Influence of macrobenthos on chemical diagenesis of marine sediments

Technical Report · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7218600· OSTI ID:7218600

Aller, R. C.

Diagenetic reactions involving the decomposition of organic matter and the dissolution, mobilization, and reprecipitation of metals sensitive to oxidation-reduction reactions, are most intense and rapid in the upper 1 m and especially the upper 10 cm of marine sediment. It is in this upper zone where most benthic organisms live and interact with sediments and where exchange rates of dissolved and particulate material between sediment and overlying water are largely determined. In Long Island Sound, U.S.A., both spatial and temporal trends in sediment chemistry and the flux of material out of the bottom demonstrate the control of diagenesis by bottom fauna. /sup 234/Th//sup 238/U disequilibrium studies demonstrate that particle reworking rates near the sediment-water interface vary both temporally and spatially in the Sound. The most rapid reworking occurs in protobranch-inhabited bottom areas as do the highest /sup 234/Th inventories. Excess /sup 234/Th profiles in the sediment allow determination of the rates of selected diagenetic reactions, such as Mn/sup + +/ production, near the sediment surface. Both the /sup 234/Th disequilibrium and flux measurements indicate that intra-estuarine redistribution of metals continually takes place.

• Research Organization: Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (USA). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-S-02-3573
• OSTI ID: 7218600
• Report Number(s): COO-3573-21
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ANIMALS
ANNELIDS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BENTHOS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIAGENESIS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
INVERTEBRATES
ISOTOPES
METABOLISM
METALS
MICROORGANISMS
NUCLEI
OXIDATION
RADIOISOTOPES
REDUCTION
SEAS
SEDIMENTS
SURFACE WATERS
THORIUM 234
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES