely cold temperatures and precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO3). This has led to interest in applying the microbe in microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) to improve the properties of the surrounding sand and to facilitate the exploration of methane hydrates. Using the injection method, a large-scale laboratory experiment was conducted in this study on sand columns with a diameter of 60 cm and a height of 70 cm to evaluate the MICP performance of S. newyorkensis under high overburden pressures of 3.5 and 20 MPa. The results indicated that S. newyorkensis can precipitate CaCO3 at high overburden pressures and reduce the permeability of sand. The unconfined compressive strength and amount of precipitated CaCO3 were seen to decrease with the distance from the injection well, but they remained sufficient to distances of up to 20 cm. S. newyorkensis was also found to increase the pH level, which would further promote CaCO3 precipitation and, in turn, lower hydraulic conductivity and stabilize hydrate-bearing sand formations.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003808062500085XA10D03
spellingShingle Joyce Nakayenga
Toshiro Hata
Alexandra Clarà Saracho
Stuart Kenneth Haigh
Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers
Soils and Foundations
A10
D03
title Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers
title_full Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers
title_fullStr Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers
title_full_unstemmed Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers
title_short Effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate-bearing sand layers
title_sort effects of high pressure on microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation of methane hydrate bearing sand layers
topic A10
D03
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003808062500085X
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