Fe(III) mobilisation by carbonate in low temperature environments: Study of the solubility of ferrihydrite in carbonate media and the formation of Fe(III) carbonate complexes

The linkage between the iron and the carbon cycles is of paramount importance to understand and quantify the effect of increased CO2 concentrations in natural waters on the mobility of iron and associated trace elements. In this context, we have quantified the thermodynamic stability of mixed Fe(III) hydroxo-carbonate complexes and their effect on the solubility of Fe(III) oxihydroxides. We present the results of carefully performed solubility measurements of 2-line ferrihydrite in the slightly acidic to neutral–alkaline pH ranges (3.8–8.7) under constant pCO2 varying between (0.982–98.154 kPa) at 25 °C. tcome of the work indicates the predominance of two Fe(III) hydroxo carbonate complexes FeOHCO3 and Fe(CO3)33−, with formation constants log*β°1,1,1 = 10.76 ± 0.38 and log β°1,0,3 = 24.24 ± 0.42, respectively. lubility constant for the ferrihydrite used in this study was determined in acid conditions (pH: 1.8–3.2) in the absence of CO2 and at T = (25 ± 1) °C, as log*Ks,0 = 1.19 ± 0.41. lative stability of the Fe(III)-carbonate complexes in alkaline pH conditions has implications for the solubility of Fe(III) in CO2-rich environments and the subsequent mobilisation of associated trace metals that will be explored in subsequent papers.