Dark oxidation of water in soils

• Main Authors: Siegfried Fleischer, Lovisa Bauhn, Patrik Fors, Arvid Ödegaard-Jensen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2013-12-01
• Series: Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology
• Subjects: dark water oxidation; soil CO2 reduction; soil oxygen release; soil respiration
• Online Access: http://www.tellusb.net/index.php/tellusb/article/download/20490/pdf_1

We report the release of oxygen (O2) under dark conditions in aerobic soils. This unexpected process is hidden by respiration which constitutes the dominating reversal O2 flux. By using H2 18O in different soils, we confirmed that 16O18O and 18O2 released under dark soil conditions originated from added H2 18O. Water is the only large-scale source of electrons for reduction of CO2 in soils, but it has not been considered as an electron donor because of the very strong oxidation system needed. A high share of soil inorganic material seems to favor the release of O2.To access the supplementary material to this article, please see Supplementary files under Article Tools online.