Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stability Of Schwertmannite And Jarosite In An Acidic Landscape: Prolonged Field Incubation, Chamindra Vithana, Leigh Sullivan, Edward Burton, Richard Bush

Chamindra Vithana

Schwertmannite and jarosite are two of the main secondary iron(III) minerals commonly found in acidic, iron and sulfate-rich environments such as acid mine drainage and coastal acid sulfate soils (CASS). Both minerals exert major influence on the water and soil quality in these environments.While there are many studies conducted on the stability of these two minerals under controlled laboratory conditions, the behaviour of schwertmannite and jarosite under field conditions and the factors influencing their behaviour have not been investigated directly. In the present study, we examined the net transformation of introduced schwertmannite and jarosite samples incubated in a typical acidic …