Effects of road salt deicers on sediment biogeochemistry

Road salt deicers, especially NaCl and CaCl₂, are increasingly applied to paved areas throughout the world. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of high concentrations of these salts on wetland biogeochemistry. Sediment cores were collected in fall and spring from a freshwater wetland fringing an urban kettle lake (Asylum Lake, Kalamazoo, MI, USA), and incubated for 100 days in deionized water (control) or with treatments of 1 or 5 g/L CaCl₂·2H₂O or 5 g/L NaCl to simulate addition of road salt deciers. At monthly intervals, cores were sliced into three depths (0–5, 5–10, 10–15 cm) and pore waters extracted for analysis of pH, total alkalinity and dissolved Mn(II), Fe(II), PO ₄ ^?3 , NH₃, H₂S, SO₄ ^?2, Na, K, Mg, and Ca. Changes in solid phase geochemistry were assessed by measuring the percent organic matter and the distribution of Fe and Mn among four operationally defined sediment fractions (exchangeable, carbonate, reducible, oxidizable) in the control and treatment cores. Addition of NaCl, and especially CaCl₂, stimulated significant growth of microbial mats at the core sediment–water interface and led to decreased pH and increased concentrations of Mn(II), Fe(II) and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na) in the sediment pore waters. This study demonstrates that the influx of road salt deciers is likely to have a significant impact on biogeochemical cycling in wetland sediments.