Hydrogeochemistry of Groundwater and Arsenic Adsorption Characteristics of Subsurface Sediments in an Alluvial Plain, SW Taiwan

Libing Liao, Jiin-Shuh Jean, Sukalyan Chakraborty, Ming-Kuo Lee, Sandeep Kar, Huai-Jen Yang and Zhaohui Li
Additional contact information
Libing Liao: Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
Jiin-Shuh Jean: Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Sukalyan Chakraborty: Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Ming-Kuo Lee: Department of Geology and Geography, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Sandeep Kar: Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Huai-Jen Yang: Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Zhaohui Li: Beijing Key Laboratory of Materials Utilization of Nonmetallic Minerals and Solid Wastes, National Laboratory of Mineral Materials, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Many studies were conducted to investigate arsenic mobilization in different alluvial plains worldwide. However, due to the unique endemic disease associated with arsenic (As) contamination in Taiwan, a recent research was re-initiated to understand the transport behavior of arsenic in a localized alluvial plain. A comprehensive approach towards arsenic mobility, binding, and chemical speciation was applied to correlate groundwater hydrogeochemistry with parameters of the sediments that affected the As fate and transport. The groundwater belongs to a Na-Ca-HCO 3 type with moderate reducing to oxidizing conditions (redox potential = −192 to 8 mV). Groundwater As concentration in the region ranged from 8.89 to 1131 μg/L with a mean of 343 ± 297 μg/L, while the As content in the core sediments varied from 0.80 to 22.8 mg/kg with a mean of 9.9 ± 6.2 mg/kg. A significant correlation was found between As and Fe, Mn, or organic matter, as well as other elements such as Ni, Cu, Zn, and Co in the core sediments. Sequential extraction analysis indicated that the organic matter and Fe/Mn oxyhydroxides were the major binding pools of As. Batch adsorption experiments showed that the sediments had slightly higher affinity for As(III) than for As(V) under near neutral pH conditions and the As adsorption capacity increased as the contents of Fe oxyhydroxides as well as the organic matter increased.

Keywords: adsorption; alluvial aquifers; arsenic; speciation; sequential extraction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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