On the rates of sulfide formation and oxidation in the Black Sea during the cold season

Abstract

The rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation in the redox zone of the Black Sea and the rate of the hydrogen sulfide formation due to bacterial sulfate reduction in the upper layer of the anaerobic waters were measured during the period of February–April 1991. The measurements were made using a sulfur radioisotope under conditions close to those in situ. It was established that the hydrogen sulfide is oxidized in the layer where oxygen and hydrogen sulfide coexist, which is under the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide layer. The maximum rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation was recorded within the limits of the density values δτ of 16.20–16.30, while varying in the layer from 2 to 4.5 μM/day. The average rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation was 1.5–3 times higher than that during the warm season. Sulfide formation was not observed at most of the stations in the examined lower portion of the pycnocline layer (140 to 400 m depths). Noticeable sulfate reduction was detected only at one station on the northwestern shelf. A probable reason for such noticeable changes in the sulfur dynamics in the water mass of the Black Sea may be the intensified hydrodynamics in the upper layers of the water mass during the cold season. The data suggesting that hydrogen sulfide oxidation proceeds under the hydrogen sulfide boundary indicate the absence of the so called “suboxic zone” in this basin.