DOES FOSSIL PLANT-MATERIAL RELEASE HUMIC SUBSTANCES INTO GROUNDWATER

Buried fossil wood from Fuhrberg (FRG) was finely milled and kept for 16 months at 10-degrees-C in groundwater under sterile or non-sterile conditions, and with or without supplemental nutrients. Groundwater, diluted landfill leakage water and a suspension of microorganisms from municipal refuse served as inocula. After 16 months an increase of acid soluble organic carbon (fulvic acid) was observed in sterile and inoculated samples. Fossil wood, originally containing about 4% C in humic acid fraction, lost part of these substances, due to the microbial activity in the nutrient enriched variants. Elemental analysis, atomic ratios and spectroscopic characterization indicate similarities between humic acid from groundwater and that from fossil wood.