Influence of chemical weathering and aging of iron oxides on the potential iron solubility of Saharan dust during simulated atmospheric processing

The flux of bioavailable Fe from mineral dust to the surface ocean is controlled not only by the processes in the atmosphere but also by the nature and source of the dust. In this study, we investigated how the nature of Fe minerals in the dust affects its potential Fe solubility (Fepsol) employing traditional and modern geochemical, mineralogical, and microscopic techniques. The chemical and mineralogical compositions, particularly Fe mineralogy, in soil samples as dust precursors collected from North African dust source regions were determined. The Fepsol was measured after 3 days of contact with sulfuric acid at pH 2 to simulate acid processes in the atmosphere. Fepsol of the soil dust samples were compared with calculated predictions of Fepsol based on the amount of individual Fe‐bearing minerals present in the samples and Fe solubilities of corresponding standard minerals. The calculated Fepsol deviated significantly from the measured Fepsol of the soil dust samples. We attributed this to the variability in properties of Fe minerals (e.g., size of Fe oxides and heterogeneity of chemical compositions of clay minerals) in soil dusts in comparison to the standard minerals. There were, however, clear relationships between the degree of chemical weathering of North African soils and Fepsol. The Parker index and ratio of ascorbate plus dithionite Fe to total Fe ((FeA+FeD)/FeT) are positively and negatively correlated with Fepsol, respectively. In addition, the ratio of FeA/(FeA+FeD), which decreases with aging of the Fe oxides, was found to be positively correlated with Fepsol in the soil dusts. Overall, our results indicate that there is a significant regional variability in the chemical and Fe mineralogical compositions of dusts across North African sources, as a result of the differences in chemical weathering and aging of Fe oxides. Furthermore, the indices for these weathering processes can provide an estimate of the fraction of Fe which can be solubilized if acid processed in the atmosphere.

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