『Abstract
A study was undertaken to characterize a natural jarosite sample
from an acid sulfate soils site and to experimentally determine
the kinetics of dissolution and major ion release from jarosite
under a range of different conditions. The jarosite was sourced
from a degraded acid sulfate soil site that displays spatio-temporal
variability in acidity on the mid north coast of NSW, Australia.
Dissolution reaction rates varied as a function of solution composition
but were roughly proportional to the degree of undersaturation,
and the reaction pathway towards saturation was complex. The short-term
reaction rates (<12 days) decreased with increasing acidity,
sulfate or iron. Over the longer term, there was a shift from
congruent to incongruent dissolution, with precipitation of Fe-(OOH)
solid, and with little further change in saturation index. The
dissolution rates of the natural mineral were 1-3 orders of magnitude
slower than experimentally determined reaction rates of synthetic
jarosite samples run under similar experimental conditions, suggesting
that residual solids were inhibiting reaction.
The slow reaction rates of this study are probably more typical
of jarosite in natural acid sulfate environments than the faster
dissolution of clean synthetic jarosite. However, the shift in
mechanism over a few days from near-congruent dissolution producing
little acidity but much mobile Fe3+, to production
of acidity as that Fe3+ precipitates, indicates that
acidity can readily spread from jarosite dissolving under moderately
acid conditions.
Keywords: Jarosite; Acid sulfate soils; Weathering; Mineral dissolution』
1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1 Mineral identification
2.2. Dissolution experiments
3. Results
3.1. Jarosite characterization
3.2. Experimental results of jarosite dissolution
3.2.1. Reaction stoichiometry
3.2.2. Final experimental results
3.2.3. Kinetics of the dissolution reaction
3.2.3.1. Short-term jarosite dissolution rate
3.2.3.2. Long-term jarosite dissolution rate
3.2.3.3. Jarosite dissolution in oxalate
4. Discussion
4.1. Stoichiometry
4.1.1. Jarosite composition
4.1.2. Fe solution stoichiometry
4.1.3. Stoichiometry of dissolution
4.2. Kinetics
4.2.1. Comparisons with other studies
4.2.2. Factors affecting jarosite reactivity
5. Summary and conclusions
Acknowledgements
References