The Oldoynio Lengai volcano, Tanzania: the essence of its recent eruptions

The article considers the nature of the volcanic fluxes that are traditionally interpreted as the only example of recent mantle-derived carbonatite lavas (carbonate magmas or melts) on the Earth. However, it turns out that this is not correct. These fluxes represent muddy soda masses with organics. Their source are masses of solutions and sediments of the Natron alkaline lake, that penetrate deep to the above-chamber space of the volcano along riftogenic faults, where they are heated and then erupt as fluxes, geysers, and ash masses. The eruption products in turn get to the lake again. At the recent stage of development, the Oldoynio Lengai volcano represents an epimagmatic phreatic hydrothermal recycling system.

Source Rock Evaluation and Hydrocarbon Generation Model of a Permian Alkaline Lakes—A Case Study of the Fengcheng Formation in the Mahu Sag, Junggar Basin

The alkaline lake source rocks of the Fengcheng Formation are developed in the Mahu Sag of the Junggar Basin. Different from traditional continental fresh water and saltwater lake source rocks, alkaline lake source rocks lack targeted evaluation criteria, and it is unknown whether their hydrocarbon generation models are consistent with traditional models. Therefore, in the present study, evaluation standards and hydrocarbon generation models of alkaline lake source rocks are discussed based on geological and organic geochemical data and a systematic summary of the geochemical characteristics of the Fengcheng Formation source rocks. The Fengcheng Formation source rocks are mainly diamictite with mixed argillaceous rock and dolomite; most total organic carbon (TOC) values range from 0.2–1.4%; and the kerogen is primarily oil-prone type II, reaching low- to high-maturity stages. Based on the types of organic matter in source rocks and the relationships between organic matter abundance parameters, the evaluation standard of alkaline lake source rocks is proposed. The Fengcheng Formation is mainly composed of good to excellent source rocks (55.5%) with high hydrocarbon generation potential. The single-peak hydrocarbon generation model of the Fengcheng Formation is similar to that of traditional freshwater or saltwater lakes, with a high hydrocarbon generation rate, two to five times that of the traditional model; its main particularity is in the formation of naphthenic crude oil from the kerogen of bacteria and algae. A new understanding of the hydrocarbon generation potential and model of alkaline lake source rocks in the Fengcheng Formation can provide support for tight oil and shale oil exploration in the Mahu Sag.

Spatial Variations of the Bacterial Diversity in an Alkaline Lake

Lake Iznik is one of the largest lake of Turkey covering 308 km2 surface area with 65 m max. depth. The lake has alkaline characteristics (Akcaalan et al. 2014). It is a mesotrophic lake that becomes stratified between June-September and well mixed between October-April. Although there are almost 200 lakes in Turkey, there is very little published research focused on the bacterial diversity structures (Ozbayram et al. 2020.) The specific objective of this study was to evaluate the bacterial community profile in the surface water and sediment of the alkaline lake during the winter turnover. For this purpose, the samples were collected from 6 stations (5 on the shore and 1 in the middle of the lake) in February 2020 when the lake was completely mixed. In addition to the surface water and sediment samples, a sample was also collected from the depth of 40 m from the station located in the mid-lake. The water samples were filtered from a 0.22 µm filter and the sediment samples were taken into sterile plastic containers. The total DNAs were extracted using the NucleoSpin® Soil Kit (Macherey-Nagel, Germany) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Bacterial community profiles of the samples were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene-targeted sequencing using Illumina® MiSeq™. Physicochemical parameters were measured as explained by Ozbayram et al. 2020. The pH was between 8.29-8.67 and the Electrical Conductivity (EC) was in the range of 734-996 µS/cm (Suppl. material 1 -Table S1). Whereas the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) levels were measured as 10.12-11.65 mg/L in the surface waters, it was 9.72 mg/L in the 40 m. Among all samples, the highest value of the Shannon and Pielou's evenness indices were calculated for the surface water sample collected from station 2 indicated a more evenly distributed and diverse bacterial community (Suppl. material 1-Table S2). Bacterial diversity patterns of the samples were presented at the phylum level in Figure 1. In compliance with the literature on freshwaters (Zhang et al. 2014), the community was dominated by Proteobacteria species, and higher abundances were determined in the sediment samples (ranged 40.4-50.0 %). Especially, Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria were the major classes of this phylum in the sediment. On the other hand, the composition of bacterial communities in water samples showed a difference in which Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes (in particular, the order: Flavobacteriales) were also predominated the communities. However, the community profile slightly differed with depth (station 6). At the genus level, most of the reads were not assigned any genera. Ilumatobacter, Fluviicola, and Flavobacterium were represented 3.4-7.1% of the bacterial community of water samples. Fig. 1 Overall, due to the complete mixing conditions in the lake, there was a homogenization of the bacterial communities and the diversity patterns were quite similar in the water samples. In further studies, samples will be collected during the stratification and the community structures will be compared.

Interaction of ions of heavy metals and organic toxicants with humic substances in system ‘atmospheric precipitation - lysimetric waters - lake waters’ of the Reserve of the European Territory of Russia: climatic, technogenic, geochemical fact

<p>The reactions of toxicants with organic substances of a humic nature are complex and depend on many geochemical factors. Differences in the mechanisms of the selected toxicants binding with organic natural substances of various natural waters - atmospheric precipitation, lake waters (acidic and alkaline), lysimetric waters are especially interesting. Due to significant concentration differences, features of functional groups and size distribution of components, the inactivation features of humic substances are selective and highly variable. We studied the waters of an acid lake near the city of Valday (Valday National Park, conditionally a background lake) and alkaline lake Valday (city of Valday, local technogenic influence). Near each lake there was a sediment collector (a container for collecting atmospheric precipitation) and a lysimeter (a container under the soil for collecting soil moisture) under the humus horizon (about 20 cm). Particular attention was paid to soil (lysimetric) waters with varying degrees of anthropogenic impact. We considered the behavior of a large group of heavy metals, as well as benzopyrene. To assess the composition and qualitative features of organic substances, gas chromatography-mass spectrometric methods of analysis were used. Chromatographic methods were used to assess the molecular weight distribution of the components. Possible reaction mechanisms were studied by IR spectral methods. Evaluation of the reactivity of organic substances was carried out by the methods of dynamic light scattering (zeta potential, MM, size) using the "Zeta-sizer nano". In addition to humic substances in the waters, the contents of autochthonous organic matter were estimated, especially in an alkaline lake, which in some periods prevailed over humic ones. In addition to humic substances in the waters, the contents of autochthonous organic matter were estimated, especially in an alkaline lake, which in some periods prevailed over humic ones. For separation, exchange technique and fluorometric evaluations were used. We conducted research in the period 2015-2020, sampling was carried out in spring, summer, autumn. Thus, we studied the circulation (in miniature) of changes in the protective properties of humic substances, depending on a large number of factors.</p>