Abstract
Purpose
Complexes of organic matter (OM) with iron (Fe) oxyhydroxides (OM-Fe) prevent/reduce microbial degradation and enhance its stabilization in soils and sediments. Missing in most studies regarding the quality of OM-Fe complexes is in this study addressed by optical method characterization using absorbance and fluorescence, which is a unique approach in combination with sequential extraction methods. This study finds the quality of OM which promotes the stability of the OM-Fe aggregates with respect to the rate of redox dissolution of Fe mineral phases.
Methods
Sediment samples from a mesotrophic freshwater reservoir were sequentially extracted to distinguish Fe oxyhydroxides solubility at different dissolution times. This allowed us to assess the OM-Fe association with easily reducible Fe-bearing minerals vs. more stable yet reducible fractions. The quality of the sequentially extracted DOM associated with different redox reactivity mineral phases was evaluated by UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy using a parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model.
Results
Humic-like substances render soluble and labile OM-Fe associations, while non-humic substances enhance the stability of such associations under reducing conditions. In anoxic sediments, non-humic substances are stabilized in the OM-Fe associations.
Conclusion
This study described the fate of OM-Fe in anoxic sediments by coupling sequential extractions with UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy characterization. This is a new reliable and simple approach for evaluating the stability of OM-Fe aggregates in sediments, soils, and/or wastewater treatment sludge.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would also like to extend their appreciation Tomas Hubacek, Iva Tomkova, and Daniel Venek for DOC and Fe measurements. We also thank reviewers whose comments helped shape the quality of work creditably.
Funding
This study was supported by BC CAS and SoWa (MEYS; projects LM2015075, EF16_013/0001782—SoWa Ecosystems Research). N.O-A., A.V., and D.A.P. acknowledge support from the Czech Science Foundation (Grant 19-15096Y). P.P. acknowledges support from the Czech Science Foundation (Grant 19-00113S). J.B. and J.J. acknowledge support from the projects QK1810161 and QK22020179.
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Osafo, N.OA., Jan, J., Valero, A. et al. Organic matter character as a critical factor determining the fate and stability of its association with iron in sediments. J Soils Sediments 22, 1865–1875 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03207-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03207-x