Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2025

A Method to Preserve Wetland Roots and Rhizospheres for Elemental Imaging
Published on: February 15, 2021
Factors and Mechanisms Affecting Arsenic Migration in Cultivated Soils Irrigated with Contained Arsenic Brackish
Wenjing Dai1,2, Rongguang Shi3, Xiaodong Li1
1School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
Abstract:
Contained arsenic (As) and unsafe brackish groundwater irrigation can lead to serious As pollution and increase the ecological risk in cultivated soils. However, little is known about how Fe oxides and microbes affect As migration during soil irrigation processes involving arsenic-contaminated brackish groundwater. In this study, the samples (porewater and soil) were collected through the dynamic soil column experiments to explore the As migration process and its effect factors during soil irrigation. The results showed that the As concentration in porewater samples from the topsoil was enriched compared to that in the subsoil, and the main solid As fractions were strongly adsorbed or bound to amorphous and crystalline Fe oxides. The aqueous As concentration and the solid As fractions indicated that reductive dissolution and desorption from amorphous Fe oxides were the primary mechanisms of As release at the topsoil and subsoil, respectively. Meanwhile, Sphingomonas_sp., Microvirga_ossetica and Acidobacteriota_bacterium were the dominant microbes affecting As biotransformation by arsenate reductase gene (arsC) expression. Accompanied by the Eh and competitive ions concentration change, amorphous Fe oxide dissolution increased to facilitate the As release, and the changes in the microbial community structure related to As reduction may have enhanced As mobilization in soils irrigated by As-containing brackish groundwater.
Related Concept Videos
Factors Affecting Solubility
Water and Mineral Acquisition
Responses to Salt Stress
Bioremediation
Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

