Heavy metals pollution of aquatic ecosystems in the vicinity of a recently closed underground lead-zinc mine (Basque Country, Spain)

A presentation is made of the study of an underground polymetallic sulphide mine and the pollution caused by this in the adjoining aquatic ecosystems. Troya Mine is in the Basque Cantabrian region (northern Spain). The annual production of the ore deposit of over 3.7 million tons of Pb (0.9%), Zn (11.2%) and Cu (0.2%) was 300,000 t. It was open and producing from 1986-1993. The mineralization was made up of pyrite, marcasite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite. Only the Zn and the Pb were mined. We studied the distribution and behaviour of the heavy metals Zn, Pb, Fe, Mn, Cu, Cr and Cd in the water column, dissolved and suspended fractions, and in the sediments of Estanda Stream and of Gezala Creek. Zn, Cd and Mn tend to be found in the water; Fe, Pb, Cu and Cr appear as an adsorbed fractionin the solid phases. Those of the second group are significantly linked to the fluvial sediments and present very high levels. The concentrations of the metals are conditioned by the waters from the mine galleries, by the leached waste, by the surface runoff, and by overflow from the spillway of the tailings pond. Our observations provide knowledge on the extent of the polluting power of the metals, the physico-chemical effects in play and the subsequent chances of recovering these highly affected environments.     

Groundwater contamination: risk management and assessment for landfills in Mar del Plata, Argentina

 This study presents a program for risk management in the contamination of groundwater resulting from leachate in landfills at Mar del Plata (Argentina). The program includes prediction, prevention, monitory observation and mitigation as actions that must be taken prior to, during, and after contamination occurs. This routine aids in the identification of weak points and failures of the program for those who are in charge of making decisions, and will allow better use of limited financial and technical resources based on planning, thus minimizing disconnected determinations. Results of the prediction stage were confirmed through monitoring. The presence of a plume of contamination more than 100 m from the landfill was shown, thus proving that implementation of a monitoring plan to follow the development of the contaminated plume must be implemented, particularly in populated areas which depend on residential wells for their water supply. Received: 8 May 2000 · Accepted: 14 August 2000     

The Middle Jurassic radiolarites and pelagic limestones of the Nieves unit (Rondaide Complex, Betic Cordillera): basin starvation in a rifted marginal slope of the western Tethys

Middle Jurassic radiolarites and associated pelagic limestones occur in the Rondaide Nieves unit of the Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. The Rondaide Mesozoic includes: (a) a thick succession of Triassic platform carbonates, comparable to the Alpine Hauptdolomit and Kössen facies; (b) Lower Jurassic pelagic limestones comparable to the Alpine Hierlatz and Adnet facies; (c) the Middle Jurassic Parauta Radiolarite Formation, described herein; and (d) a thin Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous condensed limestone succession. The Parauta Radiolarite Formation and associated limestones were studied with respect to stratigraphy, petrography, micropalaeontology (radiolarians, calcareous nanno- and microfossils) and facies. Radiolarite sedimentation occurred in the Middle Bathonian in a restricted and dysoxic deep Nieves basin, perched in the distal zone of a continental margin fringing the Tethyan ocean. This margin was adjacent to a young narrow oceanic basin between the South-Iberian margin and a continental block called Mesomediterranean Terrane. The Nieves basin was part of a marine corridor between the Proto-Atlantic and Piedmont-Ligurian basins of the Alpine Tethys. The regional tectonic position, the stratigraphical evolution since the Triassic, the age and the nature of the Mesozoic facies and the palaeogeographic relations to adjacent domains show striking analogies between the Betic Rondaide margin and coeval units of the Alps.     

Comments on the definition of turbulence

Zusammenfassung Es werden Gründe erläutert, die zur Äusserung einer auf dem Begriff der Ergodizität beruhenden Definition der Turbulenz führen. Wir gehen von der Theorie der Unstabilität der Strömung bei Wirkung einer Störung der endlichen Amplitude aus. Es wird das Ergodenproblem im Landauschen Modell der entwickelten Turbulenz behandelt und einige mit der Ergodenhypothese zusammenhängende Folgen erörtert. Als ein Anfangselement gilt für uns der Begriff der Transitivität. Wir beachten auch die Beziehung zwischen der metrischen Transitivität und der Eigenschaft des Durchmischens der Bewegungen sowie die Relation zwischen dem energetischen Storungsspektrum und der Ergodenhypothese.     

Chemical composition and physical properties of lithium-iron micas from the Krušné hory Mts. (Erzgebirge)

Compositions of natural lithium-iron micas are approximated best by the sidero-phyllite-polylithionite join. These micas contain little or no magnesium and manganese. Their octahedral sheets contain close to two trivalent cations (mainly aluminum) in small crystallographic sites and a variable quantity of lithium and R⁺² (mainly iron) in large sites. Octahedral vacancies are situated mostly in large sites. Lithium and R⁺² approach a 44 replacement relationship in micas with octahedral occupancy close to six. Lithium and fluorine show a good positive correlation (small excess of fluorine over lithium), which indicates a crystallochemical association between them. There is a less distinct positive correlation between lithium and R⁺⁴.Based on simplifications, a calculation shows that about two-thirds of octahedral vacancies are caused by substitutions within the octahedral sheet, one-third, by tetrahedral substitutions. Different methods of calculating the crystallochemical formula yield slightly different numbers of octahedral vacancies, but do not affect the mica's position in plots of physical parameters against composition. If a crystallochemical formula is calculated from analysis of a mica contaminated with quartz, topaz, or feldspar, the apparent number of octahedral vacancies increases; such a formula exhibits unusual behavior in composition plots.