Groundwater Isolation Governs Chemistry and Microbial Community Structure along Hydrologic Flowpaths.

ABSTRACT: This study deals with the effects of hydrodynamic functioning of hard-rock aquifers on microbial communities. In hard-rock aquifers, the heterogeneous hydrologic circulation strongly constrains groundwater residence time, hydrochemistry, and nutrient supply. Here, residence time and a wide range of environmental factors were used to test the influence of groundwater circulation on active microbial community composition, assessed by high throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA. Groundwater of different ages was sampled along hydrogeologic paths or loops, in three contrasting hard-rock aquifers in Brittany (France). Microbial community composition was driven by groundwater residence time and hydrogeologic loop position. In recent groundwater, in the upper section of the aquifers or in their rechar

SUBMITTER: Ben Maamar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4686674 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature