Arsenic and antimony contamination of waters,stream sediments and soils in the vicinity of abandoned antimony mines in the Western Carpathians,Slovakia

Environmental contamination with As and Sb caused by past mining activities at Sb mines is a significant problem in Slovakia. This study is focused on the environmental effects of the 5 abandoned Sb mines on water, stream sediment and soil since the mines are situated in the close vicinity of residential areas. Samples of mine wastes, various types of waters, stream sediments, soils, and leachates of the mine wastes, stream sediments and selected soils were analyzed for As and Sb to evaluate their geochemical dispersion from the mines. Mine wastes collected at the mine sites contained up to 5166 mg/kg As and 9861 mg/kg Sb. Arsenic in mine wastes was associated mostly with Fe oxides, whereas Sb was present frequently in the form of individual Sb, Sb(Fe) and Fe(Sb) oxides. Waters of different types such as groundwater, surface waters and mine waters, all contained elevated concentrations of As and Sb, reaching up to 2150 μg/L As and 9300 μg/L Sb, and had circum-neutral pH values because of the buffering capacity of abundant Ca- and Mg-carbonates. The concentrations of Sb in several household wells are a cause for concern, exceeding the Sb drinking water limit of 5 μg/L by as much as 25 times. Some attenuation of the As and Sb concentrations in mine and impoundment waters was expected because of the deposition of metalloids onto hydrous ferric oxides built up below adit entrances and impoundment discharges. These HFOs contained >20 wt.% As and 1.5 wt.% Sb. Stream sediments and soils have also been contaminated by As and Sb with the peak concentrations generally found near open adits and mine wastes. In addition to the discharged waters from open adits, the significant source of As and Sb contamination are waste-rock dumps and tailings impoundments. Leachates from mine wastes contained as much as 8400 μg/L As and 4060 μg/L Sb, suggesting that the mine wastes would have a great potential to contaminate the downstream environment. Moreover, the results of water leaching tests showed that Sb was released from the solids more efficiently than As under oxidizing conditions. This might partly explain the predominance of Sb over As in most water samples.     

Recent landslides on the Istrian Peninsula, Croatia

This study presents a review of recently recorded instability phenomena on the flysch slopes of Istria, Croatia. The northeastern part of the Istrian Peninsula, the so-called Gray Istria, is built of Paleogene flysch deposits, where instability phenomena are frequent and where a large number of landslides, with significant consequences, have been recorded over the past 35 years. Based on field investigations conducted for the purpose of remedial study design, a database of these landslides was created. An investigation of the documented landslides and their elements found some common features that enabled general conclusions about the conditions and causes of landslide occurrence. In total, 19 documented landslides have been analyzed as individual phenomena, and from the results of these analyses, general conclusions were drawn about sliding conditions and the main triggering factors. Geological conditions and processes on slopes where landslides occurred are shown in detail, and geotechnical properties have been systematically represented. The sliding conditions and dimensions of four recent landslide occurrences, specifically by type, have been described in detail and analyzed.     

Planning Geotechnical Investigation Using ANFIS

Engineering experience may be written in mathematical form by using adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). In this article we propose a method to use engineering experience and build a model, which can be used as a systematic decision support tool for engineers dealing with new problems. Planning geotechnical investigations is based on experience, which are used to obtain optimal number of investigation points, field and laboratory tests. To achieve this objective we define minimum number of investigation points and several input parameters which could increase or decrease the number of investigation points. The expert’s evaluations were put in a table, from which we generate the basis of the system. The paper presents a concept for planning geotechnical investigation for buildings using ANFIS and practical examples show its usefulness.     

Structure and stratigraphy of the Teplá–Barrandian Neoproterozoic,Bohemian Massif: A new plate-tectonic reinterpretation

The Teplá–Barrandian unit (TBU) of the Bohemian Massif exposes a section across the once extensive Avalonian–Cadomian belt, which bordered the northern active margin of Gondwana during late Neoproterozoic. This paper synthesizes the state-of-the-art knowledge on the Cadomian basement of the TBU to redefine its principal component units, to revise an outdated stratigraphic scheme, and to interpret this scheme in terms of a recent plate-tectonic model for the Cadomian orogeny in the Bohemian Massif. The main emphasis of this paper is on an area between two newly defined fronts of the Variscan pervasive deformation to the NW and SE of the Barrandian Lower Paleozoic overlap successions. This area has escaped the pervasive Variscan (late Devonian to early Carboniferous) ductile reworking and a section through the Cadomian orogen is here superbly preserved.The NW segment of the TBU consists of three juxtaposed allochthonous belts of unknown stratigraphic relation (the Kralovice–Rakovník, Radnice–Kralupy, and Zbiroh–?árka belts), differing in lithology, complex internal strain patterns, and containing sedimentary and tectonic mélanges with blocks of diverse ocean floor (meta-)basalts. We summarize these three belts under a new term the Blovice complex, which we believe represents a part of an accretionary wedge of the Cadomian orogen.The SE segment of the TBU exposes the narrow Pi?ín belt, which is probably a continuation of the Blovice complex from beneath the Barrandian Lower Paleozoic, and a volcanic arc sequence (the Davle Group). Their stratigraphic relation is unknown. Flysch units (the ?těchovice Group and Svrchnice Formation) overlay the arc volcanics, and both units contain material derived from volcanic arc. The former was also sourced from the NW segment, whereas the latter contains an increased amount of passive margin continental material. In contrast to the Blovice complex, the flysch experienced only weak Cadomian deformation.The new lithotectonic zonation fits the following tectonic scenario for the Cadomian evolution of the TBU well. The S- to SE-directed Cadomian subduction beneath the TBU led to the involvement of turbidites, chaotic deposits, and 605 ± 39 Ma ocean floor in the accretionary wedge represented by the Blovice complex. The accretionary wedge formation mostly overlapped temporally with the growth of the volcanic arc (the Davle Group) at ~ 620–560 Ma. Upon cessation of the arc igneous activity, the rear of the wedge and some elevated portions of the arc were eroded to supply the deep-water flysch sequences of the ?těchovice Group, whereas the comparable Svrchnice Formation (~ 560 to < 544 Ma) was deposited in a southeasterly remnant basin close to the continental margin. The Cadomian orogeny in the TBU was terminated at ~ 550–540 Ma by slab breakoff, by final attachment of the most outboard ~ 540 Ma oceanic crust, and by intrusion of ~ 544–524 Ma boninite dikes marking the transition from the destructive to transform margin during the early/middle Cambrian.     

Formation of Coronal Shock Waves

Magnetosonic wave formation driven by an expanding cylindrical piston is numerically simulated to obtain better physical insight into the initiation and evolution of large-scale coronal waves caused by coronal eruptions. Several very basic initial configurations are employed to analyze intrinsic characteristics of MHD wave formation that do not depend on specific properties of the environment. It turns out that these simple initial configurations result in piston/wave morphologies and kinematics that reproduce common characteristics of coronal waves. In the initial stage, the wave and the expanding source region cannot be clearly resolved; i.e. a certain time is needed before the wave detaches from the piston. Thereafter, it continues to travel as what is called a “simple wave.” During the acceleration stage of the source region inflation, the wave is driven by the piston expansion, so its amplitude and phase-speed increase, whereas the wavefront profile steepens. At a given point, a discontinuity forms in the wavefront profile; i.e. the leading edge of the wave becomes shocked. The time/distance required for the shock formation is shorter for a more impulsive source-region expansion. After the piston stops, the wave amplitude and phase speed start to decrease. During the expansion, most of the source region becomes strongly rarefied, which reproduces the coronal dimming left behind the eruption. However, the density increases at the source-region boundary, and stays enhanced even after the expansion stops, which might explain stationary brightenings that are sometimes observed at the edges of the erupted coronal structure. Also, in the rear of the wave a weak density depletion develops, trailing the wave, which is sometimes observed as weak transient coronal dimming. Finally, we find a well-defined relationship between the impulsiveness of the source-region expansion and the wave amplitude and phase speed. The results for the cylindrical piston are also compared with the outcome for a planar wave that is formed by a one-dimensional piston, to find out how different geometries affect the evolution of the wave.     

The crystal structure of bøgvadite (Na2SrBa2Al4F20)

The crystal structure of bøgvadite, Na₂SrBa₂Al₄F₂₀, has been solved and refined to a R₁ factor of 4.4 % from single-crystal data (MoKα X-ray diffraction, CCD area detector) on a sample from the cryolite deposit at Ivittuut, SW Greenland. Bøgvadite is monoclinic, P2₁/n space group, with unit cell parameters a?=?7.134(1), b?=?19.996(3) and c?=?5.3440(8) Å, β?=?90.02(1)^o. A close proximity of the crystal structure to an orthorhombic symmetry and the presence of the two twin components in a nearly 1:1 ratio suggest that the investigated bøgvadite crystal has originally formed as a high-temperature orthorhombic polymorph which on cooling transformed to the stable low temperature monoclinic structure. The bøgvadite crystal structure has groupings of cation-fluoride coordination polyhedra similar to those found in the crystal structures of the genetically closely associated minerals jarlite and jørgensenite. However, its structure type is different from the latter two. The fluoridoaluminate framework of bøgvadite consists of infinite zig-zag chains of cis-connected AlF₆ coordination octahedra. The ¹ _∞[AlF₅] chains are interconnected by infinite chains of Na-F coordination polyhedra which extend in the same direction. Na is coordinated by nine F atoms if its full surrounding is taken in consideration, but makes significant chemical bonds only to closest five. The chains of AlF₆ and NaF₉ coordination polyhedra form double layers. In the centre of layers, relatively large voids in the form of pentagonal antiprisms are occupied by Sr atoms which make chemical bonds with the closest six F atoms. Between the SrF₁₀ coordinations in the centre of layers run empty channels. The double layers are interconnected by Ba atoms which are coordinated by eight F atoms and fill the spaces between the layers. Bøgvadite belongs to the group of fluoridoaluminates with infinite chains of cis-connected AlF₆ coordination octahedra, alike those found in the crystal structures of Ba-fluoridoaluminates.     

Study of groundwaters using the environmental tritium and hydrochemical data in the Belgrade region

A study of tritium content and some physicochemical parameters has been performed in order to investigate interconnection between surface and atmospheric waters and underground waters in Belgrade area. Samples of the precipitation at Zeleno Brdo-Belgrade meteorological station, the Danube and the Sava river water, and underground water (Ranney wells and piezometers) have been analyzed. The³H content, the content of dissolved ions, total hardness, and electrical conductivity have been measured. The tritium data show existence of two water strata in the aquifer. The upper stratum (about 16 m thick) contains older water (mean monthly³H concentration of 17 TU) and has weak interaction with the river and the precipitation. Below this stratum lies the principal water bearing stratum, strongly connected with the river with the³H concentration similar to that of surface water (mean monthly³H concentration of 50 TU) and spreading out through the entire aquifer. The contribution of the Sava river water and the two water layers at the Ranney well are calculated starting with the hydrological aquifer model, which supposes that three water components are mixed in the pumped Ranney well water. According to calculation results using the³H concentration and physicochemical characteristics as parameters, more than 70 percent of the water pumped by the Ranney well (in 1983) comes from the Sava with a time delay of less that 15 days.Properties of tritium distribution in precipitation, river waters, and underground water in the Belgrade region are established from the results of measurements of³H concentrations in the period 1976–1983.     

Modelling of atmospheric dispersion of heavy metals in the Celje area,Slovenia

The aim of this research was to determine how fast the level of heavy metal concentrations in the air decreases in relation to increasing distance from the source of pollution and what the influence area is of the zinc smelting plant which existed for 100 years in Celje. In that period it produced approximately 580,000 tons of raw Zn from sphalerite ore by the pyrometallurgical process. The production left behind a heavily contaminated area, where the concentrations of Pb and Zn in the soil can be expressed as a percentage. A model has been made on the basis of the data of concentrations of Zn and Cd in the soil and attic dust regarding the distance and direction from the source of the pollution. Because Celje lies in a basin we chose a linear model, which describes the decreasing of the concentrations of Zn and Cd only in one direction. Sampling has been conducted on the four river valleys which stretch from the source of the pollution in all four directions: north, west, south and east, up to 13 km from the source. The power function with a negative exponent was used. With the solution to the calculated functions according to the distance, we can estimate the theoretical distance when the concentrations drop to the natural background level. The range of influence of the zinc smelting plant has been estimated to be between 14 and 52 km for the presence of anthropogenic Zn in attic dust and between 9 and 14 km for the presence of anthropogenic Zn in the soil, depending on the direction from the plant. Correlations between the measured values and the ones from the model are high: from 0.75 up to 0.98.     

Thermal stability of extended clusters in dravite: a combined EMP,SREF and FTIR study

A dravite from Yemen of near end-member composition was treated in air and hydrogen atmospheres at 600–900 °C to reveal changes in Mg and Al order over the octahedrally coordinated Y and Z sites, and to explore related changes in the characteristic vibrational bands in the principal (OH)-stretching frequency. Relevant information was obtained using electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), structural refinement (SREF) and polarized infrared (IR) single-crystal spectroscopy. Overall, the EMPA, SREF and IR data show that only minor changes occur during thermal treatment up to at least 800 °C, including variations in structural parameters, Mg–Al order–disorder and (OH)-stretching bands, indicating limited hydrogen loss. Untreated and treated dravite samples have very similar long-range and short-range atomic structures, which may be related to the occurrence of stable Al–Mg extended clusters around the O1 (=W) and O3 (=V) sites: ^W(F)–^Y(MgMgMg)–^V(OH)₃–^Z[AlAlAlAlAl(Al,Mg)]; ^W(OH)–^Y(MgMgAl)–^V(OH)₃–^Z[AlAlAlAlAl(Al,Mg)]; ^W(O^2–)–^Y(AlAlAl)–^V(OH)₃–^Z[AlAlAlAlAl(Al,Mg)]. These extended clusters remain stable to temperatures close to the observed start of decomposition (~900 °C).