Brown-red stalactites, amounting to 650 metric tons, cover more than 80% of the Titanic’s hull. Where did these rust formations come from?

How did the ocean liner’s hull degrade in this manner although there is no oxidation at a depth of 3,800 meters? According to Dr D. Roy Cullimore, professor of applied microbiology at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan (Canada), these agglomerates come from microorganisms that consume iron. Iron ore was extracted and transformed into steel for the construction of the Titanic. Since the sinking of the ship, these microorganisms have been converting this steel into its original form as ore. As these bacteria chew away at the steel, they produce the agglomerates where iron oxides concentrate, leaving a colour varying from orange to brown to black.

A meal of 600 kilos of iron a day!

To demonstrate his theory, Roy Cullimore created a bacterial trap: photographic film, which he set up on a deck of the ship. Three or four days later, small bacterial colonies began forming, and degraded the silver metal of the film. The wastes of these bacteria cause the build-up of stalactites that hang from almost all the openings of the wreckage. Dr Cullimore calculated that these bacteria eat away about 600 kilos of iron every day on the Titanic. He estimates that 20% of the bow was already consumed and predicts that, if the vessel continued to lose metal, it will one day collapse.