Landslide susceptibility mapping using GIS and digital photogrammetric techniques: a case study from Ardesen (NE-Turkey)

Ardesen is a settlement area which has been significantly damaged by frequent landslides which are caused by severe rainfalls and result in many casualties. In this study a landslide susceptibility map of Ardesen was prepared using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the help of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Digital Photogrametry Techniques (DPT). A landslide inventory, lithology–weathering, slope, aspect, land cover, shear strength, distance to the river, stream density and distance to the road thematics data layers were used to create the map. These layer maps are produced using field, laboratory and office studies, and by the use of GIS and DPT. The landslide inventory map is also required to determine the relationship between these maps and landslides using DPT. In the study field in the Hemsindere Formation there are units that have different weathering classes, and this significantly affects the shear strength of the soil. In this study, shear strength values are calculated in great detail with field and laboratory studies and an additional layer is evaluated with the help of the stability studies used to produce the landslide susceptibility map. Finally, an overlay analysis is carried out by evaluating the layers obtained according to their weight, and the landslide susceptibility map is produced. The study area was classified into five classes of relative landslide susceptibility, namely, very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. Based on this analysis, the area and percentage distribution of landslide susceptibility degrees were calculated and it was found that 28% of the region is under the threat of landslides. Furthermore, the landslide susceptibility map and the landslide inventory map were compared to determine whether the models produced are compatible with the real situation resulting in compatibility rate of 84%. The total numbers of dwellings in the study area were determined one by one using aerial photos and it was found that 30% of the houses, with a total occupancy of approximately 2,300 people, have a high or very high risk of being affected by landslides.     

Manganiferous pyroxenes and pyroxenoids from three Pb-Zn-Cu skarn deposits

Samples from the Pb-Zn-Cu skarns of M. Ci-villina (Italy), Valle del Temperino (Italy), and Empire Mine (New Mexico, USA) have been analysed for their pyroxenes and pyroxenoids. The samples were collected immediately adjacent to the marble-skarn replacement front. All contain manganiferous pyroxenoids and manganeserich Ca-pyroxenes. The pyroxenes from each deposit form distinct groups of compositions within the diopside-hedenbergite-johannsenite triangle, with no apparent miscibility gap. Diopside contents usually are below 15 mole percent. Fibrous bustamite occurs as monomineralic zones in the Empire and in the Temperino deposit. Although rhodonite may be a primary phase in some samples from the Empire Mine, it is commonly of secondary origin in the Empire Mine and in the Civillina deposit. Its formation from manganiferous clinopyroxenes is either due to increasing Mn activity in the hydrothermal skarn solution or to higher X(CO₂) in the vapour phase. When rhodonite is formed within clinopyroxenes as submicroscopic lamellae that eventually replace the whole host crystal, resulting compositions lie in the miscibility gap between rhodonite and bustamite. Textural relations indicate the replacement reaction: johannsenite + CO₂ = rhodonite + calcite + quartz. Equilibrium temperatures for this reaction have been calculated by using estimated thermochemical data for johannsenite, giving a T(eq)=385° C for X(CO₂)=0.1 at P(tot)= 1 kbar. Taking into consideration the reduced activity of Mn in rhodonite and of Ca in calcite, both buffered by the johannsenite, the temperature is increased for about 15° C at X(CO₂)=0.01. At lower temperatures, where johannsenite is stable, the X(CO₂) is confined to values below 0.01. Despite the mineralogical similarities of the three deposits differences in the development of the manganiferous skarns can be depicted.     

Spessartine Garnets in a Manganiferous Carbonate Formation from Nsuta, Ghana

Abstract: Manganese carbonate ore beds and host rock manganiferous phyllites at the Nsuta mine, western Ghana, contain well developed garnet crystals. Individual crystals are idioblastic, sometimes porphyroblastic, and homogeneous, and are associated with rhodochrosite (with or without kutnahorite), quartz and muscovite. The conspicuous absence of chlorite in garnet-rich assemblages, and of garnet in chlorite-rich rocks, suggest chemical constraints may have been important in the formation of the two minerals. Gondite bands within carbonate ores are interpreted to have resulted from localised processes in which manganese carbonates, in environments rich in alumino-silicate minerals, may have been completely exhausted during metamorphic reactions.     

Diagenetic alteration of smectite in argillaceous sediments of the Rhinegraben (SW Germany)

Clay minerals of about 600 samples from drill cores in the Tertiary shales of the Rhinegraben, were analysed by X-ray diffraction methods. It was found that the abundance of smectite decreases with increasing amounts of mixed layer clays and illites, suggesting a diagenetic alteration of smectite with increasing temperatures of the sediments as was also observed in other sedimentary basins. As for the relation between smectite alteration and temperatures as measured in sample depths, in the marine Graue Schichtenfolge (Middle Oligocene) when temperatures reach 70°C and over, smectite no longer is to be found. In the limnic Bunte Niederröderner Schichten (Upper Oligocene) the maximum temperature of smectite occurrence is about 80°C. These temperatures also fit the results of former field studies of the thermal stability of smectite. In the brackish to limnic Obere and Untere Hydrobienschichten (Lower Miocene) however, smectite seems to have disappeared already at a temperature of over 30°C. Although the smectite distribution in the latter formations may depend partly on its inhomogenous deposition there is also evidence for the diagenetic alteration of smectite in these formations. The rapid disappearance of smectite in these formations was possibly caused by a greater availability of potassium ions since high permeability of these strata provide extraordinarily good mobility of the pore solutions. In the older Lymnäenmergel formation (Upper Eocene) a more advanced stage of smectite alteration is found as compared to the other formations at corresponding temperatures. This is considered to be the consequence of the longer duration of diagenesis and the rock salt inclusions of this saline formation which might have enriched the pore solutions with potassium ions.     

Structural incorporation of Cm(III) in trioctahedral smectite hectorite: A time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) study

Structural incorporation of the actinide curium in the octahedral layer of the trioctahedral Mg-rich smectite hectorite was studied using time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy. Organo-hectorite nanoparticles were synthesized at 90 °C in the presence of Cm(III). Within 120 h, hectorite particles were formed. Time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy was used to identify Cm(III) species during various synthesis steps and to characterize the structural incorporation mechanism. The formation of a Cm-containing Mg hydroxide precursor and the reaction with aqueous silica in a pH range of 9-10 to form TOT layers were identified to be key steps for trivalent actinide incorporation in hectorite via coprecipitation.     

Stoichiometry of smectite dissolution reaction

The dissolution stoichiometry of smectite-rich bentonites SAz-1, STx-1 and SWy-1 was studied at 50°C and pH 2 and 3 using flow-through reactors. In addition to smectite, these samples contain considerable amounts of silica phases (quartz, cristobalite and/or amorphous silica). As a result, the molar Al/Si ratios of the bulk samples are significantly lower than those of the pure smectite.Smectite dissolution was highly incongruent during the first few hundred to few thousand hours of the experiments. Release rates of Si, Mg, Ca and Na underwent a distinct transition from an initial period of rapid release to significantly lower release rate at steady state. A reversed trend was observed for release of Al, which gradually increased from very low starting release rate to higher release rate at steady state. At steady state the ratio of released Al to released Si was found to be constant and independent of the experimental conditions. We suggest that this ratio represents the Al/Si ratio of the smectite itself, and it is not influenced by the presence of accessory phases in the sample.The rapid release of calcium, sodium and magnesium from the interlayer sites is explained by ion-exchange reactions, whereas the fast release of silicon is explained by dissolution of amorphous silica. We interpret the initial slow release of Al as the result of inhibition of smectite dissolution due to coating or cementation of the smectite aggregates by amorphous silica. As the silica is dissolved, the aggregates fall apart and more smectite surfaces are exposed, resulting in an increase in the smectite dissolution rate. Thereafter, the system approaches steady state, in which the major tetrahedral and octahedral cations of smectite are released congruently.     

Manganiferous schists and their origin,Hidaka Mountains,Hokkaido, Japan

Manganiferous quartz-mica schists (4 m in stratigraphic thickness) overlie epidote amphibolite in the Chiroro River area, Hidaka Mountains, Hokkaido. The schist layers have a considerable range of A/F ratios and bulk oxidation ratios which vary from 21.5 to 100. Manganese contents are from 4 to 30 times higher than that of the average shale with 0.09% MnO. The schists are essentially quartz-white mica-biotite-Mn garnet-tourmaline-±epidote-magnetite assemblages. A highly oxidized layer (5–8 cm thick) 95 cm above the epidote amphibolite contact is characterized by viridine-piemontite-spessartine-Mn white mica-Mn tourmaline-Ti-Mn haematite indicative of both high initial manganese content and very high f _O2 conditions of recrystallization.Viridine contains up to 17 mol% Mn³⁺SiO₅ and coexists with piemontite with between 13.6 and 15.4 wt% Mn₂O₃. Mn-poor-Fe-rich (Ps₃₂) epidote occurs in the less oxidized schist enclosing the viridine-piemontite bearing seam. Garnets vary widely in composition with end member variations (mol%) of Spess_22.9–80.5; And_0.2–11.7; Alm_1.1–57.1; Pyr_2.0–12.2; Gross_7.0–49.0. The more manganiferous garnets occur in rocks with higher oxidation ratios while almandiferous varieties occur in schists with low oxidation ratios. Biotite ranges from green to red-brown varieties (increasing Ti and Fe) with Mg/ (Mg+Fe) ratios varying from 56 to 48. Ten to fifteen percent octahedral R²⁺ is replaced by Al indicating a trend towards eastonite-siderophyllite. The white micas deviate only slightly from dioctahedral stoichiometry but have up to 25% of octahedral sites occupied by Fe, Mg and to a lesser extent Mn and Ti as R²⁺ Si⁴⁺2Al³⁺ and in highly oxidized rocks as (Fe,Mn)³⁺Al³⁺. The white mica in the highly oxidized viridine-piemontite schist is pale pinkishorange, exhibits reverse pleochroism, and has between 0.30 and 0.43 wt% Mn₂O₃.There is a close comparison, both in terms of stratigraphic thickness and Fe-Mn variation, between the Chiroro schist sequence and many oceanic cores so that the bulk chemistry and mineralogy of the pelitic schists is largely an extension of the original Eh-pH conditions of hemipelagic sedimentation and post-depositional adjustments during diagenesis. The thin viridine-piemontite bearing schist is correlated with an oxidized, Fe-Mn rich layer commonly found in present day oceanic cores. The viridine presumably formed by reaction of original ferro-manganese microgranules and clay minerals. Halmrolytic alteration of the underlying metabasalt resulted in leaching of Mn and Fe (in particular) into the overlying sediments and the formation of concentrations of haematite — manganese oxide — Mn garnet along the schist-epidote amphibolite contact.Estimation of the P-T conditions of metamorphism from the phase relations and compositions in the epidote amphibolite associated with the manganiferous schist gives T °C = 530560 and a minimum P _fluid > 3 kb which corresponds to the epidote amphibolite facies of Barrovian-type terrains.This paper is dedicated to Professor Kenzo Yagi on the occasion of his retirement from the Chair of Mineralogy, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan     

Mobilization of aluminium and magnesium by roots of banana (Musa spp.) from kaolinite and smectite clay minerals

Banana plants (Musa spp.) are very sensitive to Al, which is mobilized in acid soil conditions. These plants may, however, contribute to their own intoxication because their roots can excrete protons in large quantities. The authors studied the mobilization of Al by banana roots from clay minerals in experimental designs exacerbating the root–mineral contact. The plants were grown on agarose-gel or sand substrates previously mixed with smectite (montmorillonite) and kaolinite as sole source of Al. The pH and the ion concentrations in the aqueous and exchangeable phases of the substrates were determined as concentrations of Al, Ca, Mg and K in plants. In both agarose and sand substrates, pH significantly decreased in the close vicinity of roots, relative to the bulk substrate. This root-induced acidification involved a preferential mobilization of Al in kaolinite substrates and of Mg in smectite substrates, and thereby a significant plant uptake of Al and Mg from these respective substrates. Root-induced weathering of kaolinite and montmorillonite thus suggests that the mobilization of, respectively, Al and Mg are the limiting steps in the dissolution of these respective minerals, just as demonstrated in previous chemical weathering studies.     

Porosity preservation due to grain coating illite/smectite: Evidence from Buchan Formation (Upper Devonian) of the Ardmore Field,UK North Sea

The Buchan Formation sandstone reservoirs from the Ardmore Field in the UK Central North Sea are fluvial-aeolian deposits and provide examples of porosity preservation in deeply-buried reservoirs (2.7–3.2?km) caused by grain-coating illite/smectite (I/S). Here, high reservoir quality commonly correlates with the occurrence of grain-coating I/S and consequent inhibition of quartz cementation in the aeolian dune and interdune sandstones. Porosity is lower in fluvial sandstones lacking grain coating I/S but with intense quartz overgrowths. We propose that the presence of I/S reflects concentration of the smectitic-rich clay bearing water which would have been the deposits of the interdune and/or distal sector of fluvial distributary system, and were introduced into aeolian deposits by mechanical infiltration. Petrographic relationships indicate that these coatings grew mainly before the mechanical compaction as the clays occur at grain contacts. The use of empirical model suggested that about 6–7% porosity have been preserved. The burial-thermal history of the Ardmore area contributed to the high quality reservoir because throughout much of the time since deposition, the Devonian sandstones have been little buried. Only from the Palaeogene the reservoir temperatures exceeded about 70?°C and rapidly buried to today’s maximum depth, which have minimized the negative effect generally ascribed to smectitic clays on reservoir quality. The circumstances of porosity preservation shown in this study may be unusual, but nonetheless have profound consequences for exploration. It is possible to identify new Buchan Formation prospects in areas hitherto dismissed because they were generally assumed to be poor reservoir.     

Factors influencing the stability of smectite sealants

Smectite is a mineral, but a mineral with distinct chemical properties. Structural changes in minerals may require millions of years of aging to complete, but a chemical reaction may be completed in only 4 to 5 min.

Some of the problems of smectite seals are described in this paper, together with methods of avoiding these hazards.     

Physico/chemical stability of smectite clays

There is convincing evidence from field data that smectite clay undergoes conversion primarily to illite and chlorite if it is fully water-saturated and heated. The conversion may take place through mixed-layer formation with increasing illite/smectite ratio at higher temperatures and pressures. This process requires dehydration of the interlamellar space, for which either an external pressure or drying are needed. An alternative mechanism that takes place without dehydration, is dissolution of smectite and neoformation of illite. Both processes imply reorganization of the smectite crystal lattice for which the activation energy is fairly high, meaning that the conversion is negligible at temperatures lower than about 60°C. At elevated temperatures the conversion rate is controlled by the access to potassium for either mechanism.

An ongoing detailed investigation of this subject has led to a tentative model for the smectite-to-illite conversion in natural sediments and in canister-embedding clay in high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repositories.     

Sorption of nonionic polar pesticides to smectite

Sorption of geosorbents including soils and sediments is a key process controlling the fate and transport of hydrophobic organic compounds （HOCs） in the environment. HOC sorption has been generally correlated to the nature and content of organic matter present in the geosorbents. However, several environments can have organic matter contents low enough so that clay mineral surfaces are the dominant sorbents, including low-organic carbon soils, some ground water aquifers, atmospheric water droplets （e.g. clouds, fogs, and raindrops）, and engineered environmental systems （e.g. clay barriers）. Furthermore, several previous studies demonstrated that clays or clay components in soils sorb HOCs higher than expected, especially those compounds containing strong polar functionalities. Because many environmentally related HOCs including a significant portion of pesticides and herbicides contain polar functional groups, studying the interactions of these compounds with mineral surface at the molecular level is of great theoretical and practical importance. In the present study, we studied sorption of a series of nonionic pesticides （e.g. dichlobenil, carbaryl, alachlor, metolachlor, monuron, diuron, cyanazine） containing polar functional groups and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, naphthalene, as a control on a reference smectite （SWy-2） saturated with K^＋ using combined batch sorption and FTIR methodologies.     

Sorption of lanthanides on smectite and kaolinite

Experiments were carried out to investigate the sorption of the complete lanthanide series (Ln or rare earth elements, REE) on a kaolinite and an a Na-montmorillonite at 22°C over a wide range of pH (3-9). Experiments were conducted at two ionic strengths, 0.025 and 0.5 M, using two different background electrolytes (NaNO₃ or NaClO₄) under atmospheric conditions or N₂ flow (glove box). The REE sorption does not depend on the background electrolyte or the presence of dissolved CO₂, but is controlled by the nature of the clay minerals, the pH and the ionic strength. At 0.5 M, both clay minerals exhibit the same pH dependence for the Ln sorption edge, with a large increase in the sorption coefficient (K_D) above pH 5.5. At 0.025 M, the measured K_D is influenced by the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of the minerals. Two different behaviours are observed for smectite: between pH 3 and 6, the K_D is weakly pH-dependent, while above pH 6, there is a slight decrease in log K_D. This can be explained by a particular arrangement of the particles. For kaolinite, the sorption coefficient exhibits a linear increase with increasing pH over the studied pH range. A fractionation is observed that due to the selective sorption between the HREEs and the LREEs at high ionic strength, the heavy REE is being more sorbed than the light REE. These results can be interpreted in terms of the surface chemistry of clay minerals, where two types of surface charge are able to coexist: the permanent structural charge and the variable pH-dependent charge. The fractionation due to sorption observed at high ionic strength can be interpreted either because of a competition with sodium or because of the formation of inner-sphere complexes. Both processes could favour the sorption of HREEs according to the lanthanide contraction.     

Modeling of smectite illitization in burial diagenesis environments

The kinetics of smectite illitization in shale samples from eight wells have been modeled using the equation −dS/dt = kK^0.25S⁵ [Cuadros, J., Linares J., 1996. Experimental kinetic study of the smectite-to-illite transformation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta60, 439-453], where S is the proportion of smectite layers in illite-smectite (I-S), t is time, k is the rate constant and K is the concentration of potassium. The I-S compositions and the physical parameters were obtained from the literature. Potassium concentration is the only unknown parameter and it was chosen to fit the experimental data. I propose that this variable is termed “effective K concentration,” as it is affected not by the actual K concentration alone but also by those of other cations that compete with K for the smectite interlayer sites, especially Ca, by ion mobility in the sediments and possibly by other variables. The kinetic equation allows an accurate fit to the experimental data in all the wells, reproducing both the illitization onset and the patterns of the plots of % smectite vs. depth. The relative changes of the values of “effective K concentration” compare well with K/Ca equivalent ratios in the whole rock. Three of the modeled wells, located in near proximity, produced similar “effective K concentration” patterns. These results support the validity of the equation used in the models. They also suggest that this equation can be used to assess K concentrations in sediments and K mobility within basins.     

Electrolyte-induced solute permeability effects in compacted smectite membranes

Experiments suggest that increasing electrolyte flux into a compacted smectite membrane may result in greater permeability of the membrane to the electrolyte. The influx of electrolyte into the membrane pores decreases the double layer thickness, therefore reducing the clay's ability to exclude anions. As a result, solute previously accumulated in the concentration polarization layer (CPL) may be able to dissipate through the membrane, producing a temporary situation where the effluent is more concentrated than the feed solution. Of course, at some juncture the CPL will diminish sufficiently so that the effluent concentration will be the same as that of the feed solution and a true state will be reached.The fact that increasing electrolyte concentration within the clay membrane decreases the membrane efficiency implies that the result of solute accumulation in geological basins, even though a portion of such accumulation is attributable to the solute filtering ability of low permeability rocks, is the ultimate cessation of membrane effects. At the start of the cycle, shale membranes have low solute concentrations and thus high rejection capabilities. The largest amount of solute accumulates deep in the basin center, where vertical flux rates are high. Because of greater solute concentration within the aquifer, the solute concentration in the centrally located membranes rises more quickly than that of those located near the basin margins. Therefore, the cessation of membrane effects occurs first in the deep center of the basin and gradually moves upward and outward toward the basin margins. The fact that membrane efficiency decreases as pore solute concentration increases might help explain why conclusive trends attributable to membrane effects have not been more commonly observed in the subsurface.     

Regional Metamorphism of Non-Calcareous Manganiferous Sediments from India and the Related Petrogenetic Grid for a Part of the System Mn-Fe-Si-O

Mineralogical assemblages developed in the non-calcareous manganiferoussediments in India and subjected to regional metamorphism underchlorite to sillimanite grade conditions have been studied indetail. Based on a series of idealized reactions compatiblewith the recorded assemblages in the system Mn-Fe-Si-O, formany of which there is unambiguous textural evidence in therocks, a combined schematic petrogenetic grid consistent withtopological and thermodynamic considerations has been constructed. The inferred petrogenetic grid, coupled with the mineralogicaland textural evidence present in the manganiferous assemblagesand the enclosing rock formations, can be reconciled with thefollowing: (1) The mineralogical reactions attending regionalmetamorphism of the manganiferous sediments buffered the compositionof the coexisting fluid phase. (2) Due to the closed natureof the system as a whole and also due to lack of communicationbetween the different parts thereof, local variations in theinitial proportions of the non-volatile to volatile phases andtheir compositions led to the development of contrasting sequencesof mineralogical reactions and, therefore, fo₂-T gradients evenwithin the same metamorphic grade. (3) Rhodonite, developedas a prograde reaction product in the garnet to sillimanitegrade conditions, was converted to rhodonite-pyroxmangite mixture/intergrowthduring cooling. Compositional variance, resulting from the substitution of Mnby Fe and incorporation of components such as Mg, Ca in thephases, would tend to shift the univariant reaction curves inthe grid towards opposite directions and/or split them intomultivariant intervals in fo₂-T space without altering the generalstyle of the topology or the principal deductions made therefrom.     

Regional retrograde alteration of sub-greenschist facies chlorite to smectite

Dioctahedral smectite is present as a retrograde alteration product of chlorite in Permian-Triassic red slates of the Malaguide Complex in Sierra de Espuña (Betic Cordillera). Mineral assemblages and textures, illite crystallinity indices, and fluid inclusion data indicate sub-greenschist facies conditions that reached at least 180°C in the higher-grade tectonic unit of the Malaguide Complex, preceding formation of smectite. Smectite, having K as the dominant interlayer cation, occurs ubiquitously intercalated with trioctahedral chlorite as thin packets of layers and as individual layers that commonly change to chlorite along layers. Although some chlorite is typically homogeneous and trioctahedral, much chlorite shows signs of alteration and has compositions corresponding to different degrees of smectite contaimination. The incompatibility of metamorphic grade with the occurrence of smectite, the general association of chlorite and smectite, and the textural relations collectively show that dioctahedral smectite is derived through replacement of trioctahedral chlorite. Such replacement occurs on a regional basis and demonstrates that caution must be used in interpreting the occurrence of smectite in pelites as being due to prograde processes. Alteration of trioctahedral chlorite under oxidizing conditions due to introduction of phreatic water after uplift of the Betic Cordillera is proposed as the cause of formation of smectite.     

Authigenic smectite on diatom frustules in Bolivian saline lakes

Observation under the electron microscope of diatom frustules from Bolivian Altiplano saline lakes shows that many of these are coated with particles occurring as tiny sheets. The frustules can be found to be almost completely replaced by these sheets. Isolated sheet aggregates seem to have resulted from completely transformed frustules. Section observations of altered frustules bear out that the sheets have grown from biogenic silica through replacement. Selected area diffraction, dark field observation, microdiffraction, and elemental microanalysis show that the particles on the diatom frustules consist of a poorly crystallized MG-smectite.The unambiguous localisation of this authigenesis allows us to reconstruct its hydrochemical and sedimentological environment. Observation of the most recent lake sediments has pointed out that at least two main conditions are required for this authigenesis at 5°C: saturation with respect to amorphous silica, and a pH above 8.2. Variations in the Mg concentration have no significant effect.     

Geochemistry of Rare and Rare-Earth Elements in Manganiferous Sediments of the Polar Urals and Pai-Khoi

Lithology and Mineral Resources - Data on the concentration of rare and rare-earth elements in the Devonian manganese-rich metasediments of the Polar Urals and Pai-Khoi Ridge are presented. It is...