dissimilatory Fe(III) reduction (DIR)

Iron isotope fractionation between aqueous Fe(II) and biogenic magnetite and Fe carbonates produced during reduction of hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) by Shewanella putrefaciens, Shewanella algae, and Geobacter sulfurreducens in laboratory experiments is a function of Fe(III) reduction rates and pathways by which biogenic minerals are formed. High Fe(III) reduction rates produced 56Fe/54Fe ratios for Fe(II)aq that are 2-3 per mil lower than the HFO substrate, reflecting a kinetic isotope fractionation that was associated with rapid sorption of Fe(II) to HFO. In long-term experiments at low Fe(III) reduction rates, the Fe(II)aq-magnetite fractionation is-1.3 per mil, and this is interpreted to be the equilibrium fractionation factor at 22 oC in the biological reduction systems studied here. In experiments where Fe carbonate was the major ferrous product of HF