Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patagonian salt marsh soils and oxidizable pedogenic pyrite: solid phases controlling aluminum and iron contents in acidic soil solutions

  • Thematic Issue
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The sulfidic materials present in salt marshes could be oxidized forming sulfuric acid, increasing the toxic levels of both Al and Fe available to plants. The objectives of this study were: (a) to evaluate the mechanism of acid generation from the oxidation of sulfidic materials, and (b) to predict solid phases governing the dissolved Fe and Al concentrations in soils at low pH. The study was conducted in 14 soil profiles associated to eight salt marshes situated along the Atlantic coast of Patagonia. The potential acidity was estimated by the peroxide-oxidizable sulfuric acidity method (POSA). To predict the availability of Fe and Al at low pH, the solid phase equilibrium that governs the solubility of these elements through ion activity of the products was determined. The scanning electron microscopy analysis in sulfidic materials reveals the occurrence of framboidal pyrite. The relative variability of POSA at low pH values may indicate retention of sulfates by Al and Fe hydroxides, producing the formation of basic sulfates of iron and aluminum. At pH > 5.5, Fe2+ and Al3+ activities show an equilibrium with amorphous oxy-hydroxides of Fe(OH)3 and gibbsite, respectively. As the pH begins to decline below 5.5, Fe2+ and Al3+ activities show an equilibrium with respect to soil–Fe(OH)3 and Al(OH)3 amorphous, respectively. While for more acidic conditions, the solid phase in predicting both Fe2+ and Al3+ activities was basic iron sulfate and jurbanite. The acidic soil solutions with pH < 3, Fe2+ and SO42− activities show an equilibrium with goethite and melanterite, respectively. As a consequence of acid generation, phosphorus adsorption by aluminum and iron oxide minerals was detected.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam P (1990) Salt marsh ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ahern CR, Ahern MR, Powell B (1998) Guidelines for sampling and analysis of lowland acid sulfate soils (ASS) in Queensland 1998. QASSIT, Department of Natural Resources, Resource Sciences Centre, Indooroopilly, 34 pp

  • Ahern CR, McElnea AE, Sullivan LA (2004) Acid sulfate soils laboratory methods guidelines. Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Indooroopilly, Queensland

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen JRL (2000) Morphodynamics of Holocene salt marshes: a review sketch from the Atlantic and Southern North Sea coasts of Europe. Quatern Sci Rev 19:1155–1231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alsemgeest G, Dale P, Alsemgeest D (2005) Evaluating the risk of potential acid sulfate soils and habitat modification for mosquito control (runneling) in coastal salt marshes: comparing methods and managing the risk. Environ Manage 36(1):152–216 (Australia)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berner RA (1984) Sedimentary pyrite formation: an update. Geochim Cosmochim 48:605–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigham JM, Nordstrom DK (2000) Iron and aluminum hydroxysulfates from acid sulfate waters. Rev Miner Geochem 40(1):351–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bortolus A, Schwindt E (2007) What would have Darwin written now? Biodivers Conserv 16:337–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bortolus A, Schwindt E, Bouza PJ, Idaszkin YL (2009) A characterization of Patagonian salt marshes. Wetlands 29:772–780

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouza PJ, Sain C, Bortolus A, Ríos I, Idaszkin Y, Cortés E (2008) Geomorfología y Características morfológicas y fisicoquímicas de suelos hidromórficos de marismas patagónicas. XXI Argentinian Soil Science Congress. Extended abstract. Potrero de los Funes, San Luis, Argentina, p 450

  • Codignotto JO, Kokot RR, Marcomini SC (1993) Desplazamientos verticales y horizontales de la costa Argentina en el Holoceno. Rev Asoc Geol Argent 48(2):125–132

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLaune RD, Reddy CN, Patrick WH (1981) Accumulation of plant nutrients and heavy metals through sedimentation processes and accretion in a Louisiana salt marsh. Estuaries 4:328–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dent D (1986) Acid sulphate soils: a baseline for research and development. International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement Publication No. 39, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • DeFlaun MF, Mayer LM (1983) Relationships between bacteria and grain surfaces in intertidal sediments. Limnol Oceanogr 28(5):873–881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devasahayam S (2006) Chemistry of acid production in black coal mine washery wastes. Int J Miner Process 79:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick R, Shand P (2008) Inland acid sulfate soils: overview and conceptual models. In Fitzpatrick R, Shand P (eds) Inland acid sulfate soil systems across Australia, CRC LEME Open File Report No. 249 (Thematic Volume) CRC LEME, Perth pp 6–74

  • Fortin D, Goulet R, Roy M (2000) Seasonal cycling of Fe and S in a constructed wetland: the role of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Geomicrobiol J 17(3):221–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg S, Sposito G (1984) A chemical model of phosphate adsorption by soils: II. Non calcareous soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 48:779–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin RA, Jurinak JJ (1973) Estimation of activity coefficients from the electrical conductivity of natural aquatic systems and soil extracts. Soil Sci 116(1):26–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes RJ (2014) Nature of the belowground ecosystem and Its development during pedogénesis. In: Sparks D (ed) Advances in agronomy, vol 127. Elsevier, Cambridge, pp 43–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin C, Melville MD (1993) Control of soil acidification by fluvial sedimentation in an estuarine floodplain, eastern Australia. Sed Geol 85:271–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin C, Melville MD (1994) Acid sulphate soil–landscape relationships in Pearl River Delta, southern China. Catena 22:105–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin C, Melville MD, Hafer S (1995) Acid sulphate soil–landscape relationships in an undrained, tide-dominated estuarine floodplain, Eastern Australia. Catena 24:177–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin C, Melville MD, White I, Hsu YP (1996) Comparison of three methods for estimation of the reduced-S content in estuarine sediments. Sci Total Environ 87:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay WL (1979) Chemical equilibria in soils. Wiley, New York, 472 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig B, Prenzel J, Obermann P (2001) Modelling ion composition in seepage water from a column experiment with an open cut coal mine sediment. J Geochem Explor 73:87–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luque T, De Arambarri P (1983) Dinámica del fósforo en los suelos de las marismas del río Guadalquivir. Anal Edafol Agrobiol 42:1723–1735

    Google Scholar 

  • Luther GW, Giblin A, Ryans RA (1982) Pyrite and oxidized iron mineral phases formed from pyrite oxidation in salt marsh and estuarine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim 46:2665–2669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merinero R, Lunar R, Martínez-Frías J, Somoza L, Díaz-del-Río V (2008) Iron oxyhydroxide and sulphide mineralization in hydrocarbon seep-related carbonate submarine chimneys, Gulf of Cadiz (SW Iberian Peninsula). Mar Pet Geol 25:706–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Gosselink JG (2000) Wetlands, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nie M, Wang M, Li B (2009) Effects of salt marsh invasion by Spartina alterniflora on sulfate-reducing bacteria in the Yangtze River estuary, China. Ecol Eng 35:1804–1808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordstrom DK (1982) Aqueous pyrite oxidation and the consequent formation of secondary iron minerals. In: Kittrick JA, Fanning DS, Hossner LR (eds) Acid sulfate weathering. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 37–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Osterrieth M, Borrelli N, Alvarez MF, Nóbrega GN, Machado W. Ferreira TO (2016) Iron biogeochemistry in Holocene palaeo and actual salt marshes in coastal areas of the Pampean Plain, Argentina. Environ Earth Sci 75:672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otero XL, Macías F (2001) Caracterización y clasificación de suelos de las marismas de la ría de Ortigueira en relación con su posición fisiográfica y vegetación (Galicia-NO de la Península Ibérica). Edafología 8(3):37–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy KJ, Wang L, Gloss SP (1995) Potential solid phases controlling dissolved aluminium and iron concentration in acidic soils. In: Date RA et al (eds) Plant and soil interaction at Low pH. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, pp 35–40

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ríos I (2015) Relaciones edafo-geomorfológicas y geo-ecología de plantas vasculares en marismas patagónicas: propiedades morfológicas, físicas, químicas y biogeoquímicas. Doctoral Thesis, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina, p 170

  • Sawlowicz Z (1993) Pyrite framboids and their development: a new conceptual mechanism. Geol Rundsch 82:148–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawlowicz Z (2000) Framboids: from their origin to application. Pr Mineral 88:1–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoeneberger PJ, Wysocki DA, Benham EC, Soil Survey Staff (2012) Field book for describing and sampling soils, Version 3.0. Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwertmann U, Friedl J, Stanjek H, Schulze DG (2000) The effect of Al on Fe oxides. XIX. Formation of Al-substituted hematite from ferrihydrite at 25 °C and pH 4 to 7. Clays Clay Miner 48(2):159–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SHN (2018) Servicio de Hidrografía Naval Argentina. http://www.hidro.gov.ar/oceanografia/Tmareas/Form_TPSMareas.asp. Accessed 5 May 2018

  • Simón M, Martín F, García I, Bouza P, Dorronsoro C, Aguilar J (2005) Interaction of limestone grains and acidic solutions from the oxidation of pyrite tailings. Environ Pollut 135:65–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (1999) Soil taxonomy. A basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys; 2nd edition. Agricultural Handbook 436. Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, p 869

    Google Scholar 

  • Soriano A (1983) Deserts and semi-deserts of Patagonia. In: West NE (ed) Temperate deserts and semi-deserts. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 423–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Sposito G (1989) The chemistry of soils. Oxford University Press, New York, 277 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Sposito G, Skipper NT, Sutton R, Park S, Soper AK, Greathouse JA (1999) Surface geochemistry of the clay minerals. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96(7):3358–3364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson FJ (1994) Humus chemistry. genesis, composition, reactions. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan P, Yelton J, Reddy KJ (1988a) Solubility relationships of aluminum and iron minerals associated with acid mine drainage. Environ Geol Water Sci 11(3):283–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan P, Yelton J, Reddy KJ (1988b) Iron sulfide oxidation and the chemistry of acid generation. Environ Geol Water Sci 11(3):289–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan LA, Bush RT, McConchie D, Lancaster D, Haskins PG, Clark MW (1999) Comparison of peroxide-oxidisable sulfur and chromium-reducible sulfur methods for determination of reduced inorganic sulfur in soil. Aust J Soil Res 37:255–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theodose TA, Roths JB (1999) Variation in nutrient availability and plant species diversity across forb and graminoid zones of a Northern New England high salt marsh. Plant Ecol 143:219–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNEP (1997) United Nations Environment Programme. World atlas of desertification 2nd edition. London, p 182

  • US Salinity Laboratory Staff (1954) Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils, Handbook 60. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, p 160

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Breemen N (1973) Dissolved aluminum in acid sulfate soils and n mine waters. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 37:694–697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Breemen N (1982) Genesis, morphology and classification of acid sulphate soils in coastal plains. In: Kittrick JA, Fanning DS, Hossner LR (eds) Acid sulphate weathering. Special Publication No. 10. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 95–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Vepraskas MJ, Faulkner SP (2001) Redox chemistry of hydric soils. In: Richardson JL, Vepraskas MJ (eds) Wetland soils: genesis, hydrology, landscapes, and classification. Lewis Publishers, Washington, D.C, pp 85–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Vepraskas MJ, Wildings LP, Dress LR (1994) Aquic conditions for soil taxonomy: concepts, soil morphology and micromorphology. In: Ringrose-Voace, Humphreys GS (ed) Soil micromorphology: studies in management and genesis, development in soil science 22. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 117–131

    Google Scholar 

  • White I, Melville MD, Wilson BP, Sammut J (1997) Reducing acidic discharges from coastal wetlands in eastern Australia. Wetlands Ecol Manag 5:55–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkin RT, Barnes HL, Brantley SL (1996) The size distribution of framboidal pyrite in modern sediments: an indicator of redox conditions. Geochim Cosmochim 60:3897–3912

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao R, Bai J, Gao H, Huang L, Deng W (2012) Spatial distribution of phosphorus in marsh soils of a typical land/inland water ecotone along a hydrological gradient. Catena 98:96–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yagui R, Ferreira ME, Pessôa da Cruz MC, Barbosa JC (2003) Organic matter fractions and soil fertility under the influence of liming, vermicompost and cattle manure. Sci Agric 60(3):549–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YL, Evangelou VP (1996) Influence of iron oxide forming conditions on pyrite oxidation. Soil Sci 161:852–864

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YL, Evangelou VP (1998) Formation of ferric hydroxide-silica coatings on pyrite and its oxidation behavior. Soil Sci 163:53–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Claudia Saín Estela Cortés and Fernando Coronato for their exceptional assistance in laboratory and fieldwork. This research has been funded by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas of Argentina (CONICET, PIP 2014 00190 CO) and Global Environment Fund (GEF- PNUD ARG 02/018 A-B17). The authors are thankful to the comments received from anonymous reviewers and for their suggestions for improving this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales (IPEEC), Centro Nacional Patagónico, CONICET, Boulevard Brown 2915, CP 9120, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Pablo José Bouza, Ileana Ríos, Yanina Lorena Idaszkin & Alejandro Bortolus

  2. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Boulevard Brown 3051, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Yanina Lorena Idaszkin

  3. Grupo de Ecología en Ambientes Costeros (GEAC IPEEC-CONICET), Chubut, Argentina

    Alejandro Bortolus

Authors
  1. Pablo José Bouza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ileana Ríos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yanina Lorena Idaszkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alejandro Bortolus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pablo José Bouza.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is a part of Topical Collection in Environmental Earth Sciences on IV RAGSU—Advances in Geochemistry of the Surface in Argentina, edited by Dr. Americo Iadran Torres and Dr. Pablo Jose Bouza.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bouza, P.J., Ríos, I., Idaszkin, Y.L. et al. Patagonian salt marsh soils and oxidizable pedogenic pyrite: solid phases controlling aluminum and iron contents in acidic soil solutions. Environ Earth Sci 78, 2 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7991-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7991-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation