Partitioning microbial respiration between jet fuel and native organic matter in an organic-rich long time-contaminated aquifer

The relative importance of jet fuel biodegradation relative to the respiration of natural organic matter in a contaminated organic-rich aquifer underlying a fire training area at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, USA was determined with isotopic measurements. Thirteen wells were sampled and analyzed for BTX (benzene, toluene, xylene), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and CH4 concentrations, and δ13C and 14C of DIC. Results range from non-detectable to 3790 ppb, 1.4–24 mM, 0.2–776 μM, +5.8‰ to −22‰, and from 52 to 99 pmc, respectively. Residual fuel was confined to two center wells underlying the fire training area. DIC and CH4 concentrations were elevated down-gradient of the contamination, but also at sites that were not in the apparent flow path of the contaminated groundwater. DIC exhibited greatest δ13C enrichment at highest DIC and CH4 concentrations indicating that CH4 production was an important respiration mode. Radiocarbon-depleted DIC was observed at sites with high hydrocarbon concentrations and down-gradient of the site. The results indicate that while natural attenuation was not rapidly reducing the quantity of free product overlying the aquifer at the site of contamination, it was at least constraining its flow away from the spill site. Apparently under the conditions of this study, BTX was degraded as rapidly as it was dissolved.