Redefinition of Lemanskiite: New Mineralogical Data,Crystal Structure,and Revised Formula NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl · 3H2O

Geology of Ore Deposits - The crystal structure of lemanskiite is determined for the first time (R = 0.019) and the mineral is redefined. Its chemical formula, crystal system, space group and...     

The source of sulfur in sulfide deposits in the Siberian Platform traps (from isotope data)

The source of sulfur in giant Norilsk-type sulfide deposits is discussed. A review of the state of the problem and a critical analysis of existing hypotheses are made. The distribution of δ³⁴S in sulfides of ore occurrences and small and large deposits and in normal sedimentary, metamorphogenic, and hypogene sulfates is considered. A large number of new δ³⁴S data for sulfides and sulfates in various deposits, volcanic and terrigenous rocks, coals, graphites, and metasomatites are presented. The main attention is focused on the objects of the Norilsk and Kureika ore districts. The δ³⁴S value varies from -14 to + 22.5‰ in sulfides of rocks and ores and from 15.3 to 33‰ in anhydrites. In sulfide-sulfate intergrowths and assemblages, δ³⁴S is within 4.2-14.6‰ in sulfides and within 15.3-21.3‰ in anhydrites. The most isotopically heavy sulfur was found in pyrrhotite veins in basalts (δ³⁴S = 21.6‰), in sulfate veins cutting dolomites (δ³⁴S = 33‰), and in subsidence caldera sulfates in basalts (δ³⁴S = 23.2-25.2‰). Sulfide ores of the Tsentral’naya Shilki intrusion have a heavy sulfur isotope composition (δ³⁴S = + 17.7‰ (n = 15)). Thermobarogeochemical studies of anhydrites have revealed inclusions of different types with homogenization temperatures ranging from 685 °C to 80 °C. Metamorphogenic and hypogene anhydrites are associated with a carbonaceous substance, and hypogene anhydrites have inclusions of chloride-containing salt melts. We assume that sulfur in the trap sulfide deposits was introduced with sulfates of sedimentary rocks (δ³⁴S = 22-24‰). No assimilation of sulfates by basaltic melt took place. The sedimentary anhydrites were “steamed” by hydrocarbons, which led to sulfate reduction and δ³⁴S fractionation. As a result, isotopically light sulfur accumulated in sulfides and hydrogen sulfide, isotopically heavy sulfur was removed by aqueous calcium sulfate solution, and “residual” metamorphogenic anhydrite acquired a lighter sulfur isotope composition as compared with the sedimentary one. The wide variations in δ³⁴S in sulfides and sulfates are due to changes in the physicochemical parameters of the ore-forming system (first of all, temperature and P_ch4) during the sulfate reduction. The regional hydrocarbon resources were sufficient for large-scale ore formation.     

Crust structure of the northeastern Barents Sea basin area

Processing of data from regional geophysical surveys completed in the northern Barents Sea has provided updates to gravity and magnetic databases, structural maps of seismic interfaces, and positions of anomaly sources, which made a basis for 3D density and magnetic models of the crust. The new geological and geophysical results placed constraints on the boundaries between basement blocks formed in different settings and on the contours of deposition zones of different ages in the northeastern Barents Sea. The estimated thicknesses of sedimentary sequences that formed within certain time spans record the deposition history of the region. There is a 20-50 km wide deep suture between two basins of Mesozoic and Paleozoic ages in the eastern part of the region, where pre-Late Triassic reflectors have no clear correlation. The suture slopes eastward at a low angle and corresponds to a paleothrust according to seismic and modeling data. In the basement model, the suture is approximated by a zone of low magnetization and density, which is common to active fault systems. The discovery of the suture has important geological and exploration implications.     

Neotectonics of the Kharaulakh sector of the Laptev Shelf

Seismotectonic deformation and crustal stress pattern have been studied comprehensively in major seismogenic structures of the Kharaulakh sector of the Verkhoyansk fold system and adjacent parts of the Chersky seismotectonic zone. The study focuses on neotectonic structures, deep structure, and systems of active faults, as well as tectonic stress fields inferred by tectonophysical analysis of Late Cenozoic faults and folds. The results, along with geological and geophysical data, reveal main strain directions and structural patterns of crustal stress and strain in the Arctic segment of the Eurasia-North America plate boundary. The area is a junction of mid-ocean and continental structures evolving in a mixed setting of extension, compression, and their various combinations. The rotation pole of the two plates is presumably located near Buor-Khaya Bay. In this case, extension is expected to act currently upon the neotectonic structures north of the bay and compression to control those in the south and southeast. This inference is consistent with the identified zoning of stress and strain in the Kharaulakh sector.     

Ore-bearing fluids of the Eldorado gold deposit (Yenisei Ridge,Russia)

The Eldorado low-sulfide gold-quartz deposit, with gold reserves of more than 60 tons, is located in the damage zone of the Ishimba Fault in the Yenisei Ridge and is hosted by Riphean epidote-amphibolite metamorphic rocks (Sukhoi Pit Group). Orebodies occur in four roughly parallel heavily fractured zones where rocks were subject to metamorphism under stress and heat impacts. They consist of sulfide-bearing schists with veins of gray or milky-white quartz varieties. Gray quartz predominating in gold-bearing orebodies contains graphite and amorphous carbon identified by Raman spectroscopy; the contents of gold and amorphous carbon are in positive correlation. As inferred from thermobarometry, gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and Raman spectroscopy of fluid inclusions in sulfides, carbonates, and gray and white quartz, gold mineralization formed under the effect of reduced H₂O-CO₂-HC fluids with temperatures of 180 to 490 °C, salinity of 9 to 22 wt.% NaCl equiv, and pressures of 0.1 to 2.3 kbar. Judging by the presence of 11% mantle helium (³He) in fluid inclusions from quartz and the sulfur isotope composition (7.1-17.4‰ δ³⁴S) of sulfides, ore-bearing fluids ascended from a mantle source along shear zones, where they “boiled”. While the fluids were ascending, the metalliferous S- and N-bearing hydrocarbon (HC) compounds they carried broke down to produce crystalline sulfides, gold, and disseminated graphite and amorphous carbon (the latter imparts the gray color to quartz). Barren veins of milky-white quartz formed from oxidized mainly aqueous fluids with a salinity of < 15 wt.% NaCl equiv at 150-350 °C. Chloride brines (> 30 wt.% NaCl equiv) at 150-260 °C impregnated the gold-bearing quartz veins and produced the lower strata of the hydrothermal-granitoid section. The gold mineralization (795-710 Ma) was roughly coeval to local high-temperature stress metamorphism (836-745 Ma) and intrusion of the Kalama multiphase complex (880-752 Ma).     

Development of medium-term prediction methods: A case study of the August 14, 2016 Onor (Mw = 5.8) earthquake on Sakhalin

The potential of the load-unload response ratio (LURR) method for medium-term earthquake prediction is studied for Sakhalin Island as an example. An approach to the generation of predicted conditions and assessment of their implementation in real time is considered. The results of a retrospective analysis of other large Sakhalin earthquakes are used for generalization. It is shown that deviations of prediction parameters from specified values are satisfactory for this method. It is recommended that this method be used to compile summaries of medium-term predictions for Sakhalin provided that catalogs are filled as soon as possible.     

Phenanthrene biomarkers in the organic matter of Precambrian and Phanerozoic deposits and in the oils of the Siberian Platform

The composition and distribution of phenanthrenes (polyaromatic compounds) have been studied in chloroform extracts from dispersed organic matter (OM) of clayey, siliceous, carbonate, and terrigenous rocks of different ages and facies and from some oils of the Siberian Platform. Phenanthrenes have been analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. High contents of 1,7,8-trimethylphenanthrene and 1,1,7,8-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene are present in the OM of Vendian and Cambrian carbonate-shale deposits and in ancient oils of the Nepa-Botuobiya and Anabar anteclises. The OM of Permian continental deposits and oils of the Vilyui syneclise is dominated by 1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene (retene). A triangular diagram for identification of the types of original OM of rocks and classification of genetically related oils has been constructed based on the assessment of phenanthrene biomarker distribution. Putative pathways of the formation of phenanthrene biomarkers are discussed.     

A distributed parallel multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method on general-purpose graphics processing units for the rapid and scalable computation of absolute permeability from high-resolution 3D micro-CT images

Digital rock physics (DRP) is a rapidly evolving technology targeting fast turnaround times for repeatable core analysis and multi-physics simulation of rock properties. We develop and validate a rapid and scalable distributed-parallel single-phase pore-scale flow simulator for permeability estimation on real 3D pore-scale micro-CT images using a novel variant of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The LBM code implementation is designed to take maximum advantage of distributed computing on multiple general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs). We describe and extensively test the distributed parallel implementation of an innovative LBM algorithm for simulating flow in pore-scale media based on the multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) model that utilizes a precise treatment of body force. While the individual components of the resulting simulator can be separately found in various references, our novel contributions are (1) the integration of all of the mathematical and high-performance computing components together with a highly optimized code implementation and (2) the delivery of quantitative results with the simulator in terms of robustness, accuracy, and computational efficiency for a variety of flow geometries including various types of real rock images. We report on extensive validations of the simulator in terms of accuracy and provide near-ideal distributed parallel scalability results on large pore-scale image volumes that were largely computationally inaccessible prior to our implementation. We validate the accuracy of the MRT-LBM simulator on model geometries with analytical solutions. Permeability estimation results are then provided on large 3D binary microstructures including a sphere pack and rocks from various sandstone and carbonate formations. We quantify the scalability behavior of the distributed parallel implementation of MRT-LBM as a function of model type/size and the number of utilized GPGPUs for a panoply of permeability estimation problems.     

A Cambrian mixed carbonate–siliciclastic platform in SW Gondwana: evidence from the Western Sierras Pampeanas (Argentina) and implications for the early Paleozoic paleogeography of the proto-Andean margin

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Western Sierras Pampeanas (WSP) of Argentina record a protracted geological history from the Mesoproterozoic assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent to...     

Management of shock loads wastewater produced from water heaters industry

Water heater manufacturing represents one sector of household electrical appliance industry. It includes several batch processes which resulted in a highly polluted wastewater as shock loads. The objective of this study was to manage the shock loads wastewater with a simple and cost-effective approach prior to final discharge into municipality. To achieve this objective, two approaches were studied. The first approach was the chemical treatment of the accumulated shock loads wastewater using alum and an anionic polymer. Although this approach produced a very high-quality effluent, it was economically and technically infeasible. The second approach was a controlled release of the shock loads to the normal daily discharge in a way that guarantees the compliance of the end-off-pipe with the National Regulatory Standards. This solution required establishment of an equalization tank for normal daily flow and a holding tank for controlled release of the shock loads. Mathematical calculations were carried out to determine the most violating parameters in order to calculate the mixing ratio the of shock loads with the normal daily flow. Full engineering design of the proposed solution was carried out. This approach was implemented and proved to be simple, easy to operate, cost-effective and can be replicated in similar batch processing manufacturing plants.