Development of gallium-aluminum ratios as a tracer of the Critical Zone behavior of Al

开发镓铝比作为铝临界区行为的示踪剂

基本信息

批准号：
1660923
负责人：
Louis Derry
金额：
$ 36.89万
依托单位：
Cornell University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-09-01 至 2022-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1660923&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Development gallium aluminum ratios tracer

项目摘要

Aluminum (Al) is a major component of common primary and secondary rock-forming minerals, and forms the "backbone" of major soil minerals and clays. Mineral transformations involving aluminum are fundamental to weathering and soil formation processes. Aluminum is not known to perform any beneficial role in organisms, and can be toxic to aquatic life at elevated concentrations. Aluminum can inhibit plant uptake of nutrients in soils, and high Al availability in soils has been shown to limit crop productivity. The chemical behavior of aluminum in the environment is complex, making it difficult to investigate. One of the tools that geochemists have used to study the behavior of many other elements is to use variations in naturally occurring isotopes as tracers, but aluminum only has one isotope. Instead, the investigator proposes to develop the ratio of gallium (Ga) to aluminum as a tracer for Al behavior. Ga has similar chemistry to Al, and shows overall coherent behavior. He can use Ga/Al ratios to identify key mineral sources and reaction pathways for Al in the environment. Further, gallium itself is a trace element with critical technological applications, used in key electronic components in common consumer products such as cellular telephones. As such, gallium is classified as a "strategic metal" by the US Department of Energy. The planned research should provide additional insight into processes that can enrich Ga to levels that are economically recoverable in bauxite ores, for example. Proposed research will work in conjunction with the Critical Zone Observatories National Office (CZO-NO) to create outreach and educational materials related to Critical Zone science. The applied aspects of Al toxicity and Ga as a critical resource provide an excellent opportunity to develop curricular resources linking basic research and societal impacts. The investigator will work with the CZO-NO to develop curricular resources for secondary school and undergraduate science programs in support of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013). He will continue fostering outreach to HBCUs via engineering and biology departments to demonstrate intellectual excitement and societal impacts of Critical Zone science. Building connections at HBCUs is especially important for building geoscience diversity since most do not have geoscience departments and thus do not have a traditional pipeline to Earth science graduate programs.The investigator proposes to develop gallium-aluminum ratios (Ga/Al) as an effective geochemical tracer for the behavior of Al in the Critical Zone. The overarching goal is to develop the necessary fundamental understanding to support the use of Ga/Al as an effective tool for mass balance and tracer studies of Al in the Critical Zone and beyond; a ?pseudo-isotope? for Al. He will focus on four of the processes that control the distribution of Al in the Critical Zone and may cause fractionation of Ga/Al in order to answer the following questions: 1) Is the neoformation of clay minerals and oxyhydroxides responsible for Ga/Al fractionation during weathering? 2) Is the fractionation of Ga and Al in the Critical Zone driven by solution chemistry (i.e. hydrolysis or ligand complex formation)? 3) Do differences in the incorporation of Ga and Al in colloids result in fractionation of Ga from Al during stream export? He will use a combination of field and laboratory-based studies on materials from granitoid catchments across four Critical Zone Observatories (Calhoun, Boulder Creek, Catalina-Jemez, and Luquillo). He will analyze rock, soil, plant, and water samples from each to characterize the behavior of Ga/Al ratio under different conditions of climate, weathering and biological activity. Mineral synthesis and soil column leaching experiments in the laboratory will provide understand partitioning of Ga in oxyhydroxides and the impact of organic ligands on Ga and Al in soils, supported by geochemical modeling. Development of an effective tracer for Al in the environment should be of broad interested to the environmental and geoscience community. Aluminum plays a central role in many geochemical processes and is associated with multiple issues in human health, water quality, and crop productivity. As a strategic metal, an improved understanding of gallium geochemistry is also of broad importance for society. The proposed work will provide insight into Ga geochemistry that will be of interest to the mineral exploration community, especially given that CZ processes are responsible for the formation of the main economic source of Ga, bauxites.

铝 (Al) 是常见原生和次生造岩矿物的主要成分，并形成主要土壤矿物和粘土的“骨干”。涉及铝的矿物转化是风化和土壤形成过程的基础。目前尚不清楚铝对生物体具有任何有益作用，并且在高浓度下可能对水生生物有毒。铝会抑制植物对土壤中养分的吸收，土壤中高铝利用率已被证明会限制作物生产力。铝在环境中的化学行为很复杂，因此研究起来很困难。地球化学家用来研究许多其他元素行为的工具之一是使用天然同位素的变化作为示踪剂，但铝只有一种同位素。相反，研究人员建议开发镓 (Ga) 与铝的比例作为铝行为的示踪剂。 Ga 与 Al 具有相似的化学性质，并表现出整体相干行为。他可以利用 Ga/Al 比率来确定环境中 Al 的关键矿物来源和反应途径。此外，镓本身是一种具有关键技术应用的微量元素，用于移动电话等普通消费产品的关键电子元件。因此，镓被美国能源部列为“战略金属”。例如，计划中的研究应该为将镓富集到铝土矿矿石中可经济回收的水平的过程提供更多见解。拟议的研究将与国家关键区天文台办公室 (CZO-NO) 合作，制作与关键区科学相关的宣传和教育材料。铝毒性和镓作为关键资源的应用方面为开发将基础研究和社会影响联系起来的课程资源提供了绝佳的机会。研究者将与 CZO-NO 合作，开发中学和本科科学项目的课程资源，以支持下一代科学标准（NGSS，2013）。他将继续通过工程和生物系促进 HBCU 的推广，以展示关键区域科学的智力兴奋和社会影响。在 HBCU 中建立联系对于建立地球科学多样性尤其重要，因为大多数 HBCU 没有地球科学系，因此没有传统的地球科学研究生项目渠道。研究人员建议开发镓铝比 (Ga/Al) 作为有效的地球化学方法Al 在临界区行为的示踪剂。总体目标是形成必要的基本认识，以支持使用 Ga/Al 作为关键区及其他区域铝的质量平衡和示踪剂研究的有效工具；一个？赝同位素？对于阿尔.他将重点关注控制关键区 Al 分布并可能导致 Ga/Al 分馏的四个过程，以便回答以下问题：1) 粘土矿物和羟基氧化物的新形成是否导致 Ga/Al 分馏风化期间？ 2) Ga 和 Al 在临界区的分馏是由溶液化学驱动的吗（即水解或配体络合物形成）？ 3) 胶体中 Ga 和 Al 结合的差异是否会导致流输出过程中 Ga 从 Al 中分离出来？他将结合实地和实验室研究，对四个关键区域观测站（卡尔霍恩、博尔德溪、卡塔利娜-杰梅斯和卢基洛）花岗岩流域的材料进行研究。他将分析岩石、土壤、植物和水样，以表征不同气候、风化和生物活动条件下 Ga/Al 比的行为。实验室中的矿物合成和土壤柱淋滤实验将在地球化学模型的支持下，了解 Ga 在羟基氧化物中的分配以及有机配体对土壤中 Ga 和 Al 的影响。开发环境中铝的有效示踪剂应该引起环境和地球科学界的广泛兴趣。铝在许多地球化学过程中发挥着核心作用，并与人类健康、水质和作物生产力等多个问题相关。作为一种战略金属，加深对镓地球化学的了解对社会也具有广泛的重要性。拟议的工作将提供对 Ga 地球化学的深入了解，这将引起矿产勘探界的兴趣，特别是考虑到 CZ 过程是 Ga 铝土矿主要经济来源的形成的原因。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（30）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

The convolution of time and weathering intensity on the fate of runoff-to-groundwater partitioning in the Island of Hawai’i

时间和风化强度的卷积对夏威夷岛径流到地下水分配的命运

DOI：
发表时间：
2020-01
期刊：
Annual VM Goldschmidt Conference
影响因子：
0
作者：
Perez;Derry, L.A.
通讯作者：
Derry, L.A.

Mineral protection regulates the long-term global preservation of natural organic carbon

矿物保护调节全球天然有机碳的长期保存

DOI：
发表时间：
2021-01
期刊：
EGU General Assembly
影响因子：
0
作者：
Hemingway, J.D.;Rothman, D.H.;Grant, K.E.;Rosengard, S.E.;Eglinton, T.I.;Derry, L.A.;Galy, V.V.
通讯作者：
Galy, V.V.

Subsoil organo-mineral associations under contrasting climate conditions

对比气候条件下的底土有机矿物组合

DOI：
10.1016/j.gca.2019.11.030
发表时间：
2020-02
期刊：
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
影响因子：
5
作者：
Inagaki, Thiago M.;Possinger, Angela R.;Grant, Katherine E.;Schweizer, Steffen A.;Mueller, Carsten W.;Derry, Louis A.;Lehmann, Johannes;Kögel
通讯作者：
Kögel

Subsoil organo-mineral associations under contrasting climate conditions

对比气候条件下的底土有机矿物组合

DOI：
发表时间：
2020-01
期刊：
European Union of Geosciences
影响因子：
0
作者：
Inagaki, T.M.;Possinger, A.R.;Grant, K.E.;Mueller, C.W.;Derry, L.A.;Lehmann, J.;Kögel
通讯作者：
Kögel

Greater Gallium sorption rates due to intense chemical weathering: variations across four CZOs in the United States

强烈的化学风化导致镓吸附率更高：美国四个 CZO 的差异