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Factors affecting the formation and oxidation of sulphides in a polluted estuary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

A. B. Wheatland
A. B. Wheatland
Affiliation:
Water Pollution Research Laboratory, Langley Road, Watford
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Factors affecting the formation and destruction of sulphide in the Thames Estuary have been discussed. Measurements of oxidation-reduction potentials show that the effect of oxygen in the water on conditions in deposits of mud is limited to the surface layer. The rate of formation of sulphide increases with temperature, doubling approximately for each 10° C. rise. Reduction of sulphate to sulphide will occur at temperatures as low as 5° C., but even at 25° C. is inhibited by traces of dissolved oxygen. Mud in suspension in the estuary can produce as much sulphide as compact layers of similar mud which might be more anaerobic.

Oxidation of sulphide in the Thames Estuary is shown to be of a purely chemical nature; the rate of oxidation, when oxygen is present, is increased by the presence of suspended matter and iron. In the Thames Estuary, however, the rate is limited by the rate at which oxygen enters the water.

Much of the experimental work described in this paper was carried out by Miss A. Laird, Mr A. E. Sutton and Mr R. B. Peel of this Laboratory. The paper is published by permission of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , June 1954 , pp. 194 - 210
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1954

References

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