Hotspots of Dissolved Arsenic Generated from Buried Silt Layers along Fluctuating Rivers.

ABSTRACT

Previous studies along the banks of the tidal Meghna River of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta demonstrated the active sequestration of dissolved arsenic (As) on newly formed iron oxide minerals (Fe(III)-oxides) within riverbank sands. The sand with high solid-phase As (>500 mg/kg) was located within the intertidal zone where robust mixing occurs with oxygen-rich river water. Here we present new evidence that upwelling groundwater through a buried silt layer generates the dissolved products of reductive dissolution of Fe(III)-oxides, including As, while mobilization of DOC by upwelling groundwater prevents their reconstitution in the intertidal zone by lowering the redox state. A three end-member conservative mixing model demonstrated mixing between riverbank groundwater above the silt layer, upwelling groundwater through the silt layer, and river water. An electrochemical mass balance model confirmed that Fe(III)-oxides were the primary electron acceptor driving the oxidation of DOC sourced from sediment organic carbon in the silt. Thus, the presence of an intercalating silt layer in the riverbanks of tidal rivers can represent a biogeochemical hotspot of As release while preventing its retention in the hyporheic zone.