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Are there bacteria or other types of lifeforms that feed on rocks and other ground minerals? And if there aren't, is it technically possible? It can eat other things but the majority of its diet should be rocks or ground minerals.

overactor
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CrazySlayaNinjaBear
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  • On earth, you mean? Or theoretically possible anywhere? – Monica Cellio Oct 30 '14 at 01:29
  • @MonicaCellio You can answer with both – CrazySlayaNinjaBear Oct 30 '14 at 01:31
  • Please [edit] the question to reflect this. Thank you. (But beware of "is this possible anywhere?" questions; that seems pretty broad.) – Monica Cellio Oct 30 '14 at 01:31
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    lichen. I think this is another question that show a lack of effort. – Vincent Oct 30 '14 at 02:49
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    Reminds me of these guys. – Wrzlprmft Oct 30 '14 at 07:41
  • This is a step on from vegetarianism and veganism, not eating any organic material at all... – Rand al'Thor Oct 30 '14 at 14:34
  • I'm a little unclear on the details of it, but "Bacteria who eat Rocks" is actually one of the specialties of my brother's research work. If you wanted to make some more specific questions on how that all works, and what the results are, I can ask questions for you. But it's not as obvious as 'bacteria get on rock - rock disappears'. – Wolfman Joe Oct 30 '14 at 15:35
  • Its not a real answer, but I think it's interesting to note that humans can live on dirt as well. As food becomes hard to find, we begin eating lower on the food chain. First we eat carnivores, then herbavores, then grains, then grasses. In the most abject poor regions suffering insurmountable famine, humans will even turn to eating dirt cakes, which I am assuming contain some organic matter and nutrients. In fact, in such places, fights will break out over the right to harvest dirt from the most nutritious "mines." – Cort Ammon Nov 26 '14 at 01:40
  • It isn't thriving, but it is surviving. Apparently you actually do get enough energy from dirt that those who eat the dirt cakes die slower than those who do not. And the effect is noticeable enough that we can start to identify "nutritious" dirt from lower quality dirt. – Cort Ammon Nov 26 '14 at 01:41

2 Answers2

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I should preface by stating I am a geobiochemist with a focus on ferrolithotophic bacteria, or bacteria that gain their energy from rocks and minerals that contain iron with ‘extra’ electrons. While it is colloquially stated that these organisms ‘eat’ rocks and minerals, they are only able to derive energy from this process, and must obtain carbon for biomass from additional sources, often carbon dioxide. In this way it is analogous to plants growing using sunlight, but in the stead of light, these organisms alter rocks.

Specifics and nerdiness aside, the answer is yes; it is possible. It is suspected the majority of organisms on Earth ‘eat’ rocks and minerals for a living, and this likely constitutes the majority of their energy intake. Bacteria (and Archaea) are commonly able to ‘eat’ minerals containing sulfur, iron, nitrogen, hydrogen of specific types. Less common examples have been found to ‘eat’ uranium, arsenic, and mercury. As an interesting aside, many of these minerals can be breathed as well. No known macroscopic organisms are known to do this (i.e. animals, lichen.. etc..)

IronMan
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  • "It is suspected the majority of organisms on Earth 'eat' rocks" - are you referring to number of species / number of individuals / biomass? – mafu Sep 26 '15 at 23:44
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    There are living organisms living deep inside the Earth's crust, which are presumably eating rocks. We don't know exactly how many there are or how deep they go, but it is quite possible that there are a lot of them. – IndigoFenix Mar 15 '16 at 16:07
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Look up lithotrophs:

Lithotrophs are a diverse group of organisms using inorganic substrate (usually of mineral origin) to obtain reducing equivalents for use in biosynthesis (e.g., carbon dioxide fixation) or energy conservation (i.e., ATP production) via aerobic or anaerobic respiration." - Wikipedia

My understanding of inorganic substrate of mineral origin is that it uses rock and/or minerals as a source of food, however small those meals might be

AnonymousAuthor1999
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Mystra007
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