FTIR Characterization of Fe-films formed on ephemeral pool
EMSL Project ID
13491
Abstract
This investigation is a part of a large nationally funded investigation of determining the origin, hydrology and engineering properties of the large Pleistocene and Holocene dune sheets on the West Coast of North America. The objective of this investigation is to characterize Fe-films that form in ephemeral pools on that flow out of these dune sheets. To our knowledge no one has characterized these film, even they are abundant all over the world and are important in understand the Fe cycling in soils. We identified ferrihydrite as the phase that this mineral becomes after further oxidation. These pools stain the beach sands red during the summer and fall. The water that drains these sand dunes is weakly acidic with a pH close to 6. We have begun to characterize these films with XRD, but have not identified any specific mineral that makes up the film. Further we have SEM with EDS spectra of the film indicating that the film does not have distinct crystal morphology is very thin and contains Fe as well as Si. From TGA analyses we have concluded that the film contains very little carbon. The investigation at EMSL will allow us to characterize these films with IR and FTIR giving us further crystallographic information about the films.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2005-03-03
End Date
2006-03-14
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator