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Main Authors: Jørgensen, Bo Barker, Böttcher, Michael Ernst, Lüschen, Holger, Neretin, Lev N, Volkov, Igor I
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2004
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.738115
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author Jørgensen, Bo Barker
Böttcher, Michael Ernst
Lüschen, Holger
Neretin, Lev N
Volkov, Igor I
author_facet Jørgensen, Bo Barker
Böttcher, Michael Ernst
Lüschen, Holger
Neretin, Lev N
Volkov, Igor I
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents The main terminal processes of organic matter mineralization in anoxic Black Sea sediments underlying the sulfidic water column are sulfate reduction in the upper 2-4 m and methanogenesis below the sulfate zone. The modern marine deposits comprise a ca. 1-m-deep layer of coccolith ooze and underlying sapropel, below which sea water ions penetrate deep down into the limnic Pleistocene deposits from >9000 years BP. Sulfate reduction rates have a subsurface maximum at the SO4[2-]-CH4 transition where H2S reaches maximum concentration. Because of an excess of reactive iron in the deep limnic deposits, most of the methane-derived H2S is drawn downward to a sulfidization front where it reacts with Fe(III) and with Fe2+ diffusing up from below. The H2S-Fe2+ transition is marked by a black band of amorphous iron sulfide above which distinct horizons of greigite and pyrite formation occur. The pore water gradients respond dynamically to environmental changes in the Black Sea with relatively short time constants of ca. 500 yr for SO4[2-] and 10 yr for H2S, whereas the FeS in the black band has taken ca. 3000 yr to accumulate. The dual diffusion interfaces of SO4[2-]-CH4 and H2S-Fe2+ cause the trapping of isotopically heavy iron sulfide with delta34S = +15 to +33 per mil at the sulfidization front. A diffusion model for sulfur isotopes shows that the SO4[2-] diffusing downward into the SO4[2-]-CH4 transition has an isotopic composition of +19 per mil, close to the +23 per mil of H2S diffusing upward. These isotopic compositions are, however, very different from the porewater SO4[2-] (+43 per mil) and H2S (-15 per mil) at the same depth. The model explains how methane-driven sulfate reduction combined with a deep H2S sink leads to isotopically heavy pyrite in a sediment open to diffusion. These results have general implications for the marine sulfur cycle and for the interpretation of sulfur isotopic data in modern sediments and in sedimentary rocks throughout earth's history.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_738115
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2004
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Chemical composition and stable sulfur isotope record of Black Sea sediments
Jørgensen, Bo Barker
Böttcher, Michael Ernst
Lüschen, Holger
Neretin, Lev N
Volkov, Igor I
GC; Gravity corer; KOT97; KOT97-4GC; KOT97-4MUC; KOT97-5GC; KOT97-5MUC; KOT97-6GC; KOT97-6MUC; KOT97-7GC; KOT97-7MUC; MUC; MultiCorer; Petr Kottsov; SESAME; Southern European Seas: Assessing and Modelling Ecosystem Changes; Western Black Sea
The main terminal processes of organic matter mineralization in anoxic Black Sea sediments underlying the sulfidic water column are sulfate reduction in the upper 2-4 m and methanogenesis below the sulfate zone. The modern marine deposits comprise a ca. 1-m-deep layer of coccolith ooze and underlying sapropel, below which sea water ions penetrate deep down into the limnic Pleistocene deposits from >9000 years BP. Sulfate reduction rates have a subsurface maximum at the SO4[2-]-CH4 transition where H2S reaches maximum concentration. Because of an excess of reactive iron in the deep limnic deposits, most of the methane-derived H2S is drawn downward to a sulfidization front where it reacts with Fe(III) and with Fe2+ diffusing up from below. The H2S-Fe2+ transition is marked by a black band of amorphous iron sulfide above which distinct horizons of greigite and pyrite formation occur. The pore water gradients respond dynamically to environmental changes in the Black Sea with relatively short time constants of ca. 500 yr for SO4[2-] and 10 yr for H2S, whereas the FeS in the black band has taken ca. 3000 yr to accumulate. The dual diffusion interfaces of SO4[2-]-CH4 and H2S-Fe2+ cause the trapping of isotopically heavy iron sulfide with delta34S = +15 to +33 per mil at the sulfidization front. A diffusion model for sulfur isotopes shows that the SO4[2-] diffusing downward into the SO4[2-]-CH4 transition has an isotopic composition of +19 per mil, close to the +23 per mil of H2S diffusing upward. These isotopic compositions are, however, very different from the porewater SO4[2-] (+43 per mil) and H2S (-15 per mil) at the same depth. The model explains how methane-driven sulfate reduction combined with a deep H2S sink leads to isotopically heavy pyrite in a sediment open to diffusion. These results have general implications for the marine sulfur cycle and for the interpretation of sulfur isotopic data in modern sediments and in sedimentary rocks throughout earth's history.
title Chemical composition and stable sulfur isotope record of Black Sea sediments
topic GC; Gravity corer; KOT97; KOT97-4GC; KOT97-4MUC; KOT97-5GC; KOT97-5MUC; KOT97-6GC; KOT97-6MUC; KOT97-7GC; KOT97-7MUC; MUC; MultiCorer; Petr Kottsov; SESAME; Southern European Seas: Assessing and Modelling Ecosystem Changes; Western Black Sea
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.738115