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THE CHARACTERIZATION AND SURVEY OF INORGANIC SULFUR REDOX ASSOCIATED WITH WETLAND HYDROLOGICAL FLUCTUATIONS

Buzulencia, Hayley Catherine
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2632-3716
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574288446961206

Abstract Details

2019, MS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences.
Wetlands are complex ecosystems with unique biogeochemical and hydrological characteristics. These aspects can be traced to the following biogeochemically distinct domains: sediments, porewater, and surface water. Sulfur can play a critical role in aquatic ecosystems, with potential to influence the biogeochemical cycles of freshwater nutrients and metals. Inorganic sulfur can occur in the natural environment in multiple oxidation states. In the presence of oxygen, reduced sulfur readily oxidizes to form sulfate. Wetland hydrology controls the redox states of sulfur, as well as governing the fates trace metals, major cations, and anions in the wetland ecosystem. By examining wetland hydrology and characterizing the biogeochemistry of different wetland domains (sediment, porewater, and surface water), the export and forms of inorganic sulfur in the wetland can be characterized. The study site for this project was a constructed wetland at the Cleveland Metroparks’ Watershed Stewardship Center in Parma, Ohio. The study site had interior zones of differing depths and a dynamic hydrologic regime, which could cause a variation in nutrient residence times and transformations within the wetland. To understand the wetland’s hydrology and its relationship to sulfate biogeochemistry, interior water levels, outflow discharge, precipitation, water chemistry, sediment chemistry, and porewater chemistry were monitored from June 2015 to October 2016. High concentrations of sulfate were found in the interior zones (arithmetic mean: 185.7 mg/L) and outflow (arithmetic mean: 228.4 mg/L), while inflow concentrations were variable (ranges across inflows: 9.417-902.2 mg/L). Sulfate concentrations in surface water were found to be the highest in the interior and outflow following an extensive drydown period in Summer 2016. High concentrations of sulfate could also signal that sulfide was present in the wetland, but sulfide was below detection in porewater. However, wetland sediments contained acid volatile sulfide bound to metals (average: 173.5 μmol S per g dry weight). To conclude, findings from this thesis have shown that storm hydrology and seasonal interior water level dynamics were both factors that governed sulfate concentrations in the wetland’s interior zones and sulfate fluxes out of the wetland’s outflow. Since there were higher concentrations in the wetland interior and outflow compared to the inflow concentrations, this suggested an internal source of sulfur in the wetland. Thus, the high concentrations were likely associated with oxidation of sulfide in the sediments during drydown periods.
Anne Jefferson (Advisor)
Lauren Kinsman-Costello (Advisor)
Elizabeth Herndon (Committee Member)
109 p.
Biogeochemistry; Environmental Geology; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Freshwater Ecology; Geology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology; Natural Resource Management; Water Resource Management
Biogeochemistry; Wetlands; hydrology; watershed hydrology; freshwater; freshwater wetlands; sulfur; sulfate; sulfide; stormwater; restoration ecology; urban hydrology; urban ecosystems; redox; aquatic ecology; surface water; water quality

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Buzulencia, H. C. (2019). THE CHARACTERIZATION AND SURVEY OF INORGANIC SULFUR REDOX ASSOCIATED WITH WETLAND HYDROLOGICAL FLUCTUATIONS [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574288446961206

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Buzulencia, Hayley. THE CHARACTERIZATION AND SURVEY OF INORGANIC SULFUR REDOX ASSOCIATED WITH WETLAND HYDROLOGICAL FLUCTUATIONS. 2019. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574288446961206.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Buzulencia, Hayley. "THE CHARACTERIZATION AND SURVEY OF INORGANIC SULFUR REDOX ASSOCIATED WITH WETLAND HYDROLOGICAL FLUCTUATIONS." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574288446961206

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1574288446961206
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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.