Ore-bearing fluids of the Eldorado gold deposit (Yenisei Ridge,Russia)

The Eldorado low-sulfide gold-quartz deposit, with gold reserves of more than 60 tons, is located in the damage zone of the Ishimba Fault in the Yenisei Ridge and is hosted by Riphean epidote-amphibolite metamorphic rocks (Sukhoi Pit Group). Orebodies occur in four roughly parallel heavily fractured zones where rocks were subject to metamorphism under stress and heat impacts. They consist of sulfide-bearing schists with veins of gray or milky-white quartz varieties. Gray quartz predominating in gold-bearing orebodies contains graphite and amorphous carbon identified by Raman spectroscopy; the contents of gold and amorphous carbon are in positive correlation. As inferred from thermobarometry, gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and Raman spectroscopy of fluid inclusions in sulfides, carbonates, and gray and white quartz, gold mineralization formed under the effect of reduced H₂O-CO₂-HC fluids with temperatures of 180 to 490 °C, salinity of 9 to 22 wt.% NaCl equiv, and pressures of 0.1 to 2.3 kbar. Judging by the presence of 11% mantle helium (³He) in fluid inclusions from quartz and the sulfur isotope composition (7.1-17.4‰ δ³⁴S) of sulfides, ore-bearing fluids ascended from a mantle source along shear zones, where they “boiled”. While the fluids were ascending, the metalliferous S- and N-bearing hydrocarbon (HC) compounds they carried broke down to produce crystalline sulfides, gold, and disseminated graphite and amorphous carbon (the latter imparts the gray color to quartz). Barren veins of milky-white quartz formed from oxidized mainly aqueous fluids with a salinity of < 15 wt.% NaCl equiv at 150-350 °C. Chloride brines (> 30 wt.% NaCl equiv) at 150-260 °C impregnated the gold-bearing quartz veins and produced the lower strata of the hydrothermal-granitoid section. The gold mineralization (795-710 Ma) was roughly coeval to local high-temperature stress metamorphism (836-745 Ma) and intrusion of the Kalama multiphase complex (880-752 Ma).     

Development of medium-term prediction methods: A case study of the August 14, 2016 Onor (Mw = 5.8) earthquake on Sakhalin

The potential of the load-unload response ratio (LURR) method for medium-term earthquake prediction is studied for Sakhalin Island as an example. An approach to the generation of predicted conditions and assessment of their implementation in real time is considered. The results of a retrospective analysis of other large Sakhalin earthquakes are used for generalization. It is shown that deviations of prediction parameters from specified values are satisfactory for this method. It is recommended that this method be used to compile summaries of medium-term predictions for Sakhalin provided that catalogs are filled as soon as possible.     

Phenanthrene biomarkers in the organic matter of Precambrian and Phanerozoic deposits and in the oils of the Siberian Platform

The composition and distribution of phenanthrenes (polyaromatic compounds) have been studied in chloroform extracts from dispersed organic matter (OM) of clayey, siliceous, carbonate, and terrigenous rocks of different ages and facies and from some oils of the Siberian Platform. Phenanthrenes have been analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. High contents of 1,7,8-trimethylphenanthrene and 1,1,7,8-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene are present in the OM of Vendian and Cambrian carbonate-shale deposits and in ancient oils of the Nepa-Botuobiya and Anabar anteclises. The OM of Permian continental deposits and oils of the Vilyui syneclise is dominated by 1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene (retene). A triangular diagram for identification of the types of original OM of rocks and classification of genetically related oils has been constructed based on the assessment of phenanthrene biomarker distribution. Putative pathways of the formation of phenanthrene biomarkers are discussed.     

A distributed parallel multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method on general-purpose graphics processing units for the rapid and scalable computation of absolute permeability from high-resolution 3D micro-CT images

Digital rock physics (DRP) is a rapidly evolving technology targeting fast turnaround times for repeatable core analysis and multi-physics simulation of rock properties. We develop and validate a rapid and scalable distributed-parallel single-phase pore-scale flow simulator for permeability estimation on real 3D pore-scale micro-CT images using a novel variant of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The LBM code implementation is designed to take maximum advantage of distributed computing on multiple general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs). We describe and extensively test the distributed parallel implementation of an innovative LBM algorithm for simulating flow in pore-scale media based on the multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) model that utilizes a precise treatment of body force. While the individual components of the resulting simulator can be separately found in various references, our novel contributions are (1) the integration of all of the mathematical and high-performance computing components together with a highly optimized code implementation and (2) the delivery of quantitative results with the simulator in terms of robustness, accuracy, and computational efficiency for a variety of flow geometries including various types of real rock images. We report on extensive validations of the simulator in terms of accuracy and provide near-ideal distributed parallel scalability results on large pore-scale image volumes that were largely computationally inaccessible prior to our implementation. We validate the accuracy of the MRT-LBM simulator on model geometries with analytical solutions. Permeability estimation results are then provided on large 3D binary microstructures including a sphere pack and rocks from various sandstone and carbonate formations. We quantify the scalability behavior of the distributed parallel implementation of MRT-LBM as a function of model type/size and the number of utilized GPGPUs for a panoply of permeability estimation problems.     

A Cambrian mixed carbonate–siliciclastic platform in SW Gondwana: evidence from the Western Sierras Pampeanas (Argentina) and implications for the early Paleozoic paleogeography of the proto-Andean margin

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Western Sierras Pampeanas (WSP) of Argentina record a protracted geological history from the Mesoproterozoic assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent to...     

Management of shock loads wastewater produced from water heaters industry

Water heater manufacturing represents one sector of household electrical appliance industry. It includes several batch processes which resulted in a highly polluted wastewater as shock loads. The objective of this study was to manage the shock loads wastewater with a simple and cost-effective approach prior to final discharge into municipality. To achieve this objective, two approaches were studied. The first approach was the chemical treatment of the accumulated shock loads wastewater using alum and an anionic polymer. Although this approach produced a very high-quality effluent, it was economically and technically infeasible. The second approach was a controlled release of the shock loads to the normal daily discharge in a way that guarantees the compliance of the end-off-pipe with the National Regulatory Standards. This solution required establishment of an equalization tank for normal daily flow and a holding tank for controlled release of the shock loads. Mathematical calculations were carried out to determine the most violating parameters in order to calculate the mixing ratio the of shock loads with the normal daily flow. Full engineering design of the proposed solution was carried out. This approach was implemented and proved to be simple, easy to operate, cost-effective and can be replicated in similar batch processing manufacturing plants.     

Tectono-geomorphic development of intra-continental Cenozoic depressions within Cretaceous rocks of the Interior Homocline,Central Arabia

Intra-continental depressions occurred in Central Arabia, within the evaporite-bearing Sulaiy Formation, and extends for over 550 km along N-S arcuate belt, passing through eastern Ar Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They mark Jurassic/Cretaceous contact within the Interior Homocline of Central Arabia, accommodating Neogene and Quaternary deposits. Two en echelon major depressional areas were discovered, the northern major depressional area and the southern major depressional area. The first depressional area occurs between Al Artawiyah and Ad Dilam towns, following the arcuate Jurassic/Cretaceous contact. It contains five depressions: N-S Al Artwaiyah depression; NW-SE Ath Thumamah depression, northeast of Riyadh; NW-SE Jinadriyah depression, east of Riyadh; E-W Al Kharj depression; and N-S Ad Dilam depression. All five depressions seems to be formed by tectonic and subsequent geomorphic events, except for Al Artawiyah and Jinadriyah depression, which developed mainly by tectonic events. Southern major depressional area steps over to southwest of Ad Dilam, and occurs from Hawtat bani tamim to Layla towns. This Hawtah-Layla major depression trends N-S, and Cretaceous units strike NNE, which is a slightly oblique relationship, suggesting expression of deep-seated structures. Tectonic features were part of the Alpine-Himalayan orogeny, developing during Eocene. They followed by a geomorphic event (karsts and subsequent collapse) that took place during Mid Pleistocene. Ad Dilam depression is a surface expression of three oil and gas fields, while the southern major depression between Hawtat Bani Tamim and Layla towns is a surface expression of four oil and gas fields. Yet, other several depressional areas are also accommodating Quaternary desert sediments, and they contain economic resources, which therefore, worth further detailed studies.     

Radioactive anomalies associated with the graphite-bearing metasediments,Wadi Umm Gheig area,Central Eastern Desert,Egypt

The study area is located in the central part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and is mainly covered by different varieties of Precambrian basement rocks represented mainly by younger and older granites, metadiorite, metavolcanics, and metasediments. The analysis and interpretation of airborne gamma-ray spectrometric survey data are essentially based on the computation of the three radioelements (U, Th, and K) favorability indices, estimation of uranium migration rate percentage, variation of eU with eTh and eU/eTh ratio, and the construction of the contour map of the (eU-eTh/3.5) in the different rock units. The highest percent of uranium migration- out or leaching rate is connected with the red and pink granites of Gebel Kadabora El-hamra, metadiorite, and red and pink granites of G. Umm Rakham (??20.8%, ??18.57%, and ??8.45% respectively), which indicates that they could represent a major U-source bodies in the area. It was observed that the metasediments and associated graphite-bearing schists west and northwest of G. Kadabora El-hamra reflect more precipitation than the other locations around the pluton (the uranium migration rates varies between 2.59 and 30%) which mean that the graphite may have acted as a reducing agent for uranium carried in oxidizing fluids (surface meteoric water) and resulted in its precipitation. In the light of the availability of uranium source, its mobility, and graphite-bearing metasediments, the area has a good potential for the possible occurrence of uranium mineralization.