Reaction of montmorillonite with acid aqueous solutions: solute activity control by a secondary phase

Al, Ca, Mg and Na montmorillonites were reacted with acid aqueous solutions in order to test the assumption of equilibrium underlying solubility determinations of thermodynamic properties of montmorillonite. The value calculated for the equilibrium constant varied with pH over the pH range 1.5–4.2. Hence montmorillonite was not in a unique state of equilibrium with all solutions over this range. Therefore the derivation of thermodynamic properties of montmorillonite by the application of a single step dissolution equation to results of solubility studies in mildly acidic solutions is invalid. Indications of solute activity control by a secondary solid phase were given by: (1) the dependence of the solution concentrations of some, but not all, montmorillonite constituent elements upon each other; and (2) a lack of congruency in the dissolution of montmorillonite. These indications were confirmed by a principal components statistical analysis, which showed that the solution activities of Si, Al and H after long-term treatments of the mineral from undersaturation were always related by the same expression. This particular expression is equivalent to an equilibrium constant for the reversible dissolution of a secondary solid phase that is enriched in silicon by comparison with montmorillonite. An aluminous solid phase was also shown to be formed.     

Crustal structure measurements near FRAM II in the pole abyssal plain

An extensive refraction profiling program was carried out during the FRAM II experiment (March–May, 1980) in the eastern Arctic Ocean. Two structural areas were covered: north of the ice camp (86°N, 24°W) into the basin of the Pole Abyssal Plain and south onto the flanks of the Morris Jesup Rise. Digital multichannel data on an 800 by 800 m, 24 channel hydrophone array and a single 2-component ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) were recorded for offsets from 2.5 to 100 km. Arrival times, amplitudes and phase velocities of the seismic signals recieved on the hydrophone array were determined using high resolution array processing. From these measurements and the OBS data, preliminary velocity structural models of the crust have been derived. For the purposes of this paper, 2 refraction lines have been analyzed, a 40 km line on a flat region of the Pole Abyssal Plain and an 86 km line on a slightly dipping region taken as the drifting ice camp shoaled on the Morris Jesup Rise. These preliminary analyses yield a sedimentary layer with a gradually increasing velocity 1.5–2 km thick. This cover overlays a crust with a thin layer 2 (< 1 km) and yields a total ocean bottom to mantle thickness of 4–7 km.     

Late-glacial vegetation associated with caribou and mastodon in central Indiana

The Christensen Mastodon Site, located in central Indiana, contains a rich assemblage of vertebrates (including mastodon, caribou, and giant beaver), invertebrates, and plant macrofossils in situ in lake and bog sediments of late-glacial age. Studies of pollen and plant macrofossils suggest the existence of open, white spruce-dominated boreal forests from >; 14,000 yr B.P. to ca. 13,000 yr B.P. The regional decline of spruce, local occurrence of black spruce, white spruce, and larch, immigration of many hardwood taxa (e.g., ash, oak, elm), and the initiation of bog development are recorded beginning about 13,000 yr B.P. Recent reconstructions of late-glacial and early postglacial vegetational changes provide a context for understanding the disappearance of mastodons. The dramatic and rapid restriction of boreal forests along the retreating ice margin from 11,000 to 9000 yr B.P. may have caused a substantial reduction of mastodon populations. A diminished population would be more susceptible to small-scale, stochastic events such as short-term extremes of weather, outbreaks of disease, or predation pressure from paleoindian hunters.     

Serum transferrin polymorphism in grey trout,Cynoscion regalis,from the lower Rappahannock River

Serum transferrin distribution was studied in grey trout, Cynoscion regalis, obtained from the lower Rappahannock River of Virginia. Three phenotypes were observed, representing two codominant alleles at a single gene locus. The distribution of the phenotypes, designated as Tf A, Tf B, and Tf AB, did not differ significantly from that predicted by Hardy-Weinberg analysis.     

The biogeochemistry of heavy metals in polluted lakes and streams at Flin Flon,Canada, and a proposed method for limiting heavy-metal pollution of natural waters

The biogeochemistry of Zn, Cd, Cu, Hg, and Fe in lakes and streams polluted by mine and smelter wastes emitted at Flin Flon, Canada, was investigated. In Schist Lake, a repository for both tailings-pond drainage and sewage, green algal blooms generated by nutrients from sewage promote entrapment of metals in sediments by (1) accumulation of metals from solution by algal seston, with preferential uptake of Zn, the most abundant metal, followed by sinking of the seston; and (2) production of H₂S during decomposition of dead algae, resulting in sulfide precipitation. Metals are partially resolubilized from seston as it decomposes while sinking. Preferential retention of Cu by sinking seston and by mud promotes Cu enrichment in the mud but the Cu/Zn ratio of mud varies with the Cu/Zn ratio of surface water seston. In bottom muds, partitioning of a metal between sulfide and organic matter is strongly dependent on the stability of the metal sulfide as measured by its standard entropy, the proportion of sulfide-bound metal decreasing in the order Hg>Cd>Cu>Fe>Zn. When sulfide-rich muds were heated under helium, x-ray diffraction revealed abundant well-crystallized ZnS (sphalerite) containing Cd, Hg, and Fe; only poorly crystallized traces of the mineral were detected in unheated mud, however. Cu sulfide failed to crystallize, suggesting interference by sorbed impurities. Metals were concentrated in H₂S-rich muds and extraction of muds with various solvents and by electrodialysis showed that sulfide was much more effective than organic matter in suppressing remobilization of metals. Remobilized Cu is probably bound to organic complexing agents. Some extractable complexing agents bind Cu preferentially with respect to Zn and Cd but others preferentially bind Zn and Cd; the complexes, being stable in the presence of free sulfide, may cause some release of metals from sulfide-rich muds in nature. These results indicate that introduction of sewage together with heavy-metal effluents into settling ponds could be an effective and economic method for limiting heavy-metal pollution of natural waters.