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Microcosm depth profiles of arsenic release in a shallow aquifer, West Bengal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

A. G. Gault ,
F. S. Islam ,
D. A. Polya ,
J. M. Charnock ,
C. Boothman ,
D. Chatterjee  and
J. R. Lloyd
A. G. Gault*
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
F. S. Islam
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
D. A. Polya
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
J. M. Charnock
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD, UK
C. Boothman
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
D. Chatterjee
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal, 741 235, India
J. R. Lloyd
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
*
*E-mail: Andrew.gault@manchester.ac.uk
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Abstract

Arsenic mobilization and Fe(III) reduction in acetate-amended sediments collected from a range of depths from an aquifer with elevated groundwater arsenic concentrations in West Bengal were monitored over a 1 month period. Significant arsenic release was noted in sediment collected from 24 m and 45 m depth, with some Fe(III) reduction also observed in the 24 m sample. The structure of the microbial communities present in the sediments prior to incubation showed marked differences down the sediment column. Profiling of the microbial community in the 24 m and 45 m samples revealed a relatively complex make-up, with Acinetobacter species comprising the bulk of the 24 m sedimentary bacterial population, but no previously characterized As(V)-reducers were detected in either sample.

Keywords

arsenicmicrocosmaquiferBengalAcinetobacter
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 69 , Issue 5 , October 2005 , pp. 855 - 863
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2005

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