Copper Speciation in Glacial Stream Waters of Rutor Glacier (Aosta Valley, Italy)*

Damiano Monticelli; Constant M. G. van den Berg; Andrea Pozzi; Carlo Dossi

doi:10.1071/CH04181

RESEARCH ARTICLE

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Copper Speciation in Glacial Stream Waters of Rutor Glacier (Aosta Valley, Italy)*

Damiano Monticelli ^A , Constant M. G. van den Berg ^B ^C , Andrea Pozzi ^A and Carlo Dossi ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Dipartimento Scienze Chimiche e Ambientali, Università dell’Insubria, 22100 Como, Italy.

^B Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK.

^C Author to whom correspondence should be addressed (e-mail: vandenberg@liv.ac.uk).

Australian Journal of Chemistry 57(10) 945-949 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH04181
Submitted: 2 August 2004 Accepted: 3 August 2004 Published: 1 October 2004

Abstract

The chemical speciation of copper in stream waters from Rutor Glacier was determined by cathodic stripping voltammetry with ligand competition against salicylaldoxime. The complexation of salicylaldoxime was calibrated at various calcium concentrations, the major competing cation in these waters. Copper concentrations (3–7 nM) were approximately ten-fold lower than typical for rain waters in this region, indicating that copper had been removed by adsorption onto rock and other particles. Strong copper binding ligands, with log K′_CuL = 12.5–12.9, were detected in all samples, including waters emerging from beneath the glacier, with no detectable change in the ligand composition down stream. The results suggest that the ligands could originate from in situ production from algae in snow and ice, or directly from the precipitation.

^* Dedicated to Mark Florence.

Acknowledgments

The speciation measurements were carried out at the Liverpool laboratory by Damiano Monticelli with funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research (MURST). Practical advice on the speciation of copper by Luis Miguel Laglera Baquer is gratefully acknowledged. This paper benefited from editorial suggestions from Graeme Batley and an unknown referee.

References

Copper Speciation in Glacial Stream Waters of Rutor Glacier (Aosta Valley, Italy)*

Abstract

Acknowledgments

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