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The effect of the bioavailability and turnover of low-molecular-weight organic compounds on the degradation and preservation of organic matter within sediments

Objectif

The goal of the project is to model the degradation of organic matter and to obtain a better understanding of the factors which control its mineralization in marine and freshwater sediments. Microbial degradation of organic matter within sediments drives the vital biogeochemical cycles and determines the degradation and preservation of organic matter. It also determines the survival of certain organic compounds which can be used as biological markers to unravel how our environment has responded to past climatic changes. This process is, however, incompletely understood, especially the factors which determine the extent of organic matter degradation, i.e. its bioavailability. The project has four main objectives :

a. To develop new analytical and sampling procedures for the accurate measurement of low-molecular-weight carbon compounds, specifically Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA), allowing the study of undisturbed concentration profiles in the sediments.
b. To measure the distribution of these molecules between porewater, different pools of porewater and the solid phase in different types of marine and freshwater sediments. This provides information on the main factors controlling adsorption and complexation in natural sediments.
c. To study the bioavailability and turnover of these metabolic pools, both "free" and adsorbed.
d. Rates of turnover will be assessed against total carbon flow in the sediments and by the rate of increase of organic intermediates in the presence of specific inhibitors.

This approach will provide common and intercalibrated analytical procedures, and information indicating the ecologically most relevant pools of VFA and factors controlling the distribution and bioavailability of these pools thus allowing better estimates of the contributions to any realistic model of past and present climatic change.


Field work will be conducted at three sites : Lake Vechten (freshwater), German Wadden Sea (marine), and the Severn Estuary (intermediate). These field sites are chosen because of the considerable amount of on-going complementary research by the participants of the project. Analyses and procedures selected and developed above will be used to measure the seasonal- and depth-changes in the pool sizes, turnover and bioavailability of VFA and to compare this with the total carbon flow. Sampling programmes will be conducted for key-parameters at each site. If we are to understand and hence effectively model the degradation/preservation controls on organic matter within sediments it is crucial to unravel the influence of VFA, particularly acetate and other volatile fatty acids on this process. In particular, processes which influence their bioavailability, how changes in this bioavailability affect organic matter degradation and the role of adsorption of VFA within sediments. These studies need to be conducted in a range of sediment types, as the nature of VFA as well as the chemical environment influencing their bioavailability can vary considerably.

Specific tasks include : a) Characterization of the diagenetic environment; b) VFA analyses; c) Adsorption phenomena; d) Turnover rates of VFA; e) Bioavailability analyses; f) Organic carbon pool of the three sampling sites; g) Benthic community metabolism of the three sampling sites; h) Enzymatic degradation of higher-molecular weight organic material; i) Microbial incorporation of hydrolysis products; j) Microbial biomass production.

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ROYAL NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE
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