The Maude Weir sediments. 1. Desorption and sorption of phosphorus, and related changes in mineral magnetic properties after desorption

摘要

Algal blooms frequently occur in the Maude Weir in the Murrumbidgee River of NSW, which are related to the availability of nutrients, particularly phosphorus. A clayey sediment from the bottom released P to the water when kept under reducing conditions, but did not release P when the supernatant water was aerated. The same material, with and without aeration, sorbed P when resuspended in water containing 1 mg P L. The resuspended anaerobic material adsorbed almost twice as much as the same material under aerobic conditions. Vigorous mixing, simulating transport breakage and abrasion, caused a substantial increase in sorption, with the effect being greater for the aerobic material. This was attributed to fragmentation of iron oxide aggregates formed during oxidation. Mineral magnetic properties, susceptibility and remanence ratios SIRM/χ, SIRM/ARM and IRMh%, of the material from the desorption experiment reflected changes in the chemical state of iron caused by oxidation and reduction. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.