Distribution and isotopic composition of sulfur in lake sediments of northern Ontario

Abstract

Sediments from unpolluted and highly polluted lakes in northern Ontario have been fractionated into acid volatile sulfide, HCl-soluble sulfur, elemental sulfur, pyrite sulfur, ester sulfate and carbon-bonded sulfur and the isotopic composition of each fraction determined. In general, reduced inorganic S constitutes 25–50% of the total S in the polluted surficial sediments, but is <20% in the unpolluted samples, with pyrite formation being a minor process of S diagenesis in lake sediment ecosystems. Organic S in the form of ester sulfate and carbon-bonded S predominates and both the C/S ratios and the isotopic data suggest that, in unpolluted lakes, plant detritus can be a major contributor of organic-S to the sediments. The depth profiles observed suggest that the more labile ester sulfate is diagenetically converted to the carbon-bonded form. For the polluted sediments from the Sudbury basin, the isotopic data suggest that (a) the elemental S is derived from the oxidation of acid volatile sulfide in the aerobic surficial sediments, and (b) the isotopically light reduced S species are incorporated into the organic material. S diagenesis in lake sediments generally results in the release of 34S to the overlying water. The suggestion is made that sulfate concentrations over 5 mg/1 accompanied by an enrichment of surficial sediments with isotopically different S may signal significant inputs of pollutant S into the lake and its basin.