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Observations on the diagenetic behavior of arsenic in a deep coastal sediment

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Abstract

Vertical profiles of total dissolved arsenic, manganese and iron, pH, Eh and rates of sulfate reduction were determined in a freshly-collected box core from a 335m depth station in the Laurentian Trough. The relationships observed between the profiles were further examined in the laboratory by measuring these same parameters with time in surficial sediment slurries as the Eh decreased in response to biological activity or chemical alteration.

Both field and laboratory observations have shown that arsenic is released predominantly as As(III) into reducing sediment porewaters. This occurs after the dissolution of manganese oxides and at the same time as the dissolution of iron oxyhydroxides and the onset of sulfate reduction. Laboratory experiments indicated that sulfate reduction and the production of sulfide ions are not solely responsible for the release of arsenic to the porewaters, although this process is necessary to create and maintain a highly reducing environment conducive to rapid iron dissolution.

The diagenesis of arsenic in Laurentain Trough sediments involves the simultaneous release of arsenic and iron at a subsurface depth, followed by its removal from porewaters by precipitation and adsorption reactions after migration by diffusion along concentration gradients. A qualitative model is presented to describe the behavior of arsenic in coastal marine sediments.

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Author notes

  1. Harry M. Edenborn

    Present address: Oak Ridge Research Institute, 113 Union Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département d'Océanographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 310, avenue des Ursulines, Rimouski, Quebec, G5L 3A1, Canada

    Harry M. Edenborn, Nelson Belzile, Jean Lebel & Norman Silverberg

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  1. Harry M. Edenborn
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  2. Nelson Belzile
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  3. Alfonso Mucci
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  4. Jean Lebel
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  5. Norman Silverberg
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Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, McGill University, 3450 UniversityStreet, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada

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Edenborn, H.M., Belzile, N., Mucci, A. et al. Observations on the diagenetic behavior of arsenic in a deep coastal sediment. Biogeochemistry 2, 359–376 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180326

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