No abstract

A combined geochemical and microbiological approach was needed to delineate the biogeochemical processes occurring in an aquifer contaminated by landfill leachate in Norman, OK, where the important microbially mediated reactions in an anoxic plume were iron reduction, sulfate reduction, and methanogenesis. The highest rates of sulfate reduction (13.2 μM/day) were detected near the water table where sulfate levels were maximal (up to 4.6 mM). The enrichment of 34S in the sulfate pools (δ34S of SO4 2- was 67−69‰), and dissolved hydrogen measurements provided additional support for the importance of sulfate reduction near the water table. Methane was detected in the center of the plume where sulfate was depleted. Microbial incubations demonstrated concomitant sulfate reduction and methanogenesis in the anoxic portion of the plume. Although high concentrations of soluble reduced iron were detected throughout the aquifer and H2 levels were indicative of iron reduction under steady-state conditions, microbiological experiments showed that iron reduction was active only at the edges of the sulfate-depleted portion of the plume. This study demonstrates the benefits of using a combined geochemical and microbiological approach to elucidate the spatial distribution of biogeochemical processes in contaminated aquifers.

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A simplified passive extraction procedure for quantifying reduced inorganic sulfur compounds from sediments and water is presented. This method may also be used for the estimation of sulfate reduction rates. Efficient extraction of FeS, FeS 2 , and S 2؊ was obtained with this procedure; however, the efficiency for S 0 depended on the form that was tested. Passive extraction can be used with samples containing up to 20 mg of reduced sulfur. We demonstrated the utility of this technique in a determination of both sulfate reduction rates and reduced inorganic sulfur pools in marine and freshwater sediments. A side-by-side comparison of the passive extraction method with the established single-step distillation technique yielded comparable results with a fraction of the effort.