ABSTRACT

Coprecipitation of organic matter with ferric and ferrous hydroxide, and iron holding in solution containing organic matter were experimentally studied. The dissolved organic matter from bacterial degradation of green algae was used. The results of the experiments showed that ferrous iron, as well as ferric iron, coprecipitate organic matter under reduced conditions, and that ferric and ferrous irons selectively coprecipitate proteinous materials. On the contrary, pigment and lipid materials are rarely coprecipitated, and hold ferric iron in dissolved form probably by forming water soluble iron-organic complexes. These results show the significance of the interaction of organic matter and iron in the cycle of them in the hydrosphere.