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Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 9(1)

Response of diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) trace metal profiles in sediments to phytodetritus mineralisation

Yue Gao A F, Martine Leermakers A, Annelies Pede C, Aurelie Magnier A, Koen Sabbe C, Beatriz Lourino Cabana E, Gabriel Billon D, Willy Baeyens A and David C. Gillan B E

A Laboratory of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry (ANCH), Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
B Laboratory of Proteomics and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Mons, Avenue du Champ de Mars 6, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
C Laboratory of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Science, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
D Laboratoire Géosystèmes, FRE 3298, Equipe Chimie et Sédiment, Université Lille 1, Avenue Paul Langevin, F-59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France.
E Laboratory of Marine Biology, Faculty of Science, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
F Corresponding author. Email address: yuegao@vub.ac.be

Environmental Chemistry 9(1) 41-47 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/EN11075
Submitted: 2 June 2011  Accepted: 5 October 2011   Published: 23 January 2012
 
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Environmental context. Contaminated sediments can have a large and lasting effect on marine ecosystems. It was discovered that significant amounts of pollutants, especially arsenic, were released from contaminated sediments during a phytoplankton bloom in the Belgian Continental Zone. Once released to the water column, these pollutants can accumulate up marine food chains and be a source of contaminants to humans.

Abstract. Field data from the Belgian Continental Zone showed elevated trace metal concentrations at the sediment–water interface after the occurrence of a phytoplankton bloom. In the present study, laboratory incubation experiments were used to investigate the effect of the phytodetritus remineralisation process on the release of trace metals from contaminated muddy sediments. This remineralisation process was followed by the measurement of chlorophyll-a and dissolved organic carbon levels in the top sediment layers. Two gel techniques, diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), were used to assess vertical metal profiles in the sediment pore waters and to calculate the metal effluxes. These metal effluxes compared very well with the trace metal concentration variations in the overlying water of the sediment. Much higher effluxes of Mn, Co and As were observed after 2 days of incubation in the microcosms which received additions of phytodetritus. This trend gradually decreased after 7 days of incubation, suggesting that the elevated efflux of trace metals was proportional to the quantity of phytodetritus mineralised at the sediment–water interface. The release of large amounts of toxic elements from the sediments after phytoplankton blooms can therefore potentially affect the marine ecosystem in the Belgian Continental Zone.

Additional keywords: effluxes, incubation experiments, phytoplankton bloom.


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