Limiting Factors for Microbial Fe(III)-Reduction In a Landfill Leachate Polluted Aquifer (Vejen, Denmark)

Aquifer sediment samples from two locations within the anaerobic leachate plume of a municipal landfill were compared with respect to microbiology (especially Fe(III)-reduction) and geochemistry. The samples close to the landfill were characterized by low contents of Fe(III), whereas samples from the more distant cluster were rich in Fe(III)-oxides. The active microbial population seemed to be less dense in samples more distant from the landfill (measured by ATP and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA)), but the microbial communities were very similar in the two sample clusters according to the composition of PLFA. Very little, if any, Fe(III)-reduction was observed close to the landfill, but all the more distant samples showed evident microbially mediated Fe(III)-reduction. After amendment with both acetate and Fe(III), all the samples showed a potential for Fe(III)-reduction, and the in situ Fe(III)-reduction seemed to be limited by the lack of Fe(III)-availability. It was suggested, that Fe(III)-reducing populations might be facultative, surviving by use of other electron-acceptors than Fe(III), when Fe(II1) is not available for reduction.