Authigenic Phyllosilicates in Sand Layers from the Mudflats of Saline Lakes in the Northern Great Prairies, Saskatchewan

ABSTRACT The mudflats of saline lakes are amenable to authigenic clay formation due to the high ionic strength of the solutions driven by evaporative concentration and due to the fluctuating wet/dry cycles. However, the mudflats of saline lakes have received relatively little study given the challenges in sampling unstable sediments coupled with post-depositional alterations that make direct relationships to the climate difficult. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the authigenic phyllosilicates present, the mudflats of 17 sulfate-rich saline lake basins across southern Saskatchewan were sampled. The <2 μm fraction was separated from the sediments and analyzed utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, bulk chemical analysis via digestion and inductively coupled optical emission spectroscopy, and visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The mudflat sediments were characterized as highly variable and were classified based on particle size into sediment classes A (clay-rich), B (unsorted till), and C (sand). Despite the high variability in sorting and thickness of the sedimentary layers, the phyllosilicates were distinctive within each class independent of the basin. Phyllosilicates in sediment class A were characterized by well-crystalline dioctahedral (Al) clays similar to the surrounding soils with smectite > illite > kaolinite > chlorite. Phyllosilicates from sediment class B displayed highly variable characteristics ranging between classes A and C. Clays from sediment class C were dominated by illite with decreasing proportions of smectite, kaolinite, and chlorite. The illite in the sand lenses was poorly formed, with broad reflections in the XRD patterns indicative of small crystallite size or high disorder, which is consistent with an authigenic nature. The clays in class C were rich in iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg) and displayed lath-like morphologies common with authigenic illite forming in sandy porous sediments. The sand lenses of mudflats represent viable targets for finding authigenic clay minerals in detrital-rich sediments to use in understanding past climates on Earth and Mars.

Vivianite formation as indicator of human impact in porous sediments

Environmental geological survey of a chemical works situated in NE Hungary has been performed for decades. Up till now, several hundreds of drillings of different depths as well as engineering geological soundings have been carried out in the area. Vivianite has been found in a discrete part of a drilling in a gray, silty bed at the depth 6.8–8.5 m. Vivianite was analyzed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), thermal analysis (TG/DTG), and scanning electron microscopic and energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDS) techniques. To demonstrate the spatial distribution of hydrochemical parameters and selected chemical constituents the available data concerning drillings and hydrochemical analyses were collected and evaluated, and field measurements were also performed. For mapping the distribution of relevant physico-chemical parameters and chemical constituents kriging interpolation method was used. Archive aerial photographs demonstrate that a coffered, earth-bedded reservoir for storing huge amounts of extracted plant debris is situated in the vicinity of the drilling. Our study suggests that orthophosphate derived from decomposing biomass entered the groundwater and accumulated within the lowest permeability zone of the intact bedrock. Therefore, the discrete appearance of vivianite in the drilling can be regarded, at least partly, the result of a man-induced mineralogical process.

How to Prevent Flow Failures in Tailings Dams

Based on research carried out at 67 tailings dams in Spain: (1) tailings dams contain alternating sedimentary layers with contractive and dilative geomechanical behaviours; (2) tailings saturate quickly but drain more than 10 times slower due to the high-suction capacity of the porous sediments (2–300 MPa); and (3) over the long-term, a stationary flow regime is attained within a tailings basin. Four temporal and spatial conditions must all be present for a tailing dams flow failure to occur: (1) the tailings must experience contractive behaviour; (2) the tailings must be fully saturated; (3) the effective stress due to static or dynamic load must approach zero; and (4) the shear stress must exceed the tailings residual shear stress. Our results also indicate that the degree of saturation (Sr) is the most influential factor controlling dam stability. The pore-pressure coefficient controls geotechnical stability: when it exceeds 0.5 (Sr = 0.7), the safety factor decreases dramatically. Therefore, controlling the degree of tailings saturation is instrumental to preventing dam failures, and can be achieved using a double drainage system, one for the unconsolidated foundation materials and another for the overlying tailings.

Proposal of Guidelines for field description and classification of porous sediments from water well drilling - in situ fast procedure - ver 1.0

In water well drilling, with both cable tool and direct or reverse circulation, it is necessary to produce a correct description of the grain size distribution in the subsoil of porous sediments. Guidelines are proposed which can be applied to describe the stratigraphy of the borehole, reaching a reasonable compromise between ease of use on site and a correct scientific approach. Adoption of the Guidelines allows an increase in the qualitative standard of the stratigraphic description and thus an improvement and greater reliability in the geological interpretation of the subsoil, above all from the sedimentological and hydrogeological points of view.

GEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF LAKE VAN (TURKEY) FOR URANIUM-THORIUM DEPOSITION

Purpose of this study is to prove most probable existence of economical U-Th mineralisations within Tatvan Basin which have been hidden among foreign international research project manuscripts of Lake Van and to inform the importance of national exploration studies. Lake Van is a pull-apart basin formed within Quaternary Muş-Zagros suture zone with right lateral movement. Calculations on heat transfer below the Tatvan Basin indicate that a constant heat flow is about fourty times the continental average which have been only reported from some oceanic ridges. Data indicate the heat source below Tatvan Basin bottom represents a steadily collapsing cauldron subsidence of Nemrut volcano’s magma chamber. Lake Van surface water has mean 76ppb dissolved uranium content of hyrothermal and authigenic origin. It is calculated that there is at least 50.000 tons of dissolved uranium exists in the Lake Van waters. Ultimate deposition of U-Th mineralisation within euxinic Tatvan Basin have been expected to be a continuous process during geologic history of Lake Van as long as uranium resources remain and its NaHCO3 water functions as dissolving agent Sodic Lake Van waters continuously dissolve uranium from 1) high 3He/4He and U-Th containing hydrothermal fluxes of mantle origin coming up through cauldron subsidence faults of Tatvan Basin, 2) per-alkaline rhyolitic volcanic ash rain of Nemrut volcanism, 3) Bitlis granitoid Massive basement, 4) repeated authigenic disentegrations of U to (Th and 4He) within the sedimentary deposites of Tatvan Basin through its 600.000 years history. Tatvan Basin is the deepest basin with 450m depth, 300km2 flat area and constant unoxic basal water table undisturbed by currents and has the following verifications for Quaternary U-Th depositions in the unconsolidated porous sediments: 1) organic mass rich levels with reducing microbial activities, 2) evaporitic dolomites deposited during low stand lake levels with high U-Th concentrations, 3) varved, mixed-layered clays with high hectorite content, 4) sub-aquaeous, basic-intermediate volcanic basement intrusions with reducing properties, 5) measured very low redox potentials in basal environment, 6) very high density of U-Th. Drilling core sequence and the gamma ray logs from Ahlat Ridge have been used in the foreign literature published since 1974 until now while the existence or non-existence of uranium has not been mentioned. Gamma ray logs of drilling cores and their pore water analyses from Tatvan Basin were carried out abroad but not published yet. Thus gamma ray logs belonging only to shallow Ahlat Ridge sequence where uranium mineral precipitation is not possible is misleading.