Using Sulfur Hexafluoride to Quantify the Gas Leakage Rate within the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO) and the Diffusion Coefficient of the Crushed Basalt

Abstract:

In order to understand the biological processes taking place on an experimental hillslope with vegetation, it is important to know the amount of gasses such as oxygen and carbon dioxide being produced and consumed. When studying the gas exchange rates in a closed system like the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO), one must take into account gas that is being lost or gained from other sources. Aside from biogeochemical processes, gas concentrations in the LEO atmosphere may change due to leakage to the outside environment and diffusion into the soil. To quantify these fluxes, two constants must be determined experimentally: the gas leakage constant L and the coefficient of diffusion for the hillslope soil. To accomplish this, a tracer gas, sulfur hexafluoride, was injected into the sealed east bay chamber and syringes were used to take samples periodically from the airspace and from the hillslope soil. The relative sulfur hexafluoride concentrations were then analyzed with a SRI 8610c gas chromatograph. By analyzing both the the airspace concentration decay as well as the concentration in the soil, the chamber’s leakage constant was determined to be and the soil diffusion coefficient was also determined. Once these values are experimentally quantified, they can be used in equations to quantify the rate of gas leakage and soil diffusion of more important gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen.