Dr. Henrietta Mann
1. Please describe the Halomonas titanicae bacteria and its effect on the metal structure of the Titanic wreck.
"Halomonas titanicae has flagella which means it is like tentacles that helps the bacteria swim from place to place. The distance it can travel is not always great unless currents in the ocean help it along and then it can travel great distances. It can utilize iron as a source off food or energy. Due to the utilization of metal on the Titanic hull, it takes individual atoms of iron (oxidizes) out of the hull which makes the structure weaker and it will eventually rust completely and collapse (this is done by thousands of bacteria working together)."
"Halomonas titanicae has flagella which means it is like tentacles that helps the bacteria swim from place to place. The distance it can travel is not always great unless currents in the ocean help it along and then it can travel great distances. It can utilize iron as a source off food or energy. Due to the utilization of metal on the Titanic hull, it takes individual atoms of iron (oxidizes) out of the hull which makes the structure weaker and it will eventually rust completely and collapse (this is done by thousands of bacteria working together)."
2. How do you feel the discovery of this bacteria and its effects will help the maritime world in excavating and examining shipwrecks and their rusticle structures?
"This bacteria can help to dispose of old marine vessels and other type of iron structures in the ocean. The bacteria work faster if they are 1 km below the waters surface."
"This bacteria can help to dispose of old marine vessels and other type of iron structures in the ocean. The bacteria work faster if they are 1 km below the waters surface."
3. What about this bacteria makes it very different from other more commonly known and studied underwater bacterial species? Why is it so significant?
"It is not that it is so different from other bacteria, but more that it is a new species which we did not know about and it speeds up the rusting of metallic structures with an iron component. This bacteria also helps in the formation of rusticles (complex micro-organisms and are considered coresodium)."
"It is not that it is so different from other bacteria, but more that it is a new species which we did not know about and it speeds up the rusting of metallic structures with an iron component. This bacteria also helps in the formation of rusticles (complex micro-organisms and are considered coresodium)."