| Abstract: | From the distribution of dissolved and solid arsenic species in a contaminated estuarine sediment and measured rates of flux of the various arsenic species we propose an empirical model for the cycling of arsenic between sediments and water column. The chemical form of arsenic in the sediment was largely determined by the redox state of the sediment. Arsenite was the dominant dissolved and solid species in the deeper reduced sediment, and arsenate was dominant in the oxidized surface layer. Arsenite in the interstitial water diffused toward the surface layer, where it was mostly oxidized to arsenate prior to leaving the sediments. Some arsenate adsorbed to the surface sediments and produced a surface layer enriched in arsenic. Small concentrations of methyl and dimethyl arsenic were produced in the sediments, and these also diffused into the overlying water.Nereis succinea, a burrowing polychaete, affected distribution and flux of arsenic from the sediments by its production of irrigated burrows. These burrows increased both the effective surface area of the sediment and the diffusion of arsenic by a factor of five. When the relative effects of the activities of Nereis succinea and physical resuspension are compared, results indicate that although physical resuspension can produce large pulses of materials from contaminated sediments, continuous biological activity is likely to be more important in the mobilization of contaminants from sediments in many estuarine environments. |
