Natural Attenuation in Streambed Sediment Receiving Chlorinated Solvents from Underlying Fracture Networks
Abstract
Contaminant discharge from fractured bedrock formations remains a remediation challenge. Here, we applied an integrated approach to assess the natural attenuation potential of sediment that forms the transition zone between upwelling groundwater from a chlorinated solvent-contaminated fractured bedrock aquifer and the receiving surface water. In situ measurements demonstrated that reductive dechlorination in the sediment attenuated chlorinated compounds before reaching the water column. Microcosms established with creek sediment or in situ incubated Bio-Sep beads degraded C1-C3 chlorinated solvents to less-chlorinated or innocuous products. Quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed the abundance and spatial distribution of known dechlorinator biomarker genes within the creek sediment and demonstrated that multiple dechlorinator populations degrading chlorinatedC1-C3 alkanes and alkenes co-inhabit the sediment. Phylogenetic classification of bacterial and archaeal sequences indicated a relatively uniform distribution over spatial (300 m horizontally) scale, but Dehalococcoides and Dehalobacter were more abundant in deeper sediment, where 5.7 ± 0.4 × 105 and 5.4 ± 0.9 × 106 16S rRNA gene copies per g of sediment, respectively, were measured. The microbiological and hydrogeological characterization demonstrated that microbial processes at the fractured bedrock-sediment interface were crucial for preventing contaminants reaching the water column, emphasizing the relevance of this critical zonemore »
- Authors:
-
[3];
[5]
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental Biotechnology; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division and Joint Inst. for Biological Sciences (JIBS)
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Center for Environmental Biotechnology; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division and Joint Inst. for Biological Sciences (JIBS); Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang (China). Key Lab. of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Inst. of Applied Ecology; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Microbiology
- Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). Dept. of Microbiology
- Geosyntec Consultants, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental Biotechnology; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division and Joint Inst. for Biological Sciences (JIBS); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Microbiology
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; USDoD
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1399394
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Science and Technology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 51; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES
Citation Formats
Şimşir, Burcu, Yan, Jun, Im, Jeongdae, Graves, Duane, and Löffler, Frank E. Natural Attenuation in Streambed Sediment Receiving Chlorinated Solvents from Underlying Fracture Networks. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b05554.
Şimşir, Burcu, Yan, Jun, Im, Jeongdae, Graves, Duane, & Löffler, Frank E. Natural Attenuation in Streambed Sediment Receiving Chlorinated Solvents from Underlying Fracture Networks. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b05554
Şimşir, Burcu, Yan, Jun, Im, Jeongdae, Graves, Duane, and Löffler, Frank E. Wed .
"Natural Attenuation in Streambed Sediment Receiving Chlorinated Solvents from Underlying Fracture Networks". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b05554. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1399394.
@article{osti_1399394,
title = {Natural Attenuation in Streambed Sediment Receiving Chlorinated Solvents from Underlying Fracture Networks},
author = {Şimşir, Burcu and Yan, Jun and Im, Jeongdae and Graves, Duane and Löffler, Frank E.},
abstractNote = {Contaminant discharge from fractured bedrock formations remains a remediation challenge. Here, we applied an integrated approach to assess the natural attenuation potential of sediment that forms the transition zone between upwelling groundwater from a chlorinated solvent-contaminated fractured bedrock aquifer and the receiving surface water. In situ measurements demonstrated that reductive dechlorination in the sediment attenuated chlorinated compounds before reaching the water column. Microcosms established with creek sediment or in situ incubated Bio-Sep beads degraded C1-C3 chlorinated solvents to less-chlorinated or innocuous products. Quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed the abundance and spatial distribution of known dechlorinator biomarker genes within the creek sediment and demonstrated that multiple dechlorinator populations degrading chlorinatedC1-C3 alkanes and alkenes co-inhabit the sediment. Phylogenetic classification of bacterial and archaeal sequences indicated a relatively uniform distribution over spatial (300 m horizontally) scale, but Dehalococcoides and Dehalobacter were more abundant in deeper sediment, where 5.7 ± 0.4 × 105 and 5.4 ± 0.9 × 106 16S rRNA gene copies per g of sediment, respectively, were measured. The microbiological and hydrogeological characterization demonstrated that microbial processes at the fractured bedrock-sediment interface were crucial for preventing contaminants reaching the water column, emphasizing the relevance of this critical zone environment for contaminant attenuation.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6b05554},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
number = 9,
volume = 51,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 22 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Wed Mar 22 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Schematic overview of the Third Creek site (left panel). The solid colored circles show total measured bedrock groundwater cVOC concentrations. Seepage measurements and sediment collection for microbiological analyses occurred at location nos. 1, 2, and 3. The black line (B− B′) in the left panel indicates the locationmore »
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