Seasonal dynamics of elemental sulfur in two coastal sediments |
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| Authors: | Henning Troelsen Bo Barker Jørgensen |
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| Institution: | Institute of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark |
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| Abstract: | A spectrophotometric method for elemental sulfur (S0) analysis without interference from other reduced sulfur compounds was adapted for the use in reducing sediments. The S0 distribution in two coastal sediments was studied regularly from summer to winter and compared to factors regulating the S0 accumulation, such as redox potentials, the rate of bacterial sulfide production and the general sulfur chemistry. Dense coatings of sulfur bacteria developed on the sediment surface of a sulfuretum which had an S0 concentration of up to 41 μmol S cm?3. The 2·5-mm thick bacterial coating contained 40% of all S0 in the sediment. A more typical marine sediment with a few cm thick oxidized surface layer had an S0 maximum of 1–3 μmol S cm?3 at 2–4 cm depth. The S0 maximum in both sediments increased from summer to winter as the sediments gradually became more oxidized. The deeper layers maintained a low S0 concentration. Most of the S0 in the upper few mm of a laboratory sulfuretum was present inside sulfur bacteria and actively migrated up and down with the bacteria depending upon the changing light and oxygen conditions. |
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| Keywords: | sulfur sediments analytical techniques marine seasonal variations Denmark coast |
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