the geology of the yellow trachytic tuff roccamonfina volcano italy abstract the 227 ka yellow trachytic tuff ytt of the roccamonfina volcano is a multiunit ash pumice scoria and lithic ignimbrite with a proximal sandwave surge deposit the ytt has an estimated volume of 0 42 km3 it erupted in the northern subsided sector of the volcano from gli stagli caldera and was channelled down ravines northward between the limestone range of m cesima and m camino that bounds the depression up to 5 ytt units occur close to the outer part of the northern rim of gli stagli the basal four units are separated by lithic rich marker layers which are inferred to result from gravity segregation followed by shearing the first three units are consolidated by chabazite cementation the fourth one is not consolidated the uppermost unit is altered one or two units characterize the ytt deposits in medial to distal zones here the unconsolidated unit underlies the consolidated one absence of markers precludes correlation with proximal stratigraphy the ytt is poorly sorted and except the surge deposit and the altered facies which are very fine grained has moderate median diameter typical of pyroclastic flows matrix pumice and scoria clasts are poorly vesicular matrix shards are equant blocky shaped hydrated and range from non vesicular to vesicular these features suggest that magma water interaction played a role in the ytt eruption process with some magmatic fragmentation the complex near gli stagli rim ytt sequence could record the arrival of successive flows from the source vent or also form by interaction of one or two flows with the caldera rim in both cases the absence of basal plinian deposits in ytt units suggests that the eruptions were low pyroclastic fountains the ytt distribution was controlled by interaction with the northern rim of gli stagli caldera and with the limestone range that bounds the northern depression the near rim stratigraphy shows the complete record of the eruption whereas the medial to distal sequences provide only the initial pyroclastic flow possibly with the final flow spilling over the caldera rim the proximal surge episode probably resulted from higher velocity of a later pyroclastic flow due to steeper slope of the volcano in that locality

sedimentary pyrite formation an update sedimentary pyrite formation during early diagenesis is a major process for controlling the oxygen level of the atmosphere and the sulfate concentration in seawater over geologic time the amount of pyrite that may form in a sediment is limited by the rates of supply of decomposable organic matter dissolved sulfate and reactive detrital iron minerals organic matter appears to be the major control on pyrite formation in normal non euxinic terrigenous marine sediments where dissolved sulfate and iron minerals are abundant by contrast pyrite formation in non marine freshwater sediments is severely limited by low concentrations of sulfate and this characteristic can be used to distinguish ancient organic rich fresh water shales from marine shales under marine euxinic conditions sufficient h2s is produced that the dominant control on pyrite formation is the availability of reactive iron minerals calculations based on a sulfur isotope model indicate that over phanerozoic time the worldwide average organic carbon to pyrite sulfur ratio of sedimentary rocks has varied considerably high cs ratios during permo carboniferous time can be explained by a shift of major organic deposition from the oceans to the land which resulted in the formation of vast coal swamps at that time low cs ratios compared to today during the early paleozoic can be explained in terms of a greater abundance of euxinic basins combined with deposition of a more reactive type of organic matter in the remaining oxygenated portions of the ocean the latter could have been due to lower oceanic oxygen levels and or a lack of transportation of refractory terrestrial organic matter to the marine environment due to the absence of vascular land plants at that time

reconstructed tree fern alethopteris zeilleri carboniferous medullosales abstract from a smaller open pit area in the roof shale of the basal cantabrian coal seam in sydney coalfield cape breton island nova scotia canada large amounts of the pteridosperm foliage alethopteris zeilleri ragot were found this foliage is associated with abundant naked medullosalean axes and dichotomies of varying sizes up to 0 80 m long cauline structures 0 90 m and 1 3 m long detached ovules assigned to pachytesta incrassata brongniart rare male pollen organs of the type dolerotheca halle rooted tree ferns in life position and one specimen each of a juvenile medullosalean frond and root mantle the fossils are compression impression preserved and the foliage yielded thickly cutinized cuticles with unoriented cells 57 103 by 27 57 m in intercostal fields ultimate rachises and abaxial surfaces excluding costal fields show a mixture of simple and complexly branched trichomes and two different structural bases these together with fractal dimensionality of curvatures of anticlinal walls in intercostal fields have taxonomic potential for alethopterids the finds suggest reconstructing a zeilleri ragot as a tree 5 7 m high that bore both p incrassata brongniart and dolerotheca type fructifications its habitat was low land coastal plains in the pennsylvanian coal swamps of ancestral sydney coalfield

coalbed methane resources assessment in asturias spain abstract the asturian central coal basin located in northern spain is the most important coal basin in the iberian peninsula and some antecedents for coalbed methane exploration on this basin go back to the beginning of the 90 s when two deep wells were drilled in selected areas of the basin this paper contains the results of preliminary studies accomplished from 2003 to 2006 that focused on the potential of the asturian central coal basin for the development of coalbed methane projects according to these studies the gas content in coal beds approximately ranges from 3 88 to 10 81 m 3 t ash free and coalbed methane resources in the coal basin has been estimated in a minimum value of 25 100 mm 3 despite the fact that the gas content in the entire coal basin is modest it appears to be adequate for a commercial coalbed methane development although it is limited by the size of the basin the option for implementation of coalbed methane projects in this basin is associated to the application of a non traditional programme for coalbed methane development including the use of directional drilling from a limited number of well sites carbon dioxide sequestration could be associated with the recuperation of methane from the unexploited coal beds

application of inverse modeling in a study of the hydrogeochemical evolution of karst groundwater in the jinci spring region northern china this study explores the hydrogeochemical evolution of karst groundwater in the jinci spring region shanxi province northern china during 2015 karst groundwater samples collected from 24 sampling points along several profiles that follow the groundwater flow direction were subjected to hydrochemical analysis reaction paths and mineral phases for the hydrogeochemical modeling were determined based on the analysis results and in conjunction with the regional geology and hydrogeology the phreeqc hydrogeochemical modeling software was used to perform mass balance and reaction path modeling of the hydrogeochemical evolution of the spring region the modeling results showed that from the recharge area through the runoff area to the drainage area the hydrogeochemical processes occurring in the karst water vary widely between the northeastern central and southwestern parts of the spring region and across the piedmont discharge area additionally hydrodynamic fields and geological structures were found to have significant control over the hydrogeochemical reactions occurring within the spring region s karst groundwater

properties origin and nomenclature of rodlets of the inertinite maceral group in coals of the central appalachian basin u s a abstract resin rodlets sclerenchyma strands and woody splinters which are collectively called rodlets were studied by chemical optical petrographic and scanning electron microscopic sem techniques a study was made of such rodlets from the bituminous coal beds of the central appalachian basin pennsylvanian upper carboniferous of the united states comparisons were made with rodlets from coal beds of the illinois basin the southern anthracite field of pennsylvania the st rose coal field of nova scotia and european and other coal fields in order to determine their physical and chemical properties a detailed study was made of the rodlets from the pomeroy coal bed high volatile a bituminous coal monongahela formation upper pennsylvanian of kanawha county west virginia the origin of the rodlets was determined by a comparative analysis of a medullosan seed fern stem from the herrin no 6 coal bed high volatile c bituminous coal carbondale formation from washington county illinois rodlets are commonly concentrated in fusain or carbominerite layers or lenses in bituminous coal beds of the central appalachian basin most of the rodlets examined in our study were probably derived from medullosan seed ferns the three types of rodlets are distinguished on the basis of cellularity morphology and fracture the resin rodlets studied by us are noncellular and appear to be similar in properties and origin to those found in coal beds of the middle and upper pennsylvanian of the illinois basin the resin rodlets extracted from the pomeroy coal bed exhibit high relief and high reflectance when polished and viewed in reflected light they are opaque in transmitted light in cross section the resin rodlets are oval to round and have diameters ranging from 60 to 450 m many are solid but some have vesicles canals or cavities which are commonly filled with clay probably kaolinite typically they have distinct fracture patterns kerfs in longitudinal and cross sections and many are characterized by dense probably oxidized rims the orientation and amounts of void space and mineralization of resin rodlets in coal have resulted in much confusion in their recognition and classification the resin rodlets are petrographically recognized as sclerotinites of the inertinite maceral group we here propose that resin rodlets be assigned to the maceral variety of sclerotinites termed resino sclerotinite because of their presumable resinous origin other investigators have confused some fusinitized resin rodlets with fungal masses which have different morphological properties and which probably have different chemical properties we here propose that such fungal masses be assigned to the maceral variety of sclerotinites termed fungo sclerotinite the sclerenchyma strands examined in our study are cellular thick walled and crescent shaped in cross section they exhibit high reflectance and high relief and belong to semifusinite and fusinite of the inertinite maceral group sclerenchyma strands are commonly associated with resin canals in medullosa and related seed fern genera which are common in coal balls of the illinois basin we here propose adoption of the maceral varietal terms sclerenchymo fusinite and sclerenchymo semifusinite for these bodies the woody splinters in the pomeroy coal bed are cellular and thin walled and have scattered pits as much as a few microns in diameter they are dark brown to black in transmitted light and commonly have a lower reflectance than the resino sclerotinite and sclerenchymo fusinite of the pomeroy coal the woody splinters belong to semifusinite and fusinite of the inertinite maceral group the maceral varietal terms xylemo semifusinite and xylemo fusinite are here proposed for these bodies elemental chemical data for the resin rodlets of the pomeroy coal bed of the central appalachian basin indicate that resin rodlets have significantly lower atomic h c and o c ratios than do sclerenchyma strands and woody splinters the lower atomic h c and o c ratios of the resin rodlets correlate with the highest reflectance in the coal ball medullosan seed fern stem from the herrin no 6 coal bed of the illinois basin the reflectances of the resin rodlets woody splinters and sclerenchyma strands are similar and comparable to those of associated vitrinite in the coal ball stem and in the attached coal however resin rodlets and sclerenchyma strands in the attached coal have significantly higher reflectances similar to those of the pomeroy coal

biomarker distributions in australian oils predominantly derived from terrigenous source material oils found in many australian sedimentary basins contain a relatively high input of terrigenous organic source material a study of a large number of these oils has permitted a number of biomarker distributions to be determined that appear to be characteristic for oils derived from terrigenous source material these features include the presence of sesquiterpanes absence of tricyclic terpanes relatively high concentrations of a c24 tetracyclic terpane predominance of c29 steranes presence of two unidentified c27 and c30 terpanes and virtual absence of 18 h oleanane the latter observation is significant since it appears that 18 h oleanane appears only in oils of tertiary age derived from terrigenous source material an attempt has also been made to compare the results for the australian oils with published results for oils derived from terrigenous source material in other parts of the world the number of reports in the literature for these oils is fairly limited but it appears that some of the observations for the australian oils can be extended to them this study is an initial attempt to devise a classification scheme that can be used to determine the origin of an oil unambiguously from biomarker parameters in order for this approach to be successful a relatively large number of biomarker parameters need to be assigned as characteristic of a particular type of source material

burial of organic carbon and pyrite sulfur in sediments over phanerozoic time a new theory in present day marine sediments almost all of which are deposited in normal oxygenated seawater rates of burial of organic carbon c and pyrite sulfur s correlate positively and bear a constant ratio to one another c s 3 on a weight basis by contrast calculations based on the isotopic model of garrels and lerman 1981 indicate that at various times during the phanerozoic the worldwide burial ratio must have been considerably different than the present day value this ratio change is caused by the requirement that increases in the worldwide mass of organic carbon must be accompanied by equivalent decreases in the mass of sedimentary pyrite sulfur in order to maintain a roughly constant level of o2 in the atmosphere such apparently contradictory behavior can be explained if the locus of major organic carbon burial has shifted over time from normal marine environments as at present to non marine freshwater or to euxinic environments in the geologic past a shift to predominantly freshwater burial can help explain predicted high c s ratios in permo carboniferous sediments and a shift to euxinic environments can help explain predicted low c s ratios during the early paleozoic it is demonstrated that the three environments today exhibit distinguishably different average c s ratios

chemometric study of functional groups in different layers of trigonocarpus grandis ovules pennsylvanian seed fern canada abstract we examined four dispersed coalified ovules trigonocarpus grandis of medullosalean seed fern affinity from the late pennsylvanian age sydney coalfield canada which represent the larger type of the 7 8 cm trigonocarpalean form species at first glance it appears that the ovules are preserved like the usual carboniferous foliar compressions i e one coalified layer with one preserved anatomical tissue the cuticle however careful sample preparation uncovered at least three coalified layers and schulze s oxidative maceration process which dissolves the coalified material revealed several tissue layers altogether eight sample forms were defined i coalified layer ii cuticle a iii cupric vitrain iv vitrain v cupric vi cuticle b vii alkaline solution and viii added coal seam material the purpose of the study was twofold first to systematically analyze the forms by way of fourier transform infrared ftir spectrometry to fill a gap in chemical information that exits for coalified trigonocarpalean ovules of carboniferous seed ferns second to use principal component analysis to focus on groupings as a function of chemical structure functional groups and to assess the different fossil forms in terms of ftir chemical parameters based on a 8 49 data matrix results include distinction among the three coaly sample forms coalified layer i cupric vitrain iii and cupric v based mainly but not exclusively on differences in carbonyl content as well as length and branching of the polymethylenic chains important to note is the high aliphatic content of the cuticles as a signature of the biomacromolecules cutan cutin in particular new insights into the structure of the original ovule are presented and differences in chemistry are mainly a result of the complex structure of the precursor plant organ

a reappraisal of kerogen formation abstract comparative microscopical and chemical studies of recognizable entities in kerogen and their extant counterparts suggest a new and simple mechanism of kerogen formation which clarifies the interrelationships between extant biomass kerogen and fossil fuels

functional groups and elemental analyses of cuticular morphotypes of cordaites principalis germar geinitz carboniferous maritimes basin canada well preserved cuticles were isolated from cordaites principalis germar geinitz leaf compressions i e foliage from extinct gymnosperm trees coniferophyta order cordaitales the specimens were collected from the sydney stellarton and bay st george subbasins of the once extensive carboniferous maritimes basin of atlantic canada fourier transformation of infrared spectra ftir and elemental analyses indicate that the ca 300 306 million year old fossil cuticles share many of the functional groups observed in modern cuticles the similarities of the functional groups in each of the three cuticular morphotypes studied support the inclusion into a single cordaite leaf taxon i e c principalis germar confirming previous morphological investigations vitrinite reflectance measurements on coal seams in close proximity to the fossil bearing sediments reveal that the bay st george sample site has the lowest thermal maturity whereas the sites in sydney and stellarton are more mature ir absorption and elemental analyses of the cordaite compressions corroborate this trend which suggests that the coalified mesophyll in the leaves follows a maturation path similar to that of vitrinite comparison of functional groups of the cordaite cuticles with those from certain pteridosperms previously studied from the y1 sydney subbasin shows that in the cordaite cuticles highly conjugated c o 1632 cm bands dominate over carbonyl stretch that characterizes the pteridosperm cuticles the differences demonstrate the potential of chemotaxonomy as a valuable tool to assist distinguishing between carboniferous plant fossil groups published by elsevier science b v

the emplacement of intermediate volume ignimbrites a case study from roccamonfina volcano southern italy a model is presented for the emplacement of intermediate volume ignimbrites based on a study of two 6 km3 volume ignimbrites on roccamonfina volcano italy the model considers that the flows were slow moving and quickly deflated from turbulent to non turbulent conditions yield strength and density increased whereas fluidisation decreased with time and runout of the pyroclastic flows in proximal locations on the caldera rim heterogeneous exposures including discontinuous lithic breccias stratified and cross stratified units interbedded with massive ignimbrite suggest deposition from turbulent flows in medial locations thick massive ignimbrite occurs associated with three types of co ignimbrite lithic breccia which we interpret as being emplaced by non turbulent flows multiple grading of different breccia lithic concentration types within single flow units indicates that internal shear occurred producing overriding or overlapping of the rear of the flow onto the slower moving front part this overriding of different parts of non turbulent pyroclastic flows could be caused by at least two different mechanisms 1 changes in flow regime such as hydraulic jumps that may occur at breaks in slope and 2 periods of increased discharge rate possibly associated with caldera collapse producing fresh pulses of lithic rich material that sheared onto the slower moving part of the flow in front

nitrate pollution of ground waters from shallow basaltic aquifers deccan trap hydrologic province india analyses of groundwater samples collected from several locations in a small watershed of the deccan trap hydrologic province indicated anomalously higher values of nitrate than the background however the no3 concentrations in water from dug wells under pastureland where the subsurface material consisted of stony waste were minimum the maximum values were reported for water from dug wells where the principal land use was agricultural lowering of no3 values under shallow water table conditions suggests denitrification higher concentrations of nitrate determined for samples collected from the wells with a deeper water table indicate that denitrification process is inactive the high values of nitrate coinciding with agricultural land use indicate fertilizers as the main source of nitrate pollution of ground water decrease in cl no3 ratio for agricultural land use confirms this inference

the chemical composition of upper carboniferous pteridosperm cuticles abstract microscopically well preserved leaf cuticles from four upper carboniferous pteridosperm seed fern genera have been analyzed using solid state 13 c nmr and curie point pyrolysis the chemical analyses reveal the presence of highly aliphatic macromolecules comparable with cutan cutan production is considered to be responsible for the preservation of these plant structures and hence for the abundance of well preserved medullosan pteridosperm foliage in the upper carboniferous based on a comparison of data from the literature and these new results it is suggested that the resistant constituents of these cuticles may serve as an additional source of n alkanes on diagenesis and catagenesis

structural setting of a typical alkali potassic volcano roccamonfina southern italy abstract the structural setting of roccamonfina volcano is reconstructed using gravity and magnetotelluric plus time domain electromagnetic data a 887 m deep bore hole drilled within the summit caldera was utilized to constrain the inversion models roccamonfina volcano appears located at the intersection of two east northeast and north trending narrow grabens the location of historical seismic activity indicates that at least one of them the north trending is still active mt tdem apparent resistivity curves show the existence of a ubiquitous conductive layer which includes hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks and flysch formations the average thickness of the volcanic sequence is about 800 1000 m no evidence was found for the presence of the intracrustal magmatic reservoir which is required to justify the chemistry of magmas erupted during the second and final stage of activity of the volcano

background baseline normalization and contamination of heavy metals in the liao river watershed sediments of china abstract the quantitative assessment of heavy metal contamination in the sediments is a challenge due to the lacking of geochemical background or baseline levels and sediment heterogeneity in this study a procedure is suggested to elucidate the average background levels and geochemical baseline levels gbls of cr cu ni pb and zn in the liao river water sediments and to develop their geochemical baseline functions gbfs the average background levels of cr cu ni pb and zn were 32 6 11 1 13 1 16 3 and 37 8 mg kg respectively while their gbls the upper limit of background level were 60 21 27 23 and 96 mg kg the linear correlation of heavy metals cr cu ni pb and zn with particle size proxy elements normalizers sc fe and al was statistically significant at p

characterisation of non extractable macromolecular organic matter in palaeozoic coals abstract comprehensive organic geochemical investigations were applied to permian carboniferous and devonian coals the major goal of the investigation was to quantify differences in organic matter composition of the coals on a molecular level and to associate these differences with either i primary composition of the precursor plant material or ii diagenetic processes related to burial and temperature increase or iii evolutionary time trends the pre extracted samples were analysed by means of pyrolytic and chemical degradation techniques as well as ftir spectroscopy additionally rock eval pyrolysis and organic petrography were used to obtain information on the bulk of the coal samples the degradation analysis revealed a wide variety of individual compounds including n alkanes isoprenoids polycylic aromatic compounds fatty acids alkylbenzenes aromatic carboxylic acids and phenols relative concentrations of substances or compound groups were correlated with bulk parameters and age of the samples significant correlations of the chemical data were found out mainly for maturity parameters and maceral composition time depending changes in chemical composition were observed only to a minor extent thus the rapid morphologic evolution of higher land plants in the late palaeozoic is not reflected in a significant way by the chemical composition of the non extractable matter in the coal samples investigated

biomarker signatures of the iconic glossopteris plant abstract glossopteris is the quintessential marker plant that dominated the forests of the southern hemisphere continents during the permian before their abrupt extinction at the close of the palaeozoic fossilized leaf and stem remains of glossopteris plants collected from the permian succession of eastern india were analysed to recognize the molecular signatures of solvent extractable and non extractable organic matter lipid derived aliphatic and aromatic biomarkers were studied using gc ms and gc gc tofms while tetramethylammonium hydroxide tmah thermochemolysis with gc ms and gc gc tofms was used to reveal lignin precursors the thermal maturity indices indicate low thermal rank for both samples the presence of aromatic diterpanes in the leaf extract suggests that the glossopteris plant was able to biosynthesize abietic acid and related plant terpenoids the thermochemolysis products thermochemolysates of the samples contain monomethoxy and dimethoxybenzene derivatives produced from p hydroxyphenyl and guaiacyl units of lignin respectively which are the main constituents of extant gymnosperm lignin the thermochemolysates indicate that lignin biosynthesis had evolved in glossopteris

dissolved potassium in the shallow groundwaters circulating in the volcanic rocks of central southern italy abstract the water rock interaction processes occurring in the low temperature shallow volcanic aquifers of central southern italy were simulated by means of the eq3 6 software package in reaction progress mode in the investigation both the roman magmatic province and monte amiata which belongs to the tuscan magmatic province were included the average k2o content of the volcanic rocks from the two areas is similar but the main k bearing phases are leucite in the roman magmatic province and sanidine at monte amiata computed concentrations of major dissolved components and sio2 are consistent with analytical data suggesting that the results of the eq3 6 runs are reliable simulations of the natural water rock interaction processes hence eq3 6 results can be used to investigate the transfer of k from rocks to water it turns out that the attainment of saturation with sanidine during early stages of rock dissolution limits k concentration in the monte amiata groundwaters to around an average of 2 9 1 3 mg l 1 1sd in the silica undersaturated roman magmatic province saturation with leucite is not attained during the evolution of groundwaters and consequently k concentration reaches comparatively high levels with an average of 24 6 27 1 mg l 1 1sd most of these unusually high k concentrations are due to natural weathering of silicates without any anthropogenic influence

origin of the calderas and evolution of roccamonfina volcano roman region italy abstract the roccamonfina volcano consists of a volcanic fluvial succession dated 549 ka bp paleoauruncus overlain by a 546 ka bp stratacone main cone formed by leucite bearing lava and tephra the main cone was dissected by four nested calderas a ring fracture concentric with and outside of the central caldera is also present detailed mapping of the volcano inspection of landsat satellite images and radiometric dating establish that the gli stagli and northern calderas subsided between respectively 546 474 and 403 374 ka bp and that the summit part collapsed between 546 and 446 ka bp to form the central caldera a chronologically intermediate state dated in the range 376 323 ka bp was identified between the 549 374 ka bp leucite bearing high k series hks stage i and the 317 96 ka bp leucite free low k series lks stage ii this stage is made up of concurrent hks lks rocks stage ics the central gli stagli and northern calderas are older than blt and wtt as supported by the strong discrepancies between calculated volumes of these pyroclastic rocks and the volume of the caldera also caldera collapses due to sector sliding are improbable as tested by the absence of rock slide avalanche deposits the collapses occurred incrementally through repetitive draining of the magma chamber s resulting from a succession of moderate sized volcanic events gli stagli caldera was infilled by a lake early after collapse so that sediments alternated with leucite tephrite lava flows and tephra within the lake the sequence was overlain by a thick succession of young pyroclastic rocks downfaulting downsagging cut the flat lying gli stagli filling sequence resulting in the old valle caldera successive pyroclastic and debris flows derived by updoming of the central caldera deposits infilled the last structure and downfaulted part of the valle fill producing the young valle caldera

palaeoenvironmental assessment of westphalian fluvio lacustrine deposits of lorraine france using a combination of organic geochemistry and sedimentology abstract the quality and the quantity of organic carbon preserved in modern and ancient terrestrial sediments is the result of a complex interactions of sedimentological factors such as in situ productivity allochtonous supply of organic matter oxidation processes biodegradation and sediment accumulation rates the study aims at utilizing multidisciplinary information in order to characterize the palaeoenvironment in westphalian fluvio lacustrine deposits of the lorraine coal basin ne france in this basin the lack of outcrops is the major difficulty to compensate for this problem sedimentology and molecular geochemistry are combined in order to significantly improve the palaeoenvironmental assessment of the area geochemical analyses and sedimentology have been carried out on several core samples of the saulcy drill hole to evaluate local palaeoenvironmental variability the lithofacies associations in the upper carboniferous of the lorraine basin suggest an alluvial plain environment without marine incursions sedimentological interpretations of the core as well as comparison with sedimentological models suggests the recognition of different depositional environments from braided and or meandering rivers to swamp and lakes the organic geochemistry is focussed on the recognition of aliphatic hydrocarbons and especially on molecular biomarkers which provide valuable information about the original organic matter and the transformations that took place during sedimentation and diagenesis in the lorraine basin the botanical variability is high and clearly related to the position of the vegetation communities in the fluvial system the biomarkers e g diterpanes steranes show variations which can be related to the diversity of this ecosystem in this study a reinterpretation of the environmental zonation in the sterane ternary diagram adapted to a fluvio lacustrine sedimentology is proposed the correlation between sedimentological and geochemical interpretation permits characterization of various depositional environments a palaeoenvironment model relating sediment deposition conditions and organic matter characteristics is proposed

a comparison of intuitive and objective interpretations of miocene plant assemblages from north bohemia abstract an extensive corpus of semi quantitatively described geobotanical analyses from the early miocene of north bohemia has been examined by parametrical and non parametrical multivariate statistical methods the results of these analyses have been compared with traditional geobotanical interpretations that are based on uniformitarian assumptions the statistical analyses show that there are patterns of relationships inherent in the raw geobotanical analyses that are very similar to the traditional interpretations but the statistical analyses define seventeen groups where tradition recognises eight the objective picture from the statistical study however throws a fresh perspective on the familiar evidence and implies that montane colline and riparian forest associations often sub divided on edaphic lines can be recognised in addition to the lowland marsh ecologies implicit in a major brown coal deposit the present day ecological patterns recognisable in ecosystems more than twenty million years old suggest that most of the components retained their ecological preferences throughout this time the statistical analyses offer fresh insights into aspects of the processes transporting the specimens to their place of burial the success of the statistical analyses indicates that the methods used are potentially capable of identifying ecological associations in older geological systems

chemical evolution of a gas capped deep aquifer southwest of iran the kangan aquifer ka is located below a gas reservoir in the crest of the kangan anticline southwest of iran this aquifer is composed of permo triassic limestone dolomite sandstone anhydrite and shale it is characterized by a total dissolved solid of about 332 000 mg l and na ca cl type water a previous study showed that the source of the ka waters is evaporated seawater chemical evolution of the ka is the main objective of this study the major minor and trace element concentrations of the ka waters were measured the chemical evolution of ka waters occurred by three different processes evaporation of seawater water rock and water gas interactions due to the seawater evaporation process the concentration of all ions in the ka waters increased up to saturation levels in comparison to the evaporated seawater the higher concentrations of ca li sr i mn and b and lower concentrations of mg so4 and na and no changes in concentrations of cl and k ions are observed in the ka waters based on the chemical evolution after seawater evaporation the ka waters are classified into four groups 1 no evolution cl k ions 2 water rock interaction na ca mg li and sr ions 3 water gas interaction so4 and i ions and 4 both water rock and water gas interactions mn and b ions the chemical evolution processes of the ka waters include dolomitization precipitation ion exchange and recrystallization in water rock interaction bacterial reduction and diagenesis of organic material in water gas interaction also occur a new type of chart caexcess versus mgdeficit is proposed to evaluate the dolomitization process

analysis of geomorphic systems response to natural and human drivers in northern spain implications for global geomorphic change abstract an analysis of changes experienced during the last century by certain indicators of the intensity of geomorphic processes in northern spain is presented in order to test a previously formulated hypothesis the hypothesis already tested in the rio de la plata basin is that there is a global geomorphic change which implies an acceleration of geomorphic processes in general and that such acceleration is mainly due to the transformation of land surface by human activities not to climate factors sedimentation rates obtained in eight estuaries in northern spain through pb 210 and cs 137 dating of sediment cores show a general increase since the beginning of last century and particularly after the 1950s similar increases in landslide frequency have been formerly observed in some areas of the same region trends of change in sedimentation rates have been compared with those of potential natural rainfall and human indicators of the intensity of human activities that can contribute to land surface transformation drivers there seems to be no relationship between rainfall and sedimentation rate trends but the magnitude and trends of several indicators of human activity are similar to those of the latter data on landslide frequency obtained in a small study area also show a possible relationship with land use change and infrastructure development but not with rainfall the results described are coherent with the hypothesis and suggest that the process described could have a global character if this is so the worldwide observed increase in flood and landslide disasters might be a characteristic of the anthropocene and due to human induced geomorphic change rather than climate change also human induced as often assumed

depositional setting and paleobotany of permian and triassic permineralized peat from the central transantarctic mountains antarctica abstract silicified peat is known from two sites in the central transantarctic mountains both are within a 2 km thick permo triassic sandstone shale sequence that was deposited by braided streams in a rapidly subsiding foreland basin along the paleo pacific margin of antarctica upper permian permineralized peat occurs as scattered boulders just above a channel form sandstone in the upper part of the buckley formation on skaar ridge overlooking the beardmore glacier these boulders are erosional remnants of fine grained deposits that accumulated in shallow lakes or swamps on a flood plain at fremouw peak the peat occurs near the top of the fremouw formation in strata that are probably middle to late triassic in age the peat consists of large blocks that were rafted into a sandy braided stream channel during a flood and then stranded and buried as flood waters receded both sites are characterized by exceptionally well preserved plant material although the composition and diversity of the two floras are very different permineralization apparently took place rapidly and was enhanced by the dissolution of siliceous volcanic detritus that is abundant in both formations

evolution of beach dune fields systems following the construction of jetties in estuarine mouths cantabrian coast nw spain the morphology of many spanish estuarine mouths has been modified over recent decades to improve access to the harbours located inside the normal practice has been the construction of jetties along one or both sides of the mouth to improve the flow though the main estuarine channel and thereby prevent the formation of bars in the main channel bed and ebb tidal delta lobes or mouth bars in the mouths the new wave refraction diffraction dynamics created by these structures induces a strong modification of the beach dune systems in the zones adjacent to the jetties a rapid migration occurs until the beach profile and the associated dune field stabilise which occurs when the confined space is unable to retain more sediment this process may include the reworking of outer sandy bottoms and the generation of new stabilised bars a portion of the sand used by waves to form this accretion is supplied by erosive processes occurring during the same period on the beaches and dune fronts located in areas further away from the jetties which in many cases are heavily used the aim of this paper was to analyse the accretion geometries and rates of beach dune systems in several estuaries that drain into the cantabrian coast and the subsequent erosion in the outer dune belt testing a conceptual model formulated to explain the factors that determine the beach dune response to human actions the methodology applied can be exportable to other regions to facilitate the prediction of anthropic effects from harbour development and coastal management policies and the subsequent conservation of these environments

sediment properties and heavy metal pollution assessment in the river estuary and lake environments of a fluvial plain china abstract a better understanding of the relationships between heavy metal pollution and sediment sources in different aquatic environments is needed in this study some geochemical properties major elements and trace metals of sediments from a river an estuary and a lake were researched in the yangtze river delta plain a fluvial plain nj river sediments sediments from the nanjing section showed a relatively coarse size and tl lake sediments sediments from the taihu lake showed a fine size as a whole nj river sediments revealed higher concentrations of toc cao and mgo while tl lake sediments revealed higher sio2 and al2o3 ye estuary sediments sediments from yangtze estuary had medium ranges of major elements for metal speciation nj river sediments had high concentrations of acid extractable cd and pb ye estuary sediments showed high reducible fractions of cu pb and zn and tl lake sediments revealed a high oxidizable fraction of cu ye estuary sediments showed strong correlations between trace metals and major elements but tl lake sediments showed weak correlations the heavy metal contamination levels were evaluated by enrichment factors based on existing heavy metal forms in sediments the risk assessments were also manifested by the proportion of the first metal form risk assessment code rac the comprehensive racs of sediments followed the order of river sediments estuary sediments lake sediments among heavy metals cd and pb revealed the highest risks for sediments the results of primary component analysis and cluster analysis showed that the metal speciation was associated with sediment sources and components it is apparent that the metal contaminations are associated with sediment sources which significantly influence the geochemical properties of sediments in the different aquatic environments of the yangtze river delta plain

carbon dioxide degassing from the albani hills volcanic region central italy the albani hills are affected by strong co2 degassing processes the amount of co2 which rises from the depths and subsequently dissolves into shallow groundwater has been estimated to be more than 4 2 109 mol year 1 most of the gas is released in localised anomalous spots lavinio solforata and ciampino albano nemi areas generated by fluid leakage processes from buried pressurized reservoirs hosted by structural highs of the calcareous siliceous marly basement the groundwater circulating in the anomalous areas becomes co2 oversaturated generating observable gas manifestations whose composition is mainly controlled by gas liquid separation processes a gas flow rate of 6 1 108 mol year 1 has been measured from the two larger manifestations using the accumulation chamber technique the presence at shallow level of co2 oversaturated groundwater can explain several episodes of sudden release of gas which was documented by historical chronicles from roman times until now

the groundwater budget a tool for preliminary estimation of the hydraulic connection between neighboring aquifers abstract groundwater management authorities usually use groundwater budget calculations to evaluate the sustainability of withdrawals for different purposes the groundwater budget calculation does not always provide reliable information and it must often be supported by further aquifer monitoring in the case of hydraulic connections between neighboring aquifers the riardo plain aquifer is a strategic drinking resource for more than 100 000 people water storage for 60 km2 of irrigated land and the source of a mineral water bottling plant over a long period the comparison between the direct recharge and the estimated natural outflow and withdrawals highlights a severe water deficit of approximately 40 of the total groundwater outflow a groundwater budget deficit should be a clue to the aquifer depletion but the results of long term water level monitoring allowed the observation of the good condition of this aquifer in fact in the riardo plain the calculated deficit is not comparable to the aquifer monitoring data acquired in the same period 1992 2014 the small oscillations of the groundwater level and the almost stable streambed spring discharge allows the presumption of an additional aquifer recharge source the confined carbonate aquifer locally mixes with the above volcanic aquifer providing an externally stable recharge that reduces the effects of the local rainfall variability the combined approach of the groundwater budget results and long term aquifer monitoring spring discharge and or hydraulic head oscillation provides information about significant external groundwater exchanges even if unidentified by field measurements and supports the stakeholders in groundwater resource management

hydrocarbon generation potential of some hungarian low rank coals abstract several hungarian lignite and brown coal samples were studied by coal petrographical palynological and organic geochemical methods three of these were chosen for a series of pyrolysis experiments thermal treatment was carried out on two h rich eocene brown coals kerogen type ii and a h poor miocene lignite kerogen type iii between 200 and 500 c the products of experiments insoluble residue chloroform soluble bitumen and volatilized bitumen were investigated during diagenesis the hydrocarbon potential of lignite decreased by 75 and that of the coals diminished approximately 50 the zone of the catagenesis was reached at 350 c by lignite and at 375 c by coals the coal 2 is somewhat more resistant to thermal degradation than coal 1 various hydrocarbon classes alkanes alkenes phyllocladanes isoprenoids were measured in non aromatic hydrocarbon fractions volatile bitumens contained much more unsaturated hydrocarbons than the bitumens extracted after pyrolysis prist 1 ene and prist 2 ene were measurable only in the volatile yields 16 h phyllocladane was present among the products and its generation stability and isomerization were also studied the ratios between different hydrocarbon products were found variable in the case of different samples as a function of increasing temperature and time e g n alkenes to n alkanes

occurrence of cordaitales from lower gondwana sediments of ib river coalfield orissa india an indian scenario abstract the ib river coalfield in orissa state is a part of mahanadi master basin recent extensive investigations were conducted in this coalfield to locate fossiliferous beds in the lower gondwana deposits and as a result a large cache of plant fossils were recovered from lower permian sediments barakar formation exposed in jurabaga and lajkura collieries the complete flora includes 23 genera representing nine orders viz lycopodiales equisetales sphenophyllales filicales cordaitales coniferales ginkgoales cycadales and glossopteridales only the cordaitales represented by four genera i e noeggerathiopsis cordaites euryphyllum and kawizophyllum are discussed in this paper cordaitalean leaves are described for the first time from this coalfield the remaining plant groups will be considered in a subsequent publication cordaitalean leaves attributable to noeggerathiopsis hislopii noeggerathiopsis minor euryphyllum whittianum euryphyllum maithyi kawizophyllum dunpathriensis and cordaites sp constitute about 13 90 111 specimens of the total plant assemblage collected from this coalfield of the cordaitaleans n hislopii is most abundant 47 75 53 specimens followed by e whittianum 40 54 45 specimens a summary of the distribution of cordaitales throughout the indian gondwana is also presented floristic composition varies stratigraphically at the two barakar exposures lajkura and jurabaga collieries cordaitales are preserved only in the lowermost 4th horizon lower floral zone strata in these collieries have been assigned to the lower and upper barakar formation based on floristic content and an early permian artinskian age is assigned

botryococcane in a new class of australian non marine crude oils there are few documented examples of source specific hydrocarbons in non marine petroleum and most of these are related to land plant precursors1 3 one such biological marker of algal origin is botryococcane c34h70 a geologically rare acyclic alkane derived from the freshwater green alga botryococcus braunii4 5 first discovered in several sumatran crude oils6 7 and here identified in a suite of coastal bitumens from 10 different stranding sites between kingston south australia and portland victoria table 1 figs 1 2 biological marker and carbon isotope analyses of these bitumens provide evidence for a new class of australian non marine crude oils the bitumens are inspissated waxy residues of paraffinic and paraffinic naphthenic crude oils that emanate from submarine seeps in the western otway basin8 12 and are characterized by high concentrations of botryococcane unlike other high wax australian oils13 14 the coastal bitumens contain up to 2 6 sulphur and seem to be primarily of algal origin their geochemistry can be used to predict the occurrence of extensive organic rich source beds that were deposited in deep meromictic lakes along australia s southern continental margin

groundwater mixing in a heterogeneous multilayer aquifer driven by geogenic co2 fluxes evidence from chemical and isotopic composition of ferrarelle waters riardo plain southern italy abstract the successful management of carbon in the earth s crust is critical for mitigating the increase of anthropogenic co2 in the atmosphere carbon capture and storage ccs requires an understanding of the behavior of carbon in the crust and the development of robust monitoring techniques to constrain the movement mechanisms and pathways for any potential co2 leakage here we examine an aquifer from the riardo plain campania region southern italy which serves as a suitable natural analogue for co2 migration to the critical zone i e shallow crust and aquifers and as a case study to evaluate the geochemical processes that occur when co2 saturated fluids mix with freshwater in shallow aquifers we investigate the behavior of various geochemical constituents major and trace elements 18o h2o 13c dic and rn content water from this area has a high degree of mineralization ec 2500 3000 s cm high hco3 2 5 g l is saturated with respect to caco3 and is enriched in alkali ions e g na k the high degree of mineralization occurs in groundwater that discharges from the basal aquifer of the roccamonfina volcanic edifice 6 km nw with vast co2 inputs that promote host rock leaching superficial volcanic aquifers are recharged by fresh meteoric precipitation when groundwater flows from carbonates at the edge of the plain to aquifers hosted in the southeastern slope of the roccamonfina volcano the presence of normal faults in this area permits natural upwelling of co2 rich groundwater which locally mixes with shallow freshwater present within the upper volcanic succession significant r 0 8 linear correlations between conservative elements suggest that groundwater geochemistry is dominated by a mixture of two main endmembers i deep mineralized waters and ii shallow diluted waters the intrusion of freshwater to volcanic aquifers induces oxidation leading to adsorption of select elements e g as and ba onto fe oxyhydroxide precipitates within these aquifers geochemical modeling suggests that co2 saturation approaches 3 g l which agrees with direct measurements of co2 flux we conclude that our conceptual geochemical model helps to constrain mixing of co2 with freshwater and to diagnose the secondary geochemical processes that influence aqueous geochemistry within co2 influenced groundwater

petroleum geochemistry and depositional setting of lacustrine source rocks abstract lacustrine sequences are increasingly being recognised as hosts for commercial reserves of petroleum petroleum source rocks in lacustrine sequences have organic carbon contents ranging from 20 and kerogen types range from type i to type iii the organic matter can be of land plant algal or bacterial origin most undegraded lacustrine oils are extremely paraffinic and waxy but a few are asphaltic and rich in sulphur the crude oils and source rocks contain a wide diversity of biological marker compounds reflecting different source inputs the diversity of chemistries displayed by lacustrine source rocks and crude oils reflect the wide variety of organic source materials and depositional conditions operative in lakes lacustrine sequences preserved in the geological record represent sediments deposited in fluvial lakes on humid flood plains and tectonic lakes in humid semi arid and arid environments preservation of organic matter in lakes is dependent on the formation of anoxic or micro oxic bottom waters this is favoured by stratification of lake waters brought about by temperature and salinity contrasts organic material preserved in oligotrophic lakes is largely of land plant origin which has been extensively modified by bacteria under mildly oxidizing conditions and supplemented by the bacterial remains source rocks of this type are found in 1 fluvial lacustrine settings e g jurassic of eromanga basin australia and 2 the oligotrophic phase of larger tectonic lakes e g early stages of green river formation uinta basin usa as these freshwater lakes become productive algal remains are contributed to the sediment and anoxic bottom waters can become more firmly established the green algae pediastrum and botryococcus appear to be particularly important although land plant detritus is still significant e g cretaceous source rocks songliao basin china saline lakes conditions tend to restrict the diversity of the source biota although preservation may be enhanced through anoxia brought about by salinity stratification and inhibition of bacterial decay e g later stages green river formation uinta basin usa sulphate rich and hypersaline lacustrine systems result in the formation of sulphur rich sources and oils e g jianghan basin china because of the diversity of organic matter types maturation criteria for hydrocarbon generation in lacustrine sequences also vary however in most cases higher maturation levels are required for significant hydrocarbon generation at present it is uncertain the extent to which algal and bacterial organic matter contribute to the source for the waxy hydrocarbons which are characteristic of lacustrine oils organic rich rocks formed in large freshwater and saline lakes are the most productive type of lacustrine source rock although sources formed in lakes of flood plains and deltas are also widespread

temporal evolution of the roccamonfina volcanic complex pleistocene central italy abstract the roccamonfina volcanic complex rvc in southern italy is an early to middle pleistocene stratovolcano sharing temporal and morphological characteristics with the somma vesuvius and the alban hills both being associated with high volcanic hazard for the cities of naples and rome respectively the rvc is important for the understanding of volcanic evolution in the roman and campanian volcanic provinces we report a comprehensive study of its evolution based on morphological geochemical and k ar geochronological data the rvc was active from c a 550 ka to 150 ka its evolution is divided into five stages defining a volcanic pulse recurrence time of c a 90 100 kyr the two initial stages consisted in the construction of two successive stratovolcanoes of the tephrite phonolite namely high k series the first stage was terminated by a major plinian eruption emplacing the trachytic rio rava pumices at 439 9 ka at the end of the second stage the last high k series stratovolcano was destroyed by a large sector collapse and the emplacement of the brown leucitic tuff blt at 353 5 ka the central caldera of the rvc is the result of the overlapping of the rio rava and of the blt explosions the plinian eruption of the blt is related to the emptying of a stratified deep seated hks magma chamber during the upwelling of k series ks magma marking a major geochemical transition and plumbing system re organization the following stage was responsible for the emplacement of the lower white trachytic tuff at 331 2 ka and of basaltic trachytic effusive products erupted through the main vent the subsequent activity was mainly restricted to the emplacement of basaltic shoshonitic parasitic cones and lava flows and of minor subplinian deposits of the upper white trachytic tuff between 275 and 230 ka the northern crater is most probably a maar that formed by the phreatomagmatic explosion of the yellow trachytic tuff at 230 ka the latest stage of activity featured the edification of the central shoshonitic domes at c a 150 ka

trace element behavior during weathering of leucite in potassic rocks from the roccamonfina volcano campania southern italy and environmental implications abstract trace element contents in leucite and its alteration mineral phases from the quaternary potassic rocks of the roccamonfina volcano have been determined the dominant weathering phase of leucite is analcite in the early stages of the conversion process it concentrates mainly rb and sr with minor amounts of ba ni v zn la ce and zr at more advanced stages of the conversion process only rb and y persist while all other elements except cu and cr that are essentially immobile are lost particularly zn and to a lesser extent la ce and nd besides analcite leucite may also subordinately alter to halloysite this probably occurs by interaction of waters of low cation h ratio halloysite concentrates mainly sr and to a lower extent ba environmental implications are significant only for k as the release of this element to groundwaters increases greatly the fertility of soils

ftir and py gc ms spectra of true fern and seed fern sphenopterids sydney coalfield nova scotia canada pennsylvanian abstract sphenopterid specimens from the late pennsylvanian of sydney coalfield canada are investigated by ftir and py gc ms techniques as part of an on going research project into the biochemistry and chemotaxonomy of pennsylvanian age pteridophylls included in the investigation are samples of the true fern species oligocarpia brongniartii and zeilleria delicatula that are preserved as naturally macerated cuticles nmc and the seed fern eusphenopteris neuropteroides that is also preserved as a compression impression ftir spectra of nmc seed fern e neuropteroides and fern sphenopterid o brongniartii are very similar except that the latter does not have aromatic bands in the 700 900 cm 1 out of plane region py gc ms show more aromatic compounds for the seed fern than for the two true fern sphenopterids another difference between seed fern and true fern sphenopterids is a lower ratio of ch2 to ch3 in chemically treated specimens ctc for the seed fern these observations suggest slightly higher aromaticity for the seed ferns perhaps related to some chemotaxonomic differences comparison of ftir and py gc ms characteristics of sphenopterids and other plant groups shows that these two techniques have potential to identifying chemotaxonomic signals from carboniferous pteridophylls in general although more data are needed to confirm this

hydrogeochemistry of roccamonfina volcano southern italy this is the first hydro geochemical investigation carried out on the roccamonfina volcanic complex groundwaters the chemistry of roccamonfina waters is defined by water rock and water rock gas interactions in fact interactions between rocks of the first eruptive high k formations and circulating groundwaters are recognized by high k concentrations on the other hand inverse concentration of calcium versus alkali metals is related to two different rock interactions occurring in different areas of the volcano a within the caldera where groundwaters flow within latite and pyroclastic formations releasing calcium and b similarly at the base of the volcano where groundwaters flowing from surrounding carbonates got strongly enriched in ca these geochemical processes are also associated with k se of caldera and mg ca in sites located at the ne base of the volcano decrease completely different dynamics occurs at riardo groundwaters se here waters are the result of a mix between the roccamonfina deep aquifer and the carbonate aquifer of the riardo plain rich co2 emissions make these waters strongly mineralized minor elements show a similar geochemical behavior of major ions and are crucial defining interactions processes the evolution of roccamonfina groundwaters is also evident along the simultaneous enrichment of ba sr and ca ba increase is the result of deep local carbonate alteration enhanced by co2 emissions and the lower sr ca ratio from 10 to 2 ppb ppm is also due to the same process in the light of our results the roccamonfina aquifer can be schematically divided into two main reservoirs a a superficial aquifer which basically follows the volcanic structure morphology and tectonics and b a deeper reservoir originating within the oldest roccamonfina volcano ultra potassic lavas and then flowing into the carbonate aquifers of the neighboring plain eventually the chemistry of the roccamonfina aquifer does not show any specific and visible pollution contrary to what happens in the volcano surrounding plains in fact only 14 of the samples we collected 206 show a no3 content 30 mg l these sites are all located at the base of the volcano near the plain

coal petrology and the origin of coal macerals a way ahead the development of coal petrology and the establishment of a nomenclatural system have proved of major use both for the industrial utilization of coal and for the development of a broad understanding of coal formation and diagenesis the development over the past 30 years however of nomenclature that includes aspects of plant origin and process is a retrograde step e g pyrofusinite degradofusinite and funginite equally problematic is the use of prescriptive formulae to indicate coal origins this paper reviews some of the problems involved with coal petrology as it is usually practiced in addition new advances in organic geochemical techniques have led to a fuller understanding of the relationship of plants and coal macerals recent research on the origin of coal macerals is presented and there is a discussion of the problems and challenges facing coal petrologists a holistic approach to studies of the origin of coal and coal macerals which includes not only petrographic but also chemical and biological studies is advocated d 2002 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

refining the pre industrial atmospheric pb isotope evolution curve in europe using an 8000 year old peat core from nw spain abstract pb pollution has existed for several millennia and remains relevant today by using peat cores as environmental archives it is possible to reconstruct this long history on a regional scale this is a significant contribution to the findings from ice core records the only other archive recording purely atmospheric additions without information that allows linking and comparison between sites regionally within europe and elsewhere our ability to make coherent global models of the natural pb cycle and anthropogenic forcing of this cycle is limited in this respect the characteristics of the pb pre pollution aerosol ppa are important to define globally we characterize for the first time a ppa in southern europe with pb 0 78 0 86 g g 1 net pb accumulation rates of 0 032 0 030 mg m 2 y 1 and a 206 pb 207 pb signature of 1 25470 0 02575 this ppa pb isotope signature is more radiogenic than that found thus far in western and northern europe spain is a historically important mining site using three isotope plots and a pool of potential pb isotope signatures a detailed source appointment of both natural and anthropogenic pb sources was made we found evidence of saharan aridification and its termination 4400 bp and or agricultural signals and strong local control from rock and soil of the pb ppa human impact is first recorded at 3210 bp but does not exceed 50 of deposited pb until 3005 bp mines in se spain dominate early pb pollution history at this site during the rise of roman rule contributions come from mines in n nw and sw spain with no strong indication of other european mining activities in medieval and industrial times local contributions to the peat bog are reduced

lead isotopes as tracers of pollutants in soils in order to gain insight into pb pollution of soils a pb isotope study was performed on soil profiles from selected sites in switzerland samples were analysed from the swiss national park where high pb contents have been observed despite the absence of obvious pollution sources other samples were taken in populated areas n of zurich where soil pollution was expected major goals of this study were 1 to distinguish anthropogenic from natural pollution by pb isotopic means 2 to determine the magnitude of pollution penetration 3 to assess the extent of pollution and 4 to identify the anthropogenic sources of pollution for major pollutants the pb isotopic compositions have been determined on samples collected between 1993 and 1995 fly ash from waste incinerators showed a constant isotopic composition 206pb 204pb 17 92 17 96 independent of the plant and sampling year in contrast samples representative for petrol pb displayed a larger spread 17 13 17 52 but generally had the least radiogenic composition among the pollutants sewage sludge showed an intermediate composition 17 74 17 88 aerosols as omnipresent pollutants had compositions 17 49 17 77 between car exhausts and fly ash from waste incineration reflecting their mixed nature for air fall deposition a mean pb isotopic composition 206pb 204pb 17 99 has been calculated for the 20th century taking into account the time dependent evolution of aerosols due to the pb isotopic contrast between unpolluted soil 206pb 204pb 18 8 and the anthropogenic contaminants pollution could be detected in all but one soil profile penetration of pollution reached to depths of between 20 and 30 cm calculated anthropogenic net pb inputs amounted to approximately 2 2 g m 2 in weakly polluted soils national park and reached values of 15 7 17 5 g m 2 in soils closely exposed to pollutants in soils with low anthropogenic pb inputs pollution could be explained by air fall deposition in stronger polluted soil profiles the pb isotopic composition of the pollutant did not allow us to clearly identify the pollution sources because of anthropogenic inputs from several sources

chemical characterization of lower devonian vascular plants vegetative remains of three coalified lower devonian vascular plants zosterophyllum psilophyton renalia were analyzed using flash pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry the distributions of pyrolysis products are compared with those from younger vascular plant fossil xylem cordaixylon callixylon and cuticle pachypteris the likelihood of the chemical preservation of characteristic higher plant macromolecules e g lignin and cutan in the lower devonian plant fossils is considered in light of this comparison and associated thermal maturity assessments reflectance values from vitrinite like macerals which may not be vitrinite sensu stricto in the lower devonian host rocks for the fossils selected for this study are shown to provide a reasonable assessment of the thermal maturity of these early vascular plant fossils although lignin altered through burial maturation is the most likely source of the prominent alkylphenols and aromatic hydrocarbons in the lower devonian tracheophyte flash pyrolysates a contribution from thermally modified tannins cannot be ruled out comparison of the highly aliphatic pyrolysates from the zosterophyllum and psilophyton axes with that of a thermally mature fossil gymnosperm leaf revealed that cutan was an important component in the devonian plant remains this is the earliest chemical evidence for the presence of cutan in vascular plants

determination of the sources of nitrate contamination in karst springs using isotopic and chemical indicators the sources of nitrate no3 in groundwater of the shallow karst aquifer in southwestern illinois sinkhole plain were investigated using chemical and isotopic techniques the groundwater in this aquifer is an important source of potable water for about half of the residents of the sinkhole plain area previous work has shown that groundwater from approximately 18 of the wells in the sinkhole plain has no3 concentrations in excess of the usepa s drinking water standard of 10 mg n l relative to background levels the no3 concentrations in water from 52 of the wells and probably all of the springs in the study area are anomalously high suggesting that sources other than naturally occurring soil organic matter have contributed additional no3 to groundwater in the shallow karst aquifer this information and the dominance of agriculture in the study area suggest that agrichemical contributions may be significant to test this hypothesis water samples from 10 relatively large karst springs were collected during four different seasons and analyzed for inorganic constituents dissolved organic carbon atrazine and 15n and 18o of the no3 ions the isotopic data were most definitive and suggested that the sources of no3 in spring water are dominated by n fertilizer with some possible influence of atmospheric no3 and to a much lesser extent human and or animal waste differences in the isotopic composition of no3 and some of the chemical characteristics were observed during the four consecutive seasons in which spring water samples were collected isotopic values for 15n and 18o of the no3 ranged from 3 2 to 19 1 and from 7 2 to 18 7 respectively the trend of 15n and 18o data for no3 also indicated that a significant degree of denitrification is occurring in the shallow karst hydrologic system within the soil zone the epikarst and the shallow karst aquifer prior to discharging to springs

stratigraphy chronology and sedimentology of ignimbrites from the white trachytic tuff roccamonfina volcano italy abstract we describe the stratigraphy chronology and grain size characteristics of the white trachytic tuff wtt of roccamonfina volcano italy the pyroclastic rock was emplaced between 317 and 230 ma bp during seven major eruptive events units a to g and three minor events units bc cd and de these units are separated by paleosol layers and compositionally well differentiated pyroclastic successions stratigraphic control is favored by the occurrence at the base of major units of marker layers four wtt units 1 to 4 occur within the central caldera these are not positively correlated with specific extracaldera units the source of most of the wtt units was the central caldera units b and c were controlled by the western wall of the caldera whereas units d and e were able to overcome this barrier spreading symmetrically along the flanks of mc the maximum pumice size mp of units increases with distance from the caldera whereas the maximum lithic size ml decreases mp and ml of the marker layer of unit d mkda mkdp do not show any systematic variations with respect to the central caldera in contrast the thickness of surge mkda decreases with distance from the source and mkdp accumulates to the north of mc probably controlled respectively by mobility transport power and by wind blowing northwards the grain size characteristics of the wtt deposits are used for classifying the units there is no systematic variation of the grain size as a function of stratigraphic height either among units or within single units large variation of components in subunit e1 with repetitive alternation of pyroclastic flow to surge through fallout vs surge deposits suggests that the process of eruption took place in a complex or piecemeal fashion pumice concentration zones pcz occur at all wtt levels on the volcano but they are much thicker and pumice clasts are much larger within the central caldera these were probably originated by the disruption of lava flow or dome to pumice fragments and fine ash due to sudden depressurization and interaction with lake waters of the molten lava local basal pcz are in some cases similar to the lapilli rich layer 1p that has been described elsewhere and may have been deposited from currents transitional between pyroclastic surge and flow other basal pcz formed in response to small undulations in the substrate or can be originated by fallout lenticular pcz within ignimbrite interiors and tops are interpreted to record marginal pumice levees and pumice rafts some of which were buried by subsequant pyroclastic flows lithic concentration zones lcz also occur at various stratigraphic height within the extracaldera ignimbrites whereas intracaldera lcz are absent probably due to the fact that ignimbrite currents are strongly energetic and erosive near vent lcz at the top of basal inversely graded layers are formed by mechanical sieving or dispersive pressure in response to variable velocity gradients and particle concentration gradients a segregation process coarse lcz and coarse lithic breccias lb that reside in the interior or tops of pyroclastic flows and that occur in medial to distal areas are interpreted to be the result of slugs of lithic rich debris introduced by vent collapse or rockslides into the moving pyroclastic flows along their flow paths these lcz become mixed to varying degrees due to differential densities and velocities relative to the pyroclastic flows desegregation processes

single pyroclastic beds deposited by simultaneous fallout and surge processes roccamonfina volcano italy abstract a sequence of fine grained hydrovolcanically generated pyroclastic surge deposits in the white trachytic tuff roccamonfina volcano italy contains two layers of coarse pumice clasts pumice fragments in these layers show no evidence for abrasion during lateral transport unlike pumice in the enclosing deposits and are well sorted in most locations they have textural and grain size characteristics typical of plinian fall deposits bedding of these pumice layers ranges from planar with gradual thickness variation over a few meters distance to highly variable with strong thickening in depressions the layers are interpreted to record deposition of pumice falling from a plinian eruption column through laterally moving pyroclastic surges depending on the local vigor of the surges during the fallout event bedding characteristics range from those approaching pure fallout to those approaching pure surge the simultaneous plinian and hydrovolcanic pyroclastic surge producing activity may have come from two or more separate vents or from a single vent that experienced rapid variations in magma water interaction

confirmation of carboniferous clastic swamp communities tropical lowlands dominated by arborescent lycophytes are the principal foci for our understanding of carboniferous peat and non peat accumulating coastal swamps1 2 suggested palaeoeco logical interpretations of various lycophytes and accessory vegetation have been based on transported compression assemblages3 4 and palynomorphs5 6 or in situ permineralized peats7 where transported macrodetritus resulting in compression assemblages is used to reconstruct past vegetational patterns taphonomic factors tend to bias the preserved flora8 11 taken alone or out of depositional context the heterogeneity of an assemblage most probably bears little or no relationship to that of the original contributing communities gastaldo9 suggests that reconstructions should be based on the autecology of erect in situ plants because with peats permineralized in situ precise resolution in time of laterally equivalent vegetation is difficult here i document an erect in situ early pennsylvanian lycophyte swamp which provides the first confirmatory evidence for previously hypothetical ecological amplitudes

kerogen origin evolution and structure kerogen commonly defined as the insoluble macromolecular organic matter om dispersed in sedimentary rocks is by far the most abundant form of om on earth this fossil material is of prime importance as the source of oil and natural gas moreover kerogen can provide essential information on major topics such as past environments climates and biota this review reports the main advances in kerogen studies since the comprehensive synthesis edited by durand durand b ed kerogen insoluble organic matter from sedimentary rocks editions technip paris 1980 it is organized into eight sections the first two are concerned with the successive definitions of kerogen and the definition used here the different techniques used for kerogen isolation without loss or degradation and basic kerogen analysis the third and fourth focus on sedimentary om sources and preservation processes in relation to depositional environment including sedimentation conditions favourable for kerogen accumulation and extrapolation to past geological time great strides have been made in the latter topics over the last 25 years owing to a combination of classical studies in organic geochemistry and studies in other domains such as biogeochemistry oceanography hydrology and soil science along with the development of powerful analytical tools the next two sections deal with the different kerogen classifications by type and kerogen evolution and maturation upon burial in sediments structural modelling of coal and kerogen based on physical and or chemical structural analysis is described in the following section although only statistical the models thus derived provide a synthetic view of the main structural resemblances and differences among various samples in relation to source maturity or physicochemical properties finally the last section explores some of the advances in kerogen understanding expected for the near future the review includes a list containing about 500 references

chemotaxonomy for naturally macerated tree fern cuticles medullosales and marattiales carboniferous sydney and mabou sub basins nova scotia canada abstract naturally macerated cuticles nmc and one synangium representing medullosalean and marattialean tree fern species from two carboniferous coalfields in nova scotia canada are investigated the samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy ftir and by pyrolysis gas chromatograph mass spectrometry py gc ms techniques in search for chemical signatures that would help in developing a chemotaxonomic classification of carboniferous fern species assuming genetically dependent make up of cuticles ftir derived ch 2 ch 3 ratios in conjunction with contributions from carboxyl groups demonstrated a better potential for discriminating between medullosalean genera and species than molecular signatures obtained by py gc ms however the latter provided better data for differentiating medullosalean from marattialean tree ferns as a group changes in the chemical make up of naturally macerated cuticles due to sample preparation are discussed

phytochemistry of the fossilized cuticle frond macroneuropteris macrophylla pennsylvanian seed fern canada abstract in canada s sydney coalfield specimens of the extinct carboniferous seed fern macroneuropteris macrophylla brongniart invariably show preservation stages intermediate between compression and fossilized cuticle even concerning a single pinnule in this interdisciplinary approach we study a ca 300 to 350 mm long fossilized cuticle preserved frond section of m macrophylla brongniart that represents about one third of the length of a frond that was originally 1 m long size and preservation allow us to study the phytochemistry of the cuticle biomacropolymers over the length of the frond to assess what impact if any results would have on carboniferous palaeophytochemotaxonomy for comparison the phytochemistry of compressions with their extracted cuticles from the same species and the same sample locality is also investigated we use solid and liquid state semi quantitative fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ftir for the chemical characterization of the frond based on our results we infer an essentially uniform phytochemistry over the fossilized cuticle frond suggesting that only a single pinnule needs to be analyzed to get an overall phytochemical picture of the frond which has been our long time working hypothesis we distinguish between phytochemistry and cutinization the latter is much less pronounced above than below the frond dichotomy and we suggest a palaeoecological cause rather than differing pathways of organic matter transformation moreover cuticles below and above the frond dichotomy have essentially the same epidermal pattern but those from below have features that may have been an adaptation to prevent stomatal flooding during the tropical rainy season this study suggests that chemically the fossilized cuticle is more similar to the compression than to the cuticle obtained from that compression of the same species which invites reevaluation of the classical compression concept

geochemical baselines for the radioelements k u and th in the campania region italy a comparison of stream sediment geochemistry and gamma ray surveys abstract this paper presents new data on the baseline concentrations of u th and k in 2389 stream sediments over the whole campania region these data based on systematic sampling and analysis are compared with those obtained by gamma ray spectrometry surveys variations in the u th and k concentration in the surficial environment of the campania region appear to be related to bedrock lithology generally high u th and k values in stream sediments correspond well with the occurrence of volcanic rocks in the central western part of the region whereas low values are found in areas characterized by silico clastic and carbonate deposits occurring mostly in the southern and eastern part of the region gamma ray spectrometry maps show a similar pattern although the distribution of the highest radioactivity levels define more restricted areas than the ones resulting from mapping stream sediment geochemistry particularly high 40k radioactivity levels delimit all the known eruptive centers roccamonfina campi flegrei and somma vesuvius including the fissural sources of campania ignimbrites much better than u and th radioactivity one of the concerns for human health in the campania region is the total gamma radiation and rn potential related mostly to alkaline volcanics of the neapolitan volcanological province in particular geothermal activity occurring in all the campanian volcanic areas represents a potential hazard for rn gas

holocene vs anthropocene sedimentary records in a human altered estuary the pasaia case northern spain abstract this work deals with the microfaunal benthic foraminifera and geochemical trace metals 14c 210pb 137cs and 239 240pu study of two boreholes 1200 and 1400 cm length and three subtidal sediment cores 38 58 cm length collected in the pasaia estuary northern spain foraminiferal assemblages in the holocene deposits depend on the paleogeographic setting while different species appear in the anthropocene sediments as a consequence of the physical transformation of the estuary into an estuarine port regarding the geochemical composition the impact of ancient mining activities probably of roman age can be recognized in the form of peaked values of pb and zn however older sediments exhibit relatively low contents of trace metals which are conditioned by hydrodynamic patterns and lithogenic inputs in the anthropocene record the influence of these factors is displaced by the decisive role of human activities as evidenced by the enhanced concentrations of trace metals and the occurrence of artificial radioisotopes and glass microspheres additionally this work provides information about trace metal contamination that may be of interest to corresponding authorities in order to set priorities of action and to take specific measures to prevent further degradation

petrology palynology and depositional environments of coals of the upper carboniferous barachois group westphalian a and c southwestern newfoundland coal samples from the barachois group of western newfoudland vary in rank from high volatile c to high volatile a the coals are vitrinite rich 70 except some from coal brook that contain substantial quantities of inertinite up to 52 liptinite ranges up to 18 but is a relatively minor component the most abundant constituents amongst the three maceral groups are vitrinite vitrinite a inertinite semifusinite and liptinite sporinite compositional profiles in three of the seams show no clear correlation between maceral group content and stratigraphic position the barachois group coals are relatively high in ash mean 12 8 and sulphur mean 6 9 spore assemblages from coal samples of the barachois group indicate a westphalian a age in the barachois brook and coal brook areas and a westphalian c age along blanche brook barachaois coals are part of a mudstone dominated facies association that developed in an assemblage of floodplain environments plots of tissue preservation gelificat

compression cuticle relationship of seed ferns insights from liquid solid states ftir late palaeozoic early mesozoic canada spain argentina abstract cuticles have been macerated from suitably preserved compressed fossil foliage by schulze s process for the past 150 years whereas the physical biochemical relationship between the coalified layer with preserved cuticle as a unit has hardly been investigated although they provide complementary information this relationship is conceptualized by an analogue model of the anatomy of an extant leaf vitrinite mesophyll cuticle biomacropolymer compression alkaline solutions from schulze s process as a proxy for the vitrinite are studied by means of liquid solid states fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ftir in addition cuticle free coalified layers and fossilized cuticles of seed ferns mainly from canada spain and argentina of late pennsylvanian late triassic age are included in the study sample infrared data of cuticle and alkaline solutions differ which is primarily contingent on the mesophyll biomacropolymer characteristics the compression records two pathways of organic matter transformation one is the vitrinized component that reflects the diagenetic post diagenetic coalification history parallel with the evolution of the associated coal seam the other is the cuticle that reflects the sum total of evolutionary pathway of the biomacropolymer its monomeric or polymeric fragmentation though factors promoting preservation include entombing clay minerals and lower ph conditions caution is advised when interpreting liquid state based ftir data as some ir signals may have resulted from the interaction of schulze s process with the cuticular biochemistry a biochemical study course for taphonomy is suggested as fossilized cuticles cuticle free coalified layers and compressions are responses to shared physicogeochemical factors

natural and anthropocene fluxes of trace elements in estuarine sediments of galician rias the anthropocene has been proposed as a new geo stratigraphic epoch where humans have become a global factor affecting the ecosystems estuarine sediments constitute a biogeochemical reservoir where trace elements tes from natural sources mix with a fraction generated by human activities this study assessed the natural lithogenic imprint of tes from uncontaminated sedimentary records to study anthropogenic changes sediment cores were sampled in the estuarine part of the low populated and low industrialized rias of ares a betanzos b and cedeira c which are located in the nw of the iberian peninsula cores were dated by the 210pb method covering up to the last century period sedimentation rates in mm yr 1 were 3 4 0 6 older than 1961 and 8 2 3 2 younger than 1961 for core a 0 9 0 2 1940 and 4 2 2 3 for core b and 13 4 1 4 for core c the background fluxes of tes were in the ranges of in g m 2 yr 1 50 560 for al and fe 20 320 for poc and 8 100 for ps and in mg m 2 yr 1 20 120 for as 0 2 2 0 for cd 7 110 for co 40 870 for cr 20 230 for cu 0 1 0 6 for hg 290 2800 for mn 4 24 for mo 20 410 for ni 20 150 for pb 60 800 for v and 70 700 for zn the three cores showed an anthropogenic influence since the mid 20th century the detected human impact during the anthropocene was due to the eume river damming and as pontes lignite mining the largest mine open pit in the iberian peninsula in core a by bridge road constructions vehicles emissions and river mouth urbanization in core b and changes in land use in core c sediment accumulation rates increased 2 4 core a and 4 7 times core b while tes fluxes increased 2 4 times in core a and between 3 6 and 5 1 times in core b pre industrial sedimentary records showed the lithogenic differences of the drainage basins mainly granitic watersheds for cores a and b and the prevalence of basic rocks of the ortegal geological complex for core c this explains the high concentrations and fluxes of cr ni and v of core c the different lithogenic imprints highlight the value of using local background references in contamination studies such as those on the anthropocene influence in estuaries which occurred after the spanish civil war in the studied rias

peat forming materials and evolution of swamp sequences case analysis of a jurassic inland coal basin in china abstract a case analysis was conducted in the yima coal mine which is located in a jurassic inland basin located in the henan province of central china using data from palynological ecology plant residues coal petrography and some geochemical characteristics the plant community during this coal forming period and the precursors of the coal forming peat were determined the peat forming paleoenvironment and evolutionary sequences within the swamp were reconstructed according to the differences in the spore pollen complex of the coals in the yima mine seven kinds of palynofacies each characterized by predominant species occured within the relative beds seven different types of ecological characteristics are indicated the different stages are represented by the corresponding floral facies six diagnostic properties of the coal facies were determined by studying the petrographic characteristics of each coal and seven different kinds of ancient peat forming swamp paleoenvironments are indicated by the coal facies a genetic model of formation development and evolutionary sequences of the coal forming swamp in the jurassic of central china is proposed

genesis and geochemistry of high fluoride bearing groundwater from a semi arid terrain of nw india occurrence of fluoride in natural water resources and the associated health hazards have been reported from many parts of india during the last decade with the objective of organizing a systematic scientific programme to understand the geochemical behaviour of fluoride in natural water resources in relation to the local hydrogeological climatic conditions and agricultural use a typical semi arid terrain in the northwestern part of india was chosen for detailed study the present work is an attempt to study the fluoride contamination in groundwater in parts of jaipur district rajasthan state and to assess the origin and genesis of fluoride in groundwater the area falling under the semi arid tract of central rajasthan is geologically occupied by alluvial formations and precambrian rocks gneisses and schists where groundwater occurs under unconfined to semi confined conditions a total of 66 groundwater samples was collected during the pre monsoon period and analysed which gave a concentration of fluoride in water in the range of 0 35 to 9 3 mg l with 62 of the samples in excess of permissible limit of 1 5 mg l as compared to alluvial formations fluoride enrichment in groundwater is higher in hard rock areas the samples collected from the granite gneissic terrain show higher values when compared to those in the schist the groundwater of the shallow aquifers soil clay complex weathered zone has a higher concentration of fluoride than the deep fractured hard rock aquifer does the possible sources of fluoride are chemical weathering and leaching of fluorine bearing minerals present in hard rocks and alluvial formations under the alkaline environment in arid to semi arid conditions high ph as well as alkalinity and low levels of ca mg and total hardness suggest favourable chemical conditions for the fluoride dissolution process a higher rate of evapotranspiration intensive and long term irrigation and heavy use of fertilizers are the supplementary factors that further increase the fluoride content in the groundwater a groundwater management programme is suggested

chemometric study of functional groups in pennsylvanian gymnosperm plant organs sydney coalfield canada implications for chemotaxonomy and assessment of kerogen formation abstract the samples comprise the foliage of four pteridosperm medullosalean plant fossil species of differing preservation states and one of a cordaitean species from two canadian maritime sub basins of carboniferous age 300 ma sydney and stellarton coalfields nova scotia respectively included in the sample set were some coal samples from sydney coalfield along with published data for coal macerals for comparison by applying schulze s maceration process to the fossil foliage to obtain the cuticles five sample forms evolved viz compressions cuticles and fossilized cuticles and acidic and alkaline solutions from schulze s process to which was added the sydney coal samples as the sixth form area integration of the absorbance spectra from solid and liquid state fourier transform infrared ftir spectroscopy produced functional chemical parameters which were organized into a data matrix of eight variables and 62 samples 8 62 matrix since we were interested in grouping the sample forms as a function of phytochemistry functional groups to assess primarily the palaeophytotaxonomic potential as a general approach to carboniferous taxonomy principal components were extracted from the matrix and a subset of 4 33 samples in order to refine the grouping results from the initial component analysis in each case a two component model resulted accounting for least 80 of the cumulative variance overall the results are encouraging in offering increasing support for fossil leaf chemotaxonomy but bearing in mind the limited sampling number 56 and restricted sampling of genera 5 apart from this general conclusion which supports our previous ftir work vis a vis chemotaxonomy we noted functional group similarities in our ftir data with types of kerogen and coal macerals on this basis we hypothesize that in combination with the different preservation states of our fossil specimens these factors have a bearing on kerogen genesis from plant material i e the oil and gas prone types i and ii

impact of a coastal disposal site for inert wastes on the physical marine environment barcola bovedo trieste italy sediments in the marine area surrounding the barcola bovedo coastal disposal site for inert wastes show a textural adjustment as a response to the new morphology due to construction of a 150 m wide 350 m long landfill relatively coarse sized deposits were found along the nearshore area facing the central landfill face while pelitic sediments transported in suspension settle deeper mainly in the northwestern sector of the study area according to the cyclonic circulation scheme geochemical comparison between disposed material and sea bottom sediments normalized taking in account the regional variability of the element contents shows 1 cr concentrations in the coastal samples twice as high as in the offshore ones with the former characterizing the whole coastal and port area of trieste and 2 anomalous enrichments of zn cu and pb located mainly in the southern stretch of the investigated area where dumping work is in progress in order to connect the landfill with the port area although the new morphology of the sea bottom is reflected in the grain size redistribution the sediments were not altered as far as their geochemical proprieties are concerned in contrast the recent discharge of material in the southern area is easily discernible because of its high heavy metal content

geolithological and anthropogenic controls on the hydrochemistry of the volturno river southern italy the present work aims to study the main chemical and physical water parameters in the upper and middle volturno river catchment southern italy between the capo volturno springs and the confluence with the calore river this study makes use of morphology geolithology tectonic land use and physico chemical ph ec eh temperature major ions and 222rn data for the identification of the main sources of surface and ground waters in the volturno catchment and of their evolution and mixing both in base flow and peak flow conditions the study was also performed to assess whether the alteration due to potential anthropogenic contamination may hamper the identification of natural primitive sources of surface waters especially in the populated and farmed plains far from the river headwaters our data suggests that water chemistry of this stretch of the volturno river is dominated mainly by lithology and only marginally by the intense exogenous activities and that this trend is appreciable in both base flow and peak flow conditions the proposed simple geochemical approach based on easy to sample matrices and on cost effective standard methods is a valuable tool to address catchment functionality especially in upland areas where complex geologic and structural settings heterogeneous groundwater flow and logistical issues are the rule rather than the exception since the upper and middle volturno catchment is comparable to numerous valleys of the mediterranean area this study could be a reference for analogous applications this article is protected by copyright all rights reserved

lead isotope ratios in spanish coals of different characteristics and origin lead isotope ratios in coals of different rank from several spanish basins were estimated and related with their characteristics the isotope 206pb 207pb ratio values of the coals studied range between 1 13 and 1 21 with the exception of some coal samples from the cretaceous which are more radiogenic coals were classified into groups according to their lead isotope ratios these in turn were related to the isotope ratios of the minerals galena pyrite chalcopyrite and carbonates some of the low rank coals in which lead might be expected to be associated with the organic matter were not found to be related with the isotope ratios of minerals the isotope ratios of the individual densimetric fractions separated from a bituminous coal are different to those of the raw coal the differences between these isotope ratios may not only be due to the diverse origin of lead in different coals but also with the possible presence of several lead species incorporated from various sources in a particular coal the results of this work represent an important contribution to the lead isotope ratio database essential for the accurate interpretation of data regarding pollution sources

geochemical significance of lipids and lipid derived substructures interlaced in kerogen abstract young kerogens isolated from seven freshwater lakes six river mouths and four marine surface sediments were subjected to pyrolysis in vacuo their pyrolysates were trapped and separated subsequently for determination of hydrocarbons fatty acids and alcohols the abundances carbon number distributions of long c12 polymethylene chain lipid compounds and relative abundances of pristenes are proposed as possible indices applicable to discrimination between young kerogens from freshwater lacustrine and marine sediments some oil shale kerogens of eocene and permian age were pyrolyzed in the same way where the chain length distributions of the pyrolysis products showed similar trends as those observed for the pyrolysis of young kerogens

paleoecology of the springfield coal member desmoinesian illinois basin near the leslie cemetery paleochannel southwestern indiana abstract the springfield coal member carbondale group petersburg formation of indiana is split locally in warrick and gibson counties indiana by clastic rocks of the folsomville member carbondale group petersburg formation that represent the leslie cemetery paleochannel part of a large interconnected paleochannel system in the springfield coal bed this study incorporated analysis of miospore and megaspore assemblages coal petrography plant compression fossils and conodonts from the coal and clastic split to document changes in the swamp and its vegetation in response to the activity of the leslie cemetery paleochannel palynological and petrographic data indicate that environmental conditions and vegetation in the lower bench of coal near the leslie cemetery paleochannel were similar to those found in profiles through the coal bed at sites near the larger more extensive galatia paleochannel miospore floras of the high vitrinite lower bench of coal were dominated by tree fern miospores with those of lycopsids ranking second in abundance megaspore assemblages were dominated by lycopsid megaspores near the contacy between the lower bench of coal and clastic split medullosan prepollen increases in abundance and fusain bands are more common which may indicate the occurrence of fire either within or outside the swamp vegetation in the folsomville member and upper bench of coal differ markedly from that of the lower bench of coal plant megafossils from the folsomville member indicate dominance by pteridosperms and or lycopsids and folsomville member miospore assemblages are dominated by lycopsid miospores most typically found in mudstones including lycospora torquifer and higher than normal abundances of granasporites medius in the transition from clastic rocks of the folsomville member to the upper bench of coal miospores of ecotonal lycopsids paralycopodites reach their peak abundance pteridosperms dominate megafossil assemblages and inertinite levels are relatively high at higher levels of the upper bench of coal vitrinite levels are higher and miospore assemblages are dominated by lycopsid miospores typical of coal swamps lycospora granulata l pusilla the presence of conodonts in coalballs in the upper bench of coal and spirorbid worms in the split indicate that the paleoswamp may have received some marine or brackish water influence higher than normal salinity levels may explain the vegetational changes observed in the upper bench of coal near the leslie cemetery paleochannel

functional groups in a single pteridosperm species variability and circumscription pennsylvanian nova scotia canada abstract multiple foliar specimens of the late pennsylvanian fossil pteridosperm gymnosperm alethopteris zeilleri ragot wagner were collected from one restricted stratigraphical horizon in the canadian sydney coalfield variability of functional group distribution using ftir technique was studied in compressions adaxial versus abaxial cuticles and in unseparated cuticles as a function of maceration time from 48 to 168 h the results obtained document spectral variability that could be expected within specimens of one species for example ch 2 ch 3 and al ox ratios can differ by as much as 20 of the values moreover the experiments performed confirm that by using a previously established maceration protocol long maceration periods do not bias ftir spectra in terms of oxygenation overprinting the inference that this cuticle is robust under the given diagenetic level probably reflects a reassuring degree of chemical fidelity of the pennsylvanian plant to support carboniferous chemotaxonomic observations

coal and coal bearing strata recent advances and future prospects recent advances in coal geology are highlighted the increase in our knowledge of peat formation is emphasized and the application of hydrological models of mire systems to coal bearing strata is advocated the importance of coalification studies to the geological community as a whole should not be underestimated consideration of the original peat forming vegetation by coal geologists is advocated both conceptual and technical advances in coal geology are reviewed integration of different disciplines is likely to yield further insights into the study of coal and coal bearing strata

anthropocene footprint in the nalon estuarine sediments northern spain abstract four boreholes drilled at depths ranging from 9 to 27 m and retrieved from the nalon estuary asturias northern spain were investigated to assess the impact of the historical human footprint on the sedimentary sequence analytical measurements of grain size geochemical composition major and trace elements and stable pb isotopic ratios were performed two different sections of the sedimentary profile were identified throughout the sedimentary sequence using pb isotopic ratios and then corroborated with grain size characteristics and as hg pb and zn concentrations the upper sediment layer of the boreholes variable depth ranging between 3 and 9 m exhibited an increase in 208pb 206pb ratios and a decrease in 206pb 207pb ratios whereas in the deepest layers these ratios remained unchanged these variations reflected the anthropogenic input of pb into estuarine sediments which can be attributed to mining activities when compared to pb isotopic ratios from coal mined in the region the anthropogenic input can be also noted on the basis of the variability of the trace element concentrations with depth the enrichment factors of as max 7 5 hg max 45 4 pb max 10 3 and zn max 8 6 calculated using local geochemical background values helped distinguish the impact of intense anthropogenic activities which can be attributed to mining exploitation in the nalon river drainage basin despite the closure of several of these mines during the second half of the 20th century geochemical characteristics have revealed the ongoing input of as hg pb and zn into the coastal zone thus the legacy of contamination from these elements mainly from leaching slags and tailing dams is still being recorded in estuarine sediments and requires careful scrutiny on the part of local authorities in terms of its possible effects on the aquatic biota

anthropogenic markers in the holocene stratigraphic sequence of the gulf of trieste northern adriatic sea abstract the gulf of trieste is a shallow semi enclosed marine basin in the northernmost part of the adriatic sea that has been affected by the relative rise in sea level during the holocene the sedimentary sequences in three cores ranging in length from 130 to 320 cm were investigated through the variability in grain size parameters major al fe s n ca and mg and trace ti mn cr ni cu zn and hg elements organic and inorganic c 13 c and 14 c dating in order to obtain information on paleoenvironmental evolution and the historical development of heavy metal contamination the potential sources of pollution are urban sewage from nearly 400 000 inhabitants industrial effluents and 500 yr of hg mining activity in the idrija region western slovenia located in the upper basin of the isonzo river the main freshwater input to the coastal zone the conventional 14 c ages of bulk sedimentary oc in the basal part of the three cores were 9030 70 gt1 8270 50 gt2 and 9160 120 gt3 yr bp an upward increase in highly negative 13 c org values from the core bottoms indicates that lacustrine swamp conditions in the study area were rapidly followed by a typical marine depositional environment cluster analysis performed on the geochemical data for all subsamples of the three cores identifies several groups with a clear stratigraphic meaning factor analysis of the data shows related element groups that can be interpreted as being related to for instance the natural contribution from aluminosilicates and carbonates from organic matter peat and the more recent anthropogenic impact predicted natural linear relationships for metal al were obtained from the core subsamples and they can be used as a baseline to evaluate metal enrichments on a regional scale results show that more recent sediments in the central sector of the gulf of trieste are slightly enriched in cu max enrichment factor ef 2 1 and zn max ef 1 6 and noticeably contaminated by hg up to 23 32 g g 1 to a maximum depth of 90 cm and up to 60 times above the estimated regional background 0 13 g g 1 the hg historical trend is well correlated with extraction activity at the idrija mine thus allowing indicative sedimentation rate estimation and tentative assessment of the rate of hg accumulation in bottom sediments from 1 77 to 31 49 mg m 2 yr 1 at the surface the large inventory of hg in the core gt2 appeared to be the result of proximity to the fluvial source which is still active in supplying hg to the coastal areas and makes the gulf of trieste one of the most hg contaminated area in the whole mediterranean basin

geochemical composition of oils in the dunga field western kazakhstan evidence for a lacustrine source and a complex filling history abstract the onshore mangyshlak basin located in western kazakhstan along the eastern coastline of the caspian sea is a prolific hydrocarbon province and home to numerous oil and gas fields the primary reservoirs are jurassic clastic sandstones but the dunga field contains hydrocarbons in lower cretaceous valanginian barremian aptian albian clastic and carbonate reservoirs the general perception is that these petroleum accumulations were charged from marine source rocks of likely middle triassic age a detailed organic geochemical investigation of oils from the cretaceous reservoirs of dunga field suggests that all were generated from the same lacustrine source rock facies organofacies c in mature kitchens in the offshore mangyshlak basin followed by a complex filling history the oils are characterised by relatively high wax content low sulfur content mainly

mineralogical and geochemical signature of mine waste contamination tresillian river fal estuary cornwall uk the mineralized district of sw england was one of the world s greatest mining areas with mining commencing in the bronze age peaking in the 1850s to 1890s but still continuing to the present day consequently it is not surprising that mining has had a major impact on the environmental geochemistry of sw england in this study the mineralogical and geochemical signature of mine waste contamination within the fal estuary at tresillian cornwall has been examined a pulse of mine waste contamination is recognized at approximately 50 cm below present day sediment surface sn as cu pb and zn are all enriched within this contaminated interval with up to 1800 mg kg 1 sn 290 mg kg 1 as 508 mg kg 1 pb 2210 mg kg 1 zn and 1380 mg kg 1 cu within this interval the dominant minerals present include chalcopyrite arsenopyrite pyrite cassiterite fe ti oxides ilmenite and rutile wolframite sphalerite baryte zircon monazite tourmaline and xenotime in addition man made slag products commonly occur the exact timing of the release of mine waste into the estuary is poorly constrained but probably occurred during or immediately following the peak in mining activity in the nearby camborne redruth district which was between 1853 and 1893 the mine waste may have entered the estuary either via the tresillian river and its tributaries or via calenick creek and the truro river and or the carnon river which flows into rostronguet creek