mineralogy and petrography of the two lower eocene lacustrine coals sorgun and suluova turkey abstract coal reserves of lower eocene age are limited in turkey and the most important are situated in the sorgun and suluova basins a thick and laterally extensive coal seam occurs at the base of the celtek formation in the two basins the celtek formation was developed in a fluvial lacustrine facies and was unconformably overlain by transgressive units of middle upper eocene age the coal samples were studied mineralogically and petrographically and to define fluorescence emission spectra of sporinite and cutinite a total of 75 coal samples collected from the two basins are characterized on an air dried basis by relatively low moisture contents 0 69 9 31 wt av 3 90 wt a broad range of ash yields 2 4 67 8 wt av 19 9 wt total sulphur contents 0 55 7 60 wt av 2 15 wt and calorific values 1689 7480 kcal kg av 5458 kcal kg minerals of the coals from the two basins determined on an air dried basis by x ray diffraction method are mainly kaolinite quartz and pyrite kaolinite and pyrite contents of the sorgun coals are higher and quartz contents are lower than those of the suluova coals in addition a few samples in the sorgun coals contain epigenetic calcite whereas some samples in the suluova coals contain syngenetic siderite calcite and dolomite the coals in general are characterized by high contents of macerals of the huminite group av 69 0 vol and contain liptinite av 4 9 vol inertinite av 0 8 vol and mineral matter av 25 3 vol on the tpi and gi diagram the coals plot in the limno telmatic and telmatic areas in which the sorgun and suluova peats accumulated between the high and low water tables fluorescence emission spectra of sporinite and cutinite macerals are in general similar in the coals of both basins but the spectral maxima of sporinites and cutinites are between 594 658 nm and 592 671 nm respectively the values for the sporinites indicate a relatively broad range of coal rank however the range of values of the mean random ulminite mainly eu ulminite a reflectances 0 46 0 60 rr av 0 53 rr the proximate and ultimate analyses imply that the rank is a subbituminous a coal transitional to high volatile c bituminous coal according to the astm classification

palaeoclimatic evolution and vegetational changes during the late oligocene miocene period in western and central anatolia turkey abstract neogene basins are widespread in turkey and contain important lignite deposits in this study we reconstruct quantitatively the late oligocene miocene climate evolution in western and central anatolia by applying the coexistence approach to the palynofloras obtained from the published literatures and ongoing studies the coexistence approach results show that sedimentation occurred mainly under warm subtropical climatic conditions during the chattian and aquitanian period in western anatolia 16 5 21 3 c mean annual temperature mat and 5 5 13 3 c mean temperature of coldest month cmt rare occurrences of dinoflagellate cysts in the chattian and aquitanian indicates a marine influence after the regression of the sea during the burdigalian period climate becomes cooler due to a decrease of the palaeotropical arctotertiary ratio during the latest burdigalian langhian vegetation developed under terrestrial conditions which had started in the burdigalian time in western and central anatolia and continued to the early middle serravallian period the climate was subtropical in western and central anatolia during the early late serravalian 17 2 to 20 8 c for mat and 9 6 to 13 1 c for cmt besides increase of the cmt and mat values in western and central anatolia supports the latest chattian earliest aquitanian warming and middle miocene climatic optimum being also globally observed warm temperate climatic conditions are observed in the late miocene during the early middle tortonian the values are 15 6 to 20 8 c for the mat 5 5 to 13 3 c for the cmt and 823 and 1520 mm for the mean annual precipitation map they had experienced dry seasons due to lower boundary of map lying at 823 mm during the middle late tortonian the palaeotopography of central anatolia was higher compared to that of western anatolia during the middle late miocene as indicated by a rich species diversification in mountain forests this study provides the first quantitative model for late oligocene miocene palaeoclimatic evolution in western and central anatolia

a source to sink perspective of the waipaoa river margin abstract a fundamental goal of the earth science community is to understand how perturbations on earth s surface are preserved in the stratigraphic record recent source to sink s2s studies of the waipaoa sedimentary system wss new zealand are synthesized herein to provide a holistic perspective of the processes that generate transport and preserve sedimentary strata and organic carbon on the waipaoa margin in the late quaternary rapid uplift associated with subduction processes and weak sedimentary units have conspired to generate rapid rates of incision and erosion in the waipaoa catchment since the last glacial maximum lgm we show that although much of the sediment exported offshore during this time interval originated from valley excavation a substantial portion emanated from hillslopes mostly through deep seated landslide and earthflow processes that were vigorous during periods of rapid fluvial incision just prior to the pleistocene holocene transition lacustrine sediments deposited in naturally dammed 7 ky old lake tutira provide a record of holocene environmental controls on upper catchment sedimentation in the wss with 1400 storms identified storm frequency is modulated by the waxing and waning of atmospheric teleconnections between the tropics and antarctica furthermore clear long term changes in sediment yield are evident from the lake tutira record following human settlement as conversion to pasture is accompanied by a 3 fold increase in the long term lake sediment accumulation rate whereas there is ample evidence that waipaoa river flood deposits are routinely deposited offshore in the sheltered confines of poverty bay over the longer term waves and currents subsequently resuspend and transport these deposits both landward sandy fraction and seaward finer fraction thus the timing of sediment supply to areas of net sediment accumulation is more often driven by wave events that are not associated with river flooding therefore we conclude that asynchronicity of river sediment delivery and of wave resuspension in most instances precludes the direct preservation of flood events in the stratigraphic record of the waipaoa shelf over the longer term the sediment package preserved on the shelf and slope since the lgm can be explained in large measure by sequence stratigraphic models forced by varying sea level and ongoing tectonic deformation of the margin as sea level rose sediment supply to the slope was reduced by about a factor of 5 due to shelf trapping despite this reduction turbidites are found at similar frequency throughout the lgm present as the dominant trigger appears to be subduction earthquakes with large ones having a return interval of about 200 100 years sediment budget exercises that consider both modern river discharge versus centennial accumulation rates and post lgm terrestrial production versus offshore isopachs mass balances indicate that about half of the total sediment production from the waipaoa escapes the study area moreover a coupled sediment transport hydrodynamic model and observations of textural trends on the shelf indicate that a large fraction of the sediment is carried outside the study area along the shelf to the northeast by the river plume or by combined current wave activity therefore we conclude that the wss is an open system with sediment escape from the present day through the lgm the organic matter associated with sediment as it moves from upland source to marine sink is a product of particle history and provides a record of materials that have cycled over timescales of days to millions of years the ubiquity of fossil organic carbon oc in both the terrestrial and marine realms of the waipaoa attests both to the chronic nature of its source crumbling mudstones further destabilized by land use and its biogeochemical recalcitrance modern oc persists by virtue of its continual production along the s2s transit and is buried and preserved within the adjacent marine depocenters the waipaoa contrasts with dispersal systems on wide energetic shelves e g the amazon and fly rivers where sediment is extensively refluxed in oxygenated overlying water resulting in the biogeochemical incineration of particulate oc the waipaoa like other small mountainous rivers on active margins exhibits a high riverine oc preservation efficiency 50 in its marine depocenters because of the relatively rapid event driven accumulation of sediment

sr and nd isotopes in river sediments from the ganga basin sediment provenance and spatial variability in physical erosion 1 sr and nd concentrations and isotope compositions in sediment of the ganga river from gangotri to rajmahal and its tributaries have been measured to determine provenance and the spatial variability in physical erosion among the ganga subbasins sr and nd in silicates range from 37 to 138 and from 10 to 36 g g with 87sr 86sr and nd of 0 7474 0 8428 and 25 5 to 15 5 respectively the results suggest that 65 of ganga mainstream sediments are derived from the higher himalayan crystallines highlighting intense physical erosion in this region the 87sr 86sr values of sediments in the gangetic plain show nearly identical trends during two seasons with a sharp and significant decrease at barauni downstream of gandak confluence this brings out the major impact of the sediment contribution from the gandak to the ganga mainstream model calculation suggests that about half of the ganga sediment at rajmahal is sourced from the gandak the erosion rates in the himalayan subbasins of the ganga range between 0 5 and 6 mm a where a is years with the gandak having the highest erosion rate high relief and intense precipitation over the headwater basins of the gandak appear to drive the rapid and focused erosion of this basin the results of this study and those in literature suggest that the eastern syntaxis brahmaputra the western syntaxis indus and the gandak have much higher physical erosion rates than the other himalayan basins focused erosion in the hot spots of these river basins contributes significantly to the global riverine sediment budget and influence regional tectonics

geochemistry of river borne clays entering the east china sea indicates two contrasting types of weathering and sediment transport processes the east china sea is characterized by wide continental shelf receiving a huge input of terrigenous matter from both large rivers and mountainous rivers which makes it an ideal natural laboratory for studying sediment source to sink transport processes this paper presents mineralogical and geochemical data of the clays and bulk sediments from the rivers entering the east china sea aiming to investigate the general driving mechanism of silicate weathering and sediment transport processes in east asian continental margin two types of river systems tectonically stable continental rivers and tectonically active mountainous rivers coexist in east asia as the direct weathering products clays can better reflect the silicate weathering regimes within the two river systems provenance rock types are not the dominant factor causing silicate weathering intensity difference existed in the east asian rivers the silicate weathering intensity of tectonically stable river basins is primarily driven by monsoon climate and the sediment transfer is relatively slow because of natural trapping process and increasing damming effect the geochemistry of these river borne sediments can thus indicate paleo weathering intensities in east asian continent in contrast silicate weathering intensity in tectonically active mountainous rivers is greatly limited by strong physical erosion despite the high temperature and highest monsoon rainfall the factors controlling silicate weathering in tectonically active catchments are complex and thus it should be prudent to use river sediment records to decipher paleoclimate change these two different silicate weathering regimes and sediment transport processes are manifestations of the landscape evolution and overall dominate the sedimentation in asian continental margin

mineral matter major and trace element content of the afsin elbistan coals kahramanmaras turkey abstract the afsin elbistan coal basin is one of the most important coal deposits of turkey the mineral matter major and trace element concentrations of the afsin elbistan coals and their modes of occurrence are discussed in this study the coal seam is located within the upper miocene pliocene aged ahmetcik formation which is represented by fluvial lacustrine facies thickness of the coal zone is 80 m but it reaches 105 m in the kislakoy sector a total of 86 samples were taken from the kislakoy open pit mine and from the 14 boreholes drilled by the general directorate of mineral research and exploration mta for coal exploration the proximate xrd sem eds major and trace element analyses were conducted on the samples the studied coals are characterized by relatively high moisture ash total sulfur volatile matter contents and low gross calorific values the mineral matters of the afsin elbistan coal are represented by calcite quartz pyrite feldspar aragonite opal ct gypsum jarosite and clay minerals strontium rb sm zr hf nb mo u zn pb as mn co cr and ni concentrations detected by edp xrf are higher than the world brown coal values many of the trace elements showing positive correlations with ash content imply inorganic affinity the element concentrations of the coals are mainly related to the carbonate silicate sulfide phosphate ore minerals and fossil shells however some elements have also organic affinities

from mountain source to ocean sink the passage of sediment across an active margin waipaoa sedimentary system new zealand abstract the joint us nz source to sink initiative aims to unravel the tectonic climatic and other processes that shape the landscape from the mountains to deep ocean of two focus areas chosen world wide the waipaoa sedimentary system wss of north eastern new zealand was identified as an example of a mid latitude high sediment input system it resides within the westerly wind belt and extends across the convergence zone of the australian and pacific plates accordingly the tectonic and climatic drivers are prominent and their influences on the wss are decipherable as is documented in the suite of source to sink studies presented in this special issue of marine geology the wss is forced at several temporal and spatial scales which collectively appear as short term events storms earthquakes and volcanic eruptions superimposed on long term behavioural shifts tectonic uplift and eustatic sea level change overall the wss is undergoing uplift which has been contributing to valley incision since the last glacial maximum uplift is both gradual and intermittent the latter relating to fault and subduction related earthquakes such seismic activity destabilises the landscape and together with frequent storms generates large amounts of sediment as this sediment passes through the system part is captured in traps formed by local subsidence of the coastal plain and middle continental shelf where large thicknesses of holocene and probably older sediment are sequestered e g 200 m under the coastal plain nevertheless substantial sediment still reaches the continental slope to accumulate in canyon heads and slope basins with other deposits redistributed down slope in mass flows major volcanic eruptions also affect the sediment flux via direct input from ash fall and by enhanced erosion following volcanic destruction of terrestrial vegetation frequent storms of varying intensity play a key role in the generation and transfer of sediment major events such as cyclone bola of 1988 inundated the shelf with sediment but identifiable flood deposits were preserved only locally attesting to the effectiveness of shelf physical and biological mixing regimes despite the storms earthquakes and volcanic eruptions the largest perturbation of the wss at least in the last 2400 years has been the human deforestation of the landscape the resultant influx of sediment overwhelmed the shelf s storage capacity instead of capturing 90 the fluvial input as in pre human times the modern shelf retains only 25 the remainder escaping to the slope and elsewhere

trace elements in the lower pliocene fossiliferous kangal lignites sivas turkey abstract the kangal lignite basin which is one of the most productive lignite basins in eastern anatolia turkey includes two lignite seams containing abundant gastropoda shells in the lower pliocene kalburcayiri formation the seams are currently exploited in an open cast mine in the kalburcayiri field and supply feed coal to a power plant with 300 mw capacity the average thickness of each of the two seams in this mine is about 10 m and they are separated by about 20 m of tuffaceous sedimentary rocks a 15 20 cm thick tuff bed occurs within the upper seam the purpose of the study was to understand mineralogy and trace element concentrations of the two lignite seams in the kalburcayiri formation which were affected by volcanic ashes fifty nine core samples of the lignites from seven boreholes across the basin and eight channel samples from the working lignite seams were collected and analysed by proximate analysis x ray powder diffraction xrd inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry icp ms and scanning electron microscopy sem with energy dispersive x ray microanalysis techniques the samples show that the worked lignite seams on an as received basis contain high moisture contents 43 4 57 8 all the samples on an air dried basis have high ash yields from 19 5 to 81 7 and a broad range of total sulfur contents from 1 16 to 7 04 and calorific values 684 to 4621 kcal kg except for two samples with no temperature rise due to high ash yield the mineral matter of the studied samples is made up of calcite quartz feldspar pyrite opal ct clay minerals gypsum and traces of aragonite the trace element analyses on a whole coal dry basis indicate that most of the borehole samples showed enrichment in specific elements including zn 15 1394 g g mo 13 368 g g and u 5 5 131 g g when compared to the range of these elements for most coals in the world the contents of zn mo and u for the samples from the worked lignite seams are respectively 38 187 54 161 and 28 55 g g the sem studies show that zn is hosted mainly in micron sized zn bearing mineral sphalerite but no mo and u bearing minerals have been detected during these studies except for monazites containing th and u traces the mo and u concentrations are negatively correlated with the ash yields and these elements are contained mainly within organic matter

quality palynology and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the ilgin lignite turkey the ilgin lignite field can be subdivided into the haramikoy and kurugol areas which are separated by an area of basement and a fault the lignite bearing sequence consists mainly of fluvial and lacustrine neogene deposits the ilgin lignite averaging 8 m up to 25 m thick is blackish brown and dark brown in colour the lignite contains abundant brown wood plant remains and white gastropod shells samples have an average of 38 9 moisture on an as received basis and a mean of 3 9 total sulphur on an air dried basis geochemical analysis using an icp ms was undertaken thirteen lignite core samples from three boreholes drilled in the kurugol area were ashed at 750 c the average trace element contents of the lignite show a higher concentration of u average 43 ppm when compared to the range for most coals in the world while the others ti p sc be mn co cu zn ga as rb sr zr nb mo cs ba y ta w tl pb bi th la ce pr nd sm eu gd tb dy ho er yb lu agree with the global ranges the ilgin lignite is identified as of middle miocene middle serravallian age and occurs within lacustrine sediments deposited under subtropical climatic conditions

stratigraphic and geophysical integrated methodologies for the interpretation of sulphur water formational environment in salento italy abstract the salento coal deposits south eastern italy are unutilized because these deposits are thin and nearly uneconomic but they have a high scientific and economic value due to their high organic sulphur content the studied area is located in the western salento peninsula where wells used by a fish farm ittica ugento have shown high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide data from surface and boreholes stratigraphic surveys integrated with electrical resistivity tomography ert allow us to define the structure depths and geometry of the aquifer and its relationship with saltwater intrusion induced polarization ip with pole dipole array survey has been carried out near the coastline the value measured was over 50 msec a direct relationship is shown to exist between ip values and the aquifer containing sulphur water the high resolution of the data obtained with the applied methods not only shows the validity of the methodology but is the key to evaluating the groundwater resources of the area the proposed mechanism is that of entrapment of sulphur water in a graben structure when sulphate enriched waters of marine origin come into contact with organic substances and lignite deposits galatone formation oligocene they are deprived not only of free oxygen but also generate hydrogen sulphide as a result of the reduction of sulphates

precipitation gradients during the miocene in western and central turkey as quantified from pollen data abstract in the present paper we have analyzed thirty five palynofloras covering the time span from the early miocene aquitanian to the late miocene middle tortonian in turkey the results obtained are presented in tables and maps showing temporal palaeoprecipitation values the mean annual precipitation map exceeds 1200 mm during the aquitanian and early middle serravallian it is suggested to have been between 1000 and 1300 mm in the latest serravallian earliest tortonian in western and central turkey in the early middle tortonian the lower boundary of map decreases to below 1000 mm in central and eastern turkey today maps are represented by lower values around 600 1000 mm in western and 400 600 mm in central turkey for the driest month lmp the rainfall was not distributed homogeneously in the aquitanian the calculations are between 36 and 48 mm with humid conditions in western and eastern turkey during the burdigalian and middle miocene the driest month precipitation varied with respect to locations however it is clear that there was a reduction in precipitation during the early middle tortonian with values around 26 27 mm in central and eastern turkey the same pattern is observed for the wettest month precipitation hmp with estimates higher than 200 mm during the aquitanian and earliest tortonian although some areas received low rainfall hmp was reduced between 130 and 140 mm in the early middle tortonian the warmest month precipitation wmp varied from 96 to 140 mm except for konya ilgin kirsehir hacibektas and manisa soma that received 88 mm during the early middle miocene in the early middle tortonian the amount of summer rainfall lay between 58 and 88 mm the reason of the decrease in all rainfall parameters during the early middle tortonian could be related to several factors such as climatic cooling altitude aridification palaeotopograhy or continentality however it is necessary to indicate that the tortonian cooling had previously been proposed by akgun et al 2007 as the explanation using a large number of palynological assemblages in turkey we also observe a decrease in precipitation parameters during the middle miocene this could be related to fact that either low species diversity can result in wide coexistence intervals or the monterey cooling event was related to a cooling during the langhian and serravallian

occurrence and distribution of sulfur in peat forming environments of southern florida abstract cores and surface samples of peats from the everglades mangrove region of southern florida were analyzed for total sulfur and pyritic sulfur these values were compared with the petrographic botanical components of the peats as determined from point counts of oriented microtome sections pyrite occurs as individual euhedral crystals loosely packed framboids and lenses or crusts of minute crystals framboids and minute crystals are often associated with organic matter and sometimes with bacteria and fungi pyrite tends to selectively occur in void spaces in or between peat tissues in samples containing very small amounts of pyrite framboidal pyrite is the prevalent form marine to brackish peats contain the highest pyrite and total sulfur contents with brackish peats generally containing more pyrite than marine peats pyrite tends to be lower in all peats within 30 cm of the surface whether marine or brackish burial of freshwater peats beneath marine or brackish peats tends to increase the total sulfur and pyritic sulfur in the underlying peats burial beneath brackish water clay rich deposits such as splays tends to increase total sulfur and pyritic sulfur in the underlying deposits more than burial beneath less clay rich deposits

small dynamic mountainous rivers in taiwan exhibit large sedimentary geochemical and provenance heterogeneity over multi spatial scales abstract taiwan rivers are characterized by extremely rapid mass wasting and sediment transfer due to active tectonics and frequent typhoons various methods have been applied to constrain processes affecting their sediment source to sink routing in most cases the sediment at the outlet is considered to be a representative average of the whole upstream basin due to the short sediment routes

ree geochemistry of fine grained sediments from major rivers around the yellow sea abstract to investigate the distribution pattern and controlling factors of rare earth elements rees in riverine sediments river mouth sediments were collected at five geographically different rivers around the yellow sea two 1 m hcl leached and residual fractions and five step sequential extraction schemes the sedex method were applied to size separated sediments

mineralogical and geochemical characterization of the saray and pinarhisar coals northwest thrace basin turkey abstract this study investigates the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of coals from the saray and pinarhisar coalfields in the northwest thrace basin using optical microscopy scanning electron microscopy x ray diffraction and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry the saray and pinarhisar coals were deposited in a limnic environment the sulfur content of the coals ranges from 0 3 to 15 3 and high sulfur contents may originate from both seawater and volcanism pyritic and organic sulfur are the dominant sulfur forms 1 2 and 2 7 on average respectively the mineral matter of the coals consists mainly of pyrite barite gypsum muscovite and kaolinite with minor amounts of quartz butlerite tamarugite and rozenite the coals are enriched in trace elements including v 61 ppm on average co 5 85 ppm on average ni 79 ppm on average as 39 2 ppm on average th 3 6 ppm on average and u 6 7 ppm on average based on pearson correlation coefficients ti v cr fe co ni cu se rb au hg pb and th have mainly inorganic affinities r ash elements 0 5 in the pinarhisar coals fe as and au also have inorganic affinities r ash elements 0 5 in the saray coals the element contents and correlation coefficients indicate that the strandja massif the tethyan ophiolite belt and the oldest basement sediments were included in the sediment source region for both coalfields while the strandja massif was the prevailing sediment source region for pinarhisar coalfield

palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the eastern part of the karapinar ayranci coal deposit central turkey abstract regional tectonic movements during the neogene period resulted in the development of several fault controlled basins in central anatolia many of these basins host economic coal deposits the recently discovered karapinar ayranci coal deposit is the most important one due to its large reserves c 1 8 gt and location in the vicinity of important urban areas the paper aims to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions before during and after coal formation in the eastern part of karapinar ayranci deposit by means of coal petrography and mineralogical data combined with sedimentological and palaeontological data the basinal infilling consists of mainly lacustrine fluvial and alluvial sediments the coal seams comprise several beds intercalating with claystone mudstone and marl the coal being lignite in rank displays high ash yield 36 4 wt on dry basis and high total sulphur content avg 7 7 wt on dry ash free basis facies diagrams and lithological features of the coal seams suggest that peat was accumulating under pure telmatic to limnotelmatic conditions however peat accumulation ceased several times due to a rise in water level therefore clastic e g quartz clay minerals and authigenic e g pyrite mineral contents are variable along the seam profile gastropod and ostracod fauna points to freshwater conditions in the palaeomire high total sulphur and evaporite mineral e g halite contents usually point to brackish saline conditions during peat accumulation however in case of the karapinar ayranci deposit high sulphur contents can be related to sulphate rich karstic aquifer which contributed to the palaeomire water supply

coal geology and coal quality of the miocene mugla basin southwestern anatolia turkey abstract this work focuses on the relationship between the coal geology and coal quality of the miocene mugla basin southwestern anatolia turkey to this end detailed petrographical mineralogical and geochemical studies were performed on composite profile samples from the nine coal fields in the mugla basin alatepe bagyaka bayir cakiralan ekizkoy eskihisar husamlar sekkoy and tinaz coal fields the mugla lignite is a high ash from 16 to 56 and sulphur from 2 1 to 5 7 lignite which is petrographically characterised by a high huminite content mainly gelinite macerals the mineral matter of the studied lignite samples is made up mainly of clay minerals and quartz with the exception of the sekkoy and ekizkoy lignites in which calcite is the dominant mineral phase with minor amounts of quartz clay minerals pyrite and gypsum and traces of aragonite syngenetic opal is also frequently identified in these samples the differentiation of these two types of lignite with specific mineralogical patterns is attributed to the contemporaneous development of peatlands with a high detrital input dominated by the quartz and clay mineral setting and peatlands with low detrital supply and a dominant carbonate rich lacustrine environment the higher water table of the latter allowed the precipitation of micritic carbonates and the development of lakes with abundant mollusc fauna this differentiation is also evidenced by the geochemical data thus the sekkoy ekizkoy husamlar bayir and alatepe lignites are characterised by relatively low al and fe contents

pyrrhotite as a tracer for denudation of the taiwan orogen 1 the use of pyrrhotite as an index mineral to delineate metamorphic isograds has long been proposed however details of the occurrence of pyrrhotite in different metamorphic facies and its implications have rarely been explored here by simple characterization of magnetic properties and mineral identification we demonstrate that pyrrhotite is widely distributed in low grade metamorphic terranes of taiwan s central range and in sediments derived therefrom by coupling the distribution of pyrrhotite in rocks with that in dated sediment strata we have studied the denudation history of taiwan s orogen from a source to sink perspective we suggest that pyrrhotite is a potential tracer for studying surface processes in orogens with high denudation rates similar to that in taiwan

geological controls on the coal quality of the mequinenza subbituminous coal deposit northeast spain abstract the results of geological petrographical geochemical and mineralogical studies performed to determine the coal forming paleo environmental conditions which gave rise to anomalous enrichments in organic sulphur molybdenum and uranium in the oligocene mequinenza subbituminous coal deposit of northeastern spain are summarized this paper demonstrates the major influence exerted by the paleohydrology of the depositional framework on the early diagenetic evolution of the precursor peat deposits the s mo and u enrichments the preservation of aragonite and chlorophillinite and the high degree of gelification of the mequinenza coal are a consequence of alkaline syngenetic conditions in the depositional environment similar conditions can be inferred for many mesozoic and tertiary coal deposits in the mediterranean region mallorca sardinia hungary bulgaria serbia greece and turkey however the source of sulphur may have been different and have included triassic and early jurassic sulphate recycling scenarios or volcanic sources whatever the source sulphur enrichment is always influenced by the alkaline depositional environments developed in basins generated during the alpine cycle in circum mediterranean mobile belts

early miocene climate and biomes of turkey evidence from leaf fossils dispersed pollen and petrified wood abstract the early miocene was a period of major palaeogeographic reorganization in the eastern mediterranean region during which time the anatolian plateau became subaerial and several intracontinental basins intermittently became connected to the paratethys and mediterranean seas in this paper we analyse early miocene vegetation and climate using leaf records palynological assemblages and fossil wood at 36 localities from western and central turkey most of which have precise age control based on radiometric dating and mammal faunal ages using the leaf flora of guvem bes konak kesekoy climate leaf analysis multivariate program clamp analyses and koppen signatures were employed to infer a palaeoclimate typical of modern laurel forest regions based on the palynological records abundance of various pollen taxa was used as a measure of openness of vegetation and regional presence of major tree taxa most pollen floras are dominated by tree pollen ranging from 85 to 98 and indicated widespread afforestation in the pollen diagrams shifts in dominance from swamp forest elements taxodioideae to well drained forests pinaceae indicate changes in lake levels or phases of basin development such shifts may have been associated with the development of more xeric forest vegetation wood anatomical features such as false tree rings further may indicate seasonal climate pollen diagrams and macrofossils reflect zonal and azonal broadleaf and needleleaf forest and extrazonal open vegetation the latter occurred in areas with shallow soils on volcanic rocks or limestone e g cycads dracaena or coastal areas herb dominance taxonomic composition and biogeographic affinities suggest laurel forest as a major forest biome on well drained soils and ecotones between laurel forest and broadleaf deciduous forest biomes a comparison with younger floras shows that these are neither more diverse nor more warmth loving despite an increase in global temperature mid miocene climatic optimum suggesting bottlenecks during previous oligocene cooler times for warmth loving taxa

characterization of turkish coals a nationwide perspective abstract the u s geological survey usgs and the turkish general directorate of mineral research and exploration maden tetkik ve arama genel mudurlugu mta are working together to provide a better understanding of the chemical properties of turkish coals from major turkish lignite producing areas the coals in turkey are generally low rank lignite or subbituminous formed in several different depositional environments at different geologic times and have differing chemical properties eocene coals are limited to northern turkey oligocene coals found in the thrace basins of northwestern turkey are intercalated with marine sediments miocene coals are generally located in western turkey the coal deposits which have limnic characteristics have relatively abundant reserves pliocene pleistocene coals are found in the eastern part of turkey most of these coals have low calorific values high moisture and high ash contents analysis of 143 coal channel samples most are lignite and subbituminous in rank but a few are bituminous and one is anthracitic in rank has been completed for up to 54 elements and other coal properties using a variety of analytical techniques including inductively coupled plasma emission and mass spectrometry instrumental neutron activation analysis and various single element techniques and astm standard procedures many of these coals have elemental concentrations similar to u s lignites found in the gulf coast and fort union regions however maximum or mean concentrations of b cr cs ni as br sb cs and u in turkey are higher than the corresponding maximum or mean values found in either the fort union or gulf coast regions

the relationship between macerals and sulphur content of some south african permian coals abstract there is a positive correlation between sulphur concentration and the vitrinite maceral group content in permian vryheid formation coals in south africa the reverse is true for the inertinite maceral family this relationship is evident at intraseam interseam and intercoalfied levels vitrinite precursors formed where the water table in peat forming environments was high and eh low these conditions favoured bacterial sulphate reduction and resulting h 2 s reacted with fe 2 and organic peat compounds to form pyrite and organic sulphur components inertinite precursors formed when the water table was low and eh high aerobic respiration prevailed and little h 2 s was produced organic sulphur derived from peat forming plant tissue is dominant in intertinite rich low sulphur coal pyritic sulphur exceeds organic sulphur in high sulphur coals dur to preferential reaction of h 2 s with fe 2

properties of a lacustrine subbituminous k1 seam with special reference to the contact metamorphism soma turkey abstract the subbituminous k1 seam in the middle miocene soma formation of western turkey reaches a thickness of 24 m typical samples on an air dried basis have 9 5 14 2 moisture 4 3 13 8 ash and 0 57 2 54 total sulphur the coal rank parameters and non agglomerating behaviour show that the coals are of subbituminous a rank the k1 seam is huminite rich coal with a mean random ulminite reflectance rr between 0 46 and 0 49 fluorescence emission measurements show that the sporinite cutinite resinite and alginite present have typical fluorescence spectra between 460 and 700 nm the soma formation was intruded by an olivine basalt during the pliocene pleistocene which caused local contact metamorphism at the top of the k1 seam on the basis of proximate ultimate and petrographic analyses the intruded seam can be divided into normal coal transition zone and natural coke intervals each differing in their degree of metamorphism moisture volatile matter hydrogen and oxygen contents very rapidly decrease close to the contact point with the intrusion whilst calorific value carbon content and mean random reflectance value increase a diagram ofo c versus h c also shows a distinct increase in rank caused by the intrusion minor illite siderite and plagioclase feldspar are present in the natural coke samples butpyrrhotite is not observed mineralogical geochemical and reflectance studies indicate that the general temperature during formation of natural coke was probably relatively low

geological controls on the mineralogy and geochemistry of the beypazari lignite central anatolia turkey abstract the raw coal from the cayirhan mine beypazari basin turkey contains an average of 28 5 mineral matter consisting up to 80 zeolites the coal seam is split by a 1 m thick tuffaceous siltstone into the upper first tv and lower second tb seams which contain essentially different zeolites the first seam contains ca rich zeolites clinoptilolite heulandite whilst the second seam contains na rich zeolites analcime experimental work has shown that a na rich activation solution will produce na rich zeolites when the original volcanic glass is na rich but will produce ca rich zeolites when the volcanic material is ca rich it is thought that a na rich activation solution derived from contemporaneous volcanics in the beypazari basin reacted with volcanic tuffs of different chemical composition to produce the vertical variability in the mineral matter of the two seams trace element analyses of the raw coal showed that they are enriched in as b cr ni and zr when compared to world wide averages of coal they are also enriched in the major elements na and k these elements are probably also derived from a volcanic source barium and sr show a clear affinity for analcime whilst li cr ni cu zn co and ga show a clear affinity for clinoptilolite heulandite trace elements showing a positive correlation with the organic matter are mn b be ge y zr nb hf w and u manganese u th sc ge and hree heavy rare earth elements show correlations with phosphate trace elements showing correlation with both fe and s contents are co mo ta pb and iree intermediate rare earth elements arsenic and v seem to have mixed affinities with sulphides and zeolites and organic matter and zeolites respectively although a proportion of the as b and s are retained in the ash during coal combustion due to the sorption mechanism of cao derived from the clinoptilolite heulandite decomposition significant emissions of these elements may arise from the cayirhan thermal power station due to the anomalously high concentrations of these elements in the beypazari coal the high total alkali metal content of these coals exceeds the recommended maximum for steam coal but it is believed that sodium occurring in a mineralogical form such as analcime is not as likely to contribute to boiler fouling as organically associated sodium

water and sediment discharge from small mountainous rivers taiwan the roles of lithology episodic events and human activities national science council of taiwan nsc96 2628 m 001 028 u s national science foundation and naval oceanographic office

earthquake triggered increase in sediment delivery from an active mountain belt in tectonically active mountain belts earthquake triggered landslides deliver large amounts of sediment to rivers we quantify the geomorphic impact of the 1999 mw 7 6 chi chi earthquake in taiwan which triggered 20 000 landslides coseismic weakening of substrate material caused increased landsliding during subsequent typhoons most coseismic landslides remained confined to hillslopes downslope transport of sediment into the channel network occurred during later storms the sequential processes have led to a factor of four increase in unit sediment concentration in rivers draining the epicentral area and increased the magnitude and frequency of hyperpycnal sediment delivery to the ocean four years after the earthquake rates of hillslope mass wasting remain elevated in the epicentral area

distribution of environmental sensitive trace elements in the eocene sorgun coals turkey abstract the distribution of trace elements in the lower eocene coal seam mined in the yeniceltek kucukkohne and ayridam coal mines from the sorgun basin was investigated in relation to ash content and maceral composition the coal seam is mainly composed of huminite in the present study 35 samples from five seam sections were collected on the basis of megascopic characteristics results were determined using an energy dispersive polarised x ray fluorescence edp xrf spectrometer on a whole coal dry basis most of the major and trace elements studied are enriched in high ash samples while ba br mn and w show relative enrichments in low ash samples most of elements studied such as ga ce la th nb rb zr v cu u pb sb cs sn cr se y and zn are primarily associated with mineral matter clay minerals arsenic and a part of zn se and sb are probably concentrated in pyrites in the samples element concentrations show statistically significant negative correlations with many macerals and positive relationships with only attrinite that is mainly mixed with mineral matter clay minerals and small quartz grains in the samples nine trace elements as cr mn ni pb sb se th and u considered as potentially hazardous air pollutants are present in low to moderate concentrations the mean values of trace element concentrations display relative enrichments in se 2 8 ppm th 21 ppm and w 26 ppm in the investigated samples in comparison with other coals in the world

evidence for the control of the geochemistry of amazonian floodplain sediments by stratification of suspended sediments in the amazon abstract holocene and historical amazonian floodplain deposits collected from two cores of the varzea do curuai flooded area brazil were analysed for major and trace element geochemistry as well as nd sr isotopic compositions 21 samples the ta11 and ta14 cores 110 cm and 270 cm in depth respectively were collected at different locations in the varzea near a channel inlet connecting the amazon river to the varzea and at the centre of the varzea respectively the two cores represent records of sedimentation on different time scales with ta11 covering the last 100 years and ta14 extending back to 5600 years cal bp although the sediments are generally coarser in ta11 than in ta14 the major and trace element concentrations cr th and th sc and eu anomalies and nd sr isotopic compositions in both cores fail to show any clear variations with depth however there are chemical differences between the two analysed cores the ta14 sediments have higher al si and chemical index of alteration cia values than those of ta11 the ta14 sediments are enriched in th u y nb ree cs rb v and ni but show slightly depleted mgo cao and sr and more strongly depleted na2o zr and hf compared to ta11 in addition the nd sr isotopic compositions of the ta11 sediment core are on the whole similar to the solimoes suspended particulate matter spm whereas ta14 has a similar nd sr isotopic composition compared with the spm of the amazon river at obidos these differences are best explained by chemical stratification of the spm of the amazon river during flooding of the amazon river coarser grained particulates supplied by the solimoes river are deposited in the deepest environments near the channel inlet as recorded in the ta11 sediment core by contrast finer grained suspended sediments derived from the madeira river are transported into the shallower environments of the varzea system and deposited as a result of flow expansion and loss of carrying power as recorded in the ta14 sediment core using the nd isotopic compositions and concentrations of each sediment core we calculate between 20 and 85 of the sediment input to the ta14 core site is derived from the madeira river while between 52 and 100 of the sediment input to the ta11 core sample is supplied by the solimoes river similar calculation using the sr isotopic compositions and concentrations of ta11 and ta14 sediments gave similar results with between 32 and 49 of ta14 sediments deriving from the solimoes river while between 70 and 100 of ta11 sediments originate from the solimoes river finally our findings lead us to question whether particular amazon deposits that do not integrate the entire range of spm present in the river are representative of the overall sediment load provided today and in the past by global rivers

quality variations in the high sulphur lignite of the neogene beypazari basin central anatolia turkey abstract during the miocene a number of fault bounded basins developed in central anatolia turkey one such basin at cayirhan near beypazan contains thick laterally extensive lignite seams this basin was filled initially with coarse clastic material upward fining of the clastics during basin fill with an increase in the amount of clay and carbon content led to the development of relatively shallow linmic basins in which extensive peat deposits accumulated in low lying mires these lignites are characterized by their high sulphur and ash contents up to 8 2 s and 68 3 ash on an air dried basis studies of the sulphur and ash contents reveal three types of distribution namely vertical variation within individual seams variation between the seams and lateral variation across the basin in the case of the sulphur content vertical variation within and between the seams is related to variations in the amount and source of the sulphate in the mire water and the lateral variation is probably related to structural topographic control of the mire at the time of formation variation in the ash content within the seams is probably the result of depositional processes at the time of mire development variation between seams is recognized due to the presence of ubiquitous zeolites in the mineral matter namely heulandite in the first seam and analcime in the second seam this is probably the result of variations in the chemistry of the original volcanoclastic or clastic material associated with the lignite or of variations in the chemistry of the circulating fluid there is a broad east west lateral variation across the basin in the ash content of the seams probably resulting from variations in the amount and rate of clastic or volcanoclastic influx into the mire at the time of formation related to structural topographic controls

distribution of forms of sulfur in peats from saline environments in the florida everglades abstract although there is published information on the mechanism of sedimentary pyrite formation resulting from bacterial reduction of sulfate little is known about the distribution of forms of sulfur including organic in peats in order to increase understanding of the geochemistry of sulfur in coals we have determined distributions of forms of sulfur in five cores of saline peat and one of brackish peat all from areas near the shark river and whitewater bay in the coastal swamps of south florida all concentrations vary widely with depth total sulfur concentrations range up to 6 of dry solids minor amounts of sulfur are present as h2s s0 so42 and acid soluble sulfide but the principal forms are usually pyritic and organic the ratio organic pyritic is highly variable but at a majority of levels in a profile is considerably greater than unity it is inferred that topochemical factors are important in determining the distribution of sulfur forms in any element of volume

provenance of fluvial terrace sediments within the waipaoa sedimentary system and their importance to new zealand source to sink studies late pleistocene fluvial terrace deposits within the waipaoa river system of north island new zealand provide some insight into the fluvial history of the region that can be potentially translated to the marine sedimentary record pebble counts and sand detrital modes from terrace remnants suggest significant compositional differences between these terraces and the modern stream deposits the terrace deposits are enriched in sandstone lithics sand and gravel as well as monomineralic quartz and feldspar sand in contrast the modern waipaoa river is dominated by mudstone fragments mainly products of gullying in the waipaoa river headwaters region both the terrace and modern river sand show a compositional dependency on grain size with increasing lithic components in the coarse sand fractions carbonate lithic content and proportions of lithic types in the modern river and terrace sediments can be related to the distribution of calcareous geological units across the region for example the calcareous lithics sand and gravel in the mangatu river a major tributary of the waipaoa are derived from deep water facies allochthon that dominate the catchment these carbonate facies are petrographically distinct from the marl calcareous mudstone that dominates elsewhere in the waipaoa river system such as the pliocene units in the waimata river catchment the combined petrologic data sets from the modern rivers and terraces in the waipaoa river system provide a model to interpret the provenance of sandy deposits in the offshore marine realm

rare earth elements in fine grained sediments of major rivers from the high standing island of taiwan thirty eight sediment samples from 15 primary rivers on taiwan were retrieved to characterize the rare earth element ree signature of fluvial fine sediment sources compared to the three large rivers on the chinese mainland distinct differences were observed in the ree contents upper continental crust normalized patterns and fractionation factors of the sediment samples the average ree concentrations of the taiwanese river sediments are higher than those of the changjiang and huanghe but lower than the zhujiang light rare earth elements lrees are enriched relative to heavy rare earth elements hrees with ratios from 7 48 to 13 03 we found that the variations in la lu ucc gd lu ucc and la yb ucc gd yb ucc are good proxies for tracing the source sediments of taiwanese and chinese rivers due to their distinguishable values our analyses indicate that the ree compositions of taiwanese river sediments were primarily determined by the properties of the bedrock and the intensity of chemical weathering in the drainage areas the relatively high relief and heavy rainfall also have caused the rees in the fluvial sediments from taiwan to be transported to the estuaries down rivers from the mountains and in turn delivered nearly coincidently to the adjacent seas by currents and waves our studies suggest that the ree patterns of the river sediments from taiwan are distinguishable from those from the other sources of sediments transported into the adjacent seas and therefore are useful proxies for tracing the provenances and dispersal patterns of sediments as well as paleoenvironmental changes in the marginal seas

40ar 39ar dating into the historical realm calibration against pliny the younger laser incremental heating of sanidine from the pumice deposited by the plinian eruption of vesuvius in 79 a d yielded a40ar 39ar isochron age of 1925 94 years ago close agreement with the gregorian calendar based age of 1918 years ago demonstrates that the 40ar 39ar method can be reliably extended into the temporal range of recorded history excess 40ar is present in the sanidine in concentrations that would cause significant errors if ignored in dating holocene samples

eel river margin source to sink sediment budgets revisited abstract the eel river coastal margin has been used as a representative source to sink sediment dispersal system owing to its steep high sediment yield river and the formation of sedimentary strata on its continental shelf one finding of previous studies is that the adjacent continental shelf retains only 25 of the eel river fine grained sediment less than 63 m discharged over time scales of both individual floods and the 20th century thus suggesting that the eel shelf trapping efficiency is uniquely lower than other similar systems here i provide data and analyses showing that sediment discharge relationships in the eel river have varied strongly with time and include substantial decreases in suspended sediment concentrations during the latter 20th century including these trends in margin wide sediment budgets i show that previous eel river sediment discharge rates were overestimated by a factor of two thus revised sediment budgets shown here reveal that the eel shelf retained 50 of the discharged river fine grained suspended sediment during intensively sampled events of 1995 97 and over the 20th century in light of this hypotheses about high rates of sediment export away from the primary shelf depocenter should be reevaluated

values of δ34s in iron disulphides of the north bohemian lignite basin czech republic three main genetically different types of iron disulphides occur in lignite of the north bohemian basin synsedimentary diagenetic and epigenetic among them the synsedimentary disulphide appears to be the most abundant it forms fine dispersed microscopic framboids or veinlets mostly parallel with the coal bedding this disulphide is mostly represented by pyrite the other types are much less abundant the epigenetic variety consists of large macroscopic clusters of crystals of marcasite twins or crystalline filling of fractures the shift in sulphur isotopic composition between the original sulphate and the derived sulphides which originated through bacterial reduction may vary considerably depending on conditions particularly on the open or closed nature of the system with respect to sulphate the largest shifts in the isotopic composition between sulphate and sulphide sulphur are typical for an open system dissolved sulphate which supplied the north bohemian basin during the miocene is likely to have been derived from weathered sulphides of the krugn6 hory crystalline complex this unit has isotopic compositions of sulphide sulphur varying between 1 and 5 0 and assuming no significant shifts in sulphur isotope compositions the sulphate supplying the basin should exhibit a slightly positive 534s value organic sulphur is thought to have played a much less important role synsedimentary pyrites which form microframboids or veinlets in coal show 634s values close to 0 0 these values when compared with those of sulphur dioxide in gases exhaled by power stations burning lignite of the north bohemian basin indicate that they correspond to mean values for synsedimentary pyrite this also implies that no considerable shifts in isotopic composition take place during thermal oxidation in power plants

smnd isotopic geochemistry of sediments from taiwan and implications for the tectonic evolution of southeast china abstract an isotopic and geochemical study on the miocene to late paleozoic sediments and metasediments of taiwan has been conducted in order to decipher the crustal evolution of se china with the exception of a few late paleozoic sediments most samples from taiwan have a narrow range in sr and nd isotopic ratios and sm nd crustal residence ages t dm assuming derivation from a depleted mantle source the isotopic characteristics are similar to those of suspended material from major rivers around the world in particular they closely resemble those reported for the yangtze river sediment and the pre cretaceous granitoids of se china no obvious trend in t dm or isotopic ratios has been found with respect to the depositional ages indicating no pronounced secular variation however a few late paleozoic samples might have been influenced by fresh mantle inputs to their provenance proterozoic t dm of the sediments combined with proterozoic pb components in zircons from taiwan s granitoids suggest that important crustal growth in se china took place in the middle proterozoic the isotopic and geochemical characteristics of the sediments suggest that their sources were primarily recycled pre existing continental crust ree contents of taiwan sediments measured in this study are similar to the suspended load in major rivers paas post archean average australia shale nasc north american shale composite and the continental shelf slope sediments from the east china sea off the mouth of the yangtze they seem to represent products derived from typical continental crust lower hree abundances in taiwan sediments suspended load in major rivers and surface sediments from the e china sea than those of paas suggest that the source of hree in paas is likely to be slightly different from that for these recent terrigenous sediments an alternative for the explanation of this hree discrepancy is that a certain proportion of hree in these recent sediments were left in the residue partially dissolution of heavy mineral in analysis procedures particularly zircon even in a teflon bomb might cause this hree discrepancy late yanshanian granitoids now widely exposed on the se china coast have higher nd and lower sr isotopic ratios than those for taiwan s sediments so these granitic intrusions were not a major source for the sediments indicating that they were not exposed to erosion until the miocene or later