Elsevier

Applied Geochemistry

Volume 4, Issue 6, November–December 1989, Pages 543-563
Applied Geochemistry

The distribution, speciation and geochemical cycling of selenium in a sedimentary environment, Kesterson Reservoir, California, U.S.A.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-2927(89)90066-8Get rights and content

Abstract

The well-defined and intensively studied episode of Se contamination at Kesterson Reservoir (Merced County, California, U.S.A.) provided a unique opportunity to describe the distribution, speciation and geochemical transformations of Se in a variety of geochemical and ecological settings, ranging from permanent ponds to semi-arid grasslands and salt flats. Kesterson Reservoir comprises 500 ha of land contaminated with Se from agricultural drain water. In most places. Se was concentrated in surficial organic detritus and the surficial decimeter of mineral soil. At dry sites, selenate ion predominated below 20 cm depth. Elemental selenium (Se0) also was prominent. The amount of zero-valent Se increased slowly with time. Although selenate is thermodynamically stable in the vadose zone in the presence of oxygen, Se0 is an additional, metastable product of the mineralization of organic selenium. Thiols and inorganic sulfides dramatically increase the solubility of Se0. Decreasing pH inhibits the reaction, explaining the observed decrease in solubility and biological availability of Se in soil and aquatic systems at low pH. Adding thiols or methionine to soil increases the emission of volatile Se compounds several-fold, suggesting that thiols play a major role in the microbial cycling of Se in soil.

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