Inhibition of denitrification by hydrocarbons in marine sediments. Role of Nereis diversicolor

Franck Gilbert (1) , Frédérique François (1) , Georges Stora (1) , Jean-Claude Bertrand (1)

1 LOB - Laboratoire d'océanographie et de biogéochimie

An in vitro experiment has been carried out in order to illustrate the influence of the burrowing polychaete Nereis diversicolor on denitrification in hydrocarbon-loaded sediments. After 15 and 45 days, the denitrification activity in the different contaminated or non-contaminated control (without macro-fauna) and experimental (colonized by polychaetes) sediments was compared. In control contaminated sediments, the inhibition of denitrification is solely located in the surface layer (0-2 cm). In the presence of polychaetes, the hydrocarbon buried in the burrows extends the inhibition of denitrification in the sediment. As a function of the quantity of buried hydrocarbon, the inhibition of denitrification is observed up to a depth of 6 and 10 cm, after 15 and 45 days, respectively.

Mots clés: Polychaetes; Bioturbation; Hydrocarbons; Bacteria; Denitrification; Marine sediments

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère; Océanographie

Franck Gilbert, Frédérique François, Georges Stora, Jean-Claude Bertrand. Inhibition of denitrification by hydrocarbons in marine sediments. Role of Nereis diversicolor. Comptes rendus de l’Académie des sciences. Série III, Sciences de la vie, 1997, 320, pp.819-824. ⟨10.1016/S0764-4469(97)85018-4⟩. ⟨hal-00735219⟩