Lithoautotroph

[3] Some chemolithotrophs use redox half-reactions with low reduction potentials for their metabolisms, meaning that they do not harvest a lot of energy compared to organisms that use organotrophic pathways.

[1] Lithoautotrophs participate in many geological processes, such as the weathering of parent material (bedrock) to form soil, as well as biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, potassium, and other elements.

[1] The existence of undiscovered strains of microbial lithoautotrophs is theorized based on some of these cycles, as they are needed to explain phenomena like the conversion of ammonium in iron-reducing environments.

[4] Although it was long believed that these organisms required oxygen to make these conversions, recent literature suggests that anaerobic oxidation also exists for these systems.

Activity similar to acid mine drainage, but on a much lower scale, is also found in natural conditions such as the rocky beds of glaciers, in soil and talus, and in the deep subsurface.