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Effects of road salt deicers on sediment biogeochemistry

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Abstract

Road salt deicers, especially NaCl and CaCl2, are increasingly applied to paved areas throughout the world. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of high concentrations of these salts on wetland biogeochemistry. Sediment cores were collected in fall and spring from a freshwater wetland fringing an urban kettle lake (Asylum Lake, Kalamazoo, MI, USA), and incubated for 100 days in deionized water (control) or with treatments of 1 or 5 g/L CaCl2·2H2O or 5 g/L NaCl to simulate addition of road salt deciers. At monthly intervals, cores were sliced into three depths (0–5, 5–10, 10–15 cm) and pore waters extracted for analysis of pH, total alkalinity and dissolved Mn(II), Fe(II), PO −34 , NH3, H2S, SO4 −2, Na, K, Mg, and Ca. Changes in solid phase geochemistry were assessed by measuring the percent organic matter and the distribution of Fe and Mn among four operationally defined sediment fractions (exchangeable, carbonate, reducible, oxidizable) in the control and treatment cores. Addition of NaCl, and especially CaCl2, stimulated significant growth of microbial mats at the core sediment–water interface and led to decreased pH and increased concentrations of Mn(II), Fe(II) and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na) in the sediment pore waters. This study demonstrates that the influx of road salt deciers is likely to have a significant impact on biogeochemical cycling in wetland sediments.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2009-352-C00145), the National Science Foundation (NSF-EAR-038435) and the Yonsei University Research Fund of 2010. Ryan Sibert is thanked for providing maps of the study site.

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  1. Seon-young Kim

    Present address: Wonju Regional Environmental Office, Ministry of Environment, Wonju, Korea

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  1. Department of Geosciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Seon-young Kim & Carla Koretsky

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  1. Seon-young Kim
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  2. Carla Koretsky
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Correspondence to Carla Koretsky.

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Kim, Sy., Koretsky, C. Effects of road salt deicers on sediment biogeochemistry. Biogeochemistry 112, 343–358 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9728-x

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