New paper explores the role of iron in the dissolution of amorphous silica

The dissolution of amorphous silica (SiO₂), including biogenic silica produced by algae and higher plants, is the key process controlling the recycling of nutrient silicon in terrestrial and aquatic environments. The rate at which amorphous silica dissolves in a particular environmental setting depends on the prevailing physical and geochemical conditions. In anoxic environments, such as water saturated soils or sediments in deeper parts of lakes, ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) ions are ubiquitous. In the paper “Amorphous silica dissolution kinetics in freshwater environments: Effects of Fe²⁺ and other solution compositional controls” the inhibition of dissolution by Fe²⁺ is explained in terms of the binding of the Fe²⁺ ions to specific reactive sites at the silica surface. The paper is first-authored by former ERG PhD student Lu huang and ERG members Chris Parsons, Steph Slowinski and Philippe Van Cappellen. It was published in Science of the Total Environment and can be accessed via LINK.