Multi-isotope (Pb, Sb) approach to trace metallic contaminant sources at a historical mining and metallurgical site

Highlights Soils are locally affected by extreme Pb and moderate Sb contamination.Anthropogenic soil contamination is restricted to the surface horizons.Antimony isotopes allowed to discriminate Sb from mining vs metallurgical sources.Pb-Sb isotope coupling is a...

Antimony isotope fractionation during Sb(V) and Sb(III) adsorption on secondary Fe-minerals (schwertmannite, ferrihydrite) typical of mine waters

Highlights Experimental study of Sb isotope fractionation during its sorption on iron minerals.Light isotope of Sb was preferentially adsorbed on schwertmannite and ferrihydrite.Equilibrium fractionation factor (Δ123Sbsolid-solution) between −0.36 ‰ and −0.25 ‰....

Antimony isotopic fractionation during Sb(III) oxidation to Sb(V): Biotic and abiotic processes

Highlights Antimony isotope fractionation during oxidation documented for the first time.Biotic and chemical oxidation fractionated Sb isotopes in opposite direction.Multi-step reactions underlie the fractionation process. Abstract Oxidation of antimonite (Sb(III)) to...

Equilibrium mass-dependent isotope fractionation of antimony between stibnite and Sb secondary minerals: A first-principles study

Highlights First estimation of equilibrium Sb isotope fractionation factors among Sb minerals.PBEsol pseudopotential best reproduces Sb mineral lattices and Raman frequencies.Factors affecting Sb isotope fractionation: Sb oxidation > change in Sb first-neighbour...

A single-step purification method for the precise determination of antimony isotopic composition

Abstract Antimony isotopes have been recently used as geochemical tracers for archeological or environmental purposes. The purification of antimony in samples with a low Sb concentration and a complex matrix is a critical step to measure the 123Sb/121Sb ratio by...