Importance of Tetrahedral Iron during Microbial Reduction of Clay Mineral NAu-2

Abstract:

Transformations between Fe(II) and Fe(III) in ferruginous clay minerals significantly impact the physicochemical properties of soils and sediments, such as the ion exchange capacity and redox potential. An increasing number of studies have focused on clay minerals that undergo redox changes, however, none have so far addressed Fe isotope fractionation during these processes. In this study, Fe isotope fractionations were determined during microbial reduction of Fe(III) in nontronite NAu-2 with different concentrations of lactate. No secondary Fe-bearing minerals, including Fe oxides, were detected by SEM in over 100 days of incubation, suggesting that the measured fractionations only reflected the net isotope effect associated with the clay minerals. The initial reduction likely started from edge sites, and the reductive dissolution released aqueous Fe(II). Basal plane sorbed Fe(II) was detectable after the extent of Fe reduction exceeded 5% and extensive electron transfer and isotope exchange had occurred between basal plane sorbed Fe(II) and structural Fe(III). With lower concentrations of the lactate(40 mM), the maximum Fe isotope fractionation was larger (∆⁵⁶Fe_{basal Fe(II)-structure Fe(III)}= -4.37‰), consistent with greater adsorption than in systems with more lactate. After the Fe in reactive sites was all reduced, isotope exchange between Fe(II) and structural Fe(III) was inhibited due to blockage of electron transfer pathways by the collapse of the clay layers. The results agree with another study in our group on microbial reduction of NAu-1, despite both the smaller extent of reduction (~10% vs. 22% max bioreduction for NAu-1 and NAu-2, respectively) and smaller isotope fractionation factor than for NAu-2. We speculate that tetrahedral Fe in NAu-2 may have accelerated the electron transfer between Fe atoms, thus inducing a higher extent of reduction and a larger Fe isotope fractionation compared to NAu-1.