Hydrogen and acetate cycling in two sulfate-reducing sediments: Buzzards Bay and Town Cove, Mass.

Molecular hydrogen and acetate are believed to be key intermediates in the anaerobic remineralization of organic carbon. We have made measurements of the cycling of both these compounds in two marine sediments: the bioturbated sediments of Buzzards Bay, Mass., and the much more reducing sediments of Town Cove, Orleans, Mass. Hydrogen concentrations are similar in these environments (from less than 5 to 30 nM), and are within the range previously reported for coastal sediments. However, apparent hydrogen production rates differ by a factor of 60 between these two sediments and at both sites show strong correlation with measured rates of sulfate reduction. Acetate concentrations generally increased with depth in both environments; this increase was greater in Buzzards Bay (22.5 to 71.5 μM) than in Town Cove (26 to 44 μM). Acetate oxidation rates calculated from measured concentrations and 14C-acetate consumption rate constants suggest that the measured acetate was not all available to sulfate-reducing bacteria. Using the measured sulfate reduction rates, we estimate that between 2% and 100% of the measured acetate pool is biologically available, and that the “bioavailable” pool decreases with depth. A diagenetic model of the total acetate concentration suggests that consumption may be first order with respect to only a fraction of the total pool.