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Analytical Electron-Microscopy Fractionation of Fine and Colloidal Particulate-Phosphorus in Riverbed and Suspended Sediments

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Abstract

The impact particulate-phosphorus (particulate-P) has on eutrophication of aquatic systems that greatly depends on its composition. As a result, analysis methods for evaluating particulate-P speciation must be capable of identifying and/or quantifying the wide range of forms particulate-P can take. In the present study, we compare the particulate P speciation of the fine and colloidal fractions of riverbed sediment and suspended matter from two rivers in the Lake Geneva basin (French Alps) as determined with chemical extractions to results of a combined Transmission Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Detection (TEM–EDS) analysis of the same samples. TEM–EDS provides semi-quantitative information about the distribution of P throughout the solid fraction of a sample and on the diversity of carrier phases, which are identified by their morphology and stochiometry. EDS-detectable quantities of phosphorus were found in 15–35% of the particles in the samples analyzed. As expected, particulate-P existed in a wide variety of forms, mostly associated with Al, Fe, Ca and Si. Some types of particles, often well-crystallized phosphate minerals, had high P contents (10–30%), but the dominant carrier phases of P were diffuse matrices of particles with low P contents (<5%). These matrices had a wide range of chemical compositions and included clay minerals, crystallized and amorphous phases of Fe, as well as intermediary components. Classical chemical extractions showed major differences in P content and speciation between the upstream and downstream sediment samples. The downstream samples showed higher frequencies of particles containing P, a larger diversity of carrier phases, a higher contribution of clays as carrier phases of P, and the presence of a new fraction with Al and Fe amorphous minerals. The processes that create and select carrier phases of particulate-P are part of the general dynamics of P within a watershed.

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this article to the late Michel Robert, former Director of Research at INRA and the originator of the present study. We gratefully thank Christophe Rodier and Anne-Marie Jaunet for their invaluable technical help in carrying out the TEM observations and the EDS counts. We acknowledge greatly the reviewers for their critical comments, which helped to improve an earlier version of this article.

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Author notes

  1. Françoise Elsass

    Present address: Centre de Géochimie de la Surface, UMR 7517 ULP-CNRS, 1 rue Blessig, 67084, Strasbourg Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Savoie, UMR CARRTEL, 73376, le Bourget du Lac, France

    Jérôme Poulenard

  2. INRA, UMR CARRTEL, 74200, Thonon les Bains, France

    Jean-Marcel Dorioz

  3. INRA, UMR PESSAC, 78026, Versailles, France

    Françoise Elsass

Authors
  1. Jérôme Poulenard
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  2. Jean-Marcel Dorioz
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  3. Françoise Elsass
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Correspondence to Jérôme Poulenard.

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Poulenard, J., Dorioz, JM. & Elsass, F. Analytical Electron-Microscopy Fractionation of Fine and Colloidal Particulate-Phosphorus in Riverbed and Suspended Sediments. Aquat Geochem 14, 193–210 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-008-9032-5

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