Microbial Ecology of the Subsurface at an Abandoned Creosote Waste Site

摘要

The microbial ecology of pristine, slightly contaminated, and heavily contaminated subsurface materials, and four subsurface materials on the periphery of the plume at an abandoned creosote waste site was investigated. Except for the unsaturated zone of the heavily contaminated material, mineralization of glucose (13.5 ppb) indicated a metabolically active microflora in all subsurface materials. However, mineralization (<40%) of naphthalene, phenanthrene, and 2-methylnaphthalene was observed in contaminated material and material from the periphery of the plume, but not in pristine material. The data suggest that the subsurface microflora in slightly and heavily contaminated subsurface materials and materials from the periphery of the plume has adapted to degrade many compounds found in creosote.