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THE INFLUENCE OF MINERAL REACTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL FATE OF METALS IN SOILS AND SEDIMENTS
Citation:
Ford*, R. THE INFLUENCE OF MINERAL REACTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL FATE OF METALS IN SOILS AND SEDIMENTS. Presented at Agromony, Crop and Soil Sciences Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, 11/5-9/2000.
Description:
Significant progress has been made in elucidating sorption reactions that control the partitioning of metals from solution to mineral surfaces in contaminated soil/sediment systems. Surface complexation models have been developed to quantify the forward reaction, however, these models often fail to describe the reversibility of the process over a time scale relevant to natural systems. Experimental evidence suggests that slow or non-reversible metal sorption may be attributed to structural incorporation during mineral structural transformations or the formation of trace precipitate phases with ill-defined structure or composition. Experimental studies from iron oxide and clay mineral systems will be discussed to illustrate these phenomena. Emphasis will be placed on the need to define rates of mineral transformation in soil/sediment systems, and the need for a more comprehensive database of solid phase solubilities for assessing the role of ?non-traditional' precipitate phases.