Abstract
The diurnal-to-monthly behavior of the fluxes of OCS, H2S, and CS2 from a mixed-Spartina grass-covered site in a Wallops Island salt water marsh was determined through a series of experiments in August and September, 1982. Absolute flux values were determined for OCS and H2S, while only relative values were determined for CS2. The rates of emission of OCS and H2S were observed to vary diurnally and to be strongly influenced by tides. The time-averaged flux values show that such mixed-Spartina stands are insignificant (≪ 1%) global sources of H2S or CS2 and insignificant contributors to the global OCS cycle (< 1%). These results demonstrate that some marsh regions play a minor role in the global sulfur budget and, consequently, that the inclusion of such areas in extrapolations of measurements of more productive regions could lead to an overestimate of the role of salt water marshes in the global sulfur budget.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, D. F., Farwell, S. O., Pack, M. R., and Bamesburger, W. L., 1979, Preliminary measurements of biogenic sulfur-containing gas emissions from soils, J. Air Pollut. Control Assoc. 29, 380–383.
Adams, D. F., Farwell, S. O., Robinson, E., and Pack, M. R., 1980, Assessment of Biogenic Sulfur Emissions in the SURE Area, EPRI Final Report, No. EA-1516, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA.
Adams, D. F., Farwell, S. O., Robinson, E., Pack, M., and Bamesburger, W. L., 1981, Biogenic Sulfur Source Strength, Paper No. 81-15.3, presented at the Annual Meeting of APCA, Philadelphia, PA.
Andreae, M. O., and Raemdonck, H., 1983, Dimethylsulfide in the surface ocean and the marine atmosphere: a global view, Science 221, 744–747.
Aneja, V. P., Corse, E. W., Cupitt, L. T., King, J. C., Overton, J. H. Jr., Rader, R. E., Richards, M. H., Sher, H. J., and Whitkus, R. J., 1979a, Biogenic Sulfur Sources Strength Field Study, Northrop Services, Inc. Report No. ESC-TR-79-22, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Aneja, V. P., Overton, J. H.Jr., Cupitt, L. T., Durham, J. L., and Wilson, W. E. 1979b, Direct measurements of emission rates of some atmospheric biogenic sulfur compounds, Tellus 31, 174–178.
Aneja, V. P., Overton, J. H.Jr., Cupitt, L. T., Durham, J. L., and Wilson, W. E., 1979c, Carbon disulfide and carbonyl sulfide from biogenic sources and their contribution to the global sulfur cycle, Nature 282, 493–496.
Aneja, V. P., Overton, J. H. Jr., Cupitt, L. T., Durham, J. L., and Wilson, W. E., 1979, Measurements of Emission Rates of Carbon Disulfide from Biogenic Sources and its Possible Importance to the Stratospheric Aerosol Layer, presented at the 86th National Meeting of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Symposium on Aerosols, Houston, TX.
Baas Becking, L. G. M., and Wood, E. J. F., 1955, Biological processes in the estuarine environment. I and II. Ecology of the sulfur cycle, Koninkl. Ned. Akad. Wetenschap Proc. U. B48, 160–181.
Cappenberg, T. E., 1974, Interrelations between sulfate-reducing and methane-producing bacteria in bottom deposits of a fresh water lake. I. Field observation, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 40, 297–306.
Carroll, M. A., 1983, An Experimental Study of the Fluxes of Reduced Sulfur Gases from a Salt Water Marsh, Doctoral thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (Cooperative Thesis No. 73), Boulder, CO.
Crutzen, P. J., 1976, The possible importance of CSO for the sulfate layer of the stratophere, Geophys. Res. Lett. 3, 73–76.
Eriksson, E., 1960, The yearly circulation of chloride and sulfur in nature; meteorological, geochemical, and pedological implications, 2, Tellus 12, 63–109.
Eriksson, E., 1963, The yearly circulation of sulfur in nature, J. Geophys. Res. 68, 4001–4008.
Ferry, J. G., and Peck, H. D. Jr., 1977, Relationships between sulfate reduction and methane production in salt marsh sediments, Bacteriol. Proc. 236.
Foulger, B. E. and Simmonds, P. G., 1979, Drier for field use in the detection of trace atmospheric gases, Anal. Chem. 51, 1089–1090.
Friend, J. P., Chemistry of the Lower Atmosphere (S. I. Rasool, ed.), Plenum Press, N.Y., pp. 177–201.
Garrels, R. M., Mackenzie, F. T., and Hunt, C., 1973, Chemical Cycles and the Global Environment, William Kaufmann, Los Altos, California.
Goldberg, A. B., Maroulis, P. J., Wilner, L. A., and Bandy, A. R., 1981, Studies of H2S emissions from a salt water marsh, Atmos. Env. 15, 11–18.
Gooch, E. L., 1968, Hydrogen sulfide production and its effect on inorganic phosphate release from the sediments of the Canary Creek marsh. M. S. thesis, University of Delaware, Newark, Del.
Goodwin, J. T., Wakeham, S. G., Dacey, J. W. H., and Howes, B. C., 1982, Dimethyl Sulfide in Salt Marsh Pore Waters, presented at the Biogeochemistry of Particulates and Sediments Section of the AGU Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Granat, L., Rodhe, H., and Hallberg, R. O., 1976, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulphur — Global Cycles, (B. H. Svensson and R. Soderlund, eds.), SCOPE Report 7, Ecol. Bull., 22, pp. 89–134.
Gravenhorst, G., 1983, Der Einfluß von Wolken und Niederschlag auf die vertikale Verteilung atmosphärischer Spurenstoffe in einem eindimensionalen reaktionskinetischen Modell. Berichte des Instituts für Meteorologie und Geophysik der Universität Frankfurt a.M. Nr. 52, Tab. 14.
Hansen, M. H., Ingvorsen, K., and Jørgensen, B. B., 1978, Mechanisms of hydrogen sulfide release from coastal marine sediments to the atmosphere. Limnol. Oceanogr. 23, 68–76.
Hill, F. B., Aneja, V.P., and Felder, R. M., 1978, A technique for measurement of biogenic sulfur emission fluxes, Environ. Sci. and Health 13, 199–225.
Hitchcock, D. R., 1978, A problem with flux chamber measurements of biogenic sulfur emissions, unpublished manuscript.
Howes, B. L., Howarth, R. W., Teal, J. M., and Valiela, I., 1981, Oxidation-reduction potentials in a salt marsh: Spatial patterns and interactions with primary production, Limnol. Oceanogr. 26, 350–360.
Ingvorsen, K. and Jørgensen, B. B., 1982, Seasonal variation in H2S emission to the atmosphere from intertidal sediments in Denmark, Atmos. Env. 16, 855–865.
Ivanov, M. V., 1981, Some Perspectives of the Major Biogeochemical Cycles (G. E. Likens, ed.), SCOPE Report 17, John Wiley and Sons, pp. 61–78.
Junge, C. E., 1963a, Sulfur in the atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res. 68, 3975–3976.
Junge, C. E., 1963b, Air Chemistry and Radioactivity, Academic Press, New York, New York.
Kellogg, W. W., Cadle, R. D., Allen, E. R., Lazrus, A. L., and Martell, E. A., 1972, The sulfur cycle, Science 175, 587–596.
King, G. M., and Skyring, G. W., 1977, A seasonal study of methanogenesis in a Georgia salt marsh, Bacteriol. Proc. 243.
King, G. M. and Wiebe, W. J., 1978, Methane release from soils of a Georgia salt marsh, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42, 334–348.
King, G. M., Klug, M. J., Wiegert, R. G., and Chalmers, A. G., 1982, Relation of soil water movement and sulfide concentration to Spartina alterniflora production in a Georgia salt marsh, Science 218, 61–63.
Kuster, W. C. and Goldan, P. D., 1986, Quantitation of the losses of gaseous sulfur compounds to enclosure walls, Environ Sci. Technol. (submitted).
Linthurst, R. A., 1979, The effect of aeration on the growth of Spartina alterniflora Loisel, Am. J. Botany 66, 685–691.
Linthurst, R. A. and Seneca, E. D., 1980, The effects of standing water and drainage potential on the Spartina Alterniflora substrate complex in the North Carolina salt marsh, Est. and Cstl. Mar. Sci. 11, 41–52.
Lovelock, J. E., 1974, CS2 and the natural sulphur-cycle, Nature 248, 625–626.
Maroulis, Peter J., and Bandy, Alan R., 1977, Estimate of the contribution of biologically produced dimethyl sulfide to the global sulfur cycle, Science 196, 647–648.
Maroulis, P., Torres, A., and Bandy, A., 1977, Atmospheric concentrations of carbonyl sulfide in the southwestern and eastern United States, Geophys. Res. Lett. 4, 510–512.
Mendelssohn, I. A. and Seneca, E. C., 1980, The influence of soil drainage on the growth of salt marsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora in North Carolina, Est. and Cstl. Mar. Sci. 11, 27–40.
Moss, M. R., 1978, Sulfur in the Environment, Part I: The Atmospheric Cycle (J. O. Nriagu, ed.), John Wiley and Sons, N.Y., N.Y., pp. 23–50.
Oshrain, R. L., 1977, Aspects of Anaerobic Sulfur Metabolism in Salt Marsh Soils, Masters thesis, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Pearson, C. D. and Hines, W. J., 1977, Determination of hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, and sulfur dioxide in gases and hydrocarbon streams by gas chromatography/flame photometric detection, Anal. Chem. 49, 123–126.
Rasmussen, R. A., Khalil, M. A. K., and Hoyt, S. D., 1982, The oceanic source of carbonyl sulfide (OCS), Atmos. Env. 16, 1591–1594.
Robinson, E. and Robbins, R., 1968, Emissions, concentrations and fate of gaseous atmospheric pollutants, Stanford Research Inst., Menlo Park, California.
Robinson, E. and Robbins, R., 1970, Gaseous sulphur pollutants from urban and natural sources, J. Air Pollut. Control Assoc. 20, 303–306.
Schwarzenbach, R. P., Bromund, R. H., Gischwend, P. M., and Zafiriou, O. C., 1978, Volatile organic compounds in coastal seawater, Organic Geochem. 1, 93–107.
Skyring, G. W., Oshrain, R. L., and Wiebe, W. J., 1979, Sulfate reduction rates in Georgia marshland soils, Geomicrobio. J. 1, 389–400.
Sivanesaw, A. and Manners, J. G., 1972, Bacteria of muds colonized by Spartina townsendii and their possible role in Spartina die back, Plant and Soil 36, 349–361.
Steudler, P. A. and Peterson, B. J., 1984, Contribution of gaseous sulphur from salt marshes to the global sulphur cycle, Nature 311, 455–457.
Steudler, P. A. and Peterson, B. J., 1985, Annual cycle of gaseous sulfur emissions from a New England Spartina Alterniflora marsh, Atmos. Env. 19, 1,411–1,416.
Sze, N. D. and Ko, M. K. W., 1978, Stratospheric sulfur cycle: A theoretical model, unpublished manuscript.
Thorsnberry, W. L.Jr., 1971, Isothermal gas chromatographic separation of carbon dioxide, carbon oxysulfide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide, Anal. Chem., 43, 452–453.
Turco, R. P., Whitten, R. C., Toon, O. B., Pollack, J. B., and Hamill, P., 1980, OCS, stratospheric aerosols and climate, Nature 283, 283–286.
Várhelyi, G. and Gravenhorst, G., 1981, An attempt to estimate biogenic sulfur emission into the atmosphere, Idójárás 85, 126–133.
Winfrey, M. R. and Zeikus, J. G., 1977, Effect of sulfate on carbon and electron flow during microbial methanogenesis in freshwater sediments, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 33, 275–281.
Zehnder, A. J. B. and Zinder, S. H., 1980, Vol. 1, part a, Handbook of Env. Chem.: “The Natural Environment and the Biogeochemical Cycles”, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp. 105–145.
Zobell, C. E. and Rittenberg, S. E., 1948, Sulfate-reducing bacteria in marine sediments, J. Mar. Res. 7, 602–617.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carroll, M.A., Heidt, L.E., Cicerone, R.J. et al. OCS, H2S, and CS2 fluxes from a salt water marsh. J Atmos Chem 4, 375–395 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053811
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053811