TY - JOUR
T1 - Sea level rise produces abundant organobromines in salt-affected coastal wetlands
AU - Joe-Wong, C.
AU - Schlesinger, D. R.
AU - Chow, A. T.
AU - Myneni, Satish Chandra Babu
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Isaiah Ruhl and staff at the College of Science Major Instrument Cluster (COSMIC) at ODU for NMR analysis and Dr. Pat Hatcher for his assistance in analysing and interpreting NMR data. Thank you also to Aparna Raghu and Chris Habermann for help with the NJ soil study. We also thank the beamline scientists at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, National Synchrotron Light Source, and Advanced Photon Sources, which all are supported by the Department of Energy, Office and Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Finally, we thank Dr. Anne Morel-Kraepiel for reviewing the manuscript and providing critical comments. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation Geobiology program (award 1529927 to Clemson University and 1529956 to Princeton University) and Princeton University (Princeton Environmental Institute, Fred Fox Class of 1939 Fund, Office of the Dean of the College, and Department of Chemistry). Joe-Wong is supported by the Department of Defense through a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and a Stanford Graduate Fellowship. Schlesinger is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 European Association of Geochemistry. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Global sea level rise exposes terrestrially derived natural organic matter to elevated salinities, which may alter the complex biogeochemical cycling of halogens in coastal wetland sediments. Here we show that sea level rise increases the natural production of organobromines in submerged soils and wetland sediments. We compared the concentrations and speciation of sedimentary chlorine and bromine along a salinity gradient in low-lying coastal forested wetlands in Winyah Bay (South Carolina, United States). Sorption differences between chloride and bromide were not observed, but up to 80 % of total retained bromine is organically bound, with the highest fraction of organically bound bromine found in formerly freshwater wetlands inundated by seawater. Wet/dry cycling of soils and the abundance of aromatic-rich natural organic matter in these salt-affected dieback forested wetlands promote bromination of organic matter, as demonstrated by laboratory simulations. Bromination of soil organic matter caused by continued sea level rise thus may be a major source of organobromines in coastal environments and possibly volatile halomethanes.
AB - Global sea level rise exposes terrestrially derived natural organic matter to elevated salinities, which may alter the complex biogeochemical cycling of halogens in coastal wetland sediments. Here we show that sea level rise increases the natural production of organobromines in submerged soils and wetland sediments. We compared the concentrations and speciation of sedimentary chlorine and bromine along a salinity gradient in low-lying coastal forested wetlands in Winyah Bay (South Carolina, United States). Sorption differences between chloride and bromide were not observed, but up to 80 % of total retained bromine is organically bound, with the highest fraction of organically bound bromine found in formerly freshwater wetlands inundated by seawater. Wet/dry cycling of soils and the abundance of aromatic-rich natural organic matter in these salt-affected dieback forested wetlands promote bromination of organic matter, as demonstrated by laboratory simulations. Bromination of soil organic matter caused by continued sea level rise thus may be a major source of organobromines in coastal environments and possibly volatile halomethanes.
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U2 - 10.7185/geochemlet.1911
DO - 10.7185/geochemlet.1911
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067993261
SN - 2410-339X
VL - 10
SP - 31
EP - 35
JO - Geochemical Perspectives Letters
JF - Geochemical Perspectives Letters
ER -