scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

O. P. Mehra

Bio: O. P. Mehra is an academic researcher from University of Wisconsin-Madison. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dithionite & Iron oxide. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 3637 citations.
Topics: Dithionite, Iron oxide, Goethite, Hematite, Nontronite

Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the bicarbonate-buffered Na2S2O4-citrate system was used for removing free iron oxides from latosolic soils, and the least destructive of iron silicate clays.
Abstract: The oxidation potential of dithionite (Na2S2O4) increases from 0.37 V to 0.73 V with increase in pH from 6 to 9, because hydroxyl is consumed during oxidation of dithionite. At the same time the amount of iron oxide dissolved in 15 minutes falls off (from 100 percent to less than 1 percent extracted) with increase in pH from 6 to 12 owing to solubility product relationships of iron oxides. An optimum pH for maximum reaction kinetics occurs at approximately pH 7.3. A buffer is needed to hold the pH at the optimum level because 4 moles of OH are used up in reaction with each mole of Na2S2O4 oxidized. Tests show that NaHCO3 effectively serves as a buffer in this application. Crystalline hematite dissolved in amounts of several hundred milligrams in 2 min. Crystalline goethite dissolved more slowly, but dissolved during the two or three 15 min treatments normally given for iron oxide removal from soils and clays. A series of methods for the extraction of iron oxides from soils and clays was tested with soils high in free iron oxides and with nontronite and other iron-bearing clays. It was found that the bicarbonate-buffered Na2S2O4-citrate system was the most effective in removal of free iron oxides from latosolic soils, and the least destructive of iron silicate clays as indicated by least loss in cation exchange capacity after the iron oxide removal treatment. With soils the decrease was very little but with the very susceptible Woody district nontronite, the decrease was about 17 percent as contrasted to 35–80 percent with other methods.

3,821 citations


Cited by
More filters
Book
01 Jan 1979
TL;DR: This significant book provides not only an introduction to the dynamics of aquatic chem istries but also identifies those materials that jeopardize the resources of both the marine and fluvial domains.
Abstract: Aquatic chemistry is becoming both a rewarding and substantial area of inquiry and is drawing many prominent scientists to its fold. Its literature has changed from a compilation of compositional tables to studies of the chemical reactions occurring within the aquatic environments. But more than this is the recognition that human society in part is determining the nature of aquatic systems. Since rivers deliver to the world ocean most of its dissolved and particulate components, the interactions of these two sets of waters determine the vitality of our coastal waters. This significant vol ume provides not only an introduction to the dynamics of aquatic chem istries but also identifies those materials that jeopardize the resources of both the marine and fluvial domains. Its very title provides its emphasis but clearly not its breadth in considering natural processes. The book will be of great value to those environmental scientists who are dedicated to keeping the resources of the hydrosphere renewable. As the size of the world population becomes larger in the near future and as the uses of materials and energy show parallel increases, the rivers and oceans must be considered as a resource to accept some of the wastes of society. The ability of these waters and the sediments below them to accommodate wastes must be assessed continually. The key questions relate to the capacities of aqueous systems to carry one or more pollutants."

3,488 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the relative abundances of montmorillonite, illite, kaolinite, chlorite, gibbsite, pyrophyllite, mixed-layer clay minerals, feldspars, and dolomite were determined.
Abstract: Semiquantitative mineral analysis has been done by X-ray diffraction on the < 2 μ- and 2–20 μ-size fractions of approximately five hundred Recent deep-sea core samples from the Atlantic, Antarctic, western Indian Oceans, and adjacent seas. Relative abundances of montmorillonite, illite, kaolinite, chlorite, gibbsite, quartz, amphibole, clinoptilolite-heulandite(?), and pyrophyllite(?) were determined. Mixed-layer clay minerals, feldspars, and dolomite were also observed but not quantitatively evaluated. From the patterns of mineral distribution, the following conclusions appear warranted: Most Recent Atlantic Ocean deep-sea clay is detritus from the continents. The formation of minerals in situ on the ocean bottom is relatively unimportant in the Atlantic but may be significant in parts of the southwestern Indian Ocean. Mineralogical analysis of the fine fraction of Atlantic Ocean deep-sea sediments is a useful indicator of sediment provenance. Kaolinite, gibbsite, pyrophyllite, mixed-layer minerals, and chlorite contribute the most unequivocal provenance information because they have relatively restricted loci of continental origin. Topographic control over mineral distribution by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean precludes significant eolian transport by the jet stream and emphasizes the importance of transport to and within that part of the deep-sea by processes operative at or near the sediment-water interface. Transport of continent-derived sediment to the equatorial Atlantic is primarily by rivers draining from South America and by rivers and wind from Africa. The higher proportion of kaolinite and gibbsite in deep-sea sediments adjacent to small tropical South American rivers reflects a greater intensity of lateritic weathering than is observed near the mouths of the larger rivers. This may be explained by a greater variety of pedogenic conditions in the larger drainage basins, resulting in an assemblage with proportionately less lateritic material in the detritus transported by the larger rivers despite their quantitatively greater influence on deep-sea sediment accumulation. In the South Atlantic Ocean, the fine-fraction mineral assemblage of surface sediment in the Argentine Basin is sufficiently unlike that adjacent to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to preclude it as a major Recent sediment source for that basin. The southern Argentine Continental Shelf, the Scotia Ridge, and the Weddell Sea arc mineralogically more likely immediate sources. Transport from the Weddell Sea by the Antarctic Bottom Water may be responsible for the northward transport of fine-fraction sediment along parts of the western South Atlantic as far north as the Equator.

2,001 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
08 Nov 2007-Nature
TL;DR: It is proposed that a lack of supply of fresh carbon may prevent the decomposition of the organic carbon pool in deep soil layers in response to future changes in temperature.
Abstract: The world's soils store more carbon than is present in biomass and in the atmosphere. New experimental evidence suggests that the delivery of fresh plant-derived carbon to the subsoil stimulates microbial activity and results in mineralization of thousand-year-old carbon. This supports the recent proposal that the conservation of organic carbon at depth results from a lack of energy for decomposers. This large pool of deep carbon is unlikely to respond to future changes in temperature if no fresh carbon is supplied, limiting the predicted positive feedback between global warming and soil organic carbon decomposition. The results imply that management practices that increase the distribution of fresh carbon along the soil profile (such as deep ploughing and the use of drought-resistant crops with extensive root systems) will stimulate loss of this ancient buried carbon. It is shown that the supply of fresh plant-derived carbon to deep soil layers stimulated the microbial mineralization of carbon that is thousands of years old, and is suggested that a lack of supply of fresh-carbon may prevent the decomposition of the organic carbon pool in deep soil layers in response to future changes in temperature. The world’s soils store more carbon than is present in biomass and in the atmosphere1. Little is known, however, about the factors controlling the stability of soil organic carbon stocks2,3,4 and the response of the soil carbon pool to climate change remains uncertain5,6. We investigated the stability of carbon in deep soil layers in one soil profile by combining physical and chemical characterization of organic carbon, soil incubations and radiocarbon dating. Here we show that the supply of fresh plant-derived carbon to the subsoil (0.6–0.8 m depth) stimulated the microbial mineralization of 2,567 ± 226-year-old carbon. Our results support the previously suggested idea7 that in the absence of fresh organic carbon, an essential source of energy for soil microbes, the stability of organic carbon in deep soil layers is maintained. We propose that a lack of supply of fresh carbon may prevent the decomposition of the organic carbon pool in deep soil layers in response to future changes in temperature. Any change in land use and agricultural practice that increases the distribution of fresh carbon along the soil profile1,8,9 could however stimulate the loss of ancient buried carbon.

1,797 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested a sequential extraction procedure (SEP) for As by choosing extraction reagents commonly used for sequential extraction of metals, Se and P, including NH 4 NO 3, NaOAc, NH 2 OH·HCl, EDTA, NH 4 OH and NH 4 F, were shown to either have only low extraction efficiency for As, or to be insufficiently selective or specific for the phases targeted.

1,137 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of a sequential extraction procedure for iron in modern and ancient sediments is presented, which recognizes seven operationally derived iron pools: (1) carbonate associated Fe (Fe carb ), including siderite and ankerite; (2) easily reducible oxides (Fe ox1 ), including ferrihydrite and lepidocrocite; and (3) reducible Oxides(Fe ox2 ), including goethite, hematite and akaganeite, (4) magnetite (Fe mag ); (5)

975 citations