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Modelling spatial oscillations in soil borehole bacteria.

M J McGuinness¹, L B Cribbin², H F Winstanley²

¹School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Journal of Theoretical Biology

|August 25, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Microbial competition and nutrient diffusion explain spatial oscillations in groundwater contaminant concentrations. These oscillations can manifest as traveling waves, potentially causing irregular chemical profiles in contaminant plumes.

Keywords:

Groundwater contamination Microbial competition Spatial diffusion Travelling waves

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Area of Science:

Environmental microbiology
Geochemistry
Mathematical modeling

Background:

Groundwater contaminant concentrations can exhibit spatial oscillations.
Microbial competition is a key factor in contaminant plume dynamics.
Nutrient availability and diffusion influence microbial community behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To explain spatial oscillations in groundwater contaminant concentrations.
To investigate the role of microbial competition and nutrient diffusion.
To link theoretical models to observed contaminant plume profiles.

Main Methods:

Modeling a competitive microbial community.
Incorporating spatial diffusion of nutrient sources.
Analyzing reaction-diffusion systems.

Main Results:

Microbial competition alone can induce temporal oscillations.
Spatial diffusion transforms temporal oscillations into traveling waves.
These traveling waves can be chaotic.

Conclusions:

Spatial oscillations in contaminant concentrations are explained by microbial competition under nutrient-poor conditions with diffusion.
Irregular chemical profiles in contaminant plumes may result from this microbial competition.
The study provides a mechanism for understanding complex contaminant plume behavior.