Influence of mining activity on the downstream sediments of scheelite mines in Currais Novos (NE Brazil)

The study area is one of the most important mineral provinces of the Rio Grande do Norte State (NE Brazil), which has been extensively exploited since 1940. This article presents a geochemical investigation of stream sediments taken in the drainage system between the Brejuí and Barra Verde scheelite mines, and the Gargalheiras municipal reservoir, in Acari city. In addition to the major elements, the trace elements V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Sn, Ba, W were analyzed and compared to metal levels reported in the literature for the same area. The elements W, Mo, Cu, Sn and in part Zn are enriched in sediments of rivulets forming the drainage system close to the mining district. This is due to emission from uncovered mine waste dumps. Dispersion of elements is controlled by both, aeolian as well as fluvial transport. The concentration of Cu in stream sediments close to the mines reaches toxic levels. At the mouth of the drainage system to the reservoir, the elements W and Mo are still enriched in the stream sediments relative to the geogenic background by factors of 15 and 11, respectively. This indicates the probable influence of mining activity to the reservoir sediments, and mobilization of W and Mo in the reservoir water cannot be ruled out.     

Assessment of climate change impacts on the hydrology of the Peruvian Amazon–Andes basin

In this article, we propose an investigation of the modifications of the hydrological response of two Peruvian Amazonas–Andes basins in relationship with the modifications of the precipitation and evapotranspiration rates inferred by the IPCC. These two basins integrate around 10% of the total area of the Amazonian basin. These estimations are based on the application of two monthly hydrological models, GR2M and MWB3, and the climatic projections come from BCM2, CSMK3 and MIHR models for A1B and B1 emission scenarios (SCE A1B and SCE B1). Projections are approximated by two simple scenarios (anomalies and horizon) and annual rainfall rates, evapotranspiration rates and discharge were estimated for the 2020s (2008–2040), 2050s (2041–2070) and 2080s (2071–2099). Annual discharge shows increasing trend over Requena basin (Ucayali river), Puerto Inca basin (Pachitea river), Tambo basin (Tambo river) and Mejorada basin (Mantaro river) while discharge shows decreasing trend over the Chazuta basin (Huallaga river), the Maldonadillo basin (Urubamba river) and the Pisac basin (Vilcanota river). Monthly discharge at the outlet of Puerto Inca, Tambo and Mejorada basins shows increasing trends for all seasons. Trends to decrease are estimated in autumn discharge over the Requena basin and spring discharge over Pisac basin as well as summer and autumn discharges over both the Chazuta and the Maldonadillo basins. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Basin-scale analysis of rainfall and runoff in Peru (1969–2004): Pacific,Titicaca and Amazonas drainages

Abstract

We present a procedure for estimating Q95 low flows in both gauged and ungauged catchments where Q95 is the flow that is exceeded 95% of the time. For each step of the estimation procedure, a number of alternative methods was tested on the Austrian data set by leave-one-out cross-validation, and the method that performed best was used in the final procedure. To maximise the accuracy of the estimates, we combined relevant sources of information including long streamflow records, short streamflow records, and catchment characteristics, according to data availability. Rather than deriving a single low flow estimate for each catchment, we estimated lower and upper confidence limits to allow local information to be incorporated in a practical application of the procedure. The components of the procedure consist of temporal (climate) adjustments for short records; grouping catchments into eight seasonality-based regions; regional regressions of low flows with catchment characteristics; spatial adjustments for exploiting local streamflow data; and uncertainty assessment. The results are maps of lower and upper confidence limits of low flow discharges for 21 000 sub-catchments in Austria.     

Unusual transition in quartzite dislocation creep regimes and crystal slip systems in the aureole of the Eureka Valley–Joshua Flat–Beer Creek pluton, California: a case for anhydrous conditions created by decarbonation reactions

Microstructures and quartz c-axis fabrics were analyzed in five quartzite samples collected across the eastern aureole of the Eureka Valley–Joshua Flat–Beer Creek composite pluton. Temperatures of deformation are estimated to be 740±50 °C based on a modified c-axis opening angle thermometer of Kruhl (J. Metamorph. Geol. 16 (1998) 142). In quartzite layers located closest (140 m) to the pluton-wall rock contact, flattened detrital grains are plastically deformed and partially recrystallized. The dominant recrystallization process is subgrain rotation (dislocation creep regime 2 of Hirth and Tullis (J. Struct. Geol. 14 (1992) 145)), although grain boundary migration (dislocation creep regime 3) is also evident. Complete recrystallization occurs in quartzite layers located at a distance of 240 m from the contact, and coincides with recrystallization taking place dominantly through grain boundary migration (regime 3). Within the quartzites, strain is calculated to be lowest in the layers closest to the pluton margin based on the aspect ratios of flattened detrital grains.The c-axis fabrics indicate that a slip operated within the quartzites closest to the pluton-wall rock contact and that with distance from the contact the operative slip systems gradually switch to prism [c] slip. The spatial inversion in microstructures and slip systems (apparent “high temperature” deformation and recrystallization further from the pluton-contact and apparent “low temperature” deformation and recrystallization closer to the pluton-contact) coincides with a change in minor phase mineral content of quartzite samples and also in composition of the surrounding rock units. Marble and calc-silicate assemblages dominate close to the pluton-wall rock contact, whereas mixed quartzite and pelite assemblages are dominant further from the contact.We suggest that a thick marble unit located between the pluton and the quartzite layers acted as a barrier to fluids emanating from the pluton. Decarbonation reactions in marble layers interbedded with the inner aureole quartzites and calc-silicate assemblages in the inner aureole quartzites may have produced high X_CO2 (water absent) fluids during deformation. The presence of high X_CO2 fluid is inferred from the prograde assemblage of quartz+calcite (and not wollastonite)+diopside±K-feldspar in the inner aureole quartzites. We suggest that it was these “dry” conditions that suppressed prism [c] slip and regime 3 recrystallization in the inner aureole and resulted in a slip and regime 2 recrystallization, which would normally be associated with lower deformation temperatures. In contrast, the prograde assemblage in the pelite-dominated outer part of the aureole is biotite+K-feldspar. These “wet” pelitic assemblages indicate fluids dominated by water in the outer part of the aureole and promoted prism [c] slip and regime 3 recrystallization. Because other variables could also have caused the spatial inversion of c-axis fabrics and recrystallization mechanisms, we briefly review those variables known to cause a transition in slip systems and dislocation creep regimes in quartz. Our conclusions are based on a small number of samples, and therefore, the unusual development of crystal fabrics and microstructures in the aureole to the EJB pluton suggests that further study is needed on the effect of fluid composition on crystal slip system activity and recrystallization mechanisms in naturally deformed rocks.     

Thermal expansion and decomposition of jarosite: a high-temperature neutron diffraction study

The structure of deuterated jarosite, KFe₃(SO₄)₂(OD)₆, was investigated using time-of-flight neutron diffraction up to its dehydroxylation temperature. Rietveld analysis reveals that with increasing temperature, its c dimension expands at a rate ~10 times greater than that for a. This anisotropy of thermal expansion is due to rapid increase in the thickness of the (001) sheet of [Fe(O,OH)₆] octahedra and [SO₄] tetrahedra with increasing temperature. Fitting of the measured cell volumes yields a coefficient of thermal expansion, α = α₀ + α₁ T, where α₀ = 1.01 × 10⁻⁴ K⁻¹ and α₁ = −1.15 × 10⁻⁷ K⁻². On heating, the hydrogen bonds, O1···D–O3, through which the (001) octahedral–tetrahedral sheets are held together, become weakened, as reflected by an increase in the D···O1 distance and a concomitant decrease in the O3–D distance with increasing temperature. On further heating to 575 K, jarosite starts to decompose into nanocrystalline yavapaiite and hematite (as well as water vapor), a direct result of the breaking of the hydrogen bonds that hold the jarosite structure together.     

The generation and shape of feeder dykes from mantle sources

The criterion for fracture propagation suggests that the primary magma generated in the mantle ascends in a stepwise fashion. Initially a pulse of magma forms a dyke above the mantle source and ascends for some distance, whereafter it stops. A subsequent pulse of magma joins the first one, and the ascent of the accumulating body of magma continues for some distance each time a new pulse of magma reaches the body of magma situated in the top of the dyke. In this manner a dyke is formed that may extend either partly or the whole way from the mantle source to the surface. This model may explain the large pressures, up to 2000 bars, that prevail during basaltic eruptions. The calculated shape of the ascending pulses of magma suggests that their heights and widths are similar.     

Regional vulnerability assessment for debris flows in China—a CWS approach

Based on former conceptual models of vulnerability, this paper aims to improve the quantitative model for regional vulnerability assessment by analyzing in-depth the relation between vulnerability, exposure, coping capacity, and resilience. Taking the mountain settlements in the upper reaches of Min River, China, as a case study, the method of Contributing Weight Superposition (CWS) is applied in establishing both a model and a system for the vulnerability assessment of elements at risk. The CWS approach consists of 13 index factors including population, economic and road densities, building and farmland coverage, hazard-affected areas, urbanization rate, and GDP per capita. Accordingly, a debris flow hazard vulnerability zoning map was obtained and the assessment results show that the distribution of high and comparatively high vulnerability zones, where economic activities are considerably high, has a close correlation to the topography of the catchment and population characteristics. The results thus may serve as a pertinent guidance for settlement relocation, population distribution readjustment, and management to prevent and reduce hazards in the upper reaches of Min River and beyond.     

Problems associated with luminescence dating of Late Quaternary glacial sediments in the NW Scottish Highlands

Linking the timing of glacial episodes and behaviour to climatic shifts that are documented in ice and marine sedimentary archives is key to understanding ocean-land interactions. In the NW Scottish Highlands a large number of closely spaced (‘hummocky’) moraines formed at retreating glacier margins. Independent age control on one palaeo-glacier limit is consistent with the timing of Younger Dryas (YD) glaciation in the area, but adjacent glacier lobes have remained undated due to the lack of sites and material for ¹⁴C dating. Direct dating of ice-marginal moraines using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques has never been attempted before in Scotland, but if successful, they may be the most appropriate methods for constraining the age of sediment deposition in the absence of organic material. Coarse-grained quartz and K-feldspar minerals from supraglacial sheet flow deposits and glacilacustrine sediments within ice-marginal moraines were analysed using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. Independent age control and clear geomorphological relationships indicate that all samples should yield YD or post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ages. Quartz OSL shine down curves showed low luminescence sensitivity, significant medium-to-slow components, a weak fast component, and scattered SAR data; Linearly Modulated-OSL (LM-OSL) measurements confirmed that the fast component was weak or absent. In contrast, feldspar infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) was highly sensitive with excellent SAR data. However, SAR data from 3 mm diameter aliquots of feldspar (200 grains) give higher than expected equivalent doses (D_e) by an order of magnitude. SAR measurements of small clusters of feldspar grains (ranging from 1–8) considerably broaden the apparent D_e distribution, but even the lowest value is about 2–3 times the expected D_e. Two possibilities arise to explain the quartz and feldspar data: (1) that glacial sequences in the NW Highlands re-work inherited (older) glacial deposits and that some of the pre-Devensian existing glacial landforms have only been modified during Devensian glaciation; or (2) that the sedimentary processes operating in these ice-marginal environments are not conducive to adequate bleaching of quartz and feldspar grains. Our study implies that ice-proximal supraglacial sediments from this region in NW Scotland reflect older ages of deposition, but dating YD sediments has not been possible.