Flow Characteristics of Cemented Paste Backfill

Cemented paste backfill (CPB) is primarily used for backfilling underground voids at George Fisher Mine (Mount Isa, Australia). The objective of this paper is to summarise the geotechnical characterisation of the tailings and the rheological properties of the CPB as determined from a laboratory testing program undertaken at James Cook University. Two binders were examined [a General Purpose cement and a slag blend cement] over a range of dosages from 0 to 6% and CPB mix solids content in the range of 72–78%. The slump tests were carried out using the standard cone (ASTM C 143) used for concrete and a cylinder with 110 mm (diameter) × 110 mm (height), whereas the yield stress was measured using a shear vane (Brookfield vane spindle V-73). The index characteristics of the tailings including the grain size distribution, liquid limit, plastic limit, specific gravity were determined as per ASTM standards. This paper will then discuss the interrelationships among the solid content, slump, saturated density and the yield stress of the CPB. It is shown that there is strong correlation between the two different slump test devices used in this study. The smaller cylindrical device appears to have good potential for slurries like mine tailings or dredged mud that have high water content for slump test. There is also strong inter-relationship among solid content, slump, yield stress, and bulk density. Increasing the solid content increases the bulk density and yield stress, but reduces the slump. While there is hardly any difference between the two binder types used in this study in terms of flow parameters, namely the yield stress and slump, the binder dosage has an effect. At any specific solid content, higher binder dosages lead to a drop in the slump and increase in the yield stress. The difference is more pronounced in dense slurries. It is also strongly believed that the trends and relationships developed in this study may be valuable for the other mining operations using CPB.     

The early Miocene (~25 Ma) volcanism in the northern Kyushu-Palau Ridge,enriched mantle source injection during rifting prior to the Shikoku backarc basin opening

The northern Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR), remnant conjugate arc of the Izu-Ogasawara (Bonin)-Mariana (IBM) active arc, is dominated by basalt-andesite except for the Komahashi-Daini Seamount where acidic plutonic rocks of 38 Ma were recovered. These mafic to intermediate volcanics are produced by the rifting volcanism in the proto-IBM arc associated with spreading of the Shikoku Basin. The HFSE and HREE contents and ratios of these volcanics indicate enriched source mantle composition compared to recent volcanic front. The LILE ratios exhibit similar characteristics to reararc volcanism of the recent Izu arc, and some enriched volcanics exhibit high abundance of sediment melt inputs. Based on these observations and compilations of the published data set, the replacement event of the wedge mantle under the IBM arc occurred two times. The first event occurred between 45 and 38 Ma, with Pacific type mantle being replaced by depleted Indian type mantle. The second event occurred between 36 and 25 Ma, enriched mantle flowed from reararc side. The slab component during the proto-IBM arc rifting was a similar characteristic to recent reararc volcanism of the Izu arc, and sediment melt added in a local area.     

Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography

In recent months there has been an explosion of interest in using the Web to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic information provided voluntarily by individuals. Sites such as Wikimapia and OpenStreetMap are empowering citizens to create a global patchwork of geographic information, while Google Earth and other virtual globes are encouraging volunteers to develop interesting applications using their own data. I review this phenomenon, and examine associated issues: what drives people to do this, how accurate are the results, will they threaten individual privacy, and how can they augment more conventional sources? I compare this new phenomenon to more traditional citizen science and the role of the amateur in geographic observation.     

Mineralogy and chemical composition of the clay fraction of Neogene shales from the Surma Group in the Bengal basin,Bangladesh

Mineralogical and chemical investigations (<2μm clay separates) of shale samples from the Neogene-age Surma Group obtained from four wells (Habiganj-11, Shahbazpur-1, Titas-11, Titas-15) in the Bengal basin, Bangladesh, were carried out in order to reveal the clay mineral composition as reservoir exploration and exploitation requires a good understanding of the clay minerals. The samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). Mineralogically, the sub-surface Surma Group shales comprise predominantly quartz, plagioclase, illite, chlorite, kaolinite, with lesser amounts of K-feldspar, dolomite and smectite, and minor to trace amounts of calcite, siderite and pyrite. The chemical composition of the <2 μm clay separates also suggests an illite and chlorite-rich composition. With increasing burial depth, the Surma Group shales are enriched in illite. The gradual decreasing of the smectite clays with depth and ultimate disappearance at greater depths (≥ 3000 m) may have been responsible for the presence of the diagenetic illite. Based on the mineralogical composition it is most likely that the illite-chlorite associations together with quartz and feldspar were predominantly detrital in origin and thus reflect the presence of a rapidly-rising source terrain not subjected to intense weathering.     

热电离质谱法测定贵州郑家洞石笋的铀系年代及其古气候意义

本文报道了用高精度热电离质谱（ＴＩＭＳ）法测定的贵州郑家洞ＡＺＪ－２号石笋的铀系年代。该石笋经历了三个速度不同的生长阶段，顶部９０ｃｍ及底部２１ｃｍ生长迅速，ＴＩＭＳ铀系法高分辨率年代结果仍不足以给出其确切的生长速率。精确建立碳氧同位素演化时间坐标的困难，应是从新生碳酸盐提取古气候演变信息的重要制约因素之一。ＡＺＪ－２的生长起止年代为距今１４．７￣１３．８万年，贵州在此期间可能处于温暖湿润的气候条     

Hydrogeology and sustainable future groundwater abstraction from the Agua Verde aquifer in the Atacama Desert,northern Chile

The hyper-arid conditions prevailing in Agua Verde aquifer in northern Chile make this system the most important water source for nearby towns and mining industries. Due to the growing demand for water in this region, recharge is investigated along with the impact of intense pumping activity in this aquifer. A conceptual model of the hydrogeological system is developed and implemented into a two-dimensional groundwater-flow numerical model. To assess the impact of climate change and groundwater extraction, several scenarios are simulated considering variations in both aquifer recharge and withdrawals. The estimated average groundwater lateral recharge from Precordillera (pre-mountain range) is about 4,482 m³/day. The scenarios that consider an increase of water withdrawal show a non-sustainable groundwater consumption leading to an over-exploitation of the resource, because the outflows surpasses inflows, causing storage depletion. The greater the depletion, the larger the impact of recharge reduction caused by the considered future climate change. This result indicates that the combined effects of such factors may have a severe impact on groundwater availability as found in other groundwater-dependent regions located in arid environments. Furthermore, the scenarios that consider a reduction of the extraction flow rate show that it may be possible to partially alleviate the damage already caused to the aquifer by the continuous extractions since 1974, and it can partially counteract climate change impacts on future groundwater availability caused by a decrease in precipitation (and so in recharge), if the desalination plant in Taltal increases its capacity.     

山东招远大尹格庄金矿成矿流体特征

大尹格庄金矿位于中国胶北地体西北部招平断裂带下盘的蚀变花岗质碎裂岩 (绢英岩 )带中 ,断裂上盘为胶东群变质岩系。金主要产于黄铁绢英岩和黄铁矿±多金属硫化物 石英±碳酸盐脉 -细网脉中 ,构成细脉 -浸染状矿石。对蚀变围岩和金矿石中流体包裹体的研究表明钾长石化岩 (钾长石 -石英脉 )和绢英岩 (第 I和第 II阶段 )的石英中含有丰富的 CO2 -H2 O包裹体 ,而金 -硫化物矿石和石英 -碳酸盐脉 (第 III和第 IV阶段 )中 CO2 - H2 O包裹体数量逐渐减少。显微测温指示 ,钾长石化岩和绢英岩石英中的 CO2 - H2 O包裹体的均一温度范围为 2 80～ 36 0℃ ;而金 -黄铜矿和金 -方铅矿 -闪锌矿矿石中包裹体的均一温度分别为 2 40～ 2 75℃和 180～ 2 5 0℃。显微测温和激光拉曼探针分析表明 ,第 I和第 II阶段的成矿流体含 10～ 2 5mol% CO2 ;而第 III和第 IV阶段的含 <5～ 10 mol% CO2 ,并含少量至可观数量 CH4,H2 S和 SO2 等。广泛的黄铁矿化、碳酸盐化蚀变以及缺乏较高盐度的水包裹体说明金很可能是以硫络合物和碳络合物形式被搬运。金的沉淀与温度下降、由裂隙的(重复 )开放引起明显的压力降低和原始流体的不混溶作用有关 ,具多阶段成矿特点     

The effects of soil sand contents on characteristics of humic acids along soil profiles

It is generally accepted that the compositions and properties of soil organic matter (SOM) are influenced by many factors. In order to reveal the effects of soil texture on characteristics and dynamics of SOM and its sub-fraction, humic acid (HA), along two soil profiles, a yellow soil profile and a purplish soil profile, under the same climate and vegetation conditions were determined. Results indicate that the decomposition and humification degrees of SOM and HA of the purplish soils are higher than those of the corresponding yellow soils indicated by A/O–A ratios of HAs, TOCs and HA yields of bulk soil samples, nevertheless, the development degree of the purplish soil is lower than that of the yellow soil. The variations of E₄/E₆ ratios of HAs along the soil profiles indicate the overall molecular sizes of HAs decreased downward along the soil profiles. A/O–A ratios of HAs decreased downward along both the soil profiles indicate that humification processes decrease downward along both the soil profiles. Leaching of SOM shows significant effects on the distribution and characteristics of HAs in the yellow soil profile but the purplish soil profile, which is consistent with the higher hydrophobicity of HAs in purplish soils, shows that the distribution characteristics of SOM along the soil profiles are a complex result of the combination of soil texture and characteristics of SOM itself. The remarkably different sand contents are concluded tentatively as one of reasons to the different distributions and dynamics of HAs along the soil profiles, however, to profoundly understand the evolution and transport of SOM along soil profiles needs more researches.     

Hydrogeochemical Characterization and Groundwater Quality of Jamshedpur Urban Agglomeration in Precambrian Terrain,Eastern India

This paper reports petrography, geochemistry and Rb-Sr age data on the rare metal bearing Neoarchean fertile (Nb-Ta) granite at Allapatna and elucidates its petrogenesis and role in Nb-Ta-Li-Be mineralization. The Allapatna granite (AG) intrudes the Tonalitic-Trondhjemitic - Granodioritic (TTG) Peninsular Gneiss and analysed SiO₂ (72.3-75.6 wt%), K₂O (4.0-5.7wt%), Na2O (3.0-4.4wt%), CaO (0.7-1wt%), MgO (0.13-0.25wt%) and K₂O/Na₂O (>1) indicating evolved nature. The presence of muscovite, biotite and garnet in the mode, peraluminous nature and high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7284±0.0083) attest to their S-type characteristics. Varying Nb/Ta ratio and high Li with moderate abundance of Cs further indicate affinity to Li-Cs-Ta (LCT) type granite-pegmatite system. TheAG showing whole rock Rb-Sr isochron age of 2803± 68 Ma, is the oldest reported fertile granite in India parental to rare metal pegmatites hosting Nb-Ta, Be, and Li resources. Partial melting of a mixed source consisting of both basement TTG rocks and metapelites has generated such type of granitic magma. Fractionation of such granitic magma possibly has given rise to the rare metal (Ta-Nb-Li-Be) bearing pegmatites intruding the nearby schist belt.     

珍珠陶石的夹层化合物法鉴定

应用联氨、使珍珠陶石形成其夹层物，然后再用水洗获是水合珍珠陶石，这种水合珍珠陶石具有十分特征的０．８３５ｎｍＸ射线衍射峰，而高岭石族的其它矿物却保持不变，利用这一明显的特征，可以容易地区分出混合在高岭石中的少量珍珠陶石。