Synthetic green rusts, GRs, are prepared by oxidation of Fe(OH)2 incorporating Cl-, SO4 2-, or CO3 2- ions. E h−pH diagrams are drawn, and thermodynamic data are derived. A GR incorporating OH- ions, GR1(OH-), is suspected to exist like similar other M(II)−M(III) compounds. GRs form as corrosion products of steels, implying microbially induced corrosion. Mössbauer and Raman spectroscopies allowed the identification of GR in samples extracted from hydromorphic soils scattered over Brittany, France. This mineral has a varying Fe(III)/Fe(II) ratio. At Fougères, it increases with depth till the oc currence of more oxidized ferric oxyhydroxide. In the same sites, soil solutions are collected and prevented from any oxidation and photoreduction. In large ranges of pH, pe, and Fe(II) concentration variations, soil solutions are in equilibrium with a Fe(II)−Fe(III) compound, a GR1 mineral with pyroaurite-like structure incorporating OH- ions and having the formula [FeII (1 - x )FeIII x (OH)2]+ x ·[xOH]- x ≡ Fe(OH)(2+ x ). Computation of ionic activity products (IAP) of the equilibria between minerals and solutions leads to molar ratio x from 1/3 to 2/3, in agreement with the Fe(III)/Fe(II) ratios obtained from Mössbauer spectroscopy. The GR mineral plays a key role for controlling iron in soil solutions, and equilibria between soil and suspension constrain the Fe(III)/Fe(II) ratios of the iron(II)−iron(III) hydroxide.

International audienceWe evaluated nitrogen (N) removal efficiency by ri-parian buffers at 14 sites scattered throughout seven European countries subject to a wide range of climatic conditions. The sites also had a wide range of nitrate inputs, soil characteristics, and vegetation types. Dissolved forms of N in groundwater and associated hydrological parameters were measured at all sites; these data were used to calculate nitrate removal by the riparian buffers. Nitrate removal rates (expressed as the difference between the input and output nitrate concentration in relation to the width of the riparian zone) were mainly positive, ranging from 5% m 1 to 30% m 1 , except for a few sites where the values were close to zero. Average N removal rates were similar for herbaceous (4.43% m 1) and forested (4.21% m 1) sites. Nitrogen removal efficiency was not affected by climatic variation between sites, and no significant seasonal pattern was detected. When nitrate inputs were low, a very large range of nitrate removal efficiencies was found both in the forested and in the nonforested sites. However, sites receiving nitrate inputs above 5 mg N L 1 showed an exponential negative decay of nitrate removal efficiency (nitrate removal efficiency 33.6 e 0.11 NO 3 input , r 2 0.33, P 0.001). Hydraulic gradient was also negatively related to nitrate removal (r 0.27, P 0.05) at these sites. On the basis of this intersite comparison, we conclude that the removal of nitrate by biological mechanisms (for example, denitrification, plant uptake) in the riparian areas is related more closely to nitrate load and hydraulic gradient than to climatic parameters