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The Importance of Microbial Iron Sulfide Oxidation for Nitrate Depletion in Anoxic Danish Sediments

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Abstract

Nitrate (NO3 −) reduction processes are important for depleting the NO3 − load from agricultural source areas before the discharge water reaches surface waters or groundwater aquifers. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate the co-occurrence of microbial iron sulfide oxidation by NO3 − (MISON) and other NO3 −-depleting processes in a range of contrasting sediment types: sandy groundwater aquifer, non-managed minerotrophic freshwater peat and two brackish muddy sediments. Approximately 1/3 of the net NO3 − reduction was caused by MISON in three of the four environments despite the presence of organic carbon in the sediment. An apparent salinity limitation to MISON was observed in the most brackish environment. Addition of high surface area synthetically precipitated iron sulfide (FeS x ) to the aquifer sediment with the lowest natural FeS x reactivity increased both the relative fraction of NO3 − reduction linked to MISON from approximately 30–100 % and the absolute rates by a factor of 17, showing that the potential for MISON-related NO3 − reduction is environmentally significant and rate limited by the availability of reactive FeS x .

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from Geocenter Denmark (“Geocenterbevilling MOPAG-project”, Microbiol. GEUS: 05061 (PhD)) and received additional funding from the project “Nitrous oxide dynamics: The missing links between controls on subsurface N2O production/consumption and net atmospheric emissions” financed by the Danish Natural Science Research Council and the Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Sarka Vaclavkova, Christian Juncher Jørgensen & Bo Elberling

  2. Department of Geochemistry, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Sarka Vaclavkova, Ole Stig Jacobsen & Jens Aamand

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  1. Sarka Vaclavkova
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  2. Christian Juncher Jørgensen
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  3. Ole Stig Jacobsen
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  4. Jens Aamand
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  5. Bo Elberling
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Correspondence to Bo Elberling.

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Vaclavkova, S., Jørgensen, C.J., Jacobsen, O.S. et al. The Importance of Microbial Iron Sulfide Oxidation for Nitrate Depletion in Anoxic Danish Sediments. Aquat Geochem 20, 419–435 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-014-9227-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-014-9227-x

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