The Complexation of Mn(III) in the Sediments and Water Column of two Coastal Estuaries

Abstract:

In seawater, we find that the complexation of the intermediate manganese oxidation state, dissolved Mn(III), is kinetically stabilized by organic ligands in diverse environments. The cycling of these complexes is also tightly coupled to the cycles of C, O, N, S, and Fe. In the suboxic porewaters of the St. Lawrence Estuary (2011 (1), 2014 (here)), Mn(III)-L complexes made up to 100 % of total dissolved Mn (dMn(T)). The porewaters were dominated by weak complexes in lower and upper estuary porewaters (35 ppt salinity), whereas in the Saguenay Fjord (30 ppt salinity), weak (logK_cond=11.1-11.6) and strong (logK_cond>13.6) Mn(III)-L complexes were found in the same sample, which were kinetically stable to reduction - even in the presence of excess soluble Fe(II). The site at the Saguenay fjord likely has more terrestrial influence, and potentially different Mn(III)-L binding ligands than in the more oceanic samples. Overlying waters at both sites indicate that dMn(T) is fluxing out of the sediments, and all water column samples contained strong Mn(III)-L complexes (up to 86% of dMn(T)). Laboratory tests show that strong terrestrial Mn(III)-L complexes can precipitate at pH<2, and so previous dMn(T) assays in such environments, involving an acidification step, may have omitted an important fraction of dMn(T). These findings present the first measurement of two Mn(III)-binding ligand classes in the same water mass, and indicate that Mn(III)-L complexes have diverse and varying reactivity. We will discuss the implication of fluxing Mn(III)-L complexes from sediments to the overlying water column, in the St. Lawrence system compared to our data from the Chesapeake Bay (2013 (2), 2014 (here)) where strong Mn(III)-L complexes made up to 50 % of total dissolved Mn (dMn(T)) in anoxic bottom waters, and were partially kinetically stable to sulfide reduction.

1. Madison, A.S., Tebo, B.M., Mucci, A., Sundby, B., Luther, G.W. 2013. Abundant porewater Mn(III) is a major component of the sedimentary redox system. Science, 341:875-878.

2. Oldham, V.E., Owings, S.M., Jones, M.R., Tebo, B.M., and Luther, G.W. 2015. Evidence for the presence of strong Mn(III)-binding ligands in the water column of the Chesapeake Bay. Mar. Chem., 171: 58-66.