Abstract
THE diffusive boundary layer (DBL) is a thin (≲1 mm) film of water that covers the sea floor, and through which molecular diffusion is the dominant transport mechanism for dissolved material. The diffusive fluxes are a measure of the rate of remineralization of organic matter in the sea bed, and of the dissolution or precipitation of minerals such as carbonates or metal oxides. Here we report detailed in situ analyses of chemical microgradients within the DBL, using a microelectrode profiling instrument with a spatial resolution of 25–50 µm. Over a Danish coastal sediment at 15 m water depth, the DBL was 0.5-0.7 mm thick and showed both stochastic fluctuations of oxygen distribution owing to boundary-layer turbulence and harmonic oscillations resulting from surface waves. A three-dimensional mapping of the DBL and the corresponding sediment surface showed that the DBL was spatially well defined and followed surface contours, but smoothed out sediment microtopographic features smaller than 100 µm. The three-dimensional oxygen diffusive flux across the sediment/water interface was about 2.5 times higher than that calculated from a simple one-dimensional diffusion model. These results indicate that benthic oxygen consumption and other fluxes can be studied by direct measurement of DBL microgradients at the undisturbed sea floor.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Shaw, D. A. & Hanratty, T. J. Am. Inst. chem. Eng. J. 23, 28–37 (1977).
Boudreau, B. P. & Guinasso, N. L. Jr in The Dynamic Environment of the Ocean Floor (eds Fanning, K. A. & Manheim, F. T.) 111–145 (Lexington, Massachusetts, 1982).
Santchi, P. H., Bower, P., Nyffeler, U. P., Azevedo, A. & Broecker, W. S. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28, 899–912 (1983).
Jørgensen, B. B. & Revsbech, N. P. Limnol. Oceanogr. 30, 111–122 (1985).
Archer, D., Emerson, S. & Smith, C. R. Nature 340, 623–626 (1989).
Boudreau, B. P. Am. J. Sci. 288, 777–797 (1988).
Hall, P. O. J. et al. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34, 734–746 (1989).
Schink, D. R. & Guinasso, N. L. Jr in The Fate of Fossil Fuel CO2 in the Oceans (eds Andersen, N. R. & Malahoff, A.) 375–399 (Plenum, New York, 1977).
Revsbech, N. P. Linmol. Oceanogr. 34, 474–478 (1989).
Revsbech, N. P. & Jørgensen, B. B. Adv. microbiol. Ecol. 9, 293–352 (1986).
Reimers, C. E. Deep Sea Res. 34, 2019–2035 (1987).
Reimers, C. E., Fischer, K. M., Merewether, R., Smith, K. L. Jr. & Jahnke, R. A. Nature 320, 741–744 (1986).
Revsbech, N. P. J. Microbiol. Meth. 9, 111–122 (1989).
Sweerts, J-P. R. A., St Louis, V. & Cappenberg, T. E. Freshwater Biol. 21, 401–409 (1989).
Crank, J. The Mathematics of Diffusion (Clarendon, Oxford, 1975).
Broecker, W. S. & Peng, T-H. Tellus 26, 21–35 (1974).
Campbell, J. A. & Hanratty, T. J. Am. Inst. chem. Eng. J. 29, 215–221 (1983).
Dworak, R. & Wendt, H. Ber. Bunsenges. phys. Chem. 81, 864–869.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gundersen, J., Jorgensen, B. Microstructure of diffusive boundary layers and the oxygen uptake of the sea floor. Nature 345, 604–607 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/345604a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/345604a0
This article is cited by
-
Development of a new high-throughput and small-size method for measuring sediment oxygen demand in lakes
Journal of Soils and Sediments (2021)
-
Total Microbial Activity and Sulfur Cycling Microbe Changes in Response to the Development of Hypoxia in a Shallow Estuary
Ocean Science Journal (2020)
-
Marine nitrogen fixers mediate a low latitude pathway for atmospheric CO2 drawdown
Nature Communications (2019)
-
Oxygen transport in periodically ventilated polychaete burrows
Marine Biology (2016)
-
Microscale chemical features of sediment-water interface in Hongfeng Lake
Journal of Earth Science (2016)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.