Late Cretaceous rift-related upwelling and melting of the Trindade starting mantle plume head beneath western Brazil

High mantle potential temperatures and local extension, associated with the Late-Cretaceous impact of the Trindade mantle plume, produced substantial widespread and voluminous magmatism around the northern half of the Paraná sedimentary basin. Our previous studies have shown that, above the central and eastern portions of the postulated impact zone where lithosphere extension is minimal, heat conducted by the plume caused large-scale melting of the more fusible parts of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the margin of the São Francisco craton and the surrounding Brasilía mobile belt. Here we combine geochemical data and field evidence from the Poxoreu Igneous Province, western Brazil to show how more intense lithospheric extension above the western margin of the postulated impact zone permitted greater upwelling and melting of the Trindade plume than further east. Laser ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations indicate that rift-related basaltic magmas of the Poxoreu Igneous Province were emplaced at ? 84 Ma. Our detailed geochemical study of the mafic magmas shows that the parental melts underwent polybaric crystal fractionation within the crust prior to final emplacement. Furthermore, some magmas (quartz-normative) appear to have assimilated upper crust whereas others (nepheline- and hypersthene-normative) appear to have been unaffected by open-system crustal magma chamber processes. Incompatible trace element ratios (e.g. chondrite-normalised La/Nb?=?1) and isotopic ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.704 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd?=?0.51274) of the Hy-normative basalts resemble those of oceanic islands (OIB). We therefore propose that these “OIB-like” magmas were predominantly derived from convecting-mantle-source melts (i.e. Trindade mantle plume). Inverse modelling of rare-earth element (REE) abundances suggests that the initial melts were predominantly generated within the depth range of ?80–100 km, in mantle with a potential temperature of ?1500 °C.     

Extraction and recovery of precious metals from electronic waste printed circuit boards by bioleaching acidophilic fungi

Printed circuit boards contain precious metals. They are produced in large volumes, rendering them an important component of the electronic waste. In view of the heterogeneity of the metals present, reprocessing of electronic waste is a heinous task. The present study focused on leaching of valuable metals from electronic waste printed circuit boards using Aspergillus niger DDNS1. The adaptation phases began at 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0% of fine powder of printed circuit boards with 10% inoculum and were optimized with three effective factors, viz. initial pH, particle size and pulp density, to achieve the maximum simultaneous recovery of the valuable metals. The interactions of these metals were also deciphered using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrum and atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results indicated that extraction of the precious metals was accomplished mainly through the unique organic acids originating from A. niger DDNS1. The initial pH played an important role in the extraction of the precious metals and the metals precipitate formation. The leaching rate of the metals was generally higher at low powder dosage of printed circuit boards. The toxicity of the printed circuit boards had little effect on two-step bioleaching at the pulp density of 0.1% compared to one-step bioleaching. The two-step bioleaching process was followed under organic acid-forming conditions for the maximum mobilization of metals. Thus, the precious metals from printed circuit boards could be mobilized through fungal bioleaching which promises an important industrial application in recycling of electronic wastes.     

Rare earth elements in the clay fraction of coaliferous sediments of the Arkagalinskoe (Magadan district) and Dolinskoe (Sakhalin Island) coalfields

The study of REE distribution in the clay fraction of sedimentary rocks from two coalfields made it possible to distinguish several types of REE distribution, which correlate with their mineral composition. It is shown that the REE fractionation was related to the mineral reconstruction of the primary clay fraction and some detrital minerals in the course of postsedimentary transformations of rocks during diagenesis, early catagenesis, and beginning of late catagenesis. These transformations were governed by several factors, such as the composition of sediments; hydrochemical features of accumulation environment; the chemical composition, dynamics, and feeding sources of pore solutions; the porosity and permeability of sediments and rocks; and the content of organic matter and its reaction ability.