Accelerated low water corrosion is a form of marine steel corrosion caused by bacterial activity. It has a global spread and is potentially responsible for billions of pounds of damage. We have determined in detail both the chemistry of corrosion products and the associated microbiology at a UK site. The corrosion products form a layered structure with iron sulfides at the steel surface and iron oxides and sulfates in contact with water. The iron sulfides are formed by reaction of steel with hydrogen sulfide formed by sulfate-reducing bacteria and are oxidised through a series of sulfur oxidation states by sulfide-oxidising bacteria, forming acid at all stages and encompassing the whole of the bacterial sulfur cycle. The bacteria involved are endemic in anoxic bed sediment, and the process is a response to the presence of steel as an electron donor, and the generation of anoxic microenvironments within corrosion products.

加速的低水腐蚀是细菌活动引起的船用钢腐蚀的一种形式。它遍及全球，可能造成数十亿英镑的损失。我们已在英国站点详细确定了腐蚀产物的化学性质和相关的微生物学。腐蚀产物形成层状结构，在钢表面有硫化铁，与水接触的氧化铁和硫酸铁。硫化铁是通过钢与硫酸盐还原细菌形成的硫化氢反应而形成的，并通过一系列的硫氧化细菌被硫氧化态氧化，在所有阶段形成酸，并涵盖了整个细菌硫循环。所涉及的细菌是缺氧床沉积物中的特有细菌，