Evaluation of petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in shallow groundwater by hydrogeochemical indicators and C, S-isotopes

Abstract

Biodegradation is one of the main natural attenuation processes in groundwater contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. In this work, preliminary studies have been carried out by analyzing the concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dominant terminal electron accepters or donors, as well as δ 13CDIC and δ 34SSO4, to reveal the biodegradation mechanism of petroleum hydrocarbons in a contaminated site. The results show that along groundwater flow in the central line of the plume, the concentrations of electron acceptors, pH, and E h increased but TPH and DIC decreased. The δ 13CDIC values of the contaminated groundwater were in the range of −14.02 to −22.28 ‰PDB and −7.71 to 8.36 ‰PDB, which reflected a significant depletion and enrichment of 13C, respectively. The increase of DIC is believed to result from the non-methanogenic and methanogenic biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon in groundwater. Meanwhile, from the contaminated source to the downgradient of the plume, the 34S in the contaminated groundwater became more depleted. The Rayleigh model calculation confirmed the occurrence of bacterial sulfate reduction as a biodegradation pathway of the petroleum hydrocarbon in the contaminated aquifers. It was concluded that stable isotope measurements, combined with other biogeochemical measurements, can be a useful tool to prove the occurrence of the biodegradation process and to identify the dominant terminal electron-accepting process in contaminated aquifers.