Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mössbauer study of Andean páramo soil from Ventaquemada, Boyacá, Colombia

  • Published:
Hyperfine Interactions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Samples of páramo soil for Mössbauer studies down to a temperature of 4.2 K were collected from a sampling site in the municipality of Ventaquemada, district of Montoya, sector of Matanegra. This location is close to Tunja, capital of Boyacá Province, Colombia. Páramo soils often result from weathering of volcanic ash and are rich in allophane and organic matter. The Mössbauer spectra show the iron in all samples to be present mainly as a ferric component that splits magnetically at temperatures below about 20 K into a sextet with a mean hyperfine field of about 44 T and broad resonance lines that indicate a distribution of hyperfine fields. Additionally, weak contributions of hematite, magnetite, goethite, and ferric and ferrous iron in clays, are present as well as a structure-less pattern (collapsed sextet) that appears at low temperatures. The broad magnetically split component represents up to 70% of the iron in the Páramo soils. It is quite stable towards heating the soils, converting to hematite mainly between 600 and 800 °C. This rules out that the component is ferrihydrite, which decomposes already below 400 °C. Presumably, it is attributable to the allophane component in the Páramo soils. Leaching by the DCB method removes this component as well as most of the goethite, but only part of the hematite, whereas oxalate leaching removes mainly the broad magnetically split component attributed to allophane, but leaves hematite, magnetite and goethite largely unchanged. Leaching with H2O2, which oxidises and removes the organic matter, has no effect on the Mössbauer spectra, showing that iron bound to organic substances is practically absent.

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.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hofstede, R.G.M.: The effects of grazing and burning on soil and plant nutrient concentrations in Colombian paramo grasslands. Plant Soil. 173, 111–132 (1995)

  2. Lizcano, A. Herrera, M.J. and Santamarina, J.C.: Suelos derivados de cenizas volcanicas en Colombia. Rev. Int. de Desastres Naturales, Accidentes e Infraestructura Civil 6, 167 (2006)

  3. Buytaert, W., Sevink, J., De Leeuw, B., Deckers, J.: Clay mineralogy of the soils in the south Ecuadorian páramo region. Geoderma. 127, 114–129 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Thompson, A., Rancourt, D.G., Chadwick, O.A., Chorover, J.: Iron solid-phase differentiation along a redox gradient in basaltic soils. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 75, 119–133 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Filimonova, S., Kaufhold, S., Wagner, F.E., Häusler, W., Kögel-Knabner, I.: The role of allophane nano-structure and Fe oxide speciation for hosting soil organic matter in an allophanic Andosol. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 180, 284–302 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Winkler, P., Kaiser, K., Thompson, A., Kalbitz, K., Fiedler, S., Jahn, R.: Geochim. Cosmochim. Contrasting evolution of iron phase composition in soils exposed to redox fluctuations Acta. 215, 89–102 (2018)

  7. Mikutta, R. M. Kleber, K. Kaiser and Jahn, R.: Review: Organic matter removal from soils using hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite, and disodium peroxodisulfite. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69 120–139(2005)

  8. Schwertmann, U.: Differenzierung der Eisenoxide des Bodens durch Extraktion mit Ammoniumoxalat-Lösung. Z. Pflanzenernähr. Düng. Bodenk. 105, 194–202 (1964)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. McKeague, J.A., Day, J.H.: Dithionite- and oxalate-extractable Fe and Al as aids in differentiating various classes of soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 46, 13–22 (1966)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mehra, O.P. and Jackson, M.L. Iron oxide removal from soils and clays by a dithionite-citrate system buffered with sodium bicarbonate. Caly Clays Min. 5, 317–327 (1960)

  11. Kaufhold, S., Ufer, K., Kaufhold, A., Stucki, J.W., Anastácio, A.S., Jahn, R., Dorman, R.: Quantification of allophane from Ecuador. Clays Clay Minerals. 58, 707–716 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. MacKenzie, K.J.D., Cardile, C.M.: The structure and thermal reactions of natural iron-containing allophanes studied by 57-Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Thermochim. Acta. 130, 259–267 (1988)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. B. Creton, D. Bougeard, K.S. Smirnov, J. Guilment| and O. Poncelet, J. Phys. Chem. C 112 , 358 (2008), Structural Model and Computer Modeling Study of Allophane, 364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Schwertmann, U., Friedl, J., Kyek, A.: formation and properties of a continuous crystallinity series of synthetic ferrihydrites (2- To 6-line) and their relation to FeOOH forms. Clays Clay Min. 52, 221–226 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Schwertmann, U. Wagner F. and Knicker, H.: Ferrihydrite-humic associations: Magnetic hyperfine interactions". Further insert "-1015" after "1009 Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69, 1009 (2005)

  16. Mikutta, C., Mikutta, R., Bonneville, S., Wagner, F., Voegelin, A., Christl, I., Kretzschmar, R.: Synthetic coprecipitates of exopolysaccharides and ferrihydrite. Part I: Characterization. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 72, 1111–1127 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Eusterhues, K., Wagner, F.E.., Häusler, W., Hanzlik, M., Knicker, H., Totsche, K.U., Kögel-Knabner, I., Schwertmann, U.: characterization of ferrihydrite-soil organic matter coprecipitates by x-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 7891–7897 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. R.L. Parfitt and A.D.Wilson, in: Caldas, E.F., Yaalon, D.H. (Eds.), Estimation of allophane and halloysite in three sequences of volcanic soils, New Zealand, Volcanic Soils, Catena Supplement Vol. 7. Catena Verlag, Desdedt, Germany, pp. 1–8 (1985),

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Física, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, UPTC, Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia

    William A. Pacheco Serrano

  2. Physics Department E15, Technical University of Munich, 85747, Garching, Germany

    Friedrich E. Wagner

  3. Institute of Soil Science, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany

    Werner Häusler

Authors
  1. William A. Pacheco Serrano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Friedrich E. Wagner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Werner Häusler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Friedrich E. Wagner.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

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

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Proceedings of the 16th Latin American Conference on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (LACAME 2018), 18-23 November 2018, Santiago de Chile, Chile

Edited by Carmen Pizarro Arriagada

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pacheco Serrano, W.A., Wagner, F.E. & Häusler, W. Mössbauer study of Andean páramo soil from Ventaquemada, Boyacá, Colombia. Hyperfine Interact 240, 101 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-019-1627-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-019-1627-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation