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Project
2D imaging of dissolved trace metals and sulphide in anoxic sediments (FWOKN276)
A major goal of this research is to better understand the geochemical cycling of toxic pollutants in contaminated sediments.
The release of those pollutants due to changing environmental conditions poses a risk to the ecosystem and eventually man. Therefore I want (1) to determine zones with high concentrations of both dissolved trace metals and sulphide and (2) to explain why those elevated concentrations can occur especially in anoxic sediments. Recently, we were able to assess superimposed high resolution 2D images of dissolved labile trace metals and sulphide. Therefore, a novel, combined Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT)probe and the analysis of the resin layer by high resolution laser ablation ICPMS was developed. Simultaneous remobilisation of trace metals and dissolved sulphide was for the first time observed in Belgian coastal station 130 and organic microniches were most probably the source of such simultaneous remobilization. Further research should focus on the dynamic process of microniches in sediments and reveal the driving mechanism of the process. In that context we will develop an additional method for 2D imaging of trace metals, this time using a Diffusive Equilibrium in Thin Films (DET) probe together with the DGT. This implies that we keep the gel deep-frozen from the moment of sampling until the analysis is finished to avoid dispersion of metals in the gel. The DET probe will give us information about total dissolved trace metal concentrations.
The release of those pollutants due to changing environmental conditions poses a risk to the ecosystem and eventually man. Therefore I want (1) to determine zones with high concentrations of both dissolved trace metals and sulphide and (2) to explain why those elevated concentrations can occur especially in anoxic sediments. Recently, we were able to assess superimposed high resolution 2D images of dissolved labile trace metals and sulphide. Therefore, a novel, combined Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT)probe and the analysis of the resin layer by high resolution laser ablation ICPMS was developed. Simultaneous remobilisation of trace metals and dissolved sulphide was for the first time observed in Belgian coastal station 130 and organic microniches were most probably the source of such simultaneous remobilization. Further research should focus on the dynamic process of microniches in sediments and reveal the driving mechanism of the process. In that context we will develop an additional method for 2D imaging of trace metals, this time using a Diffusive Equilibrium in Thin Films (DET) probe together with the DGT. This implies that we keep the gel deep-frozen from the moment of sampling until the analysis is finished to avoid dispersion of metals in the gel. The DET probe will give us information about total dissolved trace metal concentrations.
Date:1 Jan 2016 → 31 Dec 2016
Keywords:Anoxic sediments, Coast
Disciplines:Geophysics not elsewhere classified, Physical geography and environmental geoscience