ABSTRACT

Corrosion of steels in deep, cold, low oxygen sea waters over many decades often is attributed to microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). Herein it is argued that the available evidence does not support this proposition since (a) the few available in-situ deep sea field observations are consistent with long-term corrosion under abiotic conditions and (b) independent environmental studies indicate dissolved inorganic nitrogen, a necessary nutrient for MIC, is likely negligible or very low in deep sea waters. On that basis it is proposed that the rusticles observed on some shipwrecks, such as the Titanic, largely are the result of formation of ferrous hydroxides from ferrous ions released, very slowly, from the oxidation of magnetite rusts to maghemite. Direct evidence for this proposition is not available in-situ but is consistent with field observations and laboratory results.

摘要

几十年来，钢在深冷、低氧海水中的腐蚀通常归因于微生物腐蚀 (MIC)。在此争辩说，现有证据不支持这一命题，因为 (a) 少数可用的原位深海野外观测结果与非生物条件下的长期腐蚀一致，以及 (b) 独立环境研究表明溶解的无机氮，a MIC 必需的营养物质，在深海水域中可能可以忽略不计或非常低。在此基础上，建议在某些沉船（例如泰坦尼克号）上观察到的锈迹，主要是由于从磁铁铁锈氧化成磁赤铁矿，非常缓慢地释放亚铁离子形成氢氧化亚铁的结果。这一命题的直接证据在现场无法获得，但与现场观察和实验室结果一致。