Analysis of Organic and Inorganic Sulfur Constituents in Sediments, Soils and Water

Abstract

Abstract A suite of analytical methods for determining the amount of organic sulfur (carbon-bonded sulfur and ester sulfate) and inorganic sulfur (sulfate and sulfide) is described. Organic sulfur fractions, which have often been ignored, are major constituents of oxic substrates and have a major role in sulfur dynamics. Methods of sample preparation and a modification of the Johnson-Nishita digestion-distillation apparatus are given. HCl digestion, Zn-HCl reduction, hydriodic acid reduction, sulfate extraction, wet oxidation and dry oxidation are utilized for determining sulfur constituents. With only minor modifications these analyses were adapted for examining 35S transformation rates. Results from these analyses on sewage sludge, lake sediment, soil, and water demonstrate the usefulness of these methods.