Arsenic-Bearing Serpentine-Group Minerals: Mineral Synthesis with Insights for the Arsenic Cycle

Abstract

AbstractWhen present at elevated levels in drinking water, arsenic is toxic, and magnesian clays are gaining recognition as a source of elevated arsenic in groundwater. In the crust and upper mantle of Earth, arsenic incorporation into clay minerals is influenced by geochemical conditions associated with hydrothermal fluids and metamorphic processes (e.g. serpentinization), meaning that As is a useful tracer of fluid-flow in the deep Earth. To improve understanding of arsenic speciation in groundwater, sediments, soils, and hydrothermal-metamorphic systems, the present study examined arsenic incorporation into magnesian clays by synthesis of serpentine minerals (200oC, 10 d) with varied concentrations of Si, Al, As5+, and As3+. The synthesis experiments produced two distinct crystal types, tubular and platy serpentines, each with 10–15% randomly interstratified talc layers. X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicated that As5+ and As3+ occurred in the tetrahedral sheet. Single-crystal analysis revealed that tubular crystals contained up to 1 wt.% arsenic [Mg2.8(Si1.8As0.2)O5(OH)4] (mean 0.2 wt.% As). The mean composition of platy, high-Al crystals is (Mg1.8Al0.7)(Si2.0)O5(OH)4, and that of platy, medium-Al crystals with As3+ is (Mg2.07Al0.52) (Si1.97As3+0.03)O5(OH)4. Charge, geometry, and radius of tetrahedral AsO43– oxyanions are similar to tetrahedral SiO44–, and this facilitates fixation of As5+ into the tetrahedral sheet of clay minerals. The geometry and size of the larger As3+ in tetrahedral sites (as a pyramidal AsO33– oxyanion) may limit incorporation relative to As5+. Arsenic-bearing Mg clays crystallize in alkaline environments where AsO43– or AsO33– are the dominant As species and where high pH accompanies crystallization of serpentine, talc, chlorite, or Mg-smectite. The presence of tetrahedral As in these clays raises the possibility of tetrahedral As in other Mg clays (e.g. sepiolite or kerolite) as well.