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Title: Subsurface Redox Interactions Regulate Ebullitive Methane Flux in Heterogeneous Mississippi River Deltaic Wetland

Journal Article · · Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN USA, School of Earth and Climate Sciences University of Maine Orono ME USA, Now at School of Earth and Climate Sciences University of Maine Orono ME USA
  2. Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN USA
  3. Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN USA, Upper Midwest Water Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Madison WI USA, Now at Upper Midwest Water Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Madison WI USA
  4. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Louisiana State University Baton Rouge LA USA
  5. United States Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center Lafayette LA USA

Abstract As interfaces connecting terrestrial and ocean ecosystems, coastal wetlands develop temporally and spatially complex redox conditions, which drive uncertainties in greenhouse gas emission as well as the total carbon budget of the coastal ecosystem. To evaluate the role of complex redox reactions in methane emission from coastal wetlands, a coupled reactive‐transport model was configured to represent subsurface biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, along with production and transport of multiple gas species through diffusion and ebullition. This model study was conducted at multiple sites along a salinity gradient in the Barataria Basin at the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. Over a freshwater to saline gradient, simulated total flux of methane was primarily controlled by its subsurface production and consumption, which were determined by redox reactions directly (e.g., methanogenesis, methanotrophy) and indirectly (e.g., competition with sulfate reduction) under aerobic and/or anaerobic conditions. At fine spatiotemporal scales, surface methane fluxes were also strongly dependent on transport processes, with episodic ebullitive fluxes leading to higher spatial and temporal variability compared to the gradient‐driven diffusion flux. Ebullitive methane fluxes were determined by methane fraction in total ebullitive gas and the frequency of ebullitive events, both of which varied with subsurface methane concentrations and other gas species. Although ebullition thresholds are constrained by local physical factors, this study indicates that redox interactions not only determine gas composition in ebullitive fluxes but can also regulate ebullition frequency through gas production.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
89243020SSC000054; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
2279124
Journal Information:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Journal Name: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 16; ISSN 1942-2466
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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