IRMIDYN - Iron mineral dynamics in soils and sediments: Moving the frontier toward in‐situ studies

About the IRMIDYN Project

The IRMIDYN project is about the dynamics of redox-​driven iron mineral transformation processes in soils and sediments and impacts on nutrient and trace element behavior. We use novel approaches based on enriched stable isotopes in combination with innovative experiments and cutting-​edge analytical techniques, most importantly ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer and Raman micro-​spectroscopy and imaging.

The thermodynamic stability and occurrence of iron minerals in sufficiently stable Earth surface environments is fairly well understood and supported by field observations. However, the kinetics of iron mineral recrystallization and transformation processes under rapidly changing redox conditions is far less understood, and has to date mostly been studied in in mixed reactors with pure minerals or sediment slurries, but rarely in-​situ in complex soils and sediments.

This project will take a large step toward a better understanding of iron mineral dynamics in redox-​affected Earth surface environments, with wide implications in biogeochemistry and other fields including environmental engineering, corrosion sciences, archaeology and cultural heritage sciences, and planetary sciences.

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