Marine Biology

, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp 189–201 | Cite as

The sulfur cycle of a marine sediment model system

  • B. B. Jørgensen
  • T. Fenchel
Article
Accepted:

Abstract

In a laboratory sediment model consisting of sand and chopped Zostera marina leaves, the sulfur cycle and the succession and zonation patterns of sulfur bacteria were studied for a period of 7 months. The pool size of different forms of sulfur was quantified, and the rate of sulfate reduction was measured with an in situ radio-tracer technique at regular intervals. From these data, transfer rates of the sulfur cycle in the system could be calculated for different periods. The rate of sulfate reduction was initially 80 nMS·cm3·day-1; this decreased to 25 nMS·cm3·day-1 towards the end of the experiment as the system started to become oxidized. There was a transient accumulation of elemental sulfur in the bacterial plate at the sediment surface. More than 50% of the total mineralization of the organic material was due to sulfate reduction. Comparison with the net oxygen uptake showed that, during the first 2 to 3 months (when the sediment closely resembled a natural, reduced shallow water sediment), SO4- was equally as important as O2 for transporting oxidacion equivalents from the water to the sediment.

Keywords

Shallow Water Transfer Rate Sediment Surface Oxygen Uptake Marine Sediment 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1974

Authors and Affiliations

  • B. B. Jørgensen
    • 1
  • T. Fenchel
    • 1
  1. 1.Laboratory B, Ecology, Zoological InstituteUniversity of AarhusAarhus CDenmark

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