Impact of iron chelators on short-term dissolution of basaltic glass

Although microorganisms seem to play an important role in the alteration processes of basaltic glasses in solution, the elementary mechanisms involved remain unclear in particular with regard to the role of organic ligands excreted by the cells. Two glasses, one with Fe and one without Fe were synthesized to model basaltic glass compositions. Fe in the glass was mostly Fe(III) for enhancing interaction with siderophores, yet with small but significant amounts of Fe(II) (between 10% and 30% of iron). The prepared samples were submitted to abiotic alteration experiments in buffered (pH 6.4) diluted solutions of metal-specific ligands, namely oxalic acid (OA, 10 mM), desferrioxamine (DFA, 1 mM) or 2,2′-bipyridyl (BPI, 1 mM). Element release from the glass into the solution after short term alteration (maximum 1 week) was measured by ICP-OES, and normalized mass losses and relative release ratios (with respect to Si) were evaluated for each element in each experimental condition. The presence of organic ligands had a significant effect on the dissolution of both glasses. Trivalent metals chelators (OA, DFA) impacted on the release of Fe3+ and Al3+, and thus on the global dissolution of both glasses, enhancing all release rates and dissolution stoichiometry (release rates were increased up to 7 times for Al or Fe). As expected, the mostly divalent metal chelator BPI interacted preferentially with Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe2+. This study thus allows to highlight the central roles of iron and aluminium in interaction with some organic ligands in the alteration processes of basaltic glasses. It thus provides a step toward understanding the biological contribution of this fundamental geological process.