on ship wrecks like the Titanic, they have bulges of rust almost like icicles. What causes these bits of rust to grow?

Question

on ship wrecks like the Titanic, they have bulges of rust almost like icicles. What causes these bits of rust to grow?

In: 11

Answer 1

Those are called rusticles and there’s a particular kind of iron eating bacteria (Halomonas titanicae) that creates them. The bacteria eat the iron from the ship’s hull, pooping out rust around them.