An assessment of a mesocosm approach to the study of microbial respiration in a sandy unsaturated zone

Ground air: A first approximation of the Earth's second largest reservoir of carbon dioxide gas

It is becoming increasingly clear that a substantial reservoir of carbon exists in the unsaturated zone of aquifers, though the total size of this reservoir on a global scale remains unquantified. Here we provide the first broad estimate of the amount of carbon dioxide gas found in this terrestrial reservoir. We calculate that between 2 and 53 PgC exists as gaseous CO₂ in aquifers worldwide, generated by the slow microbial oxidation of organic particles transported into aquifers by percolating groundwater. Importantly, this carbon reservoir is in the form of CO₂ gas, and is therefore transferable to the Earth's atmosphere without any phase change. On a coarse scale, water table depths are partially controlled by local sea level; sea level lowering therefore allows slow carbon sequestration into the reservoir and sea level increases force rapid CO₂ outgassing from this reservoir. High-resolution cave air pCO₂ data demonstrate that sea level variability does affect CO₂ outgassing rates from the unsaturated zone, and that the CO₂ outgassing due to sea level rise currently occurs on daily (tidal) timescales. We suggest that global mean water table depth must modulate the global unsaturated zone volume and the size of this carbon reservoir, potentially affecting atmospheric CO₂ on geological timescales.

Indoor vapor intrusion with oxygen-limited biodegradation for a subsurface gasoline source

Development and results are presented for a subsurface soil to indoor air chemical vapor intrusion model that includes oxygen-limited biodegradation. The algebraic model incorporates a steady-state subsurface gasoline vapor source, diffusion-dominated soil vapor transport in a homogeneous subsurface soil layer, and mixing within a building enclosure. The soil is divided into a shallow aerobic layer including biodegradation and a deeper anaerobic layer in which biodegradation is neglected. Biodegradation of multiple chemicals is included, with aerobic first-order reaction kinetics estimated from measured data. Oxygen is supplied at the soil surface below the building foundation. Oxygen demand is attributed to a sum of multiple biodegrading chemicals and to baseline respiration of native soil organic matter. The model is solved by iteratively varying the aerobic depth to match oxygen demand to oxygen supply. Model results are calculated for ranges of source concentrations, unsaturated soil characteristics, and building parameters. Results indicate vapor intrusion of petroleum hydrocarbons can be significantly less than indicated by estimates that neglect biodegradation.

Use of O2 consumption and CO2 production in kinetic cells to delineate pyrite oxidation-carbonate buffering and microbial respiration in unsaturated media

Identifying zones of sulphide oxidation and carbonate buffering is important in the development of a management plan for mine waste-rock piles. In this study, we used a kinetic cell technique to measure rates of O2 consumption and CO2 production in low sulphide (<0.12 wt.% S), low inorganic carbon (<0.20 wt.% C(inorganic)), gneissic waste rock and associated organic-rich lake sediment (0.7 wt.% C(organic)), and forest soil (1.4 wt.% C(organic)) collected from the Key Lake uranium mine in Saskatchewan, Canada. Solid chemistry, stable carbon isotope, pore water sulphate concentration data, and stoichiometric considerations indicated that O2 consumption and CO2 production were constrained by microbial respiration in the lake sediment and forest soil and by pyrite oxidation-carbonate buffering in the gneissic waste rock. Mean ratios of molar CO2 production to O2 consumption rates were 0.5 for lake sediment, 0.7 for forest soil, and 0.2 for gneissic waste rock. The different O2/CO2 ratios suggested that O2-CO2 monitoring may provide a practical tool for identifying the zones of microbial respiration and pyrite oxidation-carbonate buffering in mine waste-rock piles. Rates of O2 consumption and CO2 production were about one order of magnitude greater in lake sediment than in gneissic waste rock, indicating that microbial respiration would exert a control on the distribution of O2 and CO2 gas in waste-rock piles constructed upon the dewatered lake sediments.