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Nanoparticulate bioavailable iron minerals in icebergs and glaciers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

R. Raiswell
Affiliation:
Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Earth and Environment, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
L. G. Benning*
Affiliation:
Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Earth and Environment, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
L. Davidson
Affiliation:
Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Earth and Environment, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
M. Tranter
Affiliation:
Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, Bristol University, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK

Abstract

Ice-hosted sediments in glaciers and icebergs from Antarctica and Svalbard contain authigenic nanoparticulates of schwertmannite, ferrihydrite and goethite that formed during sulphide oxidation. These phases indicate the existence of subglacial biogeochemical hotspots containing fluids of low pH (2—4), rich in dissolved Fe(III) and sulphate. Nanophase Fe is partially bioavailable and potentially important to global biogeochemical cycles, since the flux delivered by icebergs to the Southern Ocean is comparable to the flux of soluble, bioavailable Fe from aeolian dust.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008

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