Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2014NJ354B

Determining the influence of Mn(II)-birnessite interactions on the retention of Zn(II) and implications for other important trace metals in New Jersey

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2014 Start Date: 2014-03-01 End Date: 2015-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,000

Principal Investigators: Joshua Lefkowitz, Evert Elzinga

Project Summary: This study investigates the impact of variable redox condition on the retention and release of Zn in riparian soils. Manganese oxides play an important role in controlling the biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals. Dynamic changes in mineralogy and reactivity of manganese oxides during oxic-anoxic transitions in riparian zones are expected to cause major changes in the solubility and speciation of sorbed trace metal impurities associated with the sorbents, but these effects have not previously been investigated. Here, we characterize the solubility and speciation of Zn(II) during reductive transformation of birnessite in laboratory based model experiments mimicking the geochemical conditions of submerged soils, using a combination of macroscopic and advanced microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. This study represents the final project of my PhD work in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Rutgers-Newark, and builds on current (unfunded) work on Mn redox cycling. This work has major implications for understanding the long-term dynamics of trace metals throughout the riparian environments of New Jersey and elsewhere.