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Iron and Trace Metals in Microbial Mats and Underlying Sediments: Results From Guerrero Negro Saltern, Baja California Sur, Mexico

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Abstract

Total trace metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn), Al, and pyrite- and reactive-associated metals were measured for the first time in a microbial mat and its underlying anoxic-sulfidic sediment collected in the saltern of Guerrero Negro (GN), Baja California Sur, Mexico. It is postulated that the formation of acid volatile sulfide (AVS) and pyrite in the area of GN could be limited by the availability of reactive Fe, as suggested by its limited abundance (mat and sediment combined average value of only 19 ± 10 μmol g−1; n = 22) as well as the low pyrite (0.89–7.9 μmol g−1) and AVS (0.19–21 μmol g−1) concentrations (for anoxic-sulfidic sediments), intermediate degrees of pyritization (12–50%), high degrees of sulfidization (14–100%), generally low degrees of trace metal pyritization, and slight impoverishment in total Fe. This is a surprising result considering the large potential reservoir of available Fe in the surrounding desert. Our findings suggest that pyrite formation in the cycling of trace metals in the saltern of GN is not very important and that other sedimentary phases (e.g., organic matter, carbonates) may be more important reservoirs of trace elements. Enrichment factors [EFMe = (Me/Al)sample/(Me/Al)background] of Co, Pb, and Cd were high in the mat (EFMe = 2.2 ± 0.4, 2.8 ± 1.6 and 34.5 ± 9.8, respectively) and even higher in the underlying sediment (EFMe = 4.7 ± 1.5, 14.5 ± 6.2 and 89 ± 27, respectively), but Fe was slightly impoverished (average EFFe of 0.49 ± 0.13 and 0.50 ± 0.27 in both mat and sediment). Organic carbon to pyrite-sulfur (C/S) molar ratios measured in the mat (2.9 × 102–27 × 102) and sediment (0.81 × 102–6.6 × 102) were, on average, approximately 77 times higher than those typically found in marine sediments (7.5 ± 2.1). These results may indicate that ancient evaporation basins or hypersaline sedimentary environments could be identified on the basis of extremely high C/S ratios (e.g., >100) and low reactive Fe.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Arturo Siqueiros Valencia for his invaluable help in the field to the management and technical staff of the Compañía Exportadora de Sal S.A. (ESSA) for their assistance and support. To Brad Bebout and David Des Marais of NASA-Ames for their advice and for allowing us to accompany them on their permits. The paper benefitted greatly from the thoughtful reviews of Alfonso Mucci and two anonymous journal reviewers. This project was funded by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y Tecnologia (CONACYT) project number CB-2005-1-025341. Support for E.A.-F. in the form of a Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) Research Assistantship is greatly acknowledged.

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  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Km. 103, Carr. Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

    Miguel Angel Huerta-Diaz, Francisco Delgadillo-Hinojosa, José Antonio Segovia-Zavala, J. Martin Hernandez-Ayon & Manuel Salvador Galindo-Bect

  2. Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Facultade de Bioloxía Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    X. L. Otero

  3. Posgrado en Oceanografía Costera, Facultad de Ciencias Marinas/Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Km. 103, Carr. Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

    Enrique Amaro-Franco

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  1. Miguel Angel Huerta-Diaz
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Huerta-Diaz, M.A., Delgadillo-Hinojosa, F., Otero, X.L. et al. Iron and Trace Metals in Microbial Mats and Underlying Sediments: Results From Guerrero Negro Saltern, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Aquat Geochem 17, 603–628 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-011-9126-3

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