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MICROBIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN A SHALLOW HYDROCARBON-CONTAMINATED AQUIFER ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY
Citation:
Werkema, D, E. Atekwana, J. W. Duris, AND S. Rossbach. MICROBIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN A SHALLOW HYDROCARBON-CONTAMINATED AQUIFER ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY. Presented at Joint Assembly of the European Geophysical Society, and the American Geophysical Union and European Union of Geosciences Spring 2003 meeting, Nice, France, April 4-13, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
Research is being conducted to improve and evaluate the resolution of the CR, EM, seismic, and GPR methods over complex geological formations (such as fractured geologies) and to evaluate the capability of these geophysical methods to delineate subsurface organic contaminants.
Description:
Little is known about the complex interactions between microbial communities and electrical properties in contaminated aquifers. In order to investigate possible connections between these parameters a study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that the degradation of hydrocarbons by resident microbial communities causes a local increase in organic acid concentrations, which in tum cause an increase in native mineral weathering and a concurrent increase in the bulk electrical conductivity of soil. Microbial commmunity structure was analyzed using a 96-well most probable number (MPN) method and rDNA intergenic spacer region analysis (RISA). Microbial community structure was found to change in the presence of hydrocarbon contaminants and these changes were consistently observed in regions of high electrical conductivity. We infer from this relationship that geophysical methods for monitoring the subsurface are a promising new technology for monitoring changes in microbial community structure and simultaneous changes in geochemistry that are associated with hydrocarbon degradation.