S.C. Komor 1992 <p><span>Chemical and isotopic gradients in pore water in Devils Lake indicate that maximum rates of sulfate reduction occur between 1 and 3 cm depth in the bottom sediments. Dissolved sulfate diffuses into the sulfate-reduction zone upward from deeply buried saline pore water at an average rate of 1.4 x 10</span>^-5<span>&nbsp;&mu;mol &sdot; cm</span>^-2<span>&nbsp;&sdot; s</span>^-1<span>, and downward from the overlying water column at an average rate of 2.4 x 10</span>^-5<span>&nbsp;&mu;mol &sdot; cm</span>^-2<span>&nbsp;&sdot; s</span>^-1<span>. The result is a bidirectional flux of sulfate into the sulfate-reduction zone. Upward-diffusing sulfate provides a ready supply of electron acceptors for sulfate-reducing bacteria even at fairly great depths in the sediments. The abundance of electron acceptors enables sulfate-reducing bacteria to outcompete methanogenic bacteria for organic material and thereby suppress methane production. Suppression of methanogenesis may be widespread in sulfate-rich lakes and wetlands and may limit methane fluxes from these water bodies to the atmosphere.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0319:BSDISL>2.3.CO;2 en Geological Society of America Bidirectional sulfate diffusion in saline-lake sediments: Evidence from Devils Lake, northeast North Dakota article