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<p>Ever deeper wells are drilled worldwide to pump potable groundwater. Recent studies argue that overpumping compresses clays and releases reactive dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which in turn drives a series of microbial reactions that affect groundwater potability including arsenic concentrations. Here, we use a novel method to measure the radiocarbon ages of microbial RNA to determine the source of reactive or metabolizable DOC and argue against the compression of clays as the sole source of carbon. We show that microbial RNA (5,230; 5,550; 6,250 yr; n = 3 wells), DOC (280-10,800 yr; n = 13), and methane (modern to 6,240 yr; n = 3), from an overpumped deep aquifer in Bangladesh are much younger than the overlying clay layers deposited during the Pleistocene over 12,000 years ago. Mass-balance indicates that at least half of the carbon incorporated into RNA has to come from reactive DOC or methane that is advected downward via vertical recharge. This metabolism of advected organic carbon could have implications for the quality of water pumped from deep aquifers.</p>

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Advected carbon younger than the sediment fuels microbial metabolism in a pumped deep aquifer

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月8日

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  • Brian J. Mailloux,
  • Kazi Matin Ahmed,
  • Afsana Akter,
  • Sarah Blau,
  • Benjamin Bostick,
  • Bruce A. Buchholz,
  • Imtiaz Choudhury,
  • Tyler Ellis,
  • Charles Harvey,
  • Mahfuzur Khan,
  • Madeleine Killough,
  • Maggie C. Y. Lau Vetter,
  • Holly Michael,
  • Rajib Mozumder,
  • Katharine Scanlan,
  • Greg Slater,
  • Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert,
  • Alexander van Geen

摘要

Ever deeper wells are drilled worldwide to pump potable groundwater. Recent studies argue that overpumping compresses clays and releases reactive dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which in turn drives a series of microbial reactions that affect groundwater potability including arsenic concentrations. Here, we use a novel method to measure the radiocarbon ages of microbial RNA to determine the source of reactive or metabolizable DOC and argue against the compression of clays as the sole source of carbon. We show that microbial RNA (5,230; 5,550; 6,250 yr; n = 3 wells), DOC (280-10,800 yr; n = 13), and methane (modern to 6,240 yr; n = 3), from an overpumped deep aquifer in Bangladesh are much younger than the overlying clay layers deposited during the Pleistocene over 12,000 years ago. Mass-balance indicates that at least half of the carbon incorporated into RNA has to come from reactive DOC or methane that is advected downward via vertical recharge. This metabolism of advected organic carbon could have implications for the quality of water pumped from deep aquifers.