OXIDATION OF COBALT AND MANGANESE IN SEAWATER VIA A COMMON MICROBIALLY CATALYZED PATHWAY

Abstract

Cobalt and manganese uptake onto suspended particles was studied in waters collected from Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts and the upper water column of the Sargasso Sea using radiotracers, coupled with protocols used previously for Mn and Ce to distinguish biological and redox processes.Cobalt uptake onto suspended particles in Waquoit Bay was dominated by microbial oxidation. Moreover, there was a close relationship between Mn(II) and Co(II) oxidation, with Mn(II) specific rates approximately 7-10X faster. Oxidation of each element obeys Michaelis Menten kinetics, with identical values of Km in a given sample and values of Vmax which are 7X higher for Mn. Lineweaver-Burk plots, generated from saturation plots for Co and Mn oxidation at different Mn and Co concentrations, demonstrated competitive inhibition between Co and Mn. The results indicate that both elements are co-oxidized via the same microbial catalytic pathway, and that this is probably an important mechanism for the incorporation of Co into marine Mn oxides.In the Sargasso Sea, by contrast, Mn and Co uptake onto suspended particles were completely decoupled. Cobalt uptake was nonoxidative, biologically mediated, and enhanced by low to moderate levels of light. It is probably due primarily to uptake by phytoplankton. Manganese uptake was almost exclusively oxidative and was inhibited by light even at low intensities. The differences probably reflect a higher biological demand for Co in the Sargasso Sea (Co is a biologically essential element), where Co concentrations are low, and lower activity of Mn oxidizing bacteria.Results suggest that higher specific uptake rates of Co than Mn by phytoplankton in oceanic regimes could result in Co having a geochemistry intermediate between Mn and a more nutrient-type element, such as Zn. Nevertheless, Co and Mn cycling are expected to be closely coupled in regions of high microbial Mn oxidizing activity.