Relating arsenic and phosphorus remobilisation to sediment formation mechanisms using fractionation and trends in elemental composition
Kathryn L. Linge A B C and Carolyn E. Oldham AA NERC ICP Facility, Centre for Earth and Environmental Sciences Research, School of Earth Sciences and Geography, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE, UK.
B Centre for Water Research, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: k.linge@kingston.ac.uk
Marine and Freshwater Research 55(5) 525-532 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF03102
Submitted: 16 July 2003 Accepted: 22 April 2004 Published: 5 August 2004
Abstract
Shallow lakes are frequently characterised by a consolidated sediment that is covered by an overlying floc layer. Arsenic and P remobilisation was related to differences in contaminant binding and sediment formation for two such sediments from Lake Yangebup, Western Australia. Chemical fractionation data, statistical relationships between total elemental concentrations, and mineralogy data highlighted differences in As and P binding in each sediment. The results showed that As and P are bound in a common Fe oxide fraction in the consolidated sediment, whereas in the floc As is mostly bound by adsorption and P is scavenged during Fe or natural organic matter sedimentation. The disparity between As and P binding in floc can be accounted for by differences in As and P oxidation state (As(III) v. P(V)), the incorporation of P but not As into natural organic matter, and the short time scale of floc formation. Arsenic and P behavior is closer in the consolidated sediment because As(III) gradually oxidizes to As(V) during consolidated sediment formation. The results demonstrate that, despite sediment heterogeneity and chemical complexity, contaminant binding and remobilisation mechanisms can be determined using a suite of simple chemical tests. This is important if remediation strategies are to be evaluated properly.
Extra keywords: floc layer
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr Frank Lincoln for performing the XRD analyses and for his assistance in interpreting the results, as well as Dr Graeme Bately for his helpful and constructive comments on our manuscript. This work was funded by a Small ARC Grant. K. L. was supported financially by an Australian Postgraduate Award. This paper is Centre for Water Research Report ED1505KL.
Abacus Concepts (1996).
Aggett, J. , and Kriegman, M. R. (1987). Preservation of arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) in samples of sediment interstitial water Analyst 112, 153–157.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Allen, B. L. and Hajek, B. F. (1989). Mineral occurrence in soil environments. In
Arnold, T. N. , and Oldham, C. E. (1997). Trace-element contamination of a shallow wetland in Western Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 48, 531–539.
Barberis, E. , Ajmone-Marsan, F. , and Arduino, E. (1998). Determination of phosphate in solution at different ionic composition using malachite green. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 29, 1167–1175.
Belzile, N. , and Tessier, A. (1990). Interactions between arsenic and iron oxyhydroxides in lacustrine sediments Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54, 103–109.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Belzile, N. , Lecomte, P. , and Tessier, A. (1989). Testing readsorption of trace elements during partial chemical extractions of bottom sediments. Environmental Science & Technology 23, 1015–1020.
Boström, B. , Jansson, M. , and Forsberg, C. (1982). Phosphorus release from lake sediments. Ergebnisse der Limnologie 18, 5–59.
Bothe, J. V. , and Brown, P. W. (1999). Arsenic immobilization by calcium arsenate formation. Environmental Science & Technology 33, 3806–3811.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Buffle, J. , Devitre, R. R. , Perret, D. , and Leppard, G. G. (1989). Physicochemical characteristics of a colloidal iron phosphate species formed at the oxic–anoxic interface of a eutrophic lake. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53, 399–408.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Chao, T. T. (1984). Use of partial dissolution techniques in geochemical exploration. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 20, 101–135.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Clesceri, L. S., Greenberg, A. E., and Eaton, A. D. (Eds) (1998).
Cullen, W. R. , and Reimer, K. J. (1989). Arsenic speciation in the environment Chemical Reviews 89, 714–764.
Fassbender, H. W. (1975). Solubility and fractionation criteria for evaluating arsenic–phosphorus relationships in soils. Ambio 4, 134–135.
Gómez Ariza, J. L. , Giráldez, I. , Sánchez-Rodas, D. , and Morales, E. (2000). Comparison of the feasibility of three extraction procedures for trace metal partitioning in sediments from south-west Spain The Science of the Total Environment 246, 271–283.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Harrington, J. M. , Laforce, M. J. , Rember, W. C. , Fendorf, S. E. , and Rosenzweig, R. F. (1998). Phase associations and mobilization of iron and trace elements in Cour d’Alene Lake, Idaho Environmental Science & Technology 32, 650–656.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
He, J. Z. , Gilkes, R. J. , and Dimmock, G. M. (1998). Mineralogical properties of sandy podzols on the Swan Coastal Plain, south-west Australia, and the effects of drying on their phosphate sorption characteristics. Australian Journal of Soil Research 36, 395–409.
Hingston, F. J. , Posner, A. M. , and Quirk, J. P. (1971). Competitive adsorption of negatively charged ligands on oxide surfaces Faraday Discussions of the Chemical Society 52, 334–342.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Koroleff, F. (1983). Determination of nutrients. In
Lindsay, W. L., Vlek, P. L. G. and Chien, S. H. (1989). Phosphate minerals. In
Linge, K. L. (2002). ‘Assessment of Contaminant Availability in a Shallow Wetland.’ PhD Thesis. (University of Western Australia: Perth.)
Linge, K. L. , and Oldham, C. E. (2001). Interference from arsenate when determining phosphate by the malachite green spectrophotometric method. Analytica Chimica Acta 450, 247–252.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Linge, K. L. , and Oldham, C. E. (2002). Arsenic remobilization in a shallow wetland: the role of sediment resuspension. Journal of Environmental Quality 31, 822–828.
| PubMed |
Linge, K. L. , and Oldham, C. E. (2004). Control mechanisms for dissolved phosphorus and arsenic in a shallow lake. Applied Geochemistry 19, 1377–1389.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Luoma, S. N. , and Bryan, G. W. (1981). A statistical assessment of the form of trace metals in oxidized estuarine sediments employing chemical extractants. The Science of the Total Environment 17, 165–196.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Maher, W. A. (1984). Mode of occurrence and speciation of arsenic in some pelagic and estuarine sediments. Chemical Geology 47, 333–345.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McGuire, G. E. , Fuchs, J. , Han, P. , Kushmerick, J. G. , Weiss, P. S. , Simko, S. J. , Nemanich, R. J. , and Chopra, D. R. (1999). Surface characterization. Analytical Chemistry 71, 373–388.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Millward, G. E. and Marsh, J. G. (1986). Dissolved arsenic behaviour in estuaries receiving acid mine waste. In
Mondi, C. , Leifer, K. , Mavrocordatos, D. , and Perret, D. (2002). Analytical electron microscopy as a tool for accessing colloid formation process in natural waters. Journal of Microscopy 207, 180–190.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Nelson, D. W. and Sommers, L. E. (1982). Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In
Nirel, P. M. V. , and Morel, F. M. M. (1990). Pitfalls of sequential extractions. Water Research 24, 1055–1056.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
O’Neil, P. (1995). Arsenic. In
Perret, D. , Gaillard, J.-F. , Dominik, J. , and Atteia, O. (2000). The diversity of natural hydrous oxides. Environmental Science & Technology 34, 3540–3546.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sadiq, M. (1997). Arsenic chemistry in soils: an overview of thermodynamic predictions and field observations. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 93, 117–136.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sposito, G. (1989).
Sutherland, R. A. (1998). Loss-on-ignition estimates of organic matter and relationships to organic carbon in fluvial bed sediments. Hydrobiologica 389, 153–167.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tipping, E. , Woof, C. , and Cooke, D. (1981). Iron-oxide from a seasonally anoxic lake. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 45, 1411–1419.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thanabalasingam, P. , and Pickering, W. F. (1986). Arsenic sorption by humic acids. Environmental Pollution 12, 233–246.[Series B]
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Van der Weijden, C. H. (2002). Pitfalls of normalization of marine geochemical data using a common divisor. Marine Geology 184, 167–187.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wada, K. (1989). Allophane and Imogolite. In
Wang, F. , and Chen, J. (2000). Relation of sediment characteristics to trace metal concentrations: a statistical study. Water Research 34, 694–698.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
