Pyrite formation driven by MSW landfill leachate in the Madrid Basin, Spain

Abstract

The role of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill leachate on the genesis of minor amounts of pyrite associated with gypsum in an otherwise predominantly evaporitic sequence was studied in geological and geochemical terms. The potential association between landfill leachate and the conditions required for bacterial reduction of sulfate and fixation of H2S as pyrite were examined. The lithological column was generally found to contain little or no Fe. The δ34S values for sulfates were consistent with previously reported data; however, the measured δ18O values were slightly higher. Sulfides disseminated in the marl/lutite exhibited higher δ34S values (≈−8‰) than gypsum-coating pyrite crystals (δ34S < −30‰). Dissolution of gypsum to sulfate and the supply of metabolizable organic matter and Fe required for H2S fixation as sulfides may have originated from landfill leachate. Intermittent availability of leachate, a result of the precipitation regime, can facilitate sulfur disproportionation and lead to fractionations as high as \(\delta_{\text{SO}_{4}^{2-}-{\text{S}^{2-}}}\approx - {\text{50}}\permille.\)