B13E-0660
The Impact of Fe(II) on NO2- Isotopic Composition During Denitrification by Natural Sediment

Monday, 14 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Daniel Diaz-Etchevehere, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States and Scott D Wankel, WHOI, Woods Hole, MA, United States
Abstract:
The role of Fe(II) on Nitrite (NO2-) isotopic composition during denitrification was investigated in anaerobic, closed-system batch incubations of tidal marsh sediments. Fe(II) is often found in similar redox conditions and can rapidly reduce NO2- to N2 and/or nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, through a process called chemodenitrification. Microbial communities can also reduce nitrate (NO3-) to NO2- and eventually to N2O through the anaerobic process of biological denitrification. This study compared the impact on NO2- accumulation when Fe(III)-containing minerals ferrihydrite and goethite were added to natural sediments. The presence of dissolved Fe(II), presumably produced by microbial iron reduction, significantly limited the amount of NO2- accumulation, suggesting that Fe(II) may have chemically reduced NO2-. Changes in the δ15N of the intermediate NO2- pool in each bottle was measured, but the apparent isotope effects of NO2- reduction were indistinguishable among treatments, suggesting that the reaction of Fe(II) and NO2- imparts an isotope effect on the NO2- pool of a similar magnitude to that of biological NO2- reduction. The isotopic composition of N2O and its 15N site preference will be measured to determine if chemodenitrification truly occurred, and if so, the relative contributions to N2O production from biological denitrification and chemodenitrification will be determined.