Different geological, technogenic and environmental samples from the Orlovka-Spokoinoe Ta-Nb-Sn-W mining site and ore processing complex in Eastern Transbaikalia (Russia), were analysed for Pb, Y, Zr, Hf and rare earth elements (REE) to assess the effect of dust and metal dispersal on the environment within the Orlovka-Spokoinoe mining site. Potential source material analysed included ore-bearing and barren granites, host rocks, tailing pond sediments, and ore concentrates. Lichens and birch leaves were used as receptor samples. The REE enrichment relative to chondrite, the extent of the Eu anomalies, the enrichments of heavy REE (HREE), and Zr/Hf and Yb/Y ratios suggest that tailings, barren granites, and metasedimentary host rocks are the main sources of dust in the studied mining environment. In addition, calculated lead enrichment (relative to host rocks) suggests that the environment is polluted with Pb. Our results clearly demonstrate the potential of REE patterns and elemental ratios as a reliable technique to trace dust and metals sources and dispersal within a confined mining area offering a new tool for environmental assessment studies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2005.11.086 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
The global climate crisis is likely to lead to a potential supply risk of lithium (Li) over the coming decades. More than half of the world's production of Li is derived from Li-bearing pegmatites. Although pegmatites are widespread, only a small fraction host economically relevant Li mineralization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
December 2024
Liaoning Natural Resources Service Center, Shenyang, 110033, Liaoning, China.
Apatite is widely used as an indicator mineral to reflect the characteristics and petrogenesis of host magma. In this study, we present apatite geochemical and in-situ Sr-Nd isotopic data of monzogranite, granodiorite and dioritic enclave in the eastern Songnen-Zhangguangcai Range Massif, aiming to fingerprinting their petrogenesis and magmatic evolution processes. Based on apatite textures and geochemistry characteristics, the apatites were categorized into two distinct groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
January 2025
Aquatic Geomicrobiology, Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany; Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany; German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena_Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address:
More than 90% of earth's microbial biomass resides in the continental subsurface, where sedimentary rocks provide the largest source of organic carbon (C). While many studies indicate microbial utilization of fossil C sources, the extent to which rock-organic C is driving microbial activities in aquifers remains largely unknown. Here we incubated oxic and anoxic groundwater with crushed carbonate rocks from the host aquifer and an outcrop rock of the unsaturated zone characterized by higher organic C content, and compared the natural abundance of radiocarbon (C) of available C pools and microbial biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
January 2025
Xizang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration and Development, Lhasa 850000, China.
High lithium (Li) and cesium (Cs) concentrations in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau thermal springs pose environmental and health challenges, but their origins and enrichment mechanisms remain unclear. This study focuses on the Sogdoi geothermal field, located along the southern Karakoram Fault, to investigate these processes. Multi-isotope analyses (H, O, Li, Sr) reveal that Li and Cs predominantly originate from the host rocks, especially granitoids and meta-sedimentary rocks, rather than from magmatic fluids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
December 2024
Frontiers Science Center for Deep-time Digital Earth, State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
Oxidation of the sub-arc mantle driven by slab-derived fluids has been hypothesized to contribute to the formation of gold deposits in magmatic arc environments that host the majority of metal resources on Earth. However, the mechanism by which the infiltration of slab-derived fluids into the mantle wedge changes its oxidation state and affects Au enrichment remains poorly understood. Here, we present the results of a numerical model that demonstrates that slab-derived fluids introduce large amounts of sulfate (S) into the overlying mantle wedge that increase its oxygen fugacity by up to 3 to 4 log units relative to the pristine mantle.
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