We have investigated the kinetics of Fe(II) oxygenation in seawater in the presence of a variety of natural organic materials obtained from vegetation near Moreton Bay, Queensland. Natural organic matter (NOM) was observed mostly to accelerate Fe(II) oxygenation, but in some cases oxidation was retarded. We fitted a previously developed kinetic model to the experimental data to determine the critical rate constants, k{sub}f for the formation of Fe(II)- NOM complexes and k{sub}(QX) for the oxygenation of the Fe(II)- NOM complexes, when assumed to be first order with respect to both the concentration of Fe(II) and the dissolved O{sub}2. Analysis of the critical model reactions indicated that the process is in general non-pseudo-first-order but approaches pseudo-first-order under certain conditions. These limiting conditions are rapidly approached, which makes it difficult to determine unique values of K{sub}f and k{sub}(ox) from oxidation data alone. Both parameters varied considerably between the different samples of NOM, with the value of k{sub}m ranging from about 2 up to 1000 M{sup}(-1) s{sup}(-1) as compared with 13 M{sup}(-1) s{sup}(-1) for inorganic Fe(ll) in seawater. Despite large assumptions, the values of km calculated were consistent with a linear free energy relation.
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