Benjamin C. Bostick Soils and Aqueous Geochemistry

Contact Information:

Overview of Research:

The Soils and Aqueous Geochemistry Group within the Department of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College.  The group, lead by Benjamin Bostick, studies a wide range of chemical processes that are important in in soils and sediments, including mineral formation and transformations, adsorption, organic matter transformations, and redox cycling.  Of particular interest are the processes that govern contaminant fate and transport, and those that involve iron and sulfur cycling. For these studies, we employ a combination of approaches, including X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray scattering, and Raman spectromicroscopy. Many specific research projects, and a more detailed decription of the spectroscopic methods used in this research, are discussed in detail on the group website below.

Research Group Website: Soils and Aqueous Geochemistry Laboratory

Selected Recent Publications:

1. deLemos, J.L., Bostick, B.C., Renshaw, C.E., Sturup, S., and Feng, X.H., 2006, Landfill-stimulated iron reduction and arsenic release at the Coakley Superfund Site (NH): Environmental Science & Technology, v. 40, p. 67-73.

2. Bostick, B.C., Theissen, K.M., Dunbar, R.B., and Vairavamurthy, M.A., 2005b, Record of redox status in laminated sediments from Lake Titicaca: A sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) study: Chemical Geology, v. 219, p. 163-174.

3. Bostick, B.C., Chen, C., and Fendorf, S., 2004, Arsenite retention mechanisms within estuarine sediments of Pescadero, CA: Environmental Science & Technology, v. 38, p. 3299-3304.

4. Bostick, B.C., Fendorf, S., and Brown, G.E., 2005a, In situ analysis of thioarsenite complexes in neutral to alkaline arsenic sulphide solutions: Mineralogical Magazine, v. 69, p. 781-795.

5. Inskeep, W.P., Macur, R.E., Harrison, G., Bostick, B.C., and Fendorf, S., 2004, Biomineralization of As(V)-hydrous ferric oxyhydroxide in microbial mats of an acid-sulfate-chloride geothermal spring, Yellowstone National Park: Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 68, p. 3141-3155.

6. Bostick, B. C.; S. Fendorf ; B. A. Manning. 2003. Arsenite adsorption on galena (PbS) and sphalerite (ZnS). Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67, 895-907.

7. Bostick, B. C.; S. Fendorf . 2003. Arsenite sorption on troilite (FeS) and pyrite (FeS2). Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67, 909-921.

8. Bostick, B. C.; S. Fendorf ; G. R. Helz. 2003. Differential adsorption of molybdate and tetrathiomolybdate on Pyrite (FeS2). Environ. Sci. Technol. 37, 285-291.

9. Bostick, B. C.; R. E. Jones; C. Chen; W. G. Ernst; M. L. Leech; B. R. Hacker; R. J. Beane. 2003. Positive identification of microdiamond from the Maksyutov complex, South Urals , Russia . Am. Mineral. 88, 1709-1717.