Regional distribution pattern of groundwater heavy metals resulting from agricultural activities

Contaminations of groundwater by heavy metals due to agricultural activities are growing recently. The objective of this study was to evaluate and map regional patterns of heavy metals (Cd, Zn and Cu) in groundwater on a plain with high agricultural activities. The study was conducted to investigate the concentration of heavy metals and distribution in groundwater in regions of Shush Danial and Andimeshk aquifers in the southern part of Iran. Presently, groundwater is the only appropriate and widely used source of drinking water for rural and urban communities in this region. The region covers an area of 1,100 km² between the Dez and Karkhe rivers, which lead to the Persian Gulf. For this study, the region was divided into four sub-regions A, B, C and D. Additionally, 168 groundwater samples were collected from 42 water wells during the earlier months of 2004. The flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS-Flame) was used to measure the concentration of heavy metals in water samples and the Surfer software was used for determination of the contour map of metal distribution. The results demonstrated that in all of the samples, Cd and Zn concentrations were below the EPA MCLG and EPA secondary standard, respectively. However, the Cu contents of 4.8 % of all samples were higher than EPA MCL. It is also indicated that the concentrations of metals were more pronounced at the southern part of the studied region than at the others. The analysis of fertilizers applied for agricultural activities at this region also indicated that a great majority of the above-mentioned heavy metals were discharged into the environment. Absence of confining layers, proximity to land surface, excess agricultural activities in the southern part and groundwater flow direction that is generally from the north to the southern parts in this area make the southern region of the Shush plain especially vulnerable to pollution by heavy metals than by other contaminants.     

Groundwater recharge of carbonate aquifers of the Silesian-Cracow Triassic (southern Poland) under human impact

A Triassic carbonate unit has been intensively drained by zinc and lead ore mines and numerous borehole fields since the nineteenth century. Its groundwater recharge has increased due to: pumping of water from boreholes, mining activity, and urbanization. An approach to determine the amounts of the recharge at a variety of spatial scales is presented in the paper. Different methods were used to identify and quantify recharge components on a regional and local scale: mathematical modelling was performed for four aquifers included in an aquifer system, an analytical estimation based on the assumption that an average recharge is equal to the average discharge of the hydrogeological system—for six man-made drainage centres, and the method of water level fluctuation (WLF) was applied in one observation borehole. Results of modelling have been supplemented by observation of environmental tracers (δ¹⁸O, δ²H, ³H), noble gases temperatures, and ⁴He_exc in groundwater. The regional aquifer’s current recharge according to estimations performed by means of modelling varies from 39 to 101 mm/year on average. Depending on the aquifer site the average precipitation ranges from 779 to 864 mm/year. In the confined part of the aquifer average recharge ranges from 26 to 61 mm/year. Within outcrops average recharge varies from 96 to 370 mm/year. Current recharge estimated by the analytical method for man-made drainage centres varies from 158 up to 440 mm/year. High values are caused by different recharge sources like precipitation, induced leakage from shallow aquifers, and water losses from streams, water mains and sewer systems. Pumping of water, mining and municipal activities constitute additional factors accounting for the intensified recharge.     

Environmental risk evaluation of the use of mine spoils and treated sewage sludge in the ecological restoration of limestone quarries

The ecologic restoration criteria in areas degraded from extraction activities require making use of their mine spoils. These materials do not meet fertility conditions to guarantee restoration success and therefore, need the incorporation of organic amendments to obtain efficient substratum. Reducing the deficiencies in the organic material and restoration material nutrients with the contribution of treated sewage sludge is proposed in this work. This experiment was based on a controlled study using columns. The work was conducted with two mine spoils, both very rich in calcium carbonate. The first mineral, of poor quality, came from the formation of aggregates of crushed limestone (Z). The other residual material examined originated in limestone extraction, formed by the levels of interspersed non-limestone materials and the remains of stripped soils (D). Two treatments were undertaken (30,000 and 90,000 kg/ha of sewage sludge), in addition to a control treatment. The water contribution was carried out with a device that simulated either short-duration rain or a flooding irrigation system in order to cover the surface and then percolate through the soil. The collection of leached water took place 24 h after the applications. Different parameters of the leached water were determined, including pH, electrical conductivity, nitrate anions, ammonium, phosphates, sulphates and chlorides. The values obtained for each irrigation application are discussed, and the nitrate values obtained were very elevated.     

A new method of estimating the ratio between in situ rock stresses and tectonics based on empirical and probabilistic analyses

This paper describes a new procedure for assessing the ratio between in situ stresses in rock masses by means of K (K = σ_H / σ_v, being σ_H and σ_v principal stress) and tectonics for purposes of engineering geology and rock mechanics. The method combines the use of the logic decision tree and the empirical relationship between the Tectonic Stress Index, TSI, and a series of K in situ values obtained from an extensive database. The decision tree considers geological and geophysical factors affecting stress magnitudes both on the regional and local scale. The TSI index is defined by geological and geomechanical parameters. The method proposed provides an assessment of the magnitude of horizontal stresses of tectonic origin. Results for several regions of Europe are presented and the possible applications of the procedure are discussed.     

Composition, P-T parameters, and metasomatic transformations of mafic schists of the Svyatoi Nos Peninsula, Eastern Baikal Area

The paper reports data on rock and mineral compositions from the Svyatonosskaya Formation, which is a continuation of the Ol’khon Series in the northern part of the Svyatoi Nos Peninsula, eastern shore of Lake Baikal. The pyroxene-amphibole-plagioclase schists (metagabbro) are replaced there by the garnet-biotite-quartz assemblage, which was formed, according to the data of various geothermometers and calculations by the THERMOCALC computer program, under conditions corresponding to the transition from the granulite (848–811°C) to high grades of the amphibolite (715–670°C) facies under high pressures (8.7 ±1.6 kbar). In petrogenetic grids, these conditions fall onto the line of the onset of eclogitization. In nature these rocks are a continuation of the Chernorudskaya-Barakchinskaya zone of elevated pressures in the Ol’khon area. The metasomatic rocks were formed simultaneously with strike-slip faulting, when coupled zones of relatively high-(eclogite-like) and low-pressure (quartzite-marble melange) developed at the inflow of SiO₂ and K₂O and the removal of MgO and CaO. Analogous compositional changes in gneisses and schists in tectonic extension zones in Ol’khon Island and neighboring areas occurred during the development of migmatites. The migmatization of the gneisses was likely coupled with the garnetization of mafic schists in high-pressure zones and the formation of eclogite-like rocks replacing marbles. The accompanying graphitization of this block suggests that the metasomatic fluid had a hydrocarbon-hydrogen composition.     

Liquid immiscibility in deep-seated magmas and the generation of carbonatite melts

This paper reviews the results of investigations of melt inclusions in minerals of carbonatites and spatially associated silicate rocks genetically related to various deep-seated undersaturated silicate magmas of alkaline ultrabasic, alkaline basic, lamproitic, and kimberlitic compositions. The analysis of this direct genetic information showed that all the deep magmas are inherently enriched in volatile components, the most abundant among which are carbon dioxide, alkalis, halides, sulfur, and phosphorus. The volatiles probably initially served as agents of mantle metasomatism and promoted melting in deep magma sources. The derived magmas became enriched in carbon dioxide, alkalis, and other volatile components owing to the crystallization and fractionation of early high-magnesium minerals and gradually acquired the characteristics of carbonated silicate liquids. When critical compositional parameters were reached, the accumulated volatiles catalyzed immiscibility, the magmas became heterogeneous, and two-phase carbonate-silicate liquid immiscibility occurred at temperatures of ≥1280–1250°C. The immiscibility was accompanied by the partitioning of elements: the major portion of fluid components partitioned together with Ca into the carbonate-salt fraction (parental carbonatite melt), and the silicate melt was correspondingly depleted in these components and became more silicic. After spatial separation, the silicate and carbonate-silicate melts evolved independently during slow cooling. Differentiation and fractionation were characteristic of silicate melts. The carbonatite melts became again heterogeneous within the temperature range from 1200 to 800–600°C and separated into immiscible carbonate-salt fractions of various compositions: alkali-sulfate, alkali-phosphate, alkali-fluoride, alkali-chloride, and Fe-Mg-Ca carbonate. In large scale systems, polyphase silicate-carbonate-salt liquid immiscibility is usually manifested during the slow cooling and prolonged evolution of deeply derived melts in the Earth’s crust. It may lead to the formation of various types of intrusive carbonatites: widespread calcite-dolomite and rare alkali-sulfate, alkali-phosphate, and alkali-halide rocks. The initial alkaline carbonatite melts can retain their compositions enriched in P, S, Cl, and F only at rapid eruption followed by instantaneous quenching.     

Crystallization of authigenic carbonates in mud volcanoes at Lake Baikal

This paper presents data on authigenic siderite first found in surface sediments from mud volcanoes in the Central (K-2) and Southern (Malen’kii) basins of Lake Baikal. Ca is the predominant cation, which substitutes Fe in the crystalline lattice of siderite. The enrichment of the carbonates in the ¹³C isotope (from +3.3 to +6.8‰ for the Malen’kii volcano and from +17.7 to +21.9‰ for K-2) results from the crystallization of the carbonates during methane generation via the bacterial destruction of organic matter (acetate). The overall depletion of the carbonates in ¹⁸O is mainly inherited from the isotopic composition of Baikal water.