Stabilization of clayey soils with Tunisian phosphogypsum: effect on geotechnical properties

Phosphogypsum and cement have been reported to improve the physicochemical properties of clayey soils. The present study aimed to investigate the behavior of various soils with different particle sizes and chemical and mineralogical compositions in the presence of phosphogypsum and cement mixed at various proportions. These hydraulic binders were assayed on three different soil samples, and their effects were examined using a battery of standardized tests, including the Atterberg limit, uniaxial compressive strength, Californian Bearing Rate (CBR) test, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), microstructure observation (SEM), and X-ray diffraction tests. The results revealed a significant effect associated with the variation of phosphogypsum content in the soils. Keeping the cement content constant in the mixture, the continuous addition of phosphogypsum was noted to allow shifting the domain of plasticity to the highest water contents, which reduces the sensitivity of the soil to water and to increase the strength of soil. An increase of CBR index with the addition of phosphogypsum and cement is obtained. This treatment could have positively influenced the optimum moisture content and the maximal dry density. The mixture of soil-phosphogypsum and cement could give new forms such as ettringite and hydrate indicators of the improvement of the mechanical properties of the soil. This improvement varies from one soil to another, depending on its granularity and its mineralogy. The mineralogical composition of the soil, particularly kaolinite, amount, and size grading, have direct effects on the physical and mechanical properties of the soils under investigation.     

Pretreatment of high strength waste emulsions by combined vibratory shear enhanced process with Fenton oxidation

Pretreatment of waste emulsions with high organic content by a combined process of vibratory shear enhanced process and Fenton’s oxidation prior to biological treatment was investigated. Vibrating membrane had shown good performance in chemical oxygen demand and oil removals and the mitigation of concentration polarization. However, the permeate after filtration processing still contained high content of organics. Thus, additional Fenton oxidation was applied to reduce the organic loading, and improve the biodegradability of the wastewater. The optimal molar ratio of ferrous iron to hydrogen peroxide was 0.05 obtained from the jar-test experiments. Removal of organics was enhanced by increasing hydrogen peroxide dosage, while efficiency of hydrogen peroxide reached maximum of 1.11(w/w) at the hydrogen peroxide dosage of 6.8 g/L. Furthermore, the biological experiments indicated that the high concentration of organics could inhibit microbial activity, which decreased the chemical oxygen demand degradation rates. The adaptive period of the microbe was greatly shortened using Fenton’s reagent at the low dosages. The improvement of the biodegradability could be explained by partial mineralization and chemical transformation of parent organic compounds after Fenton oxidation.     

Accumulation and Post-Sedimentary Diagenesis of Tonsteins

The work is devoted to specific features of sedimentogenesis and multistage alterations of eolian volcanic ash and epiclastic clay in paleopeat bogs and their transformation into ortho- and paratonsteins, respectively. The hydrolysis of aluminosilicate minerals and volcanic glass and their alteration into monotonous submonomineral clay, which is compositionally similar to epiclastic clay, is associated with the diagenesis stage. During the catagenesis, submonomineral clay is lithified and transformed into tonsteins, which undergo recrystallization as the temperature increases. Clay minerals are replaced by illite and chlorite, while tonsteins are transformed into metatonsteins. Paragenetic relationships of clay minerals are discussed.     

Lu–Hf and U–Pb isotope systematics of zircons from the Storgangen intrusion, Rogaland Intrusive Complex, SW Norway: implications for the composition and evolution of Precambrian lower crust in the Baltic Shield

The Storgangen orebody is a concordantly layered, sill-like body of ilmenite-rich norite, intruding anorthosites of the Rogaland Intrusive Complex (RIC), SW Norway. 17 zircon grains were separated from ca. 5 kg of sand-size flotation waste collected from the on-site repository from ilmenite mining. These zircons were analysed for major and trace elements by electron microprobe, and for U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotopes by laser ablation microprobe plasma source mass spectrometry. Eight of the zircons define a well-constrained (MSWD=0.37) concordant population with an age of 949±7 Ma, which is significantly older than the 920–930 Ma ages previously reported for zircon inclusions in orthopyroxene megacrysts from the RIC. The remaining zircons, interpreted as inherited grains, show a range of ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages up to 1407±14 Ma, with an upper intercept age at ca. 1520 Ma. The concordant zircons have similar trace element patterns, and a mean initial Hf isotope composition of ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf_{949 Ma}=0.28223±5 (_Hf=+2±2). This is similar to the Hf-isotope composition of zircons in a range of post-tectonic Sveconorwegian granites from South Norway, and slightly more radiogenic than expected for mid-Proterozoic juvenile crust. The older, inherited zircons show Lu–Hf crustal residence ages in the range 1.85–2.04 Ga. One (undated) zircon plots well within the field of Hf isotope evolution of Paleoproterozoic rocks of the Baltic Shield. These findings indicate the presence of Paleoproterozoic components in the deep crust of the Rogaland area, but do not demonstrate that such rocks, or a Sveconorwegian mantle-derived component, contributed significantly to the petrogenesis of the RIC. If the parent magma was derived from a homogeneous, lower crustal mafic granulite source, the lower crustal protolith must be at least 1.5 Ga old, and it must have an elevated Rb/Sr ratio. This component would be indistinguishable in Sr, Nd and Hf isotopes from some intermediate mixtures between Sveconorwegian mantle and Paleoprotoerzoic felsic crust, but it cannot account for the initial ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of the most primitive, late Sveconorwegian granite in the region, without the addition of mantle-derived material.     

Composition of sand storm particles in the Southern Far East

Lithostructural composition of the dust storm material (DMS) sampled in the southern Far East in the spring of 2002–2004 has been analyzed. Samples were taken near Vladivostok, where the eolian dust precipitation varied from 0.1 to 6.5 g/m² at that time. Pelitic and fine-silt particles predominate in eolian dust. Grain size, mineral, and chemical compositions of the DSM are compared to data on the DSM in adjacent territories of China, Korea, and Japan, as well as to background data on aerosol precipitation in southern Primorye. Possible mechanisms of the eolian dust transport from inner parts of Asia at different climatic variations in the Pleistocene-Holocene are discussed.     

Redistribution of HFSE elements during rutile replacement by titanite

Titanite growth at the expense of rutile during retrograde hydration of eclogite into amphibolite is a common phenomenon. We investigated an amphibolite sample from the Tromsø eclogite facies terrain in Northern Norway to gain insight into the trace element distribution between rutile and titanite during incomplete resorption of the rutile by titanite. Patchy compositional zoning of Al, Ti, and F in titanite relates to the presence of a fluid with variable Ti/Al and/or F during its growth. Laser ablation ICP–MS and electron microprobe data for high field strength elements (HFSE: Nb, Zr, Ta, and Hf) of rutile resorbed by titanite indicate a pronounced enrichment of these elements in the rim of a large single rutile crystal (~8 mm) and a systematic decrease towards uniform HFSE contents in the large core. HFSE contents of smaller rutile grains (~0.5 mm) and rutile inclusions (<100 μm) in the titanite overgrowth are similar or higher than in the rims of large rutile crystals. Element profiles from the rim inward demonstrate that HFSE enrichment in rutile is controlled by diffusion. HFSE ratios in diffusion-altered rutile show systematic variations compared with the uniform core composition of the large rutile. Modelling of Zr and Nb diffusion in rutile indicates that diffusion coefficients in rutile in fluid-dominated natural systems must be considerably higher than those determined experimentally at 1 bar in dry systems. Variations of HFSE contents in the newly formed titanite show no systematic spatial distribution. HFSE ratios in titanite and the rims of rutile are different, indicating different solid/fluid distribution coefficients in these minerals. Element fractionation by diffusion into the relict rutile and during fluid-mediated growth of new titanite could substantially change the HFSE budget of these minerals and could affect their use for geochemical tracing and other applications, such as Zr-based geothermobarometry.     

Holocene overbank deposition in the drainage basin of Lake Khanka

Overbank deposits in the Komissarovka River valley consist of alternating silt, clay silt, sand, and soils produced by lacustrine, alluvial, and aeolian deposition and by soil formation. Silt and sand layers in the lower part of the section correlate with the events of Early Holocene transgression and Middle Holocene regression of Lake Khanka. Deposition in the lowermost reaches of the Komissarovka River provides a faithful record of local Holocene landscapes controlled by level changes in Lake Khanka.     

Radiating 1.0 Ga Mafic Dyke Swarms of Eastern Brazil and Western Africa: Evidence of Post-Assembly Extension in the Rodinia Supercontinent?

Several mafic dyke swarms of similar composition and age (tholeiite- ca.1.0 Ga) occur on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in eastern South America and western Africa. When assembled to their pre-drift position in the Mesozoic, the Brazilian coastal dyke province of Bahia, and the African dykes in Cameroun (Ebolowa suite) and Congo (Comba and Sembe-Ouesso provinces) define a giant radiating pattern (1200 km × 800 km) similar to other dyke swarms elsewhere associated with large-scale continental rifting. Magma flow indicators of the Brazilian dykes and branching propagation styles of their African counterparts indicate that the dyke conduits were fed with magmas diverging from a source beneath the long axis of the Meso-Neoproterozoic West-Congolian Basin in Africa. There, MORB-like metabasalts have been described in the La Bikossi Group of the Mayombian Supergroup. Whether the rifting event and intrusion of dyke swarms were triggered or not by a mantle plume beneath part of the Rodinia subcontinental lithosphere remain to be confirmed.     

Gold recovery from a refractory pyrrhotite ore by biooxidation

The aim of the present investigation was to study the biooxidation of a refractory gold-bearing pyrrhotite, in order to increase the gold recovery during the subsequent conventional cyanidation.Bacterial cultures utilised in the biological test consisted predominantly of Thiobacillus genus. Tests were conducted at laboratory scale. The gold content of the ore sample, coming from Bolivia, was of 10 g t⁻¹ Au.After 24 h leaching time by direct cyanidation, low gold recovery was obtained (<20% Au), with a high reagent consumption. On the other hand, a high gold recovery was achieved for the biooxidated samples: after 24 h cyanidation gold dissolution reached about 91% Au.Experimental results have shown the technical feasibility of the biooxidative pretreatment prior to conventional leaching and a complete circuit of treatment, on laboratory scale, has been developed considering also the subsequent gold recovery by carbon adsorption/desorption and electrowinning.A gold extraction yield of about 86% was determined in the whole process for gold extraction from pyrrhotite (biooxidation, solid–liquid separation, cyanidation, adsorption, desorption, electrowinning).