Assessing the transfer of pentachlorophenol through soil columns using 13[C]isotope

Abstract The transfer of organic pollutants was studied through soil columns using 13 [C]-labelled pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a model compound. The organic carbon content and the 13 [C]/ 12 [C] ratio were measured in two soil sections, 0–3 cm and 3–6 cm, and in percolated water using an Elemental Analyser coupled with a Magnetic Mass Sector. The mass balance of carbon was evaluated and the amount of PCP was calculated in each compartment of the soil–water systems. The results show that more than 80% of the PCP-derived 13 [C] remained in the upper layer of the soil column. Approximately 20% was transferred to the lower soil layer, and less than 1% was found in the water leachates. The 13 [C]…

13C differentiation of dissolved organic carbon pool during carbon mineralization in soil from a native deciduous forest and a coniferous plantation

International audience

Influence of15N enrichment on the net isotopic fractionation factor during the reduction of nitrate to nitrous oxide in soil

5 pages; International audience; Nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, is mainly emitted from soils during the denitrification process. Nitrogen stable-isotope investigations can help to characterise the N(2)O source and N(2)O production mechanisms. The stable-isotope approach is increasingly used with (15)N natural abundance or relatively low (15)N enrichment levels and requires a good knowledge of the isotopic fractionation effect inherent to this biological mechanism. This paper reports the measurement of the net and instantaneous isotopic fractionation factor (alpha(s/p) (i)) during the denitrification of NO(3) (-) to N(2)O over a range of (15)N substrate enrichments (0.37 to 1.00 atom% (15)…

Copper Dynamics and Impact on Microbial Communities in Soils of Variable Organic Status

International audience; The effect of soil organic status on copper impact was investigated by means of a microcosm study carried out on a vineyard soil that had been amended with varying types of organic matter during a previous long-term field experiment. Soil microcosms were contaminated at 250 mg Cu kg−1 and incubated for 35 days. Copper distribution and dynamics were assessed in the solid matrix by a sequential extraction procedure and in the soil solution by measuring total and free exchangeable copper concentrations. Copper bioavailability was also measured with a whole-cell biosensor. Modifications of microbial communities were assessed by means of biomass-C measurements and charact…

Emissions and spatial variability of N2O, N2 and nitrous oxide mole fraction at the field scale, revealed with 15N isotopic techniques.

Abstract The accurate measurement of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and dinitrogen (N 2 ) during the denitrification process in soils is a challenge which will help to estimate the contribution of soil N 2 O emissions to global warming. Oxygen concentration, nitrate concentration and carbon availability are generally the main factors that control soil denitrification rate and the amount of N 2 O or N 2 emitted. The aim of this paper is to present a database of the N 2 O mole fraction measured at the field scale, and to test hypotheses concerning its regulation. A 15 N-nitrate tracer solution was added to 36 undisturbed soil cores on a 20 m×20 m cultivated field plot. Fluxes of CO 2 , N 2 O and N 2 f…

Quantifying the contribution of nitrification and denitrification to the nitrous oxide flux using 15N tracers.

8 pages; International audience; Microbial transformations of nitrification and denitrification are the main sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils. Relative contributions of both processes to N2O emissions were estimated on an agricultural soil using 15N isotope tracers (15NH4+ or 15NO3-), for a 10-day batch experiment. Under unsaturated and saturated conditions, both processes were significantly involved in N2O production. Under unsaturated conditions, 60% of N-N2O came from nitrification, while denitrification contributed around 85-90% under saturated conditions. Estimated nitrification rates were not significantly different whatever the soil moisture content, whereas the proportion o…

C4 plant isotopic composition (delta13C) evidence for urban CO2 pollution in the city of Cotonou, Benin (West Africa).

9 pages; International audience; The carbon isotopic composition (delta13C) of plants can reveal the isotopic carbon content of the atmosphere in which they develop. The delta13C values of air and plants depend on the amount of atmospheric fossil fuel CO2, which is chiefly emitted in urban areas. A new indicator of CO2 pollution is tested using the delta13C variation in a C4 grass: Eleusine indica. A range of about 4 per thousand delta units was observed at different sites in Cotonou, the largest city in the Republic of Benin. The highest delta13C values, from -12 per thousand to -14 per thousand, were found in low traffic zones; low delta13C values, from -14 per thousand to -16 per thousan…

Influence de l'apport d'amendements organiques sur les émissions de N2O et de N2 par les sols, au cours de la dénitrification, révélée par le traçage isotopique 15

International audience

Variations du stockage et de la dynamique de la matière organique en fonction de l'utilisation des sols dans les savanes du Rift éthiopien.

13 pages; International audience

Utiliser les symbiotes des Légumineuses pour favoriser la réduction du gaz à effet de serre N2O dans les sols

Dynamics of copper and zinc sedimentation in a lagooning system receiving landfill leachate.

9 pages; International audience; This study characterises the sediment dredged from a lagooning system composed of a settling pond and three lagoons that receive leachates from a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill in France. Organic carbon, carbonate, iron oxyhydroxides, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were measured in the sediment collected from upstream to downstream in the lagooning system. In order to complete our investigation of sedimentation mechanisms, leachates were sampled in both dry (spring) and wet (winter) seasonal conditions. Precipitation of calcite and amorphous Fe-oxyhydroxides and sedimentation of organic matter occurred in the settling pond. Since different di…

Distribution and sources of bulk organic matter (OM) on a tropical intertidal mud bank in French Guiana from elemental and isotopic proxies

International audience; The mobile French Guiana coast is a shoreface region downdrift of the Amazon River, where enormous quantities of inorganic and organic materials are exchanged with the Atlantic Ocean. The rapid accumulation of these materials forms highly unstable shore-attached mud banks, which can be temporally emerged and then rapidly colonized and stabilized by microphytobenthos and opportunistic mangroves (i.e. Avicennia germinans). Mud banks are preferential sites for the accumulation and significant remineralization of organic matter (OM) due to intense erosion/deposition cycles and potential biological colonization. The distribution and sources of bulk sedimentary OM were cha…