Reflecting important new discoveries and advances in the field, this fifth edition presents a survey of various aspects of geomicrobiology, including the microbial role in the formation and degradation of minerals and fossil fuels and elemental cycling. It explores the role of microbes in early evolution, as well as in the lithosphere, deep subsurface, and hydrosphere. This edition includes more foundational information, covering important principles and methods for identification and function of specific microbes in a particular process. Generously laden with tables, graphics, diagrams, and photographs, the remainder of the book examines the geomicrobial aspects of a wide range of minerals.