Salty crust_1400x600
Needle sensors used for profiles in salt crusts

Oxygen profiles in salty crust

Needle sensors (pH, H2S, oxygen) have been successfully applied to measure profiles in salt crusts in the Red Sea in Israel (Dr. Don Canfield and Ketil Sørensen, University of Southern Denmark). The researchers drilled a hole to perform the profile measurements, because the crust was impossible to penetrate without breaking the needle sensor.

First, a hole was made in the water-covered gypsum crust with a syringe needle. Then, the equilibrium was allowed to settle in the pore water that filled up the hole. Finally, the profiles were measured with the needle sensors.

Rødehavet, Canfield og Ketil_1400x800

This graph shows an oxygen profile measured in the crust demonstrating two distinct photosynthetic zones of bacteria (the green and the purple).

Fig. Rødehavet, Canfield og Ketil_1400x800

Related publications

Salinity Responses of Benthic Microbial Communities in a Solar Saltern (Eilat, Israel)
Eilat, Saltern et al. (2004), Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 70, 1608-1616
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Biogeochemistry of a gypsum‐encrusted microbial ecosystem
CANFIELD, D. E. et al. (2004), Geobiology, vol. 2, 133-150
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Distribution of benthic phototrophs, sulfate reducers, and methanogens in two adjacent saltern evaporatio⁠…
Sørensen, Ketil et al. (2009), Aquatic Microbial Ecology, vol. 56, 275-284
Read more

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