Calcium–ammonium exchange experiments on clay minerals using a 45Ca tracer technique in marine pore water

Abstract

Understanding cation exchange processes is important for evaluating early diagenetic and synsedimentary processes taking place in marine sediments. To quantify calcium (Ca) exchange and Ca–ammonium exchange in a seawater environment, we performed experiments with a radioactive 45Ca tracer on clay mineral standards (Fithian illite, montmorillonite and kaolinite) and marine sediments from the North Atlantic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1306A in artificial seawater (ASW). The results show that equilibrium during the initial attachment of Ca as well as the exchange of Ca by is attained in less than 2 min. On average 8–20% of the exchangeable sites of the clay minerals were occupied by Ca in a seawater medium. The conditional selectivity coefficient, describing the exchange in ASW is mineral specific and it was determined to be 0.07 for montmorillonite, 0.05 for a natural marine sediment and 0.013 for Fithian illite.