Contamination of water and soil by the Erdenet copper–molybdenum mine in Mongolia

As one of the largest copper–molybdenum (Cu–Mo) mines in the world, the Erdenet Mine in Mongolia has been active since 1978 and is expected to continue operations for at least another 30 years. In this study, the potential impacts of mining activities on the soil and water environments have been evaluated. Water samples showed high concentrations of sulfate, calcium, magnesium, Mo, and arsenic, and high pH values in the order of high to low as follows: tailing water > Khangal River > groundwater. Statistical analysis and the δ²H and δ¹⁸O values of water samples indicate that the tailing water directly affects the stream water and indirectly affects groundwater through recharge processes. Soil and stream sediments are highly contaminated with Cu and Mo, which are major elements of ore minerals. Based on the contamination factor (CF), the pollution load index (PLI), and the degree of contamination (C_d), soil appears to be less contaminated than stream sediments. The soil particle size is similar to that of tailing materials, but stream sediments have much coarser particles, implying that the materials have different origins. Contamination levels in stream sediments display a tendency to decrease with distance from the mine, but no such changes are found in soil. Consequently, soil contamination by metals is attributable to wind-blown dusts from the tailing materials, and stream sediment contamination is caused by discharges from uncontained subgrade ore stock materials. Considering the evident impact on the soil and water environment, and the human health risk from the Erdenet Mine, measures to mitigate its environmental impact should be taken immediately including source control, the establishment of a systematic and continuous monitoring system, and a comprehensive risk assessment.     

Earthquake imprints on a lacustrine deltaic system: The Kürk Delta along the East Anatolian Fault (Turkey)

Deltas contain sedimentary records that are not only indicative of water‐level changes, but also particularly sensitive to earthquake shaking typically resulting in soft‐sediment‐deformation structures. The Kürk lacustrine delta lies at the south‐western extremity of Lake Hazar in eastern Turkey and is adjacent to the seismogenic East Anatolian Fault, which has generated earthquakes of magnitude 7. This study re‐evaluates water‐level changes and earthquake shaking that have affected the Kürk Delta, combining geophysical data (seismic‐reflection profiles and side‐scan sonar), remote sensing images, historical data, onland outcrops and offshore coring. The history of water‐level changes provides a temporal framework for the depositional record. In addition to the common soft‐sediment deformation documented previously, onland outcrops reveal a record of deformation (fracturing, tilt and clastic dykes) linked to large earthquake‐induced liquefactions and lateral spreading. The recurrent liquefaction structures can be used to obtain a palaeoseismological record. Five event horizons were identified that could be linked to historical earthquakes occurring in the last 1000 years along the East Anatolian Fault. Sedimentary cores sampling the most recent subaqueous sedimentation revealed the occurrence of another type of earthquake indicator. Based on radionuclide dating (¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb), two major sedimentary events were attributed to the ad 1874 to 1875 East Anatolian Fault earthquake sequence. Their sedimentological characteristics were determined by X‐ray imagery, X‐ray diffraction, loss‐on‐ignition, grain‐size distribution and geophysical measurements. The events are interpreted to be hyperpycnal deposits linked to post‐seismic sediment reworking of earthquake‐triggered landslides.     

Observational climatology and characteristics of wintertime atmospheric blocking over Ural–Siberia

This study investigates the climatological aspects and temporal characteristics of wintertime Ural-Siberian blocking (USB, centered over 30°–100°E), for the period 1980/1981–2009/2010. Sixty-eight events are identified and their physical structure is diagnosed using thermodynamic and geostrophic vorticity tendency equations. In climatology, horizontal advections play a fundamental role in constructing a USB event, in which the anticyclonic center is a warm core in the troposphere and a cold core in the lower stratosphere. The decay of the thermal structure is related to diabatic cooling along the vertical structure and warm advection in the lower stratosphere. Meanwhile, the collapse of the height structure is caused primarily by cyclonic vorticity advection. A strong interrelationship exists between the intensity and extension of USB events. The temporal characteristics of USB events are analyzed by examining strong and weak events, which are of high and low intensity. The strong events are probably preceded by an open ridge over Europe and a cyclogenesis over the Mediterranean Sea, and their formation is followed by the stronger amplification of a Rossby wave packet across Eurasia. On the other hand, the weak events are likely to be triggered by surface cold anomalies over Siberia. Overall, the evolution of a USB event forms a dynamic linkage with the Siberian high, in which the decay stage of the USB event is accompanied by a southeastward migration of the Siberian high and a subsequent cold air outbreak in East Asia. These results advance our understanding of USB and its relationship with East Asian winter monsoon activities.     

Crustal anatexis and formation of two types of granitic magmas in the Kontum massif, central Vietnam: Implications for magma processes in collision zones

Asia grew in the Late Permian by the collision of a number of micro-continents. Syn- to post-collisional magmatism occurred along the continental collision zones . In this study, we report two types of granitic rocks, garnet granite (Grt granite) and orthopyroxene granite (Opx granite), from the Kontum massif, central Vietnam, which is situated on the continental collision zone between the South China and Indochina cratons. These granitic rocks were formed at ca. 250 Ma when high-temperature (HT) and ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism took place in the same zone. Based on the petrological and geochemical features compared with previously reported experimental results, garnet-bearing granite is derived from pelitic gneisses by partial melting, whereas orthopyroxene-bearing granite is produced by the partial melting of garnet-bearing mafic granulites. We inferred that a significantly high-geothermal gradient is required to produce Vietnamese granitic magmatism and related HT to UHT metamorphism. This geotherm may be attributed to upwelling mantle plume beneath the Kontum massif during the Late Permian.     

Ar/Ar Single Grain Dating and Mineral Chemistry of Hornblendes South of the Red River Shear Zone (Vietnam): New Evidence for Early Proterozoic Tectonothermal Event

The pre-Mesozoic metamorphic belt runs parallel to the Day Nui Con Voi - Red River shear zone in Vietnam to the south. The belt is mainly composed of hornblende gneisses, amphibolite lenses and mica-schists. Five hornblendes from a gneiss and an amphibolite were analyzed chemically and chronologically by Electron Probe Micro Analysis (EPMA) and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar methods. EPMA analyses show that hornblendes in the gneiss and the amphibolite have significant amount of edenite component and similar average composition. However, the recalculated Fe³⁺ content is significantly heterogeneous in a thin section while total Fe is nearly the same among the analyses. The rim of each crystal is higher in Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ + Fe²⁺) than the core. These chemical and petrological features suggest that the hornblendes have suffered significant oxidation, in particular, largely in the gneiss.

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analyses showed that the gneiss has a significant variation of plateau ages (2089±14, 1977±19 and 1873±13 Ma) among three hornblende grains, whereas the amphibolite gives the same plateau ages (2056±14 and 2044±21 Ma) for two grains. All grains of both samples have excess ages in the first few fractions at low temperatures and partial-loss ages between the excess and plateau spectra. The Ca/K ratios indicate some disturbed phases for the lower temperature spectra but the partial-loss ages are also derived from hornblende phase. These facts suggest that hornblende in the gneiss has experienced partial argon loss by oxidation and/or thermally activated argon diffusion process. However, the gneiss and the associated amphibolite have preserved the early Proterozoic tectono-metamorphic event in the hornblende crystals except for their rims, giving new evidence for the early Proterozoic event within the pre-Mesozoic metamorphic belt (northern Vietnam) south of the Red River shear zone in Indochina.