On the nature of dissolved copper ligands in the early buoyant plume of hydrothermal vents

Type Article
Date 2018
Language English
Author(s) Cotte Laura1, 2, Omanovic Dario3, Waeles Mathieu2, Laes AgatheORCID4, Cathalot CecileORCID5, Sarradin Pierre-MarieORCID1, Riso Ricardo D.2
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, Lab Environm Profond LEP EEP REM, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
2 : Univ Bretagne Occidentale, Lab Sci Environm Marin LEMAR, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
3 : Rudjer Boskovic Inst, LPCT, Zagreb 10002, Croatia.
4 : IFREMER, Lab Detect Capteurs & Mesures LDCM RDT REM, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
5 : IFREMER, Lab Cycles Geochim & Ressources LCG GM REM, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
Source Environmental Chemistry (1448-2517) (Csiro Publishing), 2018 , Vol. 15 , N. 1-2 , P. 58-73
DOI 10.1071/EN17150
WOS© Times Cited 6
Abstract

Environmental contextCopper released by deep-sea hydrothermal vents has been recognised to be partly stabilised against precipitation by its complexation with strong Cu binding ligands. Yet, the sources and nature of these compounds in such environments are still not fully understood. This study shows that the Cu ligands detected are hydrothermally sourced and could be mainly inorganic sulfur species. AbstractThe apparent speciation of Cu in the early buoyant plume of two black smokers (Aisics and Y3) from the hydrothermal vent field Lucky Strike (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) was investigated using competitive ligand exchange-adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CLE-AdCSV). We have assessed the apparent Cu-binding ligand concentration ([L]) and the corresponding conditional stability constant (log K) for 24 samples. At the smoker Aisics, [L] ranged from 18.2 to 2970nM. Log K-CuL ranged from 12.4 to 13.4. At Y3, the binding capacity of natural ligands was from 32.5 to 1020nM, with Log K-CuL ranging from 12.5 to 13.1. Total dissolved Cu ranged from 7.0 to 770nM and from 12.7 to 409nM at Aisics and Y3, respectively. Our results show that the amount of ligand L increases with dissolved Mn (dMn) concentrations, suggesting a hydrothermal origin of the Cu-binding ligands detected. In addition, such high concentrations of Cu-binding ligands can only be explained by an additional abiotic source differing from organic processes. Based on the massive in situ concentrations of free sulfides (up to 300 mu M) and on the striking similarities between our log K-CuL and the log K-Cu(HS) previously published, we infer that the Cu-binding ligands could be predominantly inorganic sulfur species in the early buoyant plume of the two vent sites studied.

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Cotte Laura, Omanovic Dario, Waeles Mathieu, Laes Agathe, Cathalot Cecile, Sarradin Pierre-Marie, Riso Ricardo D. (2018). On the nature of dissolved copper ligands in the early buoyant plume of hydrothermal vents. Environmental Chemistry, 15(1-2), 58-73. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1071/EN17150 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00444/55558/