Apparent solubilities of schwertmannite and ferrihydrite in natural stream waters polluted by mine drainage

Abstract

The apparent solubilities of schwertmannite and ferrihydrite were estimated from the H+, OH−, Fe3+, and SO42− activities of the natural stream waters in Korea and mine drainage in Ohio, USA. Both chemical composition of the stream waters and the mineralogy of the precipitates were determined for samples from two streams polluted by coal mine drainage. This study combines these new results with previous data from Ohio, USA to redetermine solubilities. The activities of the dissolved species necessary for the solubility determinations were calculated from the chemical compositions of the waters with the WATEQ4F computer code.Laboratory analyses of precipitates indicated that the main minerals present in Imgok and Osheep creek were schwertmannite and ferrihydrite, respectively. The schwertmannite from Imgok creek had a variable chemical formula of Fe8O8(OH)8−2x(SO4)x· nH2O, where 1.74 ≤ x ≤ 1.86 and 8.17 ≤ n ≤ 8.62. The chemical formula of ferrihydrite was Fe2O3· 1.6H2O. With known mineralogy of the precipitates from each stream, the activities of H+, OH−, Fe3+, and SO42− in the waters were plotted on logarithmic activity-activity diagrams to determine apparent solubilities of schwertmannite and ferrihydrite. The best estimate for the logarithm of the solubility product of schwertmannite, logKs, was 10.5 ± 2.5 around 15°C. This value of logKs constrains the logarithm of the solubility product of ferrihydrite, logKf, to be 4.3 ± 0.5 to maintain the stability boundary with schwertmannite observed in natural waters.