Use of sample color to estimate oxidized Fe content in mine waste rock

 Color, a readily perceived feature of natural earth materials, including mine waste, often represents compositional variation as a result of oxidative processes involving Fe. Near surface samples from excavated trenches in a mine-waste rock pile were collected to investigate the relationship between color and contents of Fe, Cu, and S. The silt+clay fraction (<0.05 mm) was isolated from recognizable colored material of the bulk sample for determination of pH, total and extractable Fe and Cu, and bulk mineralogy. Rock fragments within the pile exhibited coatings of crystalline gypsum and amorphous Fe. These coatings result from weathering (secondary products) and play important roles in surface reactions of waste rock piles, such as adsorption of anions (SO₄ ^2–) or coprecipitation of Fe with Cu. The correlation between color (Hurst method) and extractable Fe was high. Although color is influenced by site conditions such as original mineral composition, materials handling, weathering conditions etc., the results suggest that color measurements may provide an inexpensive and rapid estimation for secondary iron compounds and associated sorbed elements. Received: 5 April 1998 · Accepted: 30 June 1998     

An In-situ Experimental Study of Fractures Network Identification within Bedrock by High-density Electrical Resistivity Tomography

对于以低渗透性基岩为处置围岩的核废物地质处置库来说,基岩中的裂隙网络是地下水进入处置库和放射性核素从处置库向外界环境迁移的主要通道.因此,研究基岩内裂隙网络的空间分布特征,对核废物的地质处置是否安全具有十分重要的意义.本文以花岗岩为例通过野外试验,分析研究了利用高密度电阻率成像法(ERT),对处于不同状态条件下的基岩中裂隙网络进行三维原位识别的效果及能力.结果表明在以高阻值为主要电特性的基岩中,利用ERT对基岩中三维裂隙网络进行原位识别是可行的,并且裂隙的电阻率特征能较好的反映出裂隙的空间分布位置和形态,但对裂隙网络识别的效果与测线方向有关.     

Subsurface variations in arsenic mineralogy and geochemistry following long-term weathering of gold mine tailings

Variations in arsenic (As) mineralogy and geochemical controls on its mobility were evaluated in subsurface tailings at the historical Montague and Goldenville mine sites in Nova Scotia, Canada. Tailings at these sites contain some of the highest As concentrations in Nova Scotia and are located in close proximity to local communities. Pore water in the subsurface tailings is characterized by circumneutral to alkaline pH (6.2 to 8.7) and mildly reducing to oxidizing redox conditions (+130 mV to +347 mV). Bulk chemistry, scanning electron microscopy, and synchrotron micro-X-ray diffraction analyses showed As mineral hosts differ with depth. The deepest tailings (max. 2 m) are in direct contact with partially decomposed vegetation, which supports reducing conditions and the precipitation of authigenic As and Fe sulfides. Under reducing conditions, dissolved As concentrations are also controlled by desorption of As from dissolution of Fe and Mn oxides and the sorption or co-precipitation of As with carbonates. These geochemical controls differ from those influencing dissolved As concentrations under oxidizing conditions. In the near surface, As mobility is controlled by oxidative dissolution of primary arsenopyrite, precipitation of secondary Fe arsenates, Fe oxyhydroxides and Mn oxides, secondary Ca-Fe arsenates, and sorption onto Fe oxyhydroxides and gangue minerals. Some of these mineral species are stable under different conditions yet occur in close association, indicating the importance of microenvironments. The results of this study show that the weathering characteristics of these tailings vary with depth, leading to the formation of new As hosts that are distinct from those observed in the near surface. Identification of these As hosts provides an understanding of current controls on As mobility and has implications for future reprocessing and/or remediation efforts.     

湘西土家族苗族自治州荒山资源开发中的问题与对策

湘西自治州,属武陵山区,共有荒山78.3万公顷,占总土地面积的37％,以往开发中存在的主要问题是:毁林开荒,生态环境恶化,水土流失严重,旱涝灾害频繁。对策是:大量发展经济林和用材林,营造水源涵养林和薪炭林,实行林牧结合,提高山地利用率。     

Stratigraphic sequence, elemental concentrations and heavy metal pollution in Holocene sediments from the Tinto-Odiel Estuary, southwestern Spain

 The Holocene filling of the Tinto-Odiel Estuary comprises seven lithofacies over a Mio-Pliocene substrate. The sequence includes three system tracts: lowstand system (10 000 to 8700 years BP), transgressive system (8700 to 7000 years BP), and regressive system (7000 to Recent). Twenty sediment samples from the 50-m borehole were analyzed for their major components and minor element concentrations. Two multivariate analysis methods, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, were performed in the analytical data set to help visualize the sample clusters and the element associations. Samples corresponding to unpolluted, pre-mining sediments are clearly separated by cluster analysis, mainly as a result of the low content in sulphide-associated heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, As, Ag, and Pb. So, these sediments may be utilized as a background for geochemical analysis (bulk sample) in other adjacent estuaries, both in sandy and silty-clayey sediments. As a consequence of large-scale mining and smelting operations occurred since prehistoric times on the river banks, a rapid rise in the metal pollution was found in the upper 2.5 m of the natural filling, with values exceeding up to ten times the natural background levels. In addition, since the mid-1960s, large amounts of waste and pollutant effluents have been discharged from industries located around the estuary, increasing the heavy metal content in the last 0.3 m of the natural sedimentation. Received: 18 August 1997 · Accepted: 19 January 1998     

Borehole Sealing Project at the Grimsel Test Site

Within the context of the phase IV (1994–1996) research and development activities at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS), Nagra developed, in collaboration with the Agence Nationale pour la Gestion des Déchets Radioactifs (Andra), an investigation project for the sealing of boreholes drilled from underground. The project had the following goals:

Stability of expansive cement grout borehole seals emplaced in the vicinity of underground radioactive waste repositories

An expansive cementitious borehole plug emplaced in an underground opening in the vicinity of an underground nuclear waste repository may generate radial stresses on the walls of the opening due to an axial stress applied to the borehole plug and due to plug swelling. As these radial stresses may lead to the tensile fracturing of the rock, minimizing or preferably eliminating tensile stresses in rock is particularly important to preserve waste containment. Presented in this paper are the theoretical radial (normal) stress distribution and tensile strength in a borehole plug–rock system due to combined axial, thermal and lateral loading, along with analyses of plug–rock mechanical interactions in regards to borehole stability against tensile fracturing.     

Contaminant transport modeling in marine clays

The need to develop various offshore containment systems encourages the contaminant transport study in marine clays. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to examine six cases of contaminant transport in marine clays. Adequate literature background on the chemical diffusion of soils, and the earlier reported modeling techniques relevant to the present work have been highlighted. These methods enable a rapid examination of the impact of contaminant physical properties on the environment over a period of time. The numerical results of this study help to understand the chemicals transport phenomena in the marine environment especially at sea bed.     

大亚湾北部沿岸污水排海位置优化选择的研究

阐述了大亚湾北部沿岸污水排海位置优选的方法。根据研究海区的水深条件、海岸地形特点、欧拉余流流场、海流流速、渔业水产、旅游等资源的分布特征和水质条件等，定性地确定６个预选排污海区。然后利用Ｒｏｂｅｒｔｓ的近区初始稀释模型和二维水质模型，以南海石油化工项目的污水排海为例，定量地计算被确定的六个预选排污海区的稀释扩散输移能力。通过比较，认为大亚湾北部沿岸的污水不适宜就近排入靠岸海域。当污水量不大时，排污位置选在距马鞭洲岛南端以东约４ｋｍ处（即Ｃ海区），可达到环境、经济、社会三大效益协调统一的效果。但当污水量较大，排海污染物量大时，排污海域的位置应选择在赤洲岛与黄毛山岛之间，即Ｅ海区．或在Ｃ海区与Ｅ海区之间。     

Seismogeological acceptance criteria for geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel

Qualitative geological acceptance criteria and quantitative seismological acceptance criteria for radioactive waste disposals are developed. The background material for the initiation of site selection and for its earthquake hazard assessment is discussed. The recent movements of the Earth's surface as well as the other mechanical properties of geological media, hydrological conditions of geological blocks, their groundwater chemistry, geochemical rheology, petrological analyses of rocks, etc., have to be taken into account. A new comprehensive integrated safety analysis of the final underground disposal of spent nuclear fuel has been underway in the Czech Republic since 1991. In accordance with these seismogeological acceptance criteria regions for building underground final radioactive waste disposals are singled out in the Czech Republic.