[Effects of different iron oxides on methane emission in paddy soil as related to drying/wetting cycles]

This study investigated the effects of iron oxides with different crystallinities, ferrihydrite (SF) and hematite (SH), on the methane emission in paddy soil of South China under different water conditions, alternative drying/wetting cycles (DW) and continuous flooding (CF). The rates of methane emission, methane production potential and concentrations of Fe(II) and Fe(III) were determined. Results showed that compared with CF, the average methane emission rate was greatly inhibited by DW over 61%, and the addition of iron oxides reduced methane emission rates by 53%. Under the circumstance of DW and iron oxides addition, the combined inhibition effect on the average methane emission (65%-94%) and methane production potential (57%-93%) was significantly higher than the single effect caused by DW or iron oxides. Interestingly, DW coupling poorly crystalline ferrihydrite (SF-DW, 94%) posed a more significantly inhibitory effect on the methane emission than coupling crystalline hematite (SH-DW, 65%). Statistical analysis showed that there was a significantly negative correlation between the Fe(III) concentrations and the methane emission rates (R2 = -0.98, P < 0.01). Experimental results showed that DW facilitated the cyclic regeneration of Fe(III), and the Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle in poorly crystalline ferrihydrite was more susceptible to DW than hematite. This study suggested that alternative drying/wetting cycles can remarkably enhance the inhibitory effect of iron oxides on methane emission from paddy soil, and the coupled suppression effect of DW and poorly crystalline ferrihydrite is more obvious than the coupled effect of DW and crystalline hematite.