Hydrologic significance of carbon monoxide concentrations in ground water

Ground Water
By:  and 

Links

Abstract

Dissolved carbon monoxide (CO) is present in ground water produced from a variety of aquifer systems at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 20 nanomoles per liter (0.0056 to 0.56 μg/L). In two shallow aquifers, one an unconsolidated coastal plain aquifer in Kings Bay, Georgia, and the other a fractured‐bedrock aquifer in West Trenton, New Jersey, long‐term monitoring showed that CO concentrations varied over time by as much as a factor of 10. Field and laboratory evidence suggests that the delivery of dissolved oxygen to the soil zone and underlying aquifers by periodic recharge events stimulates oxic metabolism and produces transiently high CO concentrations. In between recharge events, the aquifers become anoxic and more substrate limited, CO is consumed as a carbon source, and CO concentrations decrease. According to this model, CO concentrations provide a transient record of oxic metabolism affecting ground water systems after dissolved oxygen has been fully consumed. Because the delivery of oxygen affects the fate and transport of natural and anthropogenic contaminants in ground water, CO concentration changes may be useful for identifying predominantly anoxic ground water systems subject to periodic oxic or microaerophilic conditions.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Hydrologic significance of carbon monoxide concentrations in ground water
Series title Ground Water
DOI 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2007.00284.x
Volume 45
Issue 3
Year Published 2007
Language English
Contributing office(s) Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
Description 9 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Ground Water
First page 272
Last page 280
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details