Reduction of iodate in seawater during Arabian Sea shipboard incubations and in laboratory cultures of the marine bacterium Shewanella putrefaciens strain MR-4

Shipboard incubations from the US JGOFS cruise to the Arabian Sea (TN045) March, 1995 showed evidence of iodate reduction in 0.45 μ (Gelman Supor membrane) filtered seawater samples collected from intermediate depths (200–600 m) within the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Inorganic chemical reduction of iodate in these samples was ruled out as no free sulfide was measurable and concentrations of ammonia and nitrite were found to be less than 5 μM. To examine whether the reduction of iodate observed at sea could have been the result of bacterial metabolism, reduction of iodate (IO₃⁻) to iodide (I⁻) by Shewanella putrefaciens strain MR-4 was studied in artificial seawater using electrochemical methods. MR-4 is a ubiquitous marine bacterium which may be of considerable importance when considering redox zonation in the water column because it is a facultative anaerobe and may switch amongst a suite of electron acceptors to support metabolism. In all experiments MR-4 reduced all iodate to iodide. The rate of formation of [I⁻]in the culture followed pseudo-first order kinetics. This is the first report of the marine bacterial reduction of iodate where the concentrations of iodide and iodate were measured directly. Our results may help to explain the depth distribution of iodine speciation reported in productive waters like the Arabian Sea and for the first time couple iodine speciation with bacterial productivity in the ocean.     

Lagrangian particle tracking of a toxic dinoflagellate bloom within the Tampa Bay estuary

A coastal risk assessment system simulates the basic physical mechanisms underlying contaminant transport in Tampa Bay. This risk assessment system, comprised of a three-dimensional numerical circulation model coupled to a Lagrangian particle tracking model, simulates the transport and dispersion of a toxic dinoflagellate bloom. Instantaneous velocity output from the circulation model drives the movement of particles, each representing a fraction of a K. brevis bloom, within the model grid cells. Hindcast simulations of the spatial distribution of the K. brevis bloom are presented and compared with water sample concentrations collected during the peak of the bloom. Probability calculations, herein called transport quotients, allow for rapid analysis of bay-wide K. brevis transport showing locations most likely to be impacted by the contaminant. Maps constructed from the transport quotients provide managers with a bay-wide snapshot of areas in Tampa Bay most at risk during a hazardous bloom event.     

Sulfur speciation in the upper Black Sea sediments

We report solid phase sulfur speciation of six cores from sediments underlying oxic, suboxic and anoxic-sulfidic waters of the Black Sea. Our dataset includes the five sulfur species [pyrite-sulfur, acid volatile sulfides (AVS), zerovalent sulfur (S(0)), organic polysulfides (RS_x), humic sulfur] together with reactive iron and manganese, as quantified by dithionite extraction, and total organic carbon. Pyrite – sulfur was the major phase in all cores [200-400 µmol (g dry wt)^- 1] except for the suboxic core. However, zerovalent sulfur and humic sulfur also reached very significant levels: up to about 109 and 80 µmol (g dry wt)^- 1, respectively. Humic sulfur enrichment was observed in the surface fluff layers of the eastern central basin sediments where Unit-1 type depositional conditions prevail. Elemental sulfur accumulated as a result of porewater sulfide oxidation by reactive iron oxides in turbidities from the anoxic basin margin and western central basin sediments. The accumulation of elemental sulfur to a level close to that of pyrite-S in any part of central Black Sea sediments has never been reported before and our finding indicates deep basin turbidites prevent the build-up of dissolved sulfide in the sediment. This process also contributes to diagenetic pyrite formation whereas in the non-turbiditic parts of the deep basin water column formed (syngenetic) pyrite dominates the sulfur inventory. In slope sediments under suboxic waters, organic sulfur (humic sulfur + organic polysulfides) account for 33-42% of total solid phase S, indicating that the suboxic conditions favor organosulfur formation. Our study shows that the interactions between depositional patterns (Unit 1 vs. turbidite), redox state of overlying waters (oxic-suboxic-sulfidic) and organic matter content determine sulfur speciation and enable the accumulation of elemental sulfur and organic sulfur species close to a level of pyrite-S.     

Electrochemical Evidence for Pentasulfide Complexes with Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+

A series of stable pentasulfide complexes of the common base metals, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn exist in aqueous solutions at ambient temperatures. Pure sodium pentasulfide was prepared and reacted with the divalent cations of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn in aqueous solution at ambient temperature. The S52- complexes were found to exist as determined by voltammetric methods.Pentasulfide complexes with compositions assigned as [M(1-S5)] and [M2(- S5)]2+ occur for Mn, Fe, Co and Ni where only one terminal S atom in the S52- binds to one metal (1 = mono-dentate ligand or M-S-S-S-S-S, = ligand bridging two metal centers or M-S-S-S-S-S-M). Conditional stability constants are similar for all four metals with log 1 between 5.3 and 5.7 and log 2 between 11.0 and 11.6. The constants for these pentasulfide complexes are similar to the tetrasulfide complexes and are approximately 0.4–0.8 log units higher than for comparable bisulfide complexes [M(SH)]+ as expected based on the higher nucleophilicity of S52- compared to HS-. Voltammetric results indicate that these are labile complexes.As with the bisulfide and tetrasulfide complexes, Zn(II) and Cu(II) are chemically distinct from the other metals. Zn(II) reacts with pentasulfide to form a stable monomeric pentasulfide chelate, [Zn(1-S5)] with log = 8.7. Cu(II) reacts with pentasulfide to form a complex with the probable stoichiometry [Cu(S5)]2 with log estimated to be 20.2. As with the other four metals, these complexes are comparable with the tetrasulfide complexes. Discrete voltammetric peaks are observed for these complexes and indicate they are electrochemically inert to dissociation. Reactions of Zn(II) and Cu(II) also lead to significant breakup of the polysulfide.The relative strength of the complexes is Cu > Zn > Mn, Fe, Co, Ni. Cu displaces Zn from [Zn(1- S5)] and both Cu and Zn displace Mn, Fe, Co and Ni from their pentasulfide complexes.