Arsenic mobility in alteration products of sulfide-rich, arsenopyrite-bearing mine wastes, Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada

The Arsenopyrite Residue Stockpile (ARS) in Snow Lake, Manitoba contains approximately 250,000 tons of cyanide treated, refractory arsenopyrite ore concentrate. The residue was deposited between 1950 and 1959 in an open waste rock impoundment, and remained exposed until 2000, when the pile was capped with layers of waste rock and clay. During the time when the ARS was exposed to the atmosphere, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite were oxidized producing scorodite, jarosite and two generations of amorphous Fe sulfo-arsenates (AISA). These secondary phases attenuated some of the As released to pore water during oxidation in the upper layers of the ARS. The imposition of the cap prevented further oxidation. The secondary As minerals are not stable in the reduced environment that currently dominates the pile. Therefore, As currently is being released into the groundwater. Water in an adjacent monitoring well has concentrations of >20 mg/L total As with relative predominance of As(III).     

Stone Age settlement and Holocene shore displacement in the Narva‐Luga Klint Bay area,eastern Gulf of Finland

Based on geological and archaeological proxies from NW Russia and NE Estonia and on GIS‐based modelling, shore displacement during the Stone Age in the Narva‐Luga Klint Bay area in the eastern Gulf of Finland was reconstructed. The reconstructed shore displacement curve displays three regressive phases in the Baltic Sea history, interrupted by the rapid Ancylus Lake and Litorina Sea transgressions c. 10.9–10.2 cal. ka BP and c. 8.5–7.3 cal. ka BP, respectively. During the Ancylus transgression the lake level rose 9 m at an average rate of about 13 mm per year, while during the Litorina transgression the sea level rose 8 m at an average rate of about 7 mm per year. The results show that the highest shoreline of Ancylus Lake at an altitude of 8–17 m a.s.l. was formed c. 10.2 cal. ka BP and that of the Litorina Sea at an altitude of 6–14 m a.s.l., c. 7.3 cal. ka BP. The oldest traces of human activity dated to 8.5–7.9 cal. ka BP are associated with the palaeo‐Narva River in the period of low water level in the Baltic basin at the beginning of the Litorina Sea transgression. The coastal settlement associated with the Litorina Sea lagoon, presently represented by 33 Stone Age sites, developed in the area c. 7.1 cal. ka BP and existed there for more than 2000 years. Transformation from the coastal settlement back to the river settlement indicates a change from a fishing‐and‐hunting economy to farming and animal husbandry c. 4.4 cal. ka BP, coinciding with the time of the overgrowing of the lagoon in the Narva‐Luga Klint Bay area.     

The formation of graphite upon the interaction of subducted carbonates and sulfur with metal-bearing rocks of the lithospheric mantle

Experimental studies of the Fe⁰–(Mg, Ca)CO₃–S system were carried out during 18–20 h at 6.3 GPa, 900–1400°C. It is shown that the major processes resulting in the formation of free carbon include reduction of carbonates upon redox interaction with Fe⁰ (or Fe₃C), extraction of carbon from iron carbide upon interaction with a sulfur melt/fluid, and reduction of the carbonate melt by Fe–S and Fe?S–C melts. Reconstruction of the processes of graphite formation indicates that carbonates and iron carbide may be potential sources of carbon under the conditions of subduction, and participation of the sulfur melt/fluid may result in the formation of mantle sulfides.     

Experimental modeling of the interaction of subducted carbonates and sulfur with mantle silicates

Experimental studies in the system Fe,Ni–olivine–carbonate–S (P = 6.3 GPa, T = 1050–1550°C, t = 40–60 h) aimed at modeling of the interaction of subducted carbonates and sulfur with rocks of the silicate mantle and at investigation of the likely mechanism of the formation of mantle sulfides were performed. It is shown that an association of olivine + orthopyroxene + magnesite + pyrite coexisting with a sulfur melt/fluid with dissolved Fe, Ni, and O is formed at T ≤ 1250°C. An association of low-Fe olivine, orthopyroxene, and magnesite and two immiscible melts of the carbonate and S–Fe–Ni–O compositions are formed at T ≥ 1350°C. It is shown that the reduced S-bearing fluids may transform silicates and carbonates, extract metals from the solid-phase matrix, and provide conditions for generation of sulfide melts.     

Erosion processes in karst landscapes of the Russian plain northern taiga,based on digital elevation modeling

This paper considers the problems of the potential development of erosion processes in the natural landscapes of northern taiga in the Russian plain. It is considered that in forest ecosystems, erosion processes are slow and are weakly reflected in the terrain. However, the situation changes radically if the vegetation cover integrity is violated, which is inevitable with the modern methods of developing northern territories. Furthermore, global changes in average annual temperatures and the occurrence of karst processes may be the reason behind the development of erosion processes. The authors suggest a method for determining territories with a varying occurrence probability of erosional processes, based on digital elevation modelling. The territory of the Pinezhsky Nature Reserve (Arkhangelsk region) was chosen as the test plot. Direct field studies were previously used to detect exogenous geological processes in this territory. The authors were the first to suggest digital elevation modelling as a method that allows determining the potential danger of erosion in karst landscapes of the northern taiga. The geomorphometric studies resulted in the determination of areas with the greatest and lowest occurrence probability of erosion processes in the Pinezhsky Nature Reserve. It was established that the most significant erosion type was linear erosion, represented by incised river valleys and karst ravines. Sheet erosion is less significant and occurs as sinkholes, local declines, and chasms over the valleys of subterranean rivers.     

Low-Titanium Lamproites of the Ryabinoviy Massif (Aldan Shield): Crystallization Conditions and Lithospheric Source

Obtained data shows that high-potassic dyke rocks of the Ryabinoviy massif (Central Aldan) belong to low-titanium lamproite series (Mediterranean type) and are distinct with “classic” high-titanium lamproites. Based on Al-in-olivine thermometer, temperature of olivine–chrome-spinel pair crystallization varies in range between 1100 and 1250°C. This suggests lithospheric mantle source for the parental melt and makes role of mantle plume insignificant. High-precision data on olivine composition and bulk rock traceelement composition imply mixed source for the parental melt, consisted of depleted peridotite and enriched domains, originated during ancient subduction.     

Formation of Water-Bearing Defects in Olivine in the Presence of Water–Hydrocarbon Fluid at 6.3 GPa and 1200°C

The main trends of water dissolution in Fe-bearing olivine have been investigated in the olivine–H₂O–hydrocarbon fluid system in experiments at a pressure of 6.3 GPa, a temperature of 1200°C, and hydrogen fugacity ( fH₂) buffered by the Mo–MoO₂ equilibrium. The content and contribution of ОH defects of different types in Fe-bearing olivines depend on the composition of reduced fluids in the system. As the fraction of hydrocarbons in the fluid increases, the H₂O content in olivine crystals decreases from 900 to 160–180 ppm, while the ОН absorption peaks become lower at high frequencies and occupy a larger part of the infrared spectrum in the low-frequency region. According to the experimental results, even the deepest seated mantle olivines with OH defects were not equilibrated with a fluid rich in light alkanes or oxygenated hydrocarbons.     

Genesis of Diamond in Metal–Carbon and Metal–Sulfur–Carbon Melts: Evidence from Experimental Data

Doklady Earth Sciences - The experimental data on diamond growth in the Fe–Ni–S–C and Fe–S–C systems with a sulfur content of 5–14 wt % at 5.5 GPa and...     

Biostratigraphy and Sedimentary Settings of the Middle Devonian Succession of the Yuryung-Tumus Peninsula,Khatanga Gulf of the Laptev Sea

The age of the Paleozoic sedimentary successions of the Yuryung-Tumus Peninsula in the Khatanga Gulf is determined as Middle Devonian, late Eifelian, and the beginning of the early Givetian on the basis of the study of brachiopods, ammonoids, nautiloids, bactritoids, gastropods, and conodonts, and in the terminology of the standard conodont succession, these deposits are not older than the late Eifelian Tortodus kockelianus Zone, but include the terminal Eifelian Polygnathus ensensis Zone and the first Givetian Polygnathus hemiansatus Zone and are no younger than the beginning of the early Givetian Polygnathus varcus Zone. The Middle Devonian sedimentary successions of the Yuryung-Tumus Peninsula show the level of the global sedimentary Ka?ak Event. The areas of distribution of the Devonian sedimentary deposits in the Yuryung-Tumus Peninsula in the Khatanga Gulf should be considered as one of the fragments of the regional geological structures of a remote (isolated?) region of the Taymyr Fold System rather than a component of the structures of the northern Siberian Platform.     

Some Causes of Inaccuracies of Short-Term Earthquake Prediction Taking into Account Laboratory Modeling

Doklady Earth Sciences - A series of experiments are carried out with a stick–slip earthquake model consisting of two granite blocks under biaxial compression loading. The mechanical...