Any component that occurs in pore water of soils or sediments can be studied, since pore water is isolated from the system without disturbing the steady state. This includes nutrients, organic contaminants, and heavy metals.
SOFIE® has found uses in many types of studies:
- Inundation / flooding experiments;
- Exposure tests with terrestrial and aquatic organisms;
- Bioturbation and contaminant displacement;
- Fluxes of nutrients to/from sediment and surface water;
- Simulation of long-term sediment storage in pits;
- (Geo)chemical oxidation and ripening of drained sediments;
Chironomus (midge) at water-sediment interface
Left: discoloring over short distances in sediment indicate the various redox stages.
Right: Oligocheate population in a SOFIE cell.