Abstract
High resolution (0.1 cm sampling interval) profiles of pH were obtained from some recent estuarine (Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay) and freshwater (Lake Erie) sediments and from laboratory microcosms containing homogenized Lake Erie sediment (both with and without tubificid oligochaetes) by incrementally precessing a micro-pH electrode downward through the sediment. These profiles revealed that hydrogen ion undergoes chemical reactions on a scale smaller than can be resolved using classic 1 cm sampling intervals, and that the vertical distribution of hydrogen ion is affected by bioturbation. In all sediments examined, a local pH minimum occurred immediately below the oxidized zone. In estuarine sediments, a second deeper pH minimum was observed. The presence of tubificids prevented profound pH changes from developing in microcosm sediments treated with a layer of activated sewage sludge and resulted in more modest alterations of pH profile in microcosm sediments lacking such a layer. The technique used in this study is by no means limited to pH. In principal, any chemical species that can be directly determined by electrodes (e.g. O2, S-2) may be studied. Microelectrode techniques could be especially useful in the study of chemical gradients around animal burrows and in time series studies of whole core diagenesis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aller, R. C. & Yingst, J. Y., 1978. Biogeochemistry of tubedwellings: A study of the sedentary polychaete Amphitrite ornata (Leidy). J. Mar. Res. 36: 201–254.
Ben-Yaakov, S., 1973. pH buffering of recent anoxic marine sediments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 18: 86–94.
Berner, R. A., 1976. The benthic boundary layer from the viewpoint of a geochemist, in McCave, I. N.,ed., The Benthic Boundary Layer, pp. 33–55, Plenum, New York.
Crank, J., 1975. The Mathematics of Diffusion, 2nd ed. Clarendon, Oxford, 414 pp
Davis, R. B., 1974. Tubificids alter profiles of redox potential and pH in profundal lake sediments, Limnol. Oceanogr. 19: 342–346.
Davis, R. B., Thurlow, D. L., & Brewster, R. E., 1975. Effects of burrowing tubificids on the exchange of phosphorous between lake sediment and overlying water. Verh. Int. Verein. Limnol. 19: 382–394.
Edwards, R. W., 1958. The effect of larvae of Chironomous riparius Meigen on the redox potentials of settled activated sludge. Ann. Appl. Biol. 46: 457–464.
Fanning, K. A. & Pilson, M. E. Q., 1971. Interstitial silica and pH in marine sediments: Some effects of sampling procedures. Science 173: 1228–1231.
Fanning, K. A. & Pilson, M. E. Q., 1974. The diffusion of dissolved silica out of deep-sea sediments. Jour. Geophys. Res. 79: 1293–1297.
Fenchel, T. & Jansson, B. O., 1966. On the vertical distribution of microfauna in the sediments of the brackish-water beach. Ophelia 3: 161–177.
Fenchel, T. & Reidl, R. J., 1970. The sulfide system: A new biotic community underneath the oxidized layer of marine sand bottoms. Mar. Biol. 7: 255–268.
Garrels, R. M. & Christ, C. L., 1965. Solutions, Minerals, and Equilibria. Harper and Row, New York, 450 pp.
Gnaiger, E., Gluth, G., & Wieser, W., 1978. pH fluctuations in an intertidal beach in Bermuda. Limnol. Oceanogr. 23: 851–857.
Grubb, W. T. & King, L. H., 1980. Palladium-palladium oxide pH electrodes. Anal. Chem. 52: 270–273.
Jenny, H., Nielsen, T. R., Coleman, N. T., & Williams, D. E., 1950. Concerning the measurement of pH, ion activities, and membrane potentials in collodial systems. Science 112: 164–167.
Jorgensen, B. B. & Fenchel, T., 1975. The sulfur cycle of a marine sediment model system. Mar. Biol. 24: 189–201.
Kleiber, P. & Blackburn, T. H., 1978. Model of biological and diffusional processes involving hydrogen sulfide in a marine microcosm. Oikos 31: 280–283.
Kikuchi, E. & Kurihara, Y., 1977. In vitro studies on the effects of tubificids on the biological and physical characteristics of submerged ricefield soil and overlying water. Oikos 29: 348–356.
Liu, C. C., Bocchicchio, B. C., Overmyer, P. A., & Neuman, M. R., A palladium-palladium oxide miniature pH electrode. Science 207: 188–189.
McCall, P. L. & Fisher, J. B., 1980. Effects of tubificid oligochaetes on physical and chemical properties of Lake sediments, in Brinkhurst, R. O., ed., Aquatic Oligochaete Biology, pp. 253–318, Plenum, New York.
Morse, J. W., 1974. Calculation of diffusive fluxes across the sediment-water interface. J. Geophy. Res. 33: 5045–5048.
Ramm, A. G., & Bella, D. A., 1974. Sulfide production in anaerobic microcosms. Limnol. Oceanogr. 19: 110–118.
Revsbech, N. P., Jorgensen, B. B., & Blackburn, T. H., 1980. Oxygen in the sea bottom measured with a microelectrode. Science 207: 1355–1356.
Stumm, W. & Morgan, J. J., 1970. Aquatic Chemistry. Wiley, New York, 583 pp.
Wieser, W., Ott, J., Schiemer, F., & Gnaiger, E., 1974. An ecophysiological study of some meiofauna species inhabiting a sandy beach in Bermuda. Mar. Biol. 26: 235–248.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fisher, J.B., Matisoff, G. High resolution vertical profiles of pH in recent sediments. Hydrobiologia 79, 277–284 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006325
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006325