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.     

Synthesis of biochar from sugarcane filter-cake and its impacts on physiological performance of lettuce (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lettuce sativa</Emphasis>) grown on cadmium contaminated soil

Soil contamination with cadmium has become major concern all over the world because of its adverse impacts on ecosystem health and agricultural land. Soil amendment with biochar may have varied effects on physical and chemical properties of soil. The objective of the study was to explore the impact of sugarcane filter-cake biochar on physiological performance and growth of lettuce in an aged soil. Four different doses (0, 1.5%, 3%, and 5%) of biochar were used in the soil and conditioned for 1 month. After this, lettuce seedlings were grown in the soil. The results showed that the biochar treatment improved the fresh and dry biomass of leaves and roots as well as plant height while diminished the bioavailability of cadmium from the soil. As compared to control, biochar significantly enhanced the chlorophyll content in lettuce leaves. Due to the biochar amendment, the oxidative stress decreased in lettuce shoots over the control. As compared to control, concentration of cadmium in lettuce significantly decreased after the application of biochar. It was concluded that biochar could mitigate the toxicity of cadmium in lettuce by altering the biochemical and physiological processes in cadmium contaminated soil.     

Petrogenesis of lamprophyre and associated diabase dykes in Wadi Mandar-Um Adawi area,South Sinai,Egypt

The mafic dykes in Wadi Mandar-Wadi Um Adawi area are as follows: (1) calc-alkaline lamprophyre (i.e., kersantite and spessartite), (2) diabase, and (3) alkaline lamprophyre (i.e., camptonite). The field relations reveal that the emplacement of calc-alkaline lamprophyres preceded the diabase dykes, while alkaline lamprophyres emplaced later than the diabase dykes. Calc-alkaline are basaltic andesite, basaltic trachyandesite to basalt, while the diabase dykes and alkaline lamprophyres are basaltic in composition. These dykes are characterized by metaluminous character. Calc-alkaline lamprophyres and diabase dykes show transitional affinity from calc-alkaline to alkaline, while the alkaline lamprophyres exhibit more strong alkaline character. The mafic dykes were crystallized under temperature 1100–1150 °C and pressure 3–5 kbars in a high oxygen fugacity conditions. Fe-Ti oxides in the dykes are represented by ilmenite and Ti-magnetite. The chemistry of the sulfides hosted in those mafic dykes suggests a magmatic-hydrothermal origin for these minerals. The geochemical behavior of high field strength elements and large ion lithophile elements in these dykes excludes the derivation of diabase or alkaline lamprophyre either by partial melting or fractional crystallization from calc-alkaline lamprophyre. The parental magmatic sources of the studied dykes were generated from crustal material with addition of mantle-derived melt during the post-collisional stage. The mafic dykes in Wadi Mandar-Wadi Um Adawi area were generated from different magmatic sources by partial melting and subsequent fractional crystallization. In addition, the crustal contamination/assimilation process has a prominent role in the magmatic evolution of diabase and alkaline lamprophyre dykes.     

Behavior of Hydrocarbons in the Mouth Parts of Arctic Rivers

The paper reviews data (acquired in 2007–2016) on aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in comparison with data on concentrations of lipids, C_org, and chlorophyll a in the water and bottom sediments the river–sea geochemical barrier (for the Northern Dvina, Ob, Yenisei, and Lena rivers). It was established that the concentrations of anthropogenic hydrocarbons decrease and these compounds precipitate like other organic compounds and particulate matter, where riverine and marine waters mix. Relatively pure water flows in the pelagic zones of seas. In spite of low temperatures in the Arctic, anthropogenic hydrocarbons transform so rapidly that natural compounds dominate in the water and bottom sediments: autochthonous in the seawater and allochthonous in the bottom sediments.     

Composition,Structure, and Conditions of Formation of Fluorine-Bearing Sodalite: Experimental Evidence

Fluoro-sodalite was synthesized for the first time at temperatures of 400–800°C and H₂O pressures of 1–2 kbar in the Si–Al–Na–H–O–F system. X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopic investigations showed that fluorine is incorporated in the sodalite structure as anionic octahedral groups, [AlF₆]^3–, the number of which can vary from 0 to 1. Correspondingly, the end-members of the F-sodalite series are Na₇(H₂O)₈[Si₅Al₇O₂₄] and Na₈(AlF₆)(H₂O)₄[Si₇Al₅O₂₄]. Depending on the composition of the system, F-sodalite associates at 500–650°C with nepheline, albite, cryolite, and villiaumite, which are joined by analcime below 500°C and aluminosilicate melt above 650°C. Fluorine-bearing sulfate–chlorine-sodalite was found for the first time in a pegmatite sample from the Lovozero massif. The highest fraction of the fluorine end-member in natural sodalite is 0.2. The incorporation of F into the sodalite structure requires much more energy compared with Cl^– and SO ₄ ^2- , because it is accompanied by a structural rearrangement and a transition from tetrahedral Al to octahedral Al.     

Geochemistry,Tectonic Settings,and Age of Metavolcanic Rocks of the Isakovskii Terrane,Yenisei Range: Indicators of the Early Evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean

The geodynamic nature of the Late Neoproterozoic island-arc dacites (691 ± 8.8 Ma) and rift basalts (572 ± 6.5 Ma) of the Kiselikhinskaya Formation, Kutukasskaya Group, in the Isakovskii terrane is inferred from geochemical data and U–Pb zircon (SHRIMP-II) dates. The volcanic rocks were produced during the late evolutionary history of the Yenisei Range, starting at the origin of oceanic crustal fragments and their accretion to the Siberian craton to the postaccretionary crustal extension and the onset of the Caledonian orogenesis. The reproduced sequence of geological processes marks the early evolution of the Paleo- Asian Ocean in its junction zone with the Siberian craton. The data refine the composition and age of volcanic rocks in the trans-Angara part of the Yenisei Range and specifics of the Neoproterozoic evolution of the Sayan–Yenisei accretionary belt.