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Oxidation and Acidification of Anaerobic Sediment‐Water Systems by Autoclaving
Author(s) -
Tratnyek Paul G.,
Wolfe N. Lee
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1993.00472425002200020019x
Subject(s) - slurry , sediment , anaerobic exercise , redox , reduction potential , environmental chemistry , chemistry , electrode , inorganic chemistry , environmental science , environmental engineering , geology , biology , physiology , paleontology
The effect of autoclaving on the acid/base and redox properties of anaerobic sediment slurries was determined to facilitate the interpretation of autoclaved controls in studies of environmental reduction reactions. Autoclaving decreased electrode measurements of pH by 0.26 to 0.68 units and increased electrode measurements of Eh by 34 to 94 mV. To corroborate this effect, we added redox indicators to the slurries and observed that autoclaving caused a shift in color consistent with the change in electrode measurements. Further investigation demonstrated that the observed effects are a common characteristic of autoclaving anaerobic sediment and are not limited to very restricted sediment types and are not artifacts of the way the experiments were performed.