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Substantial iron sequestration during green-clay authigenesis in modern deep-sea sediments

Nature Geoscience volume 8, pages 885–889 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

In much of the global ocean, iron is a limiting nutrient for marine productivity. The formation of pyrite has been considered the most important sink of reactive iron in modern, organic-rich sediments. However, clay mineral transformations can also lead to long-term sequestration of iron during late diagenesis and in hydrothermal settings. Here we present evidence for substantial iron sequestration during the early diagenetic formation of ferruginous clay minerals, also called green-clay authigenesis, in the deep-sea environment of the Ivory Coast–Ghana Marginal Ridge. Using high-resolution electron microscopic methods and sequential sediment extraction techniques, we demonstrate that iron uptake by green-clay authigenesis can amount to 76 ± 127 μmol Fe cm−2 kyr−1, which is on average six times higher than that of pyrite in suboxic subsurface sediments 5 m below the sea floor or shallower. Even at depths of 15 m below the sea floor or greater, rates of iron burial by green clay and pyrite are almost equal at ∼80 μmol Fe cm−2 kyr−1. We conclude that green-clay formation significantly reduces the pore water inventory of dissolved iron in modern and ancient pelagic sediments, which challenges the long-standing conceptual view that clay mineral diagenesis is of little importance in current biogeochemical models of the marine iron cycle.

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Figure 1: Appearance and evolution of Fe-bearing, authigenic green-clay minerals in the Ivory Coast deep-sea sediments (ODP Site 959).
Figure 2: Reaction mechanism and iron uptake during green-clay authigenesis.
Figure 3: Composition, distribution and spatial evolution of solid phase iron at ODP Site 959.
Figure 4: Schematic model illustrating the marine, sedimentary iron cycle at ODP Site 959.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge A. Wuelbers from the MARUM Bremen, who assisted us with the sampling. M. E. Böttcher from the Baltic Sea Research Institute (IOW, Warnemünde) is greatly acknowledged for his support with the solid phase iron speciation calculations and he provided the bulk sediment sulphur data. Funding by the NAWI Graz is highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied Geosciences, Graz University of Technology, Rechbauerstrasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria

    A. Baldermann & V. Mavromatis

  2. Department of Geography and Geology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, F.-L.-Jahnstrasse 17a, 17487 Greifswald, Germany

    L. N. Warr

  3. Institute of Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis (FELMI-ZFE), Graz University of Technology, Steyrergasse 17, 8010 Graz, Austria

    I. Letofsky-Papst

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Contributions

A.B. and L.N.W. wrote the manuscript. A.B. provided the solid phase iron speciation data and A.B. and V.M. calculated the iron sequestration rates. I.L.-P. provided the TEM data. V.M. and I.L.-P. contributed to the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to A. Baldermann.

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Baldermann, A., Warr, L., Letofsky-Papst, I. et al. Substantial iron sequestration during green-clay authigenesis in modern deep-sea sediments. Nature Geosci 8, 885–889 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2542

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