Talk:Sulfur cycle

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 8 January 2019 and 23 April 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: Lawrenjk.

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 20 August 2019 and 3 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Tplattner24. Peer reviewers: Doyo1204.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 10:25, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Vandalism

"Mineralization of organic poop to the inorganic form, hydrogen sulfide: (H2S)."

What is this?!155.97.15.140 (talk) 03:06, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

'Twas vandalism, removed it. Thanks, Vsmith (talk) 03:32, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

what are the characteristics of sulfur cycle? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.53.19.170 (talk) 13:24, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

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Figure

The figure showing the global sulfur cycle does not clearly depict each reservoir, and the flux values are missing. Despite the fact that the sulfate reduction is well introduced, the reverse process which is sulfur oxidation (especially the chemolithoautotroph metabolism by S-oxidizing bacteria in hydrothermal vent systems) hasn't been assigned enough space to illustrate. In terms of expression of sulfur isotope section, the “fractionation factor” would be a better term to replace “depletion” which is vague and imprecise. Also, mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of sulfur isotope, which plays a critical role in the discovery of Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), is not included in the article.Zjli0415 (talk) 00:14, 16 February 2019 (UTC)

References for sulfur cycle

Anantharaman, Karthik; Hausmann, Bela; Jungbluth, Sean P.; Kantor, Rose S.; Lavy, Adi; Warren, Lesley A.; Rappé, Michael S.; Pester, Michael; Loy, Alexander; Thomas, Brian C.; Banfield, Jillian F. (2018). Expanded diversity of microbial groups that shape the dissimilatory sulfur cycle. The ISME Journal. 12: 1715-1728. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-018-0078-0

Brimblecombe, Peter (2014). The global sulfur cycle. In Holland, Heinrich D.; Turekian, Karl K. (Eds). Treatise on Geochemistry (Vol. 10, pp. 559-591). Elsevier, Amsterdam. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00814-7

Canfield, Donald E. (2004). The evolution of the earth surface sulfur reservoir. American Journal of Science. 304 (10): 839-861. https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.304.10.839

Farquhar, James; Bao, Huiming; Thiemens, Mark (2000). Atmospheric influence of Earth’s earliest sulfur cycle. Science. 289 (5480): 756-758. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.289.5480.756

Fike, David A.; Bradley, Alexander S.; Rose, Catherine V. (2015). Rethinking the ancient sulfur cycle. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 43: 593-622. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060313-054802

Johnston, David T. (2011). Multiple sulfur isotopes and the evolution of Earth’s surface sulfur cycle. Earth-Science Reviews. 106 (1-2): 161-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.02.003

Sievert, Stefan M.; Hügler, Michael; Taylor, Craig D.; Wirsen, Carl O. (2008). Sulfur Oxidation at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. In: Dahl, Christiane; Friedrich, Cornelius G. (Eds). Microbial Sulfur Metabolism (pp. 238-258). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72682-1_19

Tostevin, Rosalie; Turchyn, Alexandra V.; Farquhar, James; Johnston, David T.; Eldridge, Daniel L.; Bishop, James K. B.; Mcllvin, Matthew (2014). Multiple sulfur isotope constraints on the modern sulfur cycle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 396: 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.057

Klotz, Martin G.; Bryant, Donald A.; Hanson, Thomas E. (2011). The microbial sulfur cycle. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2: 241. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2011.00241

Wasmund, Kenneth; Mußmann, Marc; Loy, Alexander (2017). The life sulfuric: microbial ecology of sulfur cycling in marine sediments. Environmental Microbiology Reports. 9 (4): 323-344. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12538 Zjli0415 (talk) 23:58, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

Biologically and thermochemically driven sulfate reduction section

I think the biologically and thermochemically driven sulfate reduction section needs a little work. A lot of the content could be clarified further and could also be organized better. The content is relevant to the article topic, but I'm confused on how the section starts with saying how sulfur can be reduced both biologically and thermochemically, and then immediately jump into talking about dissimilatory sulfate reduction. I think there needs to be more content explaining how sulfur is reduced both biologically and thermochemically, and then lead up to certain processes. The differences between the two processes, the bacterial sulfate reduction and the thermochemical sulfate reduction, needs to be explained further and each process could go more into depth. Additionally, I think this section could have more Wikilinks and references. Let me know if anyone has any other suggestions on how to make this section more clear! Tplattner24 (talk) 02:51, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

Here are some sources that may help with that section -

[1] Aharon, Paul; Fu, Baoshun (2000). “Microbial sulfate reduction rates and sulfur and oxygen isotope fractionations at oil and gas seeps in deepwater Gulf of Mexico”. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 64 (2): 233-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(99)00292-6

[2] Goldstein, T.P.; Aizenshtat, Z. (1994). “Thermochemical Sulfate Reduction: A Review”. Journal of Thermal Analysis. 42 (1): 241-290. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02547004

[3] Holmer, Marianne; Storkholm, Peter (2001). “Sulphate reduction and sulphur cycling in lake sediments: a review”. Freshwater Biology. 46 (4): 431-451. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.2001.00687.x

[4] Jorgensen, B.B. (1978). “A comparison of methods for the quantification of bacterial sulfate reduction in coastal marine sediments”. Geomicrobiology Journal. 1 (1): 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490457809377723

[5] Jorgensen, B.B. (1989). “Sulfate reduction in marine sediments from the Baltic Sea-North Sea Transition”. Ophelia. 31 (1): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00785326.1989.10430847

[6] Jorgensen, B.B.; Isaksen, M.F.; Jannasch, H.W. (1992). “Bacterial Sulfate Reduction Above 100°C in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Sediments”. Science. 258 (5089): 1756-1757. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.258.5089.1756

[7] Machel, H.G.; Krouse, H. Roy; Sassen, Roger (1995). “Products and distinguishing criteria of bacterial and thermochemical sulfate reduction”. Applied Geochemistry. 10 (4): 373-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-2927(95)00008-8

[8] Machel, H.G. (2001). “Bacterial and thermochemical sulfate reduction in diagenetic settings - old and new insights”. Sedimentary Geology. 140 (1-2): 143-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(00)00176-7

[9] Muyzer, Gerard; Stams, Alfons J.M. (2008). “The ecology and biotechnology of sulphate-reducing bacteria”. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 6 (6): 441-454. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1892

[10] Roychoudhury, A.N. (2004). “Sulphate metabolism among thermophiles and hyperthermophiles in natural aquatic systems”. Biochemical Society Transactions. 32 (2): 172-174. https://doi.org/10.1042/bst0320172 Tplattner24 (talk) 13:49, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Merge proposal

I propose to merge Sulfur metabolism into this article.

• Sulfur metabolism is not a strong article.
• Sulfur metabolism and sulfur cycle articles overlap in content and intent.
• We lack editors with energy and expertise to maintain both.--Smokefoot (talk) 02:17, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Oppose on the grounds that geochemical and biological/metabolic topics are distinct topics that already demonstrate (on the current pages) a substantially different scope. A merge could be counterproductive, producing a topic that is too broad to manage. The set of editors with expertise to maintain each page are also different, as one can see in the different Wikiproject tags. Klbrain (talk) 23:48, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

Closing, with no merge, given the uncontested objection and no support with stale discussion. Klbrain (talk) 10:42, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: EEB 4611-Biogeochemical Processes-Spring 2024

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2024 and 11 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): VishalliAlagappan (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by LynSchwendy (talk) 03:29, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Sulfur oxidation states

@Ehrenkater: You recently modified the following list with several inappropriate justifications:

Sulfur has six main oxidation states in nature, which are −2, −1, 0, +2, +4, and +6. The common sulfur species of each oxidation state are listed as follows:

S²⁻: H₂S; (CH₃)₂S

S⁻: disulfide, ⁻S—S⁻, or S2−2, as in FeS₂

S⁰: native, or elemental, sulfur (S₈)

S²⁺: thiosulfate, S₂O2−3

S⁴⁺: SO₂; sulfite (SO²⁻
₃)

S⁶⁺: SO²⁻
₄ (H₂SO₄, CaSO₄).

List modified two times:

First here (prev&oldid=1254152032)

Edit summary: Sulfur oxidation state: Elemental sulfur is not an oxidation state, and in disulfide, each sulfur atom is in oxidation state −2 not –1.

and, then here (diff=next&oldid=1254153698)

Edit summary: Sulfur oxidation state: Not a good example: according to the thiosulfate article, some of the sulfur atoms are in oxidation state 6.

I disagree with these modifications because:

• 0 is well the oxidation state of elemental sulfur (S⁰, or S₈ in the corresponding oligomer) and elemental sulfur produced by microorganisms in the sulfur biochemical cycle is also found in natural sediments (specific extraction techniques with an organic solvent needed before to analyse it). This oxidation state corresponds to that of a solid species, not that of a dissolved species;
• in disulfide (⁻S—S⁻, also written in a more condensed way S2−2), each of the two sulfur atoms covalently bound together is in the oxidation state −1 and not –2. This is the only way to explain the oxidation state +2 of Fe²⁺ in pyrite (FeS₂). If sulfur was present as sulfide (S²⁻), Fe should be at oxidation state +4, an oxidation state that does not exist for iron, moreover under strongly reducing conditions.
• in thiosulfate, S₂O2−3, the "apparent mean" oxidation state classically used in iodometry for the titration calculations is well +2, even if one sulfur atom is at +5 oxidation state and the other one at -1 as observed by XANES spectroscopy by Vairavamurthy et al. (1993): (+5 - 1)/2 = +2, favouring so the disproportionation of thiosulfate in sulfate and sulfide anions. Although +2 is an average oxidation state in thiosulfate and +2.5 an average oxidation state for tetrathionate (S₄O2−6), they are commonly used in redox titration to adequately take into account the number of electrons transferred in the reaction. The former examples showing SCl₂ for the oxidation state +2 and SF₆ for oxidation state +6 were inappropriate as both species are synthetic (man made) and do not exist in nature and therefore do not intervene in the sulfur cycle.

My aim was to show only sulfur species taken into account in the sulfur cycle. For the case of thiosulfate, I propose to give more explanations about this "apparent mean" oxidation state : (+5 - 1)/2 = +2 along with the reference of Vairavamurthy et al. (1993).

S (+2): thiosulfate, S₂O2−3 (here +2 is an "apparent mean" oxidation state: (+5 -1)/2 = +2 because the two sulfur atoms in thiosulfate are not at the same oxidation state).

References

Best regards, Shinkolobwe (talk) 19:01, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

@Ehrenkater: In the meantime, I have adapted the contents of this section taking into account your remark on thiosulfate. I also modified the page on thiosulfate considering the works of Vairavamurthy et al. (1993). In fact, what is important here is not to exactly enumerate all the possible oxidation states of sulfur, but to mention the main chemical species of sulfur really involved in the sulfur cycle. Best regards, Shinkolobwe (talk) 22:36, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks and best regards. I agree with your comment about what is important here.---Ehrenkater (talk) 15:11, 30 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Best regards. Shinkolobwe (talk) 19:03, 30 October 2024 (UTC)