Biodegradation of organic compounds in vadose zone and aquifer sediments
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, Indiana (USA)
The microbial processes that occur in the subsurface under a typical Midwest agricultural soil were studied. A 26-m bore was installed in November of 1988 at a site of the Purdue University Agronomy Research Center. Aseptic collections of soil materials were made at 17 different depths. Physical analysis indicated that the site contained up to 14 different strata. The site materials were primarily glacial tills with a high carbonate content. The N,P, and organic C contents of sediments tended to decrease with depth. Ambient water content was generally less than the water content, which corresponds to a -0.3-bar equivalent. No pesticides were detected in slurry incubations of up to 128 days. The sorption of atrazine and metolachlor was correlated with the clay content of the sediments. Microbial biomass (determined by direct microscopic count, viable count, and phospholipid assay) in the tills was lower than in either the surface materials or the aquifer located at 25 m. The biodegradation of glucose and phenol occurred rapidly and without a lag in samples from the aquifer capillary fringe, saturated zone, and surface soils. In contrast, lag periods and smaller biodegradation rates were found in the till samples. Subsurface sediments are rich in microbial numbers and activity. The most active strata appear to be transmissive layers in the saturated zone. This implies that the availability of water may limit activity in the profile.
- OSTI ID:
- 6165127
- Journal Information:
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (United States), Vol. 57:8; ISSN 0099-2240
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
BIODEGRADATION
SUBSURFACE ENVIRONMENTS
BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
AQUIFERS
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
DEPTH
GLUCOSE
MICROORGANISMS
PESTICIDES
PHENOLS
SEDIMENTS
SOILS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ALDEHYDES
AROMATICS
CARBOHYDRATES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
DECOMPOSITION
DIMENSIONS
GEOCHEMISTRY
HEXOSES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
MONOSACCHARIDES
SACCHARIDES
540211* - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- Radiometric Techniques- (1990-)
540311 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- Radiometric Techniques- (1990-)