Electrochemical Ozone Production as an Environmentally Friendly Technology for Water Treatment

Perspectives, advances and environmental aspects concerning electrochemical ozone production applied to water purification are presented and discussed in relation to the conventional corona process (silent electric discharge). Ozone generated using a laboratory‐made electrochemical reactor was applied for the discoloration/degradation of dyes used in the Brazilian textile industry and for degradation of endocrine disruptors. A constant ozone load of 0.35 ± 0.02 g/h was used throughout. The study, concerning color removal from dye solutions, revealed that total discoloration is rapidly achieved. The degradation rate of the textile dyes evaluated by TOC is little affected by the dye composition and considerably influenced by the pH and ozonation time. Analysis of the COD/TOC‐ratio indicates that ozonation increases oxidation feasibility of the organic matter (dye by‐products) when compared to the original compounds. Ozonation of mixed aqueous solutions containing different endocrine disruptors revealed these compounds are totally degraded with a very high removal rate.     

Fluidization： An Important Process in the Formation of the Qiyugou Au-bearing Breccia Pipes in Central China

Fluidization processes based on experiments are reviewed to gain some useful insights and comparisons with those that occur in hydrothermal systems. Field and petrographic work, and microscope observation were carried out on samples from the Qiyugou Au-bearing breccia pipes from the East Qinling region, Henan Province. Evidence from macro- and micro-textures suggests that the style of breccias in the Qiyugou area can be grouped into three types： （1） jigsaw fit-stockwork texture, in which the interval between clasts is marked by fractures or filled with calcite or quartz veins; （2） larger breccias that are supported by smaller breccias, rock flour and alteration materials; in this type clasts moved over short distances, creating open spaces; （3） fluidized texture, where the clasts of different lithologies have rounded shapes. These observations are compared with those resulting from experiments on fluidization processes. The results of this comparison suggest that fluidization is an important geological process in the formation of the Qiyugou Au-bearing breccia pipes and gold mineralization. In addition, fluidization processes such as expansion, bubbling, slugging, channeling and spouting must have contributed to the formation of the pipes and were conducive to the development of gold mineralization. In the Qiyugou breccia pipes, gold mineralization occurs as disseminations, in stockwork veins, and open space infills. The ore zones form subparallel sheets that are nearly perpendicular to the walls of the pipes.     

Present and future climates of the Greenland ice sheet according to the IPCC AR4 models

The atmosphere?Cocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) used for the IPCC 4th Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) are evaluated for the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) current climate modelling. The most suited AOGCMs for Greenland climate simulation are then selected on the basis of comparison between the 1970?C1999 outputs of the Climate of the twentieth Century experiment (20C3M) and reanalyses (ECMWF, NCEP/NCAR). This comparison indicates that the representation quality of surface parameters such as temperature and precipitation are highly correlated to the atmospheric circulation (500?hPa geopotential height) and its interannual variability (North Atlantic oscillation). The outputs of the three most suitable AOGCMs for present-day climate simulation are then used to assess the changes estimated by three IPCC greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (SRES) over the GrIS for the 2070?C2099 period. Future atmospheric circulation changes are projected to dampen the zonal flow, enhance the meridional fluxes and therefore provide additional heat and moisture to the GrIS, increasing temperature over the whole ice sheet and precipitation over its northeastern area. We also show that the GrIS surface mass balance anomalies from the SRES A1B scenario amount to ?300?km³/year with respect to the 1970?C1999 period, leading to a global sea-level rise of 5?cm by the end of the 21st century. This work can help to select the boundaries conditions for AOGCMs-based downscaled future projections.     

Pacific interdecadal variability driven by tropical–extratropical interactions

Interactions between the tropical and subtropical northern Pacific at decadal time scales are examined using uncoupled oceanic and atmospheric simulations. An atmospheric model is forced with observed Pacific sea surface temperatures (SST) decadal anomalies, computed as the difference between the 2000–2009 and the 1990–1999 period. The resulting pattern has negative SST anomalies at the equator, with a global pattern reminiscent of the Pacific decadal oscillation. The tropical SST anomalies are responsible for driving a weakening of the Hadley cell and atmospheric meridional heat transport. The atmosphere is then shown to produce a significant response in the subtropics, with wind-stress-curl anomalies having the opposite sign from the climatological mean, consistent with a weakening of the oceanic subtropical gyre (STG). A global ocean model is then forced with the decadal anomalies from the atmospheric model. In the North Pacific, the shallow subtropical cell (STC) spins down and the meridional heat transport is reduced, resulting in positive tropical SST anomalies. The final tropical response is reached after the first 10 years of the experiment, consistent with the Rossby-wave adjustment time for both the STG and the STC. The STC provides the connection between subtropical wind stress anomalies and tropical SSTs. In fact, targeted simulations show the importance of off-equatorial wind stress anomalies in driving the oceanic response, whereas anomalous tropical winds have no role in the SST signal reversal. We further explore the connection between STG, STC and tropical SST with the help of an idealized model. We argue that, in our models, tropical SST decadal variability stems from the forcing of the Pacific subtropical gyre through the atmospheric response to ENSO. The resulting Ekman pumping anomaly alters the STC and oceanic heat transport, providing a negative feedback on the SST. We thus suggest that extratropical atmospheric responses to tropical forcing have feedbacks onto the ocean dynamics that lead to a time-delayed response of the tropical oceans, giving rise to a possible mechanism for multidecadal ocean-atmosphere coupled variability.     

The Shanggong gold deposit, Eastern Qinling Orogen, China: Isotope geochemistry and implications for ore genesis

The Shanggong Au deposit in the Xiong’er Terrane, East Qinling, China, has resources of about 30 ton Au, making it one of the largest orogenic-mesothermal Au deposits hosted in volcanic rocks of the Mesoproterozoic Xiong’er Group. Three stages of hydrothermal activity are recognized (early, middle and late), of which two (early and middle) were ore producing and characterized by quartz–pyrite and polymetallic sulfides, respectively. The third and late stage is represented by a carbonate–quartz assemblage. Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon isotope systematics of the Shanggong deposit from a previous work suggest that the early stage fluids were derived from magmatic and/or metamorphic devolatilization of sedimentary rocks at depth. This is supported by new C, S and published Sr and Pb isotopic data, presented in this paper. These new data, δ¹³C values ranging from 1.5 ‰ for early stage ankerite to −2.2 ‰ for late stage ankerite, negative δ³⁴S values for sulfides from the middle stage (–19.2 to –6.3 ‰), suggest a contribution from organic matter and that the ore fluid evolved from deeply sourced to shallowly sourced, with those of the middle stage representing a mixture of these two fluid systems. The comparison of the hydrogen–oxygen–carbon–sulfur–lead–strontium isotope systematics between the Shanggong deposit and the main lithologies in the Xiong’er Terrane, shows that neither these nor the underlying lower crust and mantle, or combinations thereof, could be considered as the source of ore fluids for the Shanggong Au deposit. A likely source was a carbonaceous carbonate, sandstone, shale, chert sequence in the underthrusted Guandaokou and Luanchuan Groups, exposed south of the Xiong’er Terrane.Ar–Ar and Rb–Sr isochron ages for mineral phases of the early, middle and late stages, together with geological field data, constrain the timing of the hydrothermal activity and Au metallogenesis at 242 ± 10, 167 ± 7 and 112 ± 7 Ma, respectively. This metallogenesis and associated granitic magmatism, can be related to the continental collision between the Yangtze and North China Cratons that resulted in the formation of the Qinling Orogen, led to the different hydrothermal systems that were responsible for the three stages that formed the Shanggong Au deposit, over a period of about 130 Myrs.     

Geological and geochemical characteristics of the Baimazhai Ni-Cu-（PGE） sulphide deposit in Yunnan, China

The sulphide ores of the Baimazhai deposit, although typically orthomagmatic, locally exhibit peculiar textural features and are intimately associated with hydrothermal minerals, such as biotite, amphibole and chlorite. This association suggests that the magmatic sulphide ores were subjected to hydrothermal alteration and subsequent redistribution, resulting in the observed textural features. Geochemically, the Baimazhai sulphide ores are enriched in Cu, Pd and Au, which,according to previous studies, reflects the action of hydrothermal fluids. Interestingly, Ar-Ar dating yielded the plateau ages of about 160–170 Ma, which are at odds with the established Permian age of the Emeishan large igneous province. We interpreted these younger ages as due to thermal resetting during post-Permian tectonothermal events. We have proposed a model in which tectonic movements and hydrothermal fluids related to these events modified the pre-existing magmatic sulphides. Given the degree of overprint, we suggested two possible scenarios: 1) the sulphide disseminations that surround the massive magmatic ores are the result of deformation and hydrothermal alteration; and 2) there were both magmatic massive and disseminated sulphides, in which case the scale and relocation of remobilization would have been smaller, but still detectable.     

Partial melting of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks at convergent continental margins: Evidences,melt compositions and physical effects

Ultrahigh-pressure(UHP) metamorphic rocks are distinctive products of crustal deep subduction,and are mainly exposed in continental subduction-collision terranes. UHP slices of continental crust are usually involved in multistage exhumation and partial melting, which has obvious influence on the rheological features of the rocks, and thus significantly affect the dynamic behavior of subducted slices. Moreover,partial melting of UHP rocks have significant influence on element mobility and related isotope behavior within continental subduction zones, which is in turn crucial to chemical differentiation of the continental crust and to crust-mantle interaction.Partial melting can occur before, during or after the peak metamorphism of UHP rocks. Post-peak decompression melting has been better constrained by remelting experiments; however, because of multiple stages of decompression, retrogression and deformation, evidence of former melts in UHP rocks is often erased. Field evidence is among the most reliable criteria to infer partial melting. Glass and nanogranitoid inclusions are generally considered conclusive petrographic evidence. The residual assemblages after melt extraction are also significant to indicate partial melting in some cases. Besides field and petrographic evidence, bulk-rock and zircon trace-element geochemical features are also effective tools for recognizing partial melting of UHP rocks. Phase equilibrium modeling is an important petrological tool that is becoming more and more popular in P-T estimation of the evolution of metamorphic rocks; by taking into account the activity model of silicate melt, it can predict when partial melting occurred if the P-T path of a given rock is provided.UHP silicate melt is commonly leucogranitic and peraluminous in composition with high SiO_2,low MgO, FeO, MnO, TiO_2 and CaO, and variable K_2 O and Na_2 O contents. Mineralogy of nanogranites found in UHP rocks mainly consists of plagioclase + K-feldspar + quartz, plagioclase being commonly albite-rich.Trace element pattern of the melt is characterized by significant enrichment of large ion lithophile elements(LILE), depletion of heavy rare earth elements(HREE) and high field strength elements(HFSE),indicating garnet and rutile stability in the residual assemblage. In eclogites, significant Mg-isotope fractionation occurs between garnet and phengite; therefore, Mg isotopes may become an effective indicator for partial melting of eclogites.     

Geodynamic settings and tectonic model of skarn gold deposits in China: An overview

Seventy skarn-type gold deposits, including 1 super-large, 19 large and 24 medium-sized, are known from different geotectonic units of China. They contain a total resource of approximately 1000 t of gold (625 t in South China), and account for 20% of China's gold reserves. These skarn deposits are sited in collisional orogenic belts, fault-controlled magmatic belts and reactivated cratonic margins. All of the Chinese skarn gold provinces were affected by Phanerozoic collisional orogenesis. The timing of the metallogenic events and the spatial–temporal distribution of the Chinese skarn gold deposits indicates that they were formed during ore-forming processes linked to the transition from shortening to extension in the geodynamic evolution of a collision orogen, and not to subduction systems as is commonly advocated for porphyry copper systems around the Pacific Rim.     

Respiration partitioning in contrasting subtidal sediments: seasonality and response to a spring phytoplankton deposition

Biomass and respiration rates of bacteria, nematodes and macrobenthos were estimated in relation to the deposition of the spring phytoplankton bloom at two contrasting sites in the Southern North Sea: one with fine‐grained sediment close to the coastline and another with highly permeable sediments. Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) was also measured. Bacterial biomass was relatively similar at both stations, whereas nematode and macrobenthic biomass were higher in fine‐grained sediment. In fine sediments, bacterial biomass increased quickly after deposition of the phytoplankton bloom, whereas the response of nematodes and macrobenthos was delayed. In coarser sediments, nematodes and macrobenthos also showed a fast response in terms of density and biomass. Respiration in permeable sediments was mainly dominated by bacteria at all periods of the year. Hence, nematode and macrobenthic respiration did not contribute strongly to SCOC. This is in contrast to the patterns observed in finer sediments, where both macrofauna and nematodes were important oxygen consumers as well. Macrobenthos contributed more to total SCOC than did nematodes in winter. However, shortly after the arrival of phytodetritus at the sea floor, nematodes and macrobenthos contributed equally to the total SCOC, indicating that all benthic size classes should be taken into account when investigating marine benthic respiration rates.