Overbank sediment: a representative sample medium for regional geochemical mapping

In Scandinavia, most fluvial erosion takes place in the Quaternary glacial overburden at a restricted number of small source areas along individual drainage channels. As a consequence, a sample of active stream sediment is representative of only a very limited portion of the drainage area. This restriction makes stream sediment less reliable for regional exploration than generally expected. Overbank (levee or river-plain) sediment produced during large floods is an alternate more representative sampling medium. The sediment suspended during a flood has a much more widespread origin, and when the load is deposited upon the flood plain, nearly horizontal strata are formed and preserved at levels above the ordinary stream channel. A composite sample through a vertical section of such strata represents a great number of sediment sources that have been active at different times and forms an integrated sample of the entire catchment area. Because young sediments overlay older, the uppermost layers will be contaminated by pollutants in industrialized regions, but those at depth may remain pristine and will to a greater extent reflect the natural pre-industrial environment. In regional geochemical mapping, overbank sediment can be sampled at widely spaced sites, keeping costs per unit area low. Examples from Norway (1 sample station per 500 km²) show that overbank sediment produces broad geochemical patterns with high contrasts reflecting the bedrock geochemistry. Some patterns agree with known geological units and metallogenic provinces, but hitherto unknown major structures have also been indicated. A large Mo-deposit missed by a traditional stream survey is readily detected in the overbank sediment. It is concluded that overbank sediment is a promising alternate sample medium that should be tested in other physiographic regions.     

Overbank sediments from central Mexico: an evaluation of their use in regional geochemical mapping and in studies of contamination from modern and historical mining

Overbank sediment sequences in central Mexico display vertical changes in chemistry which can be related to both anthropogenic contamination and natural geological sources and processes. They also show significant lateral chemical variation, at both local and regional levels, which makes the design of a sampling strategy for regional geochemical mapping or contamination studies difficult. This variation is particularly pronounced in drainage basins which have been contaminated by mining activity and limits the use of overbank sediment as a systematic regional geochemical mapping medium. To be used with confidence, overbank sediments require detailed studies of fluvial geomorphology and history, accompanied by accurate age dating. Active drainage sediments are a more viable alternative in areas of historical mining activity, but must be examined carefully in the light of the regional background where levels of contamination are low or the contaminants are buried within the river floodplain.     

Soil and stream sediment based geochemical mapping: A case study in Goa

Geochemical mapping has been carried out in Goa using soil/laterite and stream sediment as media. The geochemical maps for U, Th, Nb and Ta show a conspicuous pattern in the NW part of Goa. The anomaly axis shows a NE-SW trend which is across the formational trend. The nickel and copper distribution around Usgaon area, east of Ponda, have indicated anomalous signature in the northern continuation of the Usgaon ultramafic complex.     

Regional assessment and mapping of groundwater vulnerability to contamination

In many regions the use of groundwater for water supply is limited by the increase in contamination of aquifers. The problem of contamination requires the development of new approaches in assessing areas in which groundwater is vulnerable to contamination. A brief analysis of the present day level of methods for regional evaluation and mapping of areas in which groundwater is vulnerable is presented.     

Geochemical and metallogenic provinces: a discussion initiated by results from geochemical mapping across northern Fennoscandia

The concept of metallogenic province has won general acceptance in economic geology. It is agreed that metallogenic provinces offer good opportunities for exploration of new ore deposits. The concept of geochemical province is also established, but its exact meaning is disputable. In this paper, geochemical province is used as an abnormal spatial distribution of an element or element combination in a particular sample type as measured by a particular analytical technique. The practical consequences of this concept of geochemical provinces in mineral exploration seem not to have been fully utilized, although geochemical and metallogenic provinces could only be different manifestations of the same regional features. The location of geochemical provinces should be of greater importance in exploration than the location of metallogenic provinces, simply because a geochemical province can be identified early in an exploration program, while a metallogenic province cannot be defined until a number of ore discoveries has already been made. We have compared metallogenic provinces with geochemical provinces obtained by regional geochemical mapping in Fennoscandia (mainly data from the Nordkalott Project) and other places such as England, Wales, Germany and Alaska in order to study to what degree large-scale geochemical dispersion patterns can be associated with clusters of economically interesting mineral deposits.It is concluded that metallogenic provinces lie within or coincide with a number of geochemical provinces, some of which may have causal relationships with the ore deposits. It can be assumed that an enormous hierarchy of large and small geochemical provinces exist at the earth's surface. The main features of this system would be detectable by worldwide low-density geochemical mapping. Such mapping should be performed in order to shorten the time lapse between possible rises in the demand of certain raw materials and their supply. Worldwide geochemical mapping would also contribute to a better understanding of major geochemical processes of the Earth and provide baselines for environmental research.     

Analysis and mapping of geochemical anomalies using logratio-transformed stream sediment data with censored values

There is lack of research and documentation of actual (as opposed to theoretical) benefits (e.g., mineral deposit discovery) of developments in compositional data analysis and imputation of censored values to mineral exploration geochemistry. In the present study, analyses of logratio- and ln-transformed stream sediment geochemical data containing ca. 30% of samples with censored values of a pathfinder element for the mineral deposit-type of interest yielded the following findings. Exclusion of those samples supports interpretation of multi-element anomalies reflecting the presence of mineralization. However, the multi-element anomaly maps obtained by exclusion of those samples are barely better than the multi-element anomaly maps derived by inclusion of those samples after replacing the censored values with 1/2 of detection limit or with imputed values. Logratio (i.e., alr, clr, or ilr) transformation, compared to ln-transformation, of stream sediment geochemical data does not improve mapping of pathfinder element anomalies reflecting the presence of mineralization. However, stream sediment geochemical data, excluding or including censored values (replaced with 1/2 of detection limit or with imputed values), should be clr- or ilr-transformed to enhance recognition of anomalous multi-element associations reflecting the presence of mineralization. The anomaly maps of multi-element associations derived from ilr-transformed data are better, albeit slightly, than the anomaly maps of multi-element associations derived from clr-transformed data. In the present study, the main benefit of either clr- or ilr-transformation, compared to either ln- or alr-transformation, of stream sediment geochemical data is the enhancement of anomalous multi-element associations reflecting the presence of mineralization. This is an important benefit because variations in trace element concentrations in regional-scale stream sediment geochemical data are mostly due to lithology and other factors (or processes) unrelated to mineralization. Further investigations of various exploration geochemical data are needed to demonstrate and document the actual (as opposed to theoretical) benefits of developments in compositional data analysis and imputation of censored values to mineral exploration.     

The fractionation of a Recent sediment for organic geochemical analysis

A Recent unconsolidated lacustrine sediment was separated into five size fractions which were characterized by microscopy and XRD. Higher plant detritus predominated in the coarsest fractions, but decreased in proportion in the intermediate ones in which algal debris was predominant. The overall proportion of organic debris decreased from coarse to fine fractions. Quartz and feldspar were most abundant in the intermediate size fractions, while the coarsest fraction contained chlorite with some kaolinite and quartz, and the finest fraction was composed mainly of illite.Concentrations (per fraction dry weight) of solvent extract, total long chain hydrocarbons and total fatty acids decreased from coarse to fine fractions, with the exception of the finest fraction, in which they showed an increase. The change in relative abundance of higher plant to algal debris in the coarse and intermediate size fractions was paralleled by a decrease in the relative abundance of n-C₂₉ and n-C₃₁ alkanes and an increase in the relative abundance of -C₁₇ alkane. There was a progressive decrease in n-alkane carbon preference index, and a progressive increase in the unresolved envelope of hydrocarbons with decreasing grain size. The unresolved hydrocarbons, which probably originate from biodegraded lubricating oil, appear to be associated with the clay fraction. Fractionation in this way and lipid analysis of the separate fractions may give more definitive information about input sources than analysis of unfractionated sediments.     

Dispersion of tailings in the Knabena—Kvina drainage basin, Norway, 1: Evaluation of overbank sediments as sampling medium for regional geochemical mapping

Molybdenum mining in the Knabena—Kvina drainage basin (1918–1973) left more than eight million tons of tailings in two small lakes in the headwater area of the Knabena river. The piles, that reach above the water surface, were freely eroded until a dam was built to reduce the dispersion in 1976. Sampling of tailings and fluvial sediments took place almost 20 years later. Sampling media were natural sediment sources, 1-cm-thick slices of overbank sediments of various depths, material from the tailings pond, sandbars, stream sediments, fjord sediments, and integrated samples of floodplain surfaces (0–25 cm). In total 734 samples were collected. Chemical analysis (ICP-AES after aqua regia or HNO₃ extraction) showed that overbank sediments at a certain depth represent the pre-industrial trace metal concentrations within the drainage basin. The tailings and recent fluvial sediments were enriched in approximately the same element suite. The highest enrichment factors were obtained for Cu (8–53) and Mo (22–57). Fluvial processes in the tailings pond have probably selectively eroded fine-grained, low-density particles. Thus, coarse chalcopyrite may have been left behind, while molybdate associated with fine-grained particles may have been selectively entrained causing dilution of Cu and enrichment of Mo in the downstream fluvial sediments. In the sandbars, the highest Cu and Mo concentrations were found in fine-grained sediments downstream of a low-gradient reach that act as a bedload trap. On the floodplains, it is seen that the first areas to be inundated in a flood situation (proximal to the river and in depressions) have the highest metal concentrations. For regional geochemical mapping it is suggested that overbank sediment profiles along river reaches with a laterally stable or slowly migrating channel, should be sampled. In such floodplains, pre-industrial overbank sediments are usually preserved at depth. In case of laterally unstable reaches upstream of the sampling point, polluted and unpolluted sediments may be interlayered or mixed. Therefore, samples should be collected from various depths or sedimentary units in such profiles. A similar sampling strategy should probably be adopted to detect vertical migration of elements especially in areas with acid rain and low bedrock buffer capacity. To obtain high contrasts between polluted and unpolluted drainage basins, the overbank sediment profiles should be within the proximal part of the floodplain.     

The use of sediment cores to reconstruct historical trends in contamination of estuarine and coastal sediments

Most studies using sediment cores to reconstruct the contamination history of coastal and estuarine areas around the world have dealt with trace metals, and only a few have focused on organic contaminants. Almost without exception, the studies published up to 1990 have shown that sediment contamination increased in the late 1800s, accelerated in the 1940s, and reached a plateau or a maximum in the 1960–1970s. For some pollutants, such as Pb, a decrease in concentration occurred in the 1980s, following the implementation of new discharge and emission regulations. Little is known, however, about concentration trends from the mid-1980s to present and about the effect of legislation recently passed to protect the environment.     

Anthropogenic impact on sediment composition and geochemistry in vertical overbank profiles of river alluvium from Belgium and Luxembourg

The geochemical study of alluvial sediments allows to reconstruct pollution through time. Geochemical and sedimentological variations recorded in 40 vertical overbank sediment profiles from Belgium and Luxembourg can be classified in three dominant pattern types:• type 1 profiles with dominantly non-anthropogenically influenced geochemical distribution patterns. These profiles are devoid of anthropogenic particles such as charcoal, plastic, brick and slag fragments, with the exception, in some cases, of their uppermost parts. Background concentrations thus are displayed throughout the profile (subtype 1A). However, in this group, profiles displaying anomalous values caused by the presence of heavy minerals (subtype 1B) or by base metal mineralisations in the catchment (subtype 1C) also occur;• type 2 profiles displaying clear evidence of anthropogenic influences. Most of these profiles display a gradual increase in heavy metal content in their upper part, with values doubling or tripling (subtype 2A). However, other profiles display a dramatic increase in pollution-related elements caused by past or present-day heavy industrial activities in the catchment (subtype 2B). Here also the sedimentological patterns reflect the influence of the industrial activities;• type 3 profiles contain features related to pedogenetic translocations of mobile elements. Apart from classical pedogenetic features such as illuviation/eluviation, the mobility of As and Cd is of particular importance. From a sedimentological point of view, these profiles do not necessarily differ from type 1 or 2 profiles.It should be noted that in some profiles, pattern types can be superimposed. Type 2B profiles are of particular environmental concern, because the potential release of heavy metals may have consequences for agricultural activities or groundwater contamination in the catchment. Furthermore, reworking of polluted sediments temporarily stored in the alluvial plain can also have negative effects on the ecosystem.     

A comparison of regional geochemical data from lakes and streams in northern Labrador; implications for mixed-media geochemical mapping

Labrador has been covered by reconnaissance-scale geochemical surveys under the National Geochemical Reconnaissance program. Lake sediment and water were the chief sample media, but stream sediment and water were employed in the mountainous terrain of northern Labrador. The main objective of these surveys was mineral resource assessment, but the data are also relevant to geological and environmental studies, and would be most useful to the non-specialist if the data from the two drainage types could be combined to produce unified element distribution maps for the whole region.A comparison of stream and lake data for a 5,700-km² area where both drainage types were sampled suggests that only the pH of the lake and stream waters are directly comparable, showing a common range and similar spatial distribution. Comparing the two types of sediment, most elements show obvious differences in either median content or range or both, indicating that stream and lake sediment are geochemically distinct media, and their element contents cannot be compared directly. The distribution patterns of Cu, Ni and U reflect similar bedrock features in both sediment types. In contrast, Co, F, Fe, Hg, Mn, V and Zn show little or no spatial correlation between stream and lake sediment, but are strongly intercorrelated in the stream sediment data set.The sediments collected from lakes in Labrador represent disturbed column, about 40 cm in length, of organic debris that accumulated over the past several hundred years. Metal accumulation in the sediment is largely through fixation from inflowing surface and groundwater by microorganisms, coprecipitation with hydrous Fe and Mn oxides, sorption by clay minerals and chemical and biochemical processes at and just below the sediment/water interface. The stream sediments in this study were collected from active sediment, and represent principally the mechanical-weathering products of bedrock, with variable amounts of organic matter and hydrous Fe and Mn oxides. Considering the difference in the two sediment types, it is probably not surprising that there is rather limited spatial correlation between the geochemistry of the two sediment types indicating that to a large extent each medium reflects a different facet of the bedrock geochemistry. Only for a few elements should the data sets be merged. The degree of spatial correlation for U, Ni and Cu increases as the data are generalized by averaging into larger blocks, suggesting that the combined data sets will be more successful in defining broad crustal geochemical features rather than local details. The implication of this study for international geochemical mapping is that geochemical patterns for many elements are strongly dependent on the sample medium chosen. Therefore, when it is necessary to change sample media in passing from one terrain type to another, a comparative study must be carried out to determine how the geochemistry of the different sample media compare spatially.     

The application of fuzzy c-means cluster analysis and non-linear mapping to geochemical datasets: examples from Portugal

In the interpretation of relatively small multivariate datasets, deviations from homogeneity may cause severe problems. In these cases fuzzy c-means cluster analysis (FCM) and non-linear mapping (NLM) are conceptionally suited to discern structure in the datasets. Particularly, the combined use of FCM and NLM furnishes a powerful method to find meaningful data groupings within a dataset. This is illustrated with two case studies, for water and combined water and stream sediment analyses, respectively, where FCM and NLM were applied. The results are easily related to geology, mineral occurrences and environmental factors.     

Use of sediment quality indicators for heavy metals contamination and ecological risk assessment in urbanized coastal zones

The urbanized coastal zones are frequently faced to various pollutant discharges mainly in the shoreline. The quantification of the pollution level was mainly based on sea-water analysis. However, in this environment, the sediment characterization, using quality indicators, may constitute an accurate approach. The latter can be particularly appropriate to define heavy metals pollution degree. Chemical analyses of Cd, Cu, Zn, and Fe were undertaken for a total of 45 surface marine sediment samples of Gabes city coast. There is a significant extension of pollution, strongly influenced by the dominant longshore current. The studied sediments were found usually enriched with Cu, Cd, and Zn. These anthropogenic heavy metals have identical behavior and similar distribution. These metals did not show any correlations with Fe chosen as natural tracer. The multi-element indices used permitted to conclude that 70% of sampling sites are highly affected by heavy metal contamination and associated with very high ecological risk. These indices use a simple contamination factor, which, however, would not take account of the sedimentary inputs and the complex sediment behavior. Consequently, modified indices, employing enrichment factor, were used and demonstrated better to assess pollution and ecological risk.     

Zn, Pb, Cu and As distribution patterns in overbank and medium-order stream sediment samples: their use in exploration and environmental geochemistry

Overbank and medium-order stream sediment samples were collected in Belgium and Luxembourg from 66 sampling locations (area of about 33,000 km²) and analysed for major and trace elements among which Zn, Pb, Cu and As. At each sampling location large bulk samples were taken, namely in the lower (normally at ≥1.5 m depth, over an interval of about 20–40 cm) and upper (normally upper 5–25 cm) parts of the overbank profiles and from the stream sediments. Furthermore, at a number of these sites, a detailed geochemical analysis of vertical overbank sediment profiles (sampling intervals of 10–20 cm) was subsequently carried out to unravel element variations through time and to help in the overall evaluation. For most sampled sections evidences such as ¹⁴C-dating and the absence of anthropogenic particles point towards a pre-industrial and often pristine origin of the lower overbank sediment samples. From the latter bulk samples, mean background concentrations were deduced. They reveal the existence of significant differences between the northern and southern part of Belgium (incl. Luxembourg) which relate to the difference in geological substrate. In the north dominantly non-lithified Quaternary and Tertiary sands, marls and clays occur while in the south Palaeozoic sandstones, shales and carbonate rocks outcrop. Consequently separate mean background values were calculated for the two areas. In the southern study area, some anomalous metal concentrations have been recorded in pre-industrial sediments. They are derived from mineralised Palaeozoic rocks, a feature which could be of interest for base metal exploration. In the upper overbank and stream sediments, in general, higher heavy metal and As contents were recorded with highest values in areas with metal mining, metal melting and cokes treatment industries. By comparing the trace element concentrations of the upper overbank or stream sediment samples with the concentrations detected in the lower overbank samples at each of the sampling locations, and by evaluating the vertical distribution patterns where available, the degree of pollution of the alluvial plain and the present-day stream sediments can be assessed. From this exercise, it is clear that highest pollution occurs in the northern part of Belgium, which relates to its high population density and industrial development.     

An assessment of selected heavy metal contamination in the surface sediments from the South China Sea before 1998

Rapid economic development in East Asian countries has inevitably resulted in environmental degradation in the surrounding seas, and concern for both the environment and protection against pollutants is increasing. Identification of sources of contaminants and evaluation of current environmental status are essential to environmental pollution management, but relatively little has been done in the South China Sea (SCS). In order to investigate the metal pollution status and source within the SCS, a total of 52 surface sediment samples were collected in 1998 from the SCS for the selected heavy metal measurements such as Pb, Zn, Cu, V, Cr, Cd and Sc. The total concentrations (in mg kg^− 1 dry weight) in sediments ranged and averaged (mean ± S.D.): Pb, 4.18 to 58.7 (23.6 ± 8.93); Zn, 10.7 to 346 (87.4 ± 47.7); Cu, 5.29 to 122 (38.1 ± 24.6); V, 0.03 to 148 (78.0 ± 37.0); Cr, 4.48 to 589 (105 ± 86); Cd, 0.08 to 2.14 (0.40 ± 0.40) and Sc, 0.33 to 20.6 (10.6 ± 4.4), respectively. Enrichment factor (EF) values and geoaccumulation indexes (I_geo) suggest that Cu, Pb, Zn and V contamination exists only in few localized areas, but Cr and Cd contamination can be found in large-scale area of the SCS before 1998. Further studies are needed to reconstruct deposition history and for trend analysis.     

Use of fallout 137Cs for documenting the chronology of overbank sediments from the river Sava, Croatia, and interpreting their geochemical patterns

This paper attempts to determine the impact of former Pb-Zn-Ba mining activities in Slovenian drainage basin on overbank sediments of the Sava river (West Croatia). Among the four studied sequences (S7, S8, S9, S10), the most upstream profile S7 showed the most pronounced impact of ore mining. Mercury was enriched more than 100-fold; Pb and Zn had a strong positive correlation (r > 0.99). Two factor models clearly revealed the Pb-Ba-Hg association in the lower-lying carbonate (CA) population of all four profiles, but only in the overlying silicate (SI) population of profile S7. Factor analysis confirmed this association in the total sediment (90 samples) as well as separately in the CA (33 samples) and SI (57 samples) populations. Based on a comparison with an undisturbed soil profile, the vertical distribution of ¹³⁷Cs in profile S7 was interpreted to be the combination of caesium deposition caused by a flood in 1964 and by post-depositional redistribution.     

Experience and goals of geochemical mapping for environmental protection in Lithuania

Since 1980 the main goal of geochemical investigations in Lithuania has been the estimation of technogene changes of microelements in the earth's surface sediments. For this purpose the geochemical mapping at various scales has been employed: at regional scale (1:2,500,000-1:500,000), at large scale (1:50,000-1:25,000), and at local scales 1:10,000-1:1000. The most important tasks are to determine and to establish the geochemical background for technogene changes in the topsoil layer and in the water reservoir bottom sediments. When mapping the zones of increased technogenical load the increase of concentration for most microelements in soils (ground) and in water reservoirs were established. Zn, Pb, Cu, Sn. Ag, Cr and Ni are the main elements-pollutants of these zones, concentrations of which exceed the background values from a few up to a dozen times. In certain cases their concentrations and the concentrations of specific elements, such as Sb, Bi. Ce, La, exceed thousands times the background value. At such zones the danger of pollution is increased due to the occurrence of mobile and potentially mobile toxic elements. During the soil mapping within the towns and factories not only the concentration of elements and the associations of elements-pollutants have been ascertained, but also the approximate contamination dangerous for biota -the total index of contamination (Z_s) — has been calculated. The additional index that shows dangerous pollution is the maximum permissible by general sanitary concentration of chemical elements in soil (MPLC_s) used in Lithuania. At some extremely contaminated zones (Z_s > 128) the migration forms of toxic elements were determined by AAS-ES (gradual extraction using reagents of various acidity). The geochemical mapping data are used for the land-use, for the selection of geochemical monitoring polygons, hydrochemical. ecomedical and other investigations.     

Interpolation and mapping of probabilities for geochemical variables exhibiting spatial intermittency

In monitoring a minor geochemical element in groundwater or soils, a background population of values below the instrumental detection limit is frequently present. When those values are found in the monitoring process, they are assigned to the detection limit which, in some cases, generates a probability mass in the probability density function of the variable at that value (the minimum value that can be detected). Such background values could distort both the estimation of the variable at nonsampled locations and the inference of the spatial structure of variability of the variable. Two important problems are the delineation of areas where the variable is above the detection limit and the estimation of the magnitude of the variables inside those areas. The importance of these issues in geochemical prospecting or in environmental sciences, in general related with contamination and environmental monitoring, is obvious. In this paper the authors describe the two-step procedure of indicator kriging and ordinary kriging and compare it with empirical maximum likelihood kriging. The first approach consists of using a binary indicator variable for estimating the probability of a location being above the detection limit, plus ordinary kriging conditional to the location being above the detection limit. An estimation variance, however, is not available for that estimator. Empirical maximum likelihood kriging, which was designed to deal with skew distributions, can also deal with an atom at the origin of the distribution. The method uses a Bayesian approach to kriging and gives intermittency in the form of a probability map, its estimates providing a realistic assessment of their estimation variance. The pros and cons of each method are discussed and illustrated using a large dataset of As concentration in groundwater. The results of the two methods are compared by cross-validation.     

The use of tourmaline in geochemical prospecting for gold and copper mineralization

Chemical composition, unit cell parameters, and trace elements of tourmalines from Mesozoic gold-quartz-sulphide and gold-bearing copper-porphyry ore-magmatic systems of the Trans-Baikal area and Mongolia show that they belong to the specific schorl-dravite highly ferruginous oxytourmaline series. They are low in alumina (Al₂O₃ = 16–33%) and have MgO contents (up to 10%) and Fe₂O₃ (1%). There is a direct correlation of unit cell parameters (a,c,V) with total iron, which permits composition estimates from X-ray diffraction analyses. As a rule, these tourmalines contain high concentrations of Au, Pb and Cu, which are mainly hosted by inclusions of native gold and ore minerals. The highest As abundances are contained in the tourmalines of the copper-porphyry field.Two trends of isomorphic replacement are related to increasing Fe content of oxyferruginous tourmalines:(1) “Acid leaching” trend (less ferruginous part of the series) Mg + Fe²⁺ + 4Al + 40 4Fe³⁺ + 2 + 4(OH,F); and (2) “conjugate deposition” trend Mg + 1.5Fe²⁺ + 1.5Al + 4(OH,F) 4Fe³⁺ + 4O.These features distinguish tourmalines from gold-bearing systems from schorl-dravites of tin and rare-metal deposits. They may be used in metallogenic analyses, interpretation of the origin of primary and secondary anomalies, and assessment of the type and zonation of ore fields.