Biological Reduction of Structural Iron in Sodium‐Nontronite

Abstract

To test the possibility that the structural Fe3+ in clay minerals can be biologically reduced, nontronite was mixed with sucrose and an aqueous extract from a Chinese paddy soil and incubated for 14 d at room temperature. Reflectance spectra, x‐ray diffraction patterns and Fe2+/Fe3+ ratios were determined for the nontronite in the mixture and for the nontronite in its nonreduced and chemically reduced states. It was found that the results for the nontronite in the mixture resembled those for the chemically reduced nontronite but differed markedly from those for the nonreduced nontronite. Therefore, it was concluded that microorganisms from the soil extract were able to reduce the structural Fe3+ in nontronite.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1988
Source ID
10.2136/sssaj1988.03615995005200010054x

Entities

People

  • Charles B. Roth
  • Jun Wu
  • Philip F. Low

Organizations

  • Academia Sinica
  • Army Research Office

Tags

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Materials Science and Engineering.