Abstract
We used fine-scale porewater profiles and rate measurements together with a multiple component transport–reaction model to investigate carbon degradation pathways and the coupling between electron and proton transfer reactions in Lake Champlain sediments. We measured porewater profiles of O2, Mn2+, Fe2+, HS−, pH and pCO2 at mm resolution by microelectrodes, and profiles of NO3 −, SO4 2−, NH4 +, total inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) at cm resolution using standard wet chemical techniques. In addition, sediment–water fluxes of oxygen, DIC, nitrate, ammonium and N2 were measured. Rates of gross and net sulfate reduction were also measured in the sediments. It is shown that organic matter (OM) decomposes via six pathways: oxic respiration (35.2%), denitrification (10.4%), MnO2 reduction (3.6%), FeOOH reduction (9.6%), sulfate reduction (14.9%), and methanogenesis (26.4%). In the lake sediments, about half of the benthic O2 flux is used for aerobic respiration, and the rest is used for the regeneration of other electron acceptors produced during the above diagenetic reactions. There is a strong coupling between O2 usage and Mn2+ oxidation. MnO2 is also an important player in Fe and S cycles and in pH and TA balance. Although nitrate concentrations in the overlying water were low, denitrification becomes a quantitatively important pathway for OM decomposition due to the oxidation of NH4 + to NO3 −. Finally, despite its low concentration in freshwater, sulfate is an important electron acceptor due to its high efficiency of internal cycling. This paper also discusses quantitatively the relationship between redox reactions and the porewater pH values. It is demonstrated here that pH and pCO2 are sensitive variables that reflect various oxidation and precipitation reactions in porewater, while DIC and TA profiles provide effective constraints on the rates of various diagenetic reactions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aller R (1994) The sedimentary Mn cycle in Long Island Sound: its role as intermediate oxidant and the influence of bioturbation, O2, and Corg flux on diagenetic reaction balances. J Mar Res 52:259–295
Aller RC, Rude PD (1988) Complete oxidation of solid phase by manganese bacteria in anoxic marine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 52:751–765
Bender ML, Fanning KA, Froelich PN (1977) Interstitial nitrate profiles and oxidation of sedimentary organic matter in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. Science 198:605–606
Ben-Yaakov S (1973) pH buffering of pore water of recent anoxic marine sediments. Limnol Oceanogr 18:86–93
Berg P, Rysgaard S, Thamdrup B (2003) Dynamic modeling of early diagenesis and nutrient cycling. A case study in an Arctic marine sediment. Am J Sci 303(10):905–955
Berner RA (1980) Early diagenesis: a theoretical approach. Princeton University Press, Princeton 241 pp
Bosse U, Frenzel P, Conrad R (1993) Inhibition of methane oxidation by ammonium in the surface layer of a littoral sediment. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 13:123–134
Boudreau BP (1987) A steady-state diagenetic model for dissolved carbonate species and pH in the porewaters of oxic and suboxic sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 51:1985–1996
Boudreau BP (1991) Modelling the sulfide-oxygen reaction and associated pH gradients in porewaters. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 55:145–159
Boudreau BP (1996) A method-of-line code for carbon and nutrient diagenesis in aquatic sediments. Comp Geosci 22:479–496
Boudreau BP (1997) Diagenetic models and their implementation. Springer, Berlin
Boudreau BP, Canfield DE (1988) A provisional diagenetic model for pH in anoxic porewaters: application to the FOAM site. J Mar Res 46:429–455
Boudreau BP, Mucci A, Sundby B, Luther GW, Silverberg N (1998) Comparative diagenesis at three sites on the Canadian continental margin. J Mar Res 56:1259–1284
Brendel PJ, Luther GW (1995) Development of a gold amalgam voltammetric microelectrode for the determination of dissolved Fe, Mn, O2, and S(-II) in porewaters of marine and freshwater sediments. Environ Sci Technol 29:751–761
Burdige DJ (1993) The biogeochemistry of manganese and iron reduction in marine sediments. Earth Sci Rev 35:249–284
Cai W-J, Reimers CE (1993) The development of pH and pCO2 microelectrodes for studying the carbonate chemistry of pore waters near the sediment-water interface. Limnol Oceanogr 38:1776–1787
Cai WJ, Reimers CE (2000) Sensors for in situ pH and pCO2 measurements in seawater and at the sediment-water interface. In: Buffle J, Horvai G (eds) In situ monitoring of aquatic system: chemical analysis and speciation. Wiley, London
Cai W-J, Wang Y (1998) The chemistry, fluxes and sources of carbon dioxide in the estuarine waters of the Satilla and Altamaha Rivers. Georgia Limnol Oceanogr 43:657–668
Cai W-J, Reimers CE, Shaw T (1995) Microelectrode studies of organic carbon degradation and calcite dissolution at a California continental rise site. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:497–511
Cai W-J, Wang Y, Hodson RE (1998) Acid-base properties of dissolved organic matter in the estuarine waters of Georgia. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:473–483
Cai W-J, Zhao P, Wang Y (2000) pH and pCO2 microelectrodes measurement and diffusive behavior of carbon dioxide species in coastal marine sediments. Mar Chem 70:133–148
Cai W-J, Zhao P, Theberge SM, Witter A , Wang Y, Luther III G (2002) Porewater redox species, pH and pCO2 in aquatic sediments—electrochemical sensor studies in Lake Champlain and Sapelo Island. In: Taillefert M, Rozan TF (eds) Environmental electrochemistry: analyses of trace element biogeochemistry. American Chemical Society Symposium Series 811, ACS, Washington DC
Cai W-J, Chen F, Powell E, Walker S, Parsons-Hubbard KM, Staff G, Wang Y, Ashton-Alcox K, Callender WR, Brett C (2006) Preferential dissolution of carbonate shells driven by petroleum seep activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Earth Planet Sci Lett 248:227–243
Canfield DE, Jorgensen BB, Fossing H, Glud R, Gundersen J, Ramsing NB, Thamdrup B, Hansen JW, Nielsen LP, Hall POJ (1993) Pathways of organic carbon oxidation in three continental margin sediments. Mar Geol 113:27–40
Chritensen ER (1982) A model for radionuclides in sediments influenced by mixing and compaction. J Geophys Res 87:566–572
Cornwell JC, Owens MS (1999) Benthic phosphorus cycling in Lake Champlain: Results of an integrated field sampling/water quality modeling study. Part B: field studies. Report 34B, Lake Champlain Basin Program (http://www.lcbp.org/reports.htm)
Davison W, Heaney SI, Talling JF, Rigg R (1980) Seasonal transformations and movements of iron in a productive English lake with deep-water anoxia. Schweiz Z Hydrol 42:196–224
Davison W, Phillips N, Tabner BJ (1999) Soluble iron sulfide species in natural waters: reappraisal of their stoichiometry and stability constants. Aqua Sci 61:23–43
Dhakar SP, Burdige DJ (1996) A coupled, non-linear, steady state model for early diagenetic processes in pelagic sediments. Am J Sci 296:296–330
Emerson S, Jahnke R, Bender M, Froelich P (1980) Early diagenesis in sediments from the eastern equatorial Pacific, I. Pore water nutrient and carbonate results. Earth Planet Sci Lett 49:57–80
Fossing H (1995) 35S-radiolabeling to probe biogeochemical cycling of sulfur. In: Vairavamurthy MA, Schoonen MAA (eds) Geochemical transformations of sedimentary sulfur. ACS symposium series 612. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp 348–364
Froelich PN, Klinkhammer GP, Bender ML (1979) Early oxidation of organic matter in pelagic sediments of the eastern equatorial Atlantic: suboxic diagenesis. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 43:1075–1090
Furrer G, Wehrli B (1996) Microbial reactions, chemical speciation, and multicomponent diffusion in porewaters of a eutrophic lake. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:2333–2346
Giblin AE, Hopkinson CS, Tucker J (1997) Benthic metabolism and nutrient cycling in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Estuaries 20:346–364
Howarth RW (1984) The ecological significance of sulfur in the energy dynamics of salt marsh and coastal marine sediments. Biogeochemistry 1:5–27
Howarth RW, Jorgensen BB (1984) Formation of 35S-lablled elemental surfur and pyrite in coastal marine sediments during short-term 35SO 2-4 reduction measurements. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:1807–1818
Jahnke RA (1988) A simple, reliable, inexpensive pore water sampler. Limnol Oceanogr 33:483–487
Johnson K (1982) Solubility of rhodochrosite (MnCO3) in water and seawater. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 46:1805–1809
Kana TMM, Sullivan MB, Cornwell JC, Groszkowsik K (1998) Denitrification in estuarine sediments determined by membrane inlet mass spectrometry. Limnol Oceanogr 43:334–339
Komada T, Reimers CE, Boehme SE (1998) Dissolved inorganic carbon profiles and fluxes determination using pH and pCO2 microelectrodes. Limnol Oceanogr 43:769–781
Kuivila KM, Murray JW, Devol AH (1989) Methane production, sulfate reduction and competition for substrates in the sediments of Lake Washington. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:409–416
Leventhal J, Taylor C (1990) Comparison of methods to determine degree of pyritization. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 54:2621–2625
Luther GW, Sundby B, Lewis BL, Brendel PJ, Silverberg N (1997) Interactions of manganese with the nitrogen cycle: alternative pathways to dinitrogen. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:4043–4052
Luther GW III, Reimers CE, Nuzzio DB, Lovalvo D (1999) In situ deployment of voltammetric, potentiometric, and amperometric microelectrodes from a ROV to determine dissolved O2, Mn, Fe, S(-2), and pH in porewaters. Environ Sci Technol 33:4352–4356
Ma S, Luther GW III, Keller J, Madison AS, Metzger E, Megonigal JP, Emerson D (2008) Solid-state Au/Hg microelectrode for the investigation of Fe and Mn cycling in a freshwater wetland: implications for methane production. Electroanalysis 20:233–239. doi:10.1002/elan.200704048
Meysman FJR, Middelburg JJ, Herman PMJ, Heip CHR (2003) Reactive transport in surface sediments. II. MEDIA: an object-oriented problem-solving environment for early diagenesis. Comput Geosci 29:301–318
Millero FJ (1996) Chemical oceanography. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Nielson LP (1992) Denitrification in sediment determined from nitrogen isotope pairing. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 86:357–362
Park SS, Jaffe PR (1996) Development of a sediment redox potential model for the assessment of postdepositional metal mobility. Ecol Model 91:169–181
Parsons TR, Maita Y, Lalli CM (1984) A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Pergamon Press, New York, p 173
Perdue EM, Reuter JH, Ghosal M (1980) The operational nature of acidic functional group analyses and its impact on mathematical descriptions of acid-base equilibria in humic substances. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 44:1841–1851
Postma D, Jakobsen R (1996) Redox zonation: equilibrium constraints on the Fe(III)/SO4-reduction interface. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:3169–3175
Reimers CE, Jahnke RA, McCorkle DC (1992) Carbon fluxes and burial rates over the continental slope and rise off central California with implications for the global carbon cycle. Global Biogeochem Cycles 6:199–224
Revsbech NP, Jorgensen BB, Blackburn TH (1983) Microelectrode studies of the photosynthesis and O2, H2S and pH profiles of a microbial mat. Limnol Oceanogr 28:1062–1074
Richards FA, Cline J, Broenkow WW, Atkinson LP (1965) Some consequences of the decomposition of organic matter in Lake Nitrinat, an anoxic fjord. Limnol Oceanogr (suppl) 10:R185–R201
Rolletschek H (1997) Temporal and spatial variations in methane cycling in Lake Muggelsee. Arch Hydrobiol 140:195–206
Roy R, Legendre P, Knowles R, Charlton MN (1994) Denitrification and methane production in sediment of Hamilton Harbor (Canada). Microb Ecol 27:123–141
Roy R, Knowles R, Charlton MN (1996) Nitrification and methane oxidation at the sediment surface in Hamilton Harbor (Lake Ontario). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53:2466–2472
Rysgaard S, Risgaard-Petersen N, Nielsen LP, Revsbech NP (1993) Nitrification and denitrification in lake and estuarine sediments measured by the 15N dilution technique and isotope pairing. Appl Environ Microbiol 59:2093–2098
Sayles FL, Martin WR (1996) In situ tracer studies of solute transport across the sediment-water interface at the Bermuda time-series site. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:243–263
Shaw T, Gieskes JM, Jahnke RA (1990) Early diagenesis in differing depositional environments: the response of transition metals in pore water. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 54:1233–1246
Shriver DF, Atkins P, Langford CH (1999) Inorganic chemistry, 3rd edn. W H. Freeman, New York
Smeltzer E, Quinn S (1996) A phosphorus budget, model and load reduction strategy for Lake Champlain. J Lake Reserv Manag 12:381–393
Soetaert K, Herman PMJ, Middelburg JJ (1996) A model of early diagenetic processes from the shelf to abyssal depths. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60(6):1019–1040
Soetaert K, Hofmann AF, Middelburg JJ, Meysman FJR, Greenwood I (2007) The effect of biogeochemical processes on pH. Mar Chem 105:30–51
Stumm W, Morgan JJ (1981) Aquatic chemistry. Wiley, London
Sugai SF (1990) Transport and sediment accumulation of 210Pb and 137Cs in two southeast Alaska fjords. Estuaries 13:380–392
Urban NR, Brezonik PL, Baker LA, Sherman LA (1994) Sulfate reduction and diffusion in sediments of Little Rock Lake. Wis Limnol Oceanogr 39:797–815
Urban NR, Dinkel C, Wehrli B (1997) Solute transfer across the sediment surface of a eutrophic lake I. Porewater profiles from dialysis samples. Aquat Sci 59:1–25
Van Cappellen P, Wang Y (1996) Cycling of iron and manganese in surface sediments: a general theory for the coupled transport and reaction of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, iron, and manganese. Am J Sci 296:197–243
Wang Y, Van Cappellen P (1996) A multicomponent reaction transport model of early diagenesis: application to redox cycling in coastal marine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:2993–3014
Whiticar MJ (1999) Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane. Chem Geol 161:291–314
Zhao P (2000) Microelectrode study of carbon cycling and related biogeochemical mechanism in coastal sediments. PhD Dissertation, The University of Geogia. Athens, GA, 186 pp
Zhao P, Cai W-J (1997) An improved pCO2 microelectrode. Anal Chem 69:5052–5058
Zhao P, Cai W-J (1999) pH polymeric membrane microelectrodes based on neutral carriers and their applications in aquatic environments. Anal Chim Acta 395:285–291
Acknowledgments
This research was supported through a collaborative NSF grant from DEB. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the following individuals in data collection: Pingsan Zhao, Yongchen Wang, Jane Tucker, and Andrew Bono, Steve Theberge and Amy Witter. Discussions of modeling issues with Dr. F. Meysman and Dr. P. Van Cappellen during the modeling effort (1999–2001) were helpful. We apologize for possible missing of recent literature.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cai, WJ., Luther, G.W., Cornwell, J.C. et al. Carbon Cycling and the Coupling Between Proton and Electron Transfer Reactions in Aquatic Sediments in Lake Champlain. Aquat Geochem 16, 421–446 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-010-9097-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-010-9097-9