ANTIMONY FIXATION IN SOLID PHASES AT THE HYDROTHERMAL FIELD OF KOLUMBO SUBMARINE ARC-VOLCANO (SANTORINI): DEPOSITION MODEL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
Abstract
Antimony, an emergent global contaminant, that is hydrothermally discharged along with other epithermal metals(-loids) (Au, As, Hg, Ag, Tl, Ag) onto Kolumbo volcano’s shallow (<500 m water depth) crater seabed, is fixed either in pyrite, orpiment-like As-sulfides, and ferrihydrite-like Fe-oxy(hydro)oxides, or forms independent Pb(Zn)- Sb sulfosalts, of layered Sb-rich (up to 2.2 wt%) chimneys. High concentrations of Sb (≤ 27.2 wt%) are found in early colloform chemically-zoned hydrothermal pyrite, and later orpiment (As2S3)-type As sulfide phases(≤16.09 wt %), along individual micronscale growth zones. Antimony in pyrite may occur in the relatively more toxic trivalent (or lower valence) (Sb3+) rather than pentavalent (Sb5+) forms. Lead (Pb) always occurs with Sb in growth zones where the abundances of Sb and Pb vary inversely with Fe and S, suggesting that Sb and Pb occur either as homogeneously distributed sulfosalt nanoparticles of Sb and Pb and/or lattice bound trace elements. These findings indicate the solid phases that fix Sb on the seafloor are crucial for high- grade concentration during shallow-water hydrothermal polymetallic mineralization, and reducing the high hydrothermal flux of this notorious environmental toxin to seawater, near the fishing area of Santorini that is also one of the most popular tourist places in the world.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Kilias, S., Gousgouni, M., Godelitsas, A., Gamaletsos, P., Mertzimekis, T., Nomikou, P., Argyraki, A., Goettlicher, J., Steininger, R., & Papanikolaou, D. (2016). ANTIMONY FIXATION IN SOLID PHASES AT THE HYDROTHERMAL FIELD OF KOLUMBO SUBMARINE ARC-VOLCANO (SANTORINI): DEPOSITION MODEL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 50(4), 2200–2209. https://doi.org/10.12681/bgsg.14276
- Section
- Special Session: Enviromental Geochemistry
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
