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A rusticle is a formation of rust similar to an icicle or stalactite in appearance that occurs underwater when wrought iron oxidizes. They may be familiar from underwater photographs of shipwrecks, such as the RMS ''Titanic'' and the German battleship ''Bismarck''. Rusticles are created by microbes that consume iron. The word ''rusticle'' is a portmanteau of the words ''rust'' and ''icicle'' and was coined by Robert Ballard, who first observed them on the wreck of the ''Titanic'' in 1986. Rusticles on the ''Titanic'' were the first investigated in 1996 by Roy Cullimore, based at the University of Regina in Canada. A new species of bacteria living inside the ''Titanics rusticles called ''Halomonas titanicae'' was discovered in 2010. Henrietta Mann, the scientist who discovered the bacteria, has estimated that the ''Titanic'' may collapse circa 2030. Rusticles can form on any submerged steel object and have been seen on other subsea structures such as mooring chains〔 and subsea equipment. They form more rapidly in warmer climates and can form in water with little to no dissolved oxygen.〔(Microbiologically influenced corrosion of Gulf of Mexico mooring chain at 6,000 feet depths )〕 ==Composition== The rusticle consists of up to 35% iron compounds including iron oxides, iron carbonates and iron hydroxides. The remainder of the structure is actually a complex community of symbiotic or mutualistic microbes including bacteria ''Halomonas titanicae''〔 and fungi that use the rusting metal as a source of food, causing microbial corrosion and collectively producing the mineral compounds that from the rusticle as waste products. Since rusticles are found on wrought iron rather than other ferrous metals, it is supposed that the microbes also use the sulfur and phosphorus impurities found in the metal. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「rusticle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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