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Science 13 July 1990:
Vol. 249. no. 4965, pp. 152 - 154
DOI: 10.1126/science.249.4965.152
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Articles

A Thiosulfate Shunt in the Sulfur Cycle of Marine Sediments

Bo Barker Jørgensen 1

1 Department of Ecology and Genetics, University Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

The oxidation of sulfide, generated by bacterial sulfate reduction, is a key process in the biogeochemistry of marine sediments, yet the pathways and oxidants are poorly known. By the use of 35S-tracer studies of the S cycle in marine and freshwater sediments, a novel shunt function of thiosulfate (S2O32-) was identified. The S2O32- constituted 68 to 78 percent of the immediate HS--oxidation products and was concurrently (i) reduced back to HS-, (ii) oxidized to SO42-, and (iii) disproportionated to HS- + SO42-. The small thiosulfate pool is thus involved in a dynamic HS- - S2O32- cycle in anoxic sediments. The disproportionation of thiosulfate may help account for the large difference in isotopic composition (34S/32S) of sulfate and sulfides in sediments and sedimentary rocks.


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