Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond
Ammonium nitrate explosives are used in mining operations at Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Residual nitrogen is washed into the mine pit and piped to a nearby retention pond where its removal is accomplished by microbial activity prior to a final water treatment ste...
Published in: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 https://doaj.org/article/38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 2023-05-15T15:15:09+02:00 Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond Misha eMiazga-Rodriguez Sukkyun eHan Brian eYakiwchuk Kai eWei Colleen eEnglish Stephen eBourn Seth eBohnet Lisa Y Stein 2012-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 https://doaj.org/article/38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 https://doaj.org/article/38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 3 (2012) Mining Nitrification Biofilm ammonia-oxidizing bacteria cold environments zeolite Microbiology QR1-502 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 2022-12-31T09:20:19Z Ammonium nitrate explosives are used in mining operations at Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Residual nitrogen is washed into the mine pit and piped to a nearby retention pond where its removal is accomplished by microbial activity prior to a final water treatment step and release into the sub-Arctic lake, Lac de Gras. Microbial removal of ammonium in the retention pond is rapid during the brief ice-free summer, but often slows under ice cover that persists up to nine months of the year. The aluminosilicate mineral zeolite was tested as an additive to retention pond water to increase rates of ammonium removal at 4 °C. Water samples were collected across the length of the retention pond monthly over a year. The structure of the microbial community (bacteria, archaea, and eukarya), as determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified small subunit ribosomal RNA genes, was more stable during cold months than during July-September, when there was a marked phytoplankton bloom. Of the ammonia-oxidizing community, only bacterial amoA genes were consistently detected. Zeolite (10 g) was added to retention pond water (100 mL) amended with 5 mM ammonium and incubated at 12 °C to encourage development of a nitrifying biofilm. The biofilm community was composed of different amoA phylotypes from those identified in gene clone libraries of native water samples. Zeolite biofilm was added to fresh water samples collected at different times of the year, resulting in a significant increase in laboratory measurements of potential nitrification activity at 4 °C. A significant positive correlation between the amount of zeolite biofilm and potential nitrification activity was observed; rates were unaffected in incubations containing 1-20 mM ammonium. Addition of zeolite to retention ponds in cold environments could effectively increase nitrification rates year round by concentrating active nitrifying biomass. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Northwest Territories Phytoplankton Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Northwest Territories Canada Arctic Lake ENVELOPE(-130.826,-130.826,57.231,57.231) Lac de Gras ENVELOPE(-110.501,-110.501,64.500,64.500) Frontiers in Microbiology 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Mining Nitrification Biofilm ammonia-oxidizing bacteria cold environments zeolite Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Mining Nitrification Biofilm ammonia-oxidizing bacteria cold environments zeolite Microbiology QR1-502 Misha eMiazga-Rodriguez Sukkyun eHan Brian eYakiwchuk Kai eWei Colleen eEnglish Stephen eBourn Seth eBohnet Lisa Y Stein Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
topic_facet |
Mining Nitrification Biofilm ammonia-oxidizing bacteria cold environments zeolite Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Ammonium nitrate explosives are used in mining operations at Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Residual nitrogen is washed into the mine pit and piped to a nearby retention pond where its removal is accomplished by microbial activity prior to a final water treatment step and release into the sub-Arctic lake, Lac de Gras. Microbial removal of ammonium in the retention pond is rapid during the brief ice-free summer, but often slows under ice cover that persists up to nine months of the year. The aluminosilicate mineral zeolite was tested as an additive to retention pond water to increase rates of ammonium removal at 4 °C. Water samples were collected across the length of the retention pond monthly over a year. The structure of the microbial community (bacteria, archaea, and eukarya), as determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified small subunit ribosomal RNA genes, was more stable during cold months than during July-September, when there was a marked phytoplankton bloom. Of the ammonia-oxidizing community, only bacterial amoA genes were consistently detected. Zeolite (10 g) was added to retention pond water (100 mL) amended with 5 mM ammonium and incubated at 12 °C to encourage development of a nitrifying biofilm. The biofilm community was composed of different amoA phylotypes from those identified in gene clone libraries of native water samples. Zeolite biofilm was added to fresh water samples collected at different times of the year, resulting in a significant increase in laboratory measurements of potential nitrification activity at 4 °C. A significant positive correlation between the amount of zeolite biofilm and potential nitrification activity was observed; rates were unaffected in incubations containing 1-20 mM ammonium. Addition of zeolite to retention ponds in cold environments could effectively increase nitrification rates year round by concentrating active nitrifying biomass. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Misha eMiazga-Rodriguez Sukkyun eHan Brian eYakiwchuk Kai eWei Colleen eEnglish Stephen eBourn Seth eBohnet Lisa Y Stein |
author_facet |
Misha eMiazga-Rodriguez Sukkyun eHan Brian eYakiwchuk Kai eWei Colleen eEnglish Stephen eBourn Seth eBohnet Lisa Y Stein |
author_sort |
Misha eMiazga-Rodriguez |
title |
Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
title_short |
Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
title_full |
Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
title_fullStr |
Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
title_full_unstemmed |
Enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
title_sort |
enhancing nitrification at low temperature with zeolite in a mining operations retention pond |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 https://doaj.org/article/38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-130.826,-130.826,57.231,57.231) ENVELOPE(-110.501,-110.501,64.500,64.500) |
geographic |
Arctic Northwest Territories Canada Arctic Lake Lac de Gras |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Northwest Territories Canada Arctic Lake Lac de Gras |
genre |
Arctic Northwest Territories Phytoplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Northwest Territories Phytoplankton |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 3 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 https://doaj.org/article/38b636d2b2fa4ca3abc936f6507618d6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00271 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
3 |
_version_ |
1766345538651815936 |