Methane transport in agricultural soil after injection of isotopically-enriched methane in the sub-surface.

ABSTRACT: Small quantities of radioactive methane (¹⁴CH₄) may be released over prolonged periods from geological disposal facilities for radioactive waste. The impact of this release depends on the capacity of soil to oxidise ¹⁴CH₄ to ¹⁴CO₂ during transport from the sub-surface to the atmosphere. We investigated this capacity by pulse-injecting isotopically-enriched methane 50 cm below the surface of an agricultural soil in central England. Three sequential injections were made during growth of a spring wheat crop. Samples of gas were taken from the pore space throughout the soil profile at predetermined time points after injection, accompanied by samples of the atmosphere above the soil collected in sampling chambers, deployed at sch

SUBMITTER: Shaw G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6190747 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature