Problems of soil and groundwater pollution in the disposal of “marble” slurries in NW Sicily

This work deals with disposal of slurries generated during the cutting and polishing processes of slabs of decorative sedimentary carbonate rocks in the north western Sicily. At present, they are used as fillers of dismantled quarries near the sawmills and, as a final step of reclamation, are covered with earth layers. In spite of such inexpensive solution, there is lack of knowledge about the composition of the waste. In order to assess if there is any threat for the environment and to suggest indications for alternative solutions, such as recycling or inactivation processes, the slurries were analysed by XR diffraction, simultaneous thermal analysis, ICP/MS, ionic chromatography, FTIR, UV-Vis, COD and TOC measurements, grain size analysis. Results indicate that the slurries can threaten the groundwater, because of the high chemical oxygen demand; furthermore they can modify the mechanism of groundwater recharge, because of their grain size distribution. Some laboratory tests show that, even in very aggressive conditions, the solid pollutants persist in the waste and slowly release into water the products of their degradation. The slurry therefore should be subjected to inactivation treatment before disposal or, alternatively, recycled as secondary raw material for a suitable process.     

Wolframite- and scheelite-bearing carbonate rocks of the Nock mountains,Austria: A new type of tungsten mineralization in the Eastern Alps

A new type of tungsten deposit was discovered in the Eastern Alps at the Mallnock, Nock mountains, Austria. The mineralization is restricted to concordant layers of carbonate rocks within phyllites belonging to the metamorphic Palaeozoic of the Upper Austroalpine Gurktal nappe system. Wolframite (ferberite 95) and scheelite occur as network fissure fillings in coarse-grained Fe-magnesite (siderite 15) rocks (average W content ca. 0.9 wt%); fine-grained dolomite marbles contain scheelite as the only tungsten mineral (average W content ca. 0.5 wt%). Assuming the dolomite marbles as a primary metal source, mobilization processes are responsible for the formation of the wolframite- and scheelite-bearing Fe-magnesite rocks.     

Ergebnisse neuer Spezialforschungen in den deutschen Alpen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

An EPR study of Mn2+ and Fe3+ in dolomites

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements on dolomites from 9 different localities revealed contents of Mn²⁺ on two axial sites in all of them. The center with largerzero-field splitting (ZFS) was always present in much higher concentrations, except for a sample from Oberdorf it amounted to 95 percent or more of the total. This dolomite was the only one with a considerable content of Fe³⁺ on one axial site, almost certainly substituting for Mg²⁺. With X-ray irradiation the concentration of Fe³⁺ increased by about 30 percent showing that at least some of the divalent iron also substitutes for Mg. The ZFSs for Fe³⁺ and Mn²⁺ with larger ZFS increase with decreasing temperature in the same manner. The previous assignment of this Mn²⁺ to Mg sites is thus confirmed. An almost regular increase of the trigonal distortions at the divalent ions in different carbonates with increasing ionic radius is indicated by their crystal structure data. The very small ZFS for Mn²⁺ on Ca sites in dolomite must thus result from a strong local relaxation in the direction of a more regular octahedral arrangement. It is difficult to explain the different distribution ratios of Mn²⁺ on Ca and Mg sites with differences in growth and/or annealing temperatures alone. Thus different supply of Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ in the growth solutions may also contribute.     

From emplacement to unroofing: thermal history of the Jiazishan gabbro, Sulu UHP terrane, China

On the eastern extremity of the Jiaodong peninsula, China, shoshonitic magmas have been injected into the supracrustal rocks of the Sulu ultra-high pressure (UHP) terrane during the crustal exhumation phase. These granitoids (collectively termed the Shidao igneous complex or Jiazishan alkaline complex) show geochemical and isotopic signatures of an enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle and intruded soon after the subducted Yangtze crust had reached peak metamorphic pressure conditions (240–220 Ma). We have applied various geochronometers to an alkali-gabbro sample from the Jiazishan pluton and the results allow reconstruction of the Triassic-to-present thermal history. Initial rapid cooling of the gabbro at crustal depths is indicated by the close agreement between the Sm-Nd mineral isochron age (228?±?36 Ma) and the Rb-Sr biotite age (207?±?1) Ma. This interpretation is confirmed by previously published U-Pb zircon ages (225–209 Ma), and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar amphibole and K-feldspar ages (～214 Ma) from the Jiazishan syenites. A titanite fission-track age of 166?±?8 Ma (closure temperature range 285–240°C) records widespread Jurassic magmatism in the Jiaodong peninsula, indicating that the gabbro reached upper crustal levels before it was reheated by nearby Jurassic plutons. A subsequent cooling and reheating event is indicated by an apatite fission-track age of 106?±?6 Ma which coincides with the emplacement of the adjacent Weideshan pluton (108?±?2 Ma) and postdates a period of regional lithospheric thinning beneath eastern China. A period of slow cooling (or thermal stability) from late Cretaceous to early Tertiary, documented by an apatite (U-Th)/He age of 39?±?5 Ma, was followed by a final stage of more enhanced cooling since the late Eocene. Results of this work imply that the eastern Sulu terrane has experienced a complex cooling and reheating history. Our data are consistent with a model of initial rapid cooling (sudden exhumation) of the UHP terrane, driven by the release of buoyancy forces, followed by two progressively slower cooling intervals (both after renewed crustal reheating) during the Jurassic and Cretaceous.     

Circumstellar Silicate Mineralogy

This paper reviews spectra obtained with the SWS on board of ISO of dust shells around O-rich objects. These spectra reveal the presence of many new emission features between 10 and 45 μm. These bands are generally much narrower than the well-known 10 and 20 μm silicates features. The strength of these features relative to the underlying broad continuum varies from source to source (≅ 5-50%). The 10 μm region shows evidence for the presence of Al2O3 grains. At longer wavelength, the spectra are dominated by features due to crystalline olivine and pyroxene. The exact peak position of these features shows that the emitting grains consist of the Mg-rich end-members of these minerals with an Fe-content of < 10%. The underlying continuum is attributed to amorphous silicate grains. These observations of aluminum-rich and magnesium-rich compounds compare well with the thermodynamic condensation sequence of minerals expected for O-rich outflows. The observations also imply that freeze out (ie., kinetics) of this condensation sequence at different temperatures is an important characteristic of dust formation in these objects. It is suggested that the absence of Fe-rich silicates is a natural consequence of the low temperature at which gaseous Fe reacts with Mg-rich silicates in these outflows, resulting in amorphous grains with little characterizing spectral detail. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Photochemistry of nitrogen in the Martian atmosphere

Models are developed for the photochemistry of a CO₂H₂ON₂ atmosphere on Mars and estimates are given for the concentrations of N, NO, NO₂, NO₃, N₂O₅, HNO₂, HNO₃, and N₂O as a function of altitude. Nitric oxide is the most abundant form of odd nitrogen, present with a mixing ratio relative to CO₂ of order 10^?8. Deposition rates for nitrite and nitrate minerals could be as large as 3× 10⁵ N equivalent atoms cm^?2 sec^?1 under present conditions and may have been higher in the past.     

Rayleigh Scattering and Laser Spot Elongation Problems at ALFA

This article describes the qualitative effects of LGS spot elongation and Rayleigh scattering on ALFA wavefront sensor images.An analytical model of Rayleigh scattering and a numerical model of laser plume generation at the altitude of the Na-layer were developed. These models, integrated into ageneral AO simulation, provide the sensor sub-apertureimages. It is shown that the centroid measurement accuracyis affected by these phenomena. The simulation was made both for the ALFA system and for the VLT Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS).     

The stratigraphy of western Australia

Abstract

Measurements of intensity of magnetization and susceptibility have been made at intervals of 5 ft. on some bore cores from Tasmanian tholeiites of Jurassic age. In all cases the direction of magnetization was nearly vertical. One sill appears to have its upper 700 ft. magnetized normally and its lower part reversed.

The magnetic properties vary very rapidly and show a structure in which narrow regions with high values are superposed on a general increase to a maximum at about 300 ft. from the top of the sill. This coincides with a minimum of the density and a maximum of normative magnetite and total iron and also in the size of the areas of mesostasis.

It is suggested that this behaviour is due to differentiation and that magnetic measurements form an extremely sensitive tool for the study of this process. An attempt is made to show that differentiation by the settling of individual crystals through the sill is impossible in thick sills in which convection does not occur. and that the mechanism must be one of roof stoping in which large blocks of mixed crystals and residual magma fall from the roof to the floor of the sill. The regions with exceptionally high magnetic values which have been observed are regarded as composed of magma trapped between these blocks.