지중환경 내 지질 매체가 질산염의 탈질 반응에 미치는 영향에 대한 고찰

Abstract

Nitrate contamination has received much attention at local as well as regional scales. The domestic situation is not out ofexception, and it has been reported to be very serious, particularly within agricultural areas as a result of excessive usageof nitrogen fertilizers. Meanwhile, nitrate can be naturally attenuated by denitrification in subsurface environments. Thedenitrification occurs through biotic (biological) and abiotic processes, and numerous previous studies preferentiallyfocused the former. However, abiotic denitrification seems to be significant in specific environments. For this reason, thisstudy reviewed the previous studies that focused on abiotic denitrification processes. Firstly, the current status of nitratecontamination in global and domestic scales is presented, and then the effect of geological media on denitrification isdiscussed while emphasizing the significance of abiotic processes. Finally, the implications of the literature review arepresented, along with future research directions that warrant further investigations. The results of previous studiesdemonstrated that several geological agents could play a vital role in reducing nitrate. Iron-containing minerals such aspyrite, green rust, magnetite, and dissolved ferrous ion are known to be powerful electron donors triggering denitrification. In particular, it was proven that the rate of denitrification by green rust was comparative to that of biologicaldenitrification. The results indicate that abiotic denitrification should be taken into account for more accurate evaluation ofdenitrification in subsurface environments.