Monosulfidic black ooze accumulations in sediments of the Geographe Bay area, Western Australia

Abstract

Mobilisation of sedimentary monosulfidic black ooze (MBO) may result in rapid deoxygenation and acidification of surface waters, and release of potentially toxic metals. This study examines the extent and nature of MBO accumulation in the Geographe Bay area, Western Australia. MBO accumulations were found to be widespread in benthic sediments of the Geographe Bay area with acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) contents as high as 320μmolg−1. The MBO materials often had unusually high dissolved sulfide (S−II) concentrations in their pore-waters (up to 610mgL−1) and elevated elemental sulfur (S0) contents (up to 51μmolg−1). Dissolved S−II is able to accumulate due to limited iron availability and S0 is largely its partial oxidation product. The availability of organic carbon and Fe limited MBO accumulation at many sites. A comparison of AVS and simultaneously extracted metal (SEM) concentrations has shown that metals are likely to be bound in sulfide complexes.