UHF475 final exam questions, Rob Harrison

1) What resources do all microorganisms need to live and complete their life cycle.

2) Describe microorganisms in terms of their sources of energy and carbon.

3) What are the most important electron acceptors in terms of wastewater treatment?

4) What is Biochemical Oxygen Demand and why is it important in pollution potential of water?

5) List several potential pollutants that can be lost in gaseous forms and show the mechanism of their loss.

6) How can algae be a potential benefit in disinfecting wastewater? How can they be a detriment?

7) Detail the mechanisms of two ways that decomposing organic N can be lost from a wetland.

8) Picture yourself as a human pathogenic microorganism in wastewater. What are some of the properties of wetlands that would allow you to survive and infect another human? What are some of the properties that would act to destroy you?

9) Define a hydric soil.

10) Why does saturation lead to anaerobic conditions in soil?

11) What factors affect the rate at which a soil will become anaerobic after it is flooded?

12) Diagrammatically represent the nitrogen transformations in a submerged wetland soil. Be sure to include aerobic/anaerobic zones within the soil and above the soil. Take one transformation and explain what is happening.

13) Show the alternate electron acceptors in the order in which they are reduced. Also show the end product of their reduction in an anaerobic soil.

14) How are manganese concretions formed? Why are they often red on their exterior?

15) What is the cause of the odor in many wetlands?

16) How can pH affect the redox potential and oxidation/reduction reactions in a wetland? Show relative aerated/waterlogged conditions using a graph of redox potential (Eh) and pH. What is the importance of the Eh/pH affect?

17) How can soil type affect the development of anaerobic soils?

18) What is the difference between fermentation and anaerobic respiration?

19) What are the major differences in aerobic and anaerobic organic matter decomposition? What factors will determine how quickly organic matter decomposes within a wetland?

20) Do wetlands that are constantly saturated operated only under anaerobic conditions? Explain your answer with diagrams and examples of reactions.

21) What are some tools/techniques you can use when looking at a soil to determine whether or not a soil is hydric. What are some cautions you should use when evaluating whether or not a soil is hydric.

22) Alternate electron acceptors are generally used in a particular sequence with different electron acceptors being used as the redox potential drops. What are some reasons alternate electron acceptors may be used "out of order", or out of the normal sequence?

23) What is redox potential? (Keep your answer simple)