Franck Gilbert

Coupled anoxic nitrification/manganese reduction in marine sediments

Pore water and solid phase distributions of oxygen, manganese, and nitrogen from hemipelagic and shelf sediments sometimes indicate a close coupling between the manganese and nitrogen redox cycles. Reaction coupling must be sustained in part by biological reworking of Mn-oxide-rich surface sediments into underlying anoxic zones. Surface sediment from Long Island Sound (USA) was used in laboratory experiments to simulate such intermittent natural mixing processes and subsequent reaction evolution. Mixed sediment was incubated anoxically under either diffusively open (plugs) or closed conditions (jars). In closed anoxic incubations, pore water NO3− increased regularly to a maximum (up to 17 μM) after one to several days, and was subsequently depleted. Mn2+ was produced simultaneously with NO3−. NO2− was also clearly produced and subsequently reduced, with a formation-depletion pattern consistent with coupled nitrification-denitrification in the anoxic sediment. Manipulative additions of Mn-oxides (5–10 μmol g−1 net) demonstrated that net anoxic NO3− production correlated directly with initial Mn-oxide content. During initial net NO3− production there was no evidence for SO42− reduction. A direct correlation was also observed between anoxic nitrification rates and estimated sulfate reduction rates; the larger nitrification rates, the larger the eventual net sulfate reduction rates. Diffusively-open incubations using sediment plugs of four different thicknesses (2, 5, 10 and 20 mm) exposed to anoxic overlying water, also showed net production of pore water NO3− (∼15–20 μM) despite the absence of NO3− in the overlying water for at least five days. In general, higher nitrate concentrations were maintained in the open relative to the closed incubations, due most likely to lower concentrations of dissolved reductants for NO3− in the open system. These experiments imply simultaneous coupling between the benthic nitrogen, manganese, and sulfur redox cycles, involving anoxic nitrification and sulfide oxidation to SO42−. Anoxic nitrate production during Mn reduction indicates that nitrification and denitrification can occur simultaneouslyin subsurface sediments, without vertical stratification. The existence of anoxic nitrification implies new reaction pathways capable of increasing coupled sedimentary nitrification-denitrification, particularly in bioturbated or physically mixed deposits.

Influence of bioturbation on denitrification activity in Mediterranean coastal sediments: an in situ experimental approach

An in situ experiment was conducted in the French Mediterranean littoral (Gulf of Fos) from July 1993 to January 1994 using controls without macrofauna or natural sediments. After 1 . 4 and 6 mo, sediment reworhng and denitnfication activities (natural and potential rates) were studied. The bacterial processes were stimulated by the bioturbating activity of the autochthonous infauna The natural and potential denitrification rates were 160 and 280% higher, respectively, than in the controls. The increase of denitrification, occurring at different depths in the sediment with respect to time, was directly dependent on the macrofaunal activity.

Rapid assessment of metabolic activity in marine microalgae: application in ecotoxicological tests and evaluation of water quality

A new method for the assessment of the effects of several contaminants on marine microalgae,Tetraselmis suecica (Kyling) Butcher,Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve, andProrocentrum lima (Ehrenberg) Dodge was developed in 1990. The method is based on the measurement of cell esterase activity using a fluorimetric stain, fluorescein diacetate (FDA), selected from amongst three stains (FDA, Neutral Red, thiazolyl tetrazolium bromure) for its higher sensitivity. Biochemical (Km,Vmax) and physiological (growth, specific activity) aspects of the enzymatic activity as revealed by the FDA method are discussed. Different categories of compounds (weed-killers, insecticides, metals) and some water samples from Seine Bay were tested for their toxic effects on microalgae. Experiments were performed on microplates using a fluorimetric microplate reader. The various steps of the experiments and data-processing were controlled by software. Applications of the system to rapid ecotoxicological tests (determination of the IC50, i.e., the concentration at which 50% inhibition of growth occurs) and to the assessment of environment quality by studying the toxic effect of water samples on microalgae are proposed.

Imaging Oxygen Distribution in Marine Sediments. The Importance of Bioturbation and Sediment Heterogeneity

The influence of sediment oxygen heterogeneity, due to bioturbation, on diffusive oxygen flux was investigated. Laboratory experiments were carried out with 3 macrobenthic species presenting different bioturbation behaviour patterns: the polychaetes Nereis diversicolor and Nereis virens, both constructing ventilated galleries in the sediment column, and the gastropod Cyclope neritea, a burrowing species which does not build any structure. Oxygen two-dimensional distribution in sediments was quantified by means of the optical planar optode technique. Diffusive oxygen fluxes (mean and integrated) and a variability index were calculated on the captured oxygen images. All species increased sediment oxygen heterogeneity compared to the controls without animals. This was particularly noticeable with the polychaetes because of the construction of more or less complex burrows. Integrated diffusive oxygen flux increased with oxygen heterogeneity due to the production of interface available for solute exchanges between overlying water and sediments. This work shows that sediment heterogeneity is an important feature of the control of oxygen exchanges at the sediment–water interface.

Impact of oil on bacterial community structure in bioturbated sediments

Oil spills threaten coastlines where biological processes supply essential ecosystem services. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how oil influences the microbial communities in sediments that play key roles in ecosystem functioning. Ecosystems such as sediments are characterized by intensive bioturbation due to burrowing macrofauna that may modify the microbial metabolisms. It is thus essential to consider the bioturbation when determining the impact of oil on microbial communities. In this study, an experimental laboratory device maintaining pristine collected mudflat sediments in microcosms closer to true environmental conditions – with tidal cycles and natural seawater – was used to simulate an oil spill under bioturbation conditions. Different conditions were applied to the microcosms including an addition of: standardized oil (Blend Arabian Light crude oil, 25.6 mg.g−1 wet sediment), the common burrowing organism Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor and both the oil and H. diversicolor. The addition of H. diversicolor and its associated bioturbation did not affect the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons. After 270 days, 60% of hydrocarbons had been removed in all microcosms irrespective of the H. diversicolor addition. However, 16S-rRNA gene and 16S-cDNA T-RFLP and RT-PCR-amplicon libraries analysis showed an effect of the condition on the bacterial community structure, composition, and dynamics, supported by PerMANOVA analysis. The 16S-cDNA libraries from microcosms where H. diversicolor was added (oiled and un-oiled) showed a marked dominance of sequences related to Gammaproteobacteria. However, in the oiled-library sequences associated to Deltaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were also highly represented. The 16S-cDNA libraries from oiled-microcosms (with and without H. diversicolor addition) revealed two distinct microbial communities characterized by different phylotypes associated to known hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and dominated by Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. In the oiled-microcosms, the addition of H. diversicolor reduced the phylotype-richness, sequences associated to Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Plantomycetes were not detected. These observations highlight the influence of the bioturbation on the bacterial community structure without affecting the biodegradation capacities.

Effect of bioturbation on denitrification in a marine sediment from the West Mediterranean littoral

Thein vitro effect ofNereis diversicolor on denitrification has been studied in PVC tubes filled with a coastal marine sediment defaunated by sieving. The first aim of the experiment was to determine the effect of sediment defaunation on denitrification (denitrifying population and Denitrifying Enzyme Assays). Sieving induced a loss of 70% of the initial DEA. The number of denitrifying bacteria was 10 times lower than inin situ sediment. In the top two centimetres, the DEA rose by 75% of its initial value, after 82 days. Polychaetes were only added after a return to near pre-disturbance levels to ensure that our data on the effects of their addition would not be disturbed by changes in the sediment.Introduction of Polychaetes increased the denitrifying population and DEA in the first layer (0–2 cm) of the sediment after 15 days. After 45 days, the surface of the polychaete burrows in sediment was 1.3 to 1.5 times higher than after 15 days, resulting in an increase in solute exchange between seawater and the top layer of sediment. An inhibitory effect of oxygen on denitrification was detected in the uppermost layer only.

In situ bioturbation and hydrocarbon fate in an experimental contaminated Mediterranean coastal ecosystem

An in situ experiment was conducted in the French Mediterranean littoral (Gulf of Fos) from July 1992 to January 1993 using cores containing defaunated or natural sediment. Particulate tracers (luminophores) and hydrocarbons (Arabian Light crude oil) were deposited at the sediment surface. After 1, 4 and 6 months, luminophore and hydrocarbon (saturated fraction) distribution patterns in the sedimentary column were studied. After 6 months, in presence of bioturbation, 23.7 % of the luminophores and 14.2 % of the hydrocarbons initialy deposited were buried, down to depths of 10 cm and 6 cm depth respectively. Hydrocarbons were biodegraded both at the surface and within the sediment.

The in vitro influence of the burrowing polychaete Nereis diversicolor on the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in marine sediments

The in vitro fate of the saturated hydrocarbon fraction (SF) of Arabian Light crude oil has been studied in PVC cores filled with a coastal marine sediment defaunated by sieving. Experiments were conducted in absence or presence of polychaetes Nereis diversicolor. The luminophore tracer technique was used to quantify the mixing of sediment by worms. Presence of crude oil reduced the building of burrows by polychaetes. This work demonstrates the ability of infaunal organisms to stimulate both downard and outward transfers of hydrocarbons from sediment reservoirs. In non-bioturbated sediment hydrocarbons were confined to the sediment surface. Introduction of polychaetes in sediment (1) induced the burying of SF in sediment (2.5 % and 13.5 % of the initial surface input after 15 and 45 days, respectively); (2) enhanced the exportation of SF in the overlying water (plus 59 % and 23.5 % compared to defaunated control sediment after 15 and 45 days, respectively). Buried hydrocarbons were submitted to biodegradation, from 2 cm to 10 cm depth in polychaete burrows, after 45 days.

Burial and reactivity of sedimentary microalgal lipids in bioturbated Mediterranean coastal sediments

Abstract The fate of microalgal lipid biomarkers in marine coastal sediments when acted on by natural bioturbation processes (Carteau Bay, Gulf of Fos, Mediterranean Sea) was studied under laboratory conditions. Both dead phytoplanktonic cells ( Nannochloropsis salina ) and luminophores (inert fluorescent particulate tracers) were deposited at the surface of intact sediment cores which were then incubated for 22, 44 and 63 days. Sediment reworking and concentration profiles of specific lipid components of N. salina ( n -alkenes, alkyl diols, sterols and fatty acids) were determined as a function of time and depth. The results show that, in the sediment investigated, bioturbation occurs essentially as a biodiffusive process and that it has a rapid and significant impact on the qualitative and quantitative record of sedimentary lipids. Whereas most of the biomarkers were detected in the entire reworked layer (0–6 cm) after 22 days, n -alkenes were never detected below 3 cm due to their low concentration and their high reactivity. For each individual lipid, the comparison of the amounts obtained from the inventories of biomarkers in the reworked zone, with the amount deposited initially at the sediment surface, allowed the determination of its extent and rate of degradation. These ranged from 72% to 99% and from 0.010 to 0.047 day −1 , respectively, depending on the biomarker considered, with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and alkenes being degraded faster than the other components. Comparison with previous work suggests that, in biologically reworked sediments, the apparent reactivity of lipids is: (i) positively correlated with the biological mixing coefficient ( D b ) and, (ii) generally much higher than in non-bioturbated (anoxic) sediments. Our results also support the idea that degradation of lipids in reworked sediments involves the combined effects of aerobic and anaerobic degradation processes, but that biological mixing results in diagenetic properties more characteristic of completely oxidized conditions.

2-D optical quantification of particle reworking activities in marine surface sediments

Abstract Particle and solute transport by faunal activities may significantly influence rates and pathways of organic matter mineralization during early diagenesis in surface sediments. One of the most frequently utilized techniques to quantify benthic biological reworking activities involves the calculation of a biodiffusion coefficient ( D b ) estimated from model predictions of 1-D tracer distribution patterns. This technique is labor-intensive and time-demanding. Furthermore, it is normally used for measurements over several days and averages overall transport mechanisms from 3-D to 1-D on a cm scale. In the frame of this work, we developed a new technique based on the nondestructive screening of fluorescent particles (luminophores) using optical discrimination and CCD camera detection of fluorescence (2-D). At a site characterized by a dense population of the brittle star Amphiura filiformis and a high biodiffusion coefficient (obtained from 1-D distributions; D b =35.5±3.7 cm −2 year −1 ; n =3), the optical reworking coefficient (ORC), estimated from the 2-D luminophore distribution patterns, was calculated (ORC=27.4±9.1 Δ Q cm −2 h −1 ; n =24). A nondestructive 2-D approach to quantify particle reworking may provide a powerful and complementary tool to further understand particle transport by the benthic fauna in surface sediments. The optical technique for 2-D detection of luminophores is relatively fast and easy to perform, with the ability to detect small scale (mm) particle movements on a time resolution of minutes or less.