Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1080/10256016.2025.2461474
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Sources and fate of dissolved sulphate, carbonate, and nitrate in groundwater of the temperate climate zone: a high-resolution multi-isotope (H, C, O, S) study in north-eastern Germany
Author Jenner, A.-K.; Malik, C.; Böttcher, G.; Roeser, P.; Gehre, M.; Schmiedinger, I.; Böttcher, M.E.
Source Titel Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies
Year 2025
Department TECH
Volume 61
Issue 1
Page From 20
Page To 41
Language englisch
Topic T7 Bioeconomy
Supplements https://ndownloader.figstatic.com/files/52894721
Keywords Groundwater; spring water; hydro-biogeochemistry; stable isotopes (H,C,O,S); sources of carbonate; sulphate and nitrate denitrification; pyrite oxidation; microbial sulphate reduction; Southern Baltic Sea; North-eastern Germany
Abstract Different natural and anthropogenic drivers impact the groundwater in the catchment area of the southern Baltic Sea, north-eastern Germany. To understand the sources and fate of dissolved sulphate, carbonate, and nitrate on a regional scale, in the present study, the hydrogeochemical and multi-stable isotope (H, C, O, S) composition of groundwater samples from up to more than 300 sites (depths from near-surface down to 291 m) was studied. To investigate the element sources and the water–rock–microbe interaction processes that took place along the groundwater flow path, a mass balance approach is combined with physico-chemical modelling. Microbial oxidation of pyrite using nitrate as electron acceptor and a superimposition by dissimilatory sulphate reduction at depth is shown in a drilled vertical profile at one site. This trend frames the behaviour of sulphate at many investigated groundwater wells. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the groundwater was found to be controlled by the uptake of biogenic carbon dioxide, the dissolution of carbonate minerals, the in situ oxidation of DOC and, at a few sites, the formation and/or oxidation of biogenic methane. Enhanced groundwater DIC loads may potentially increase future CO2 degassing to the atmosphere upon release of groundwaters to the surface. These results form a comprehensive base for understanding the present situation and for future investigations.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=30600
Jenner, A.-K., Malik, C., Böttcher, G., Roeser, P., Gehre, M., Schmiedinger, I., Böttcher, M.E. (2025):
Sources and fate of dissolved sulphate, carbonate, and nitrate in groundwater of the temperate climate zone: a high-resolution multi-isotope (H, C, O, S) study in north-eastern Germany
Isot. Environ. Health Stud. 61 (1), 20 - 41 10.1080/10256016.2025.2461474