Sulfur speciation in bottom sediments from the Peru upwelling area

Sulfur speciation in bottom sediments from the area of the Peru upwelling has been studied. Data on sulfur contents in different compounds (sulfide, elemental, sulfate, pyritic and organic), water content, Eh, and organic carbon content in the bottom sediments have been obtained. The bottom sediments from the area are characterized by high content of organic carbon and low contents of total and reactive iron; this is typical for bottom sediments from ocean upwelling areas. Intense process of sulfate reduction occurs in the bottom sediments of the area, and accumulation of reduced sulfur compounds derivated from bacterial hydrogen sulfide does not exceed previously known values for other regions of the ocean.

本研究针对秘鲁上升流区域的海底沉积物硫形态展开了系统研究，获取了该海底沉积物中不同形态硫（硫化物（sulfide）、单质硫（elemental sulfur）、硫酸盐（sulfate）、黄铁矿硫（pyritic）、有机硫（organic sulfur））的含量、含水率、氧化还原电位（Eh）以及有机碳含量相关数据。该区域海底沉积物以高有机碳含量、低总铁与活性铁含量为典型特征，这与海洋上升流区域海底沉积物的普遍特征相符。该区域海底沉积物中存在强烈的硫酸盐还原作用，但其由细菌代谢产生硫化氢所衍生的还原态硫化合物的累积量，并未超出此前已知的其他海洋区域相关数值。