Antimony, arsenic and mercury in the aquatic environment and fish in a large antimony mining area in Hunan, China

Antimony (Sb) has received increasing attention recently due to its toxicity and potential human carcinogenicity. In the present work, drinking water, fish and algae samples were collected from the Xikuangshan (XKS) Sb mine area in Hunan, China. Results show that serious Sb and moderate arsenic (As) contamination is present in the aquatic environment. The average Sb concentrations in water and fish were 53.6 ± 46.7 μg L^− 1 and 218 ± 113 μg kg^− 1 dry weight, respectively. The Sb concentration in drinking water exceeded both Chinese and WHO drinking water guidelines by 13 and 3 times, respectively. Antimony and As concentrations in water varied with seasons. Fish gills exhibited the highest Sb concentrations but the extent of accumulation varied with habitat. Antimony enrichment in fish was significantly lower than that of As and Hg.     

Determination of mercury methylation potentials in the water column of lakes across Canada

A stable isotope technique was used to trace the formation of methylmercury in lake water incubation assays at in situ conditions in five lakes across Canada. Methylation activity was only detected in the anoxic hypolimnia of lakes. The stable isotope was methylated at varying rates between lakes and depths within lakes ranging from 0.56%/day to 14.8%/day. A peak in methylation potential was typically observed just below the oxycline, which decreased with increasing depth. The depth and rates of methylation potential changed seasonally with no methylation activity occurring after fall turnover. A decrease in the sulfate concentration was concomitant with the zone of mercury methylation potential indicating the likely involvement of sulfate reducing bacteria in the methylation process. A simple correlation test between DOC concentrations and methylation rates indicated a positive relationship (r2=0.62; p=0.006; n=27). The demethylation rate constant in the anoxic hypolimnia was less than 0.12 d(-1).     

Environmental impacts and metal exposure of aquatic ecosystems in rivers contaminated by small scale gold mining: the Puyango River basin, southern Ecuador.

Gold mining in the Portovelo-Zaruma district in southern Ecuador is causing considerable environmental impacts; the most important ones are related to the discharge of cyanide, mercury and metal rich tailings into rivers of the Puyango catchment area. Cyanide and metal levels in rivers regularly exceed environmental quality criteria. The contamination impacts biodiversity, with cyanide causing a direct lethal effect on biota close to source and metal contaminants considerably reducing aquatic biodiversity further downstream. It is shown that the prevailing neutral or slightly alkaline conditions of the rivers ensure that metals are mainly associated with sediment. However, elevated metal levels in bottom living larvae collected from contaminated sites suggest that these sediment bound metals are readily bioavailable. Leaching experiments indicate that the relative ease by which metals are taken up by larvae is related to the speciation of sediment associated metals. It is further shown that large amounts of metals, which are bound to suspended sediment under ambient pH conditions, enter the dissolved and directly bioavailable state in more acidic conditions. Metal levels in carnivorous fish were found to be modestly elevated only, with the exception of mercury. Mercury levels exceeded 0.5 mg/kg in fish from both contaminated and uncontaminated sites, showing that both methylation and bioaccumulation of mercury are occurring in the Puyango river basin.     

南方五省在采稀土矿区遥感监测研究

为研究南方五省在采离子型稀土矿山开发及其对环境的影响,利用北京2号、高分2号、高分1号等多源遥感数据,对该区域2016—2017年在采稀土矿山开发状况和矿山环境进行遥感监测。通过监测发现南方五省在采稀土矿山的生产秩序已经好转;在采稀土矿区整体比较分散,但主要集中分布在江西省赣州市; 2年间稀土矿山整体上呈增加的趋势,增长率为10.5%;在采稀土矿山破坏的生态系统类型主要为林地,同时矿区还存在水土流失、山体滑坡等潜在的风险。     

Arsenic microdistribution and speciation in toenail clippings of children living in a historic gold mining area

Arsenic is naturally associated with gold mineralisation and elevated in some soils and mine waste around historical gold mining activity in Victoria, Australia. To explore uptake, arsenic concentrations in children's toenail clippings and household soils were measured, and the microdistribution and speciation of arsenic in situ in toenail clipping thin sections investigated using synchrotron-based X-ray microprobe techniques. The ability to differentiate exogenous arsenic was explored by investigating surface contamination on cleaned clippings using depth profiling, and direct diffusion of arsenic into incubated clippings. Total arsenic concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 2.1 µg/g (n = 29) in clipping samples and from 3.3 to 130 µg/g (n = 22) in household soils, with significant correlation between transformed arsenic concentrations (Pearson's r = 0.42, P = 0.023) when household soil was treated as independent. In clipping thin sections (n = 2), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping showed discrete layering of arsenic consistent with nail structure, and irregular arsenic incorporation along the nail growth axis. Arsenic concentrations were heterogeneous at 10 × 10 µm microprobe spot locations investigated (< 0.1 to 13.3 µg/g). X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra suggested the presence of two distinct arsenic species: a lower oxidation state species, possibly with mixed sulphur and methyl coordination (denoted As^≈ III_{(-S, -CH3)}); and a higher oxidation state species (denoted As^≈ V_(-O)). Depth profiling suggested that surface contamination was unlikely (n = 4), and XRF and XANES analyses of thin sections of clippings incubated in dry or wet mine waste, or untreated, suggested direct diffusion of arsenic occurred under moist conditions. These findings suggest that arsenic in soil contributes to some systemic absorption associated with periodic exposures among children resident in areas of historic gold mining activity in Victoria, Australia. Future studies are required to ascertain if adverse health effects are associated with current levels of arsenic uptake.     

The Mt. Diwata study on the Philippines 2000-treatment of mercury intoxicated inhabitants of a gold mining area with DMPS (2,3-dimercapto-1-propane-sulfonic acid,Dimaval)

Ninty-five inhabitants of the gold mining area of Mt. Diwata (on Mindanao, Philippines), who were diagnosed to be mercury (Hg) intoxicated, were orally treated with 2 x 200 mg of the chelating agent DMPS (Dimaval, Co. Heyl, Germany) for 14 days in the course of a UNIDO project focusing on mercury pollution abatement. Blood and urine samples before and after treatment, urine after the first application of DMPS and a hair sample were collected and analyzed for Hg. Before and after treatment extensive anamnestic data were collected, medical and neurological investigations and some neuro-psychological tests were performed. In spite of the short time of treatment most of the patients reported a marked improvement of the complaints which were stated by them before the therapy and which are characteristic for a chronic Hg intoxication, for example tremor, loss of memory, sleeplessness, metallic taste, etc. But even in some of the objective neurological parameters like hypo-mimia, Romberg test and tests for tremor/ataxia a statistical significant improvement could be found. Significant improvements could also be found in two neuro-psychological tests (pencil tapping and Frostig). In some cases an extreme high urinary Hg excretion was found under the chelating therapy with DMPS, and by this a distinct reduction of the Hg body burden. Nevertheless, in most cases Hg in blood and urine was not markedly decreased by the treatment. This shows that the duration of the treatment (14 days) was not sufficient for a permanent decrease in Hg. As DMPS excretes Hg mainly through the kidney, it can be concluded that in most cases even after 14 days of treatment there was an ongoing redistribution of Hg from other tissues to the kidney. In conclusion, this study proves that a chelating therapy with DMPS is highly effective even in the case of a mixed chronic and acute intoxication with an unknown combination of Hg vapor, inorganic Hg and organic Hg=methylmercury (MeHg), as characteristic for gold mining areas in the third world. Adverse side effects were rarely reported. Only in one case the medication had to be terminated after the first application due to an allergic skin reaction.     

安徽省全椒县车古尖矿区地质及金异常特征

通过对安徽省全椒县车古尖矿区地质背景的调查,指出有震旦系灯影组和寒武系琅琊山组良好矿源层,强烈褶皱变形、多方向的断裂构造是该区有利成矿部位,并对矿点地质特征及金化探异常特征作了分析.     

Mercury speciation in the Valdeazogues River-La Serena Reservoir system: Influence of Almadén (Spain) historic mining activities

Mercury (Hg) speciation and partitioning have been investigated in a river-reservoir system impacted by the Almadén mining activities, the world's largest Hg district. This study is the first to simultaneously investigate Hg dynamics from above the mining district and into the La Serena Reservoir (3219 Hm³), being the third largest reservoir in Europe and the largest in Spain.Water, sediment and biota were sampled at different seasons during a 2-year study from the Valdeazogues River, which flows east-west from the mining District, to La Serena Reservoir. Simultaneously, a comprehensive study was undertaken to determine the influence of some major physico-chemical parameters that potentially influence the fate of Hg within the watershed.Concentrations of dissolved Hg in water were below 0.14 µg/L, whereas particulate Hg ranged from 0.1 to 87 µg/g, with significant seasonal variation. Total Hg concentrations varied from 7 to 74 µg/g in sediment from the Valdeazogues River, while in sediments from La Serena Reservoir were below 2 µg/g. On the other hand, methyl-Hg reached concentrations up to 0.3 ng/L in water and 6 ng/g in sediment from La Serena Reservoir, whereas maximum concentrations in Valdeazogues River were 5 ng/L and 880 ng/g in water and sediment, respectively. The distribution of Hg species in the Valdeazogues River-La Serena Reservoir system indicated a source of Hg from the mine waste distributed along the river. Total Hg in water was strongly correlated with total dissolved solids and chlorophyll a concentrations, whereas organic carbon and Fe concentrations seem to play a role in methylation of inorganic Hg in sediment. Total Hg concentrations were low in fish from Valdeazogues River (0.8-8.6 ng/g, wet weight) and bivalves from La Serena Reservoir (10-110 ng/g, wet weight), but most was present as methyl-Hg.     

津巴布韦卢比(Ruby)矿床——南部非洲一典型的BIF型金矿床

卢比金矿床位于津巴布韦克拉通中南部的马斯温戈绿岩带中,金矿体主要赋存在条带状含铁建造中的硫化物相、碳酸盐相中,成矿作用与火山喷发—沉积作用密切相关,为南部非洲一典型的BIF型金矿床。     

河南大章—德亭金矿区土壤地球化学特征及异常评价

通过分析大章一德亭金矿区龙潭沟矿段1:10000土壤地球化学测量Au、Ag、W、Mo、Cu、Pb、Zn、As、Sb、Bi、Hg元素原始数据统计特征,确定各元素背景值和异常下限,依据异常下限值的1倍、2倍、4倍绘制各元素异常图并对其总结分析;同时利用Excel、SPSS软件对数据进行相关分析、聚类分析以及因子分析,得出Cu、Pb、Zn为主成矿元素的找矿指示元素,结合矿区地质特征全区共圈定'3处综合异常区,对类似矿床的勘查工作具有一定借鉴意义。     

江西石坞矿区金矿床地质特征及控矿因素

石坞矿区位于万年-德兴隆起铜金钨锡多金属成矿亚带金山金矿田中部,主要赋矿层位为新元古界双桥山群第三岩组第二段浅变质岩系,矿体严格受金山-朱林西韧性剪切带控制,主要分布于变安山玄武岩与糜棱岩、超糜棱岩接触地段,形成特有的"金-岩-糜棱岩"建造。笔者通过对石钨金矿矿床地质特征及成矿地质条件的分析研究,总结矿床成因和主要控矿因素,对矿区外围及边深部找矿具有一定的指导意义。     

The variations of mercury in sediment profiles from a historically mercury-contaminated reservoir, Guizhou province, China

Baihua Reservoir in Guizhou Province, China, experienced serious Hg contamination from Guizhou Organic Chemical Plant (GOCP) between 1971 and 1997. However, the biogeochemical cycling of Hg in this reservoir is not well studied. Sediment cores were collected in fall 2002, spring 2003 and in spring and fall 2004. THg and MeHg concentrations in all sediment profiles ranged from 0.26 to 38.9 mg/kg and from 0.5 to 27.5 μg/kg (d.w.), respectively. The distribution of THg in sediment cores was characterized by a few peaks, which may correspond to the Hg-containing wastewater discharge history of the GOCP. The average THg concentrations in sediments cores decreased from upstream to downstream due to the deposition of particulate Hg, which is the major form of Hg in water. THg and MeHg concentrations in pore water varied from 6.1 to 5860 ng/L and from 0.3 to 15.4 ng/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than levels in the overlying water column. Average diffusive flux from sediment to water is 1642 and 36 ng/m²/day for THg and MeHg. The spatial distribution of THg in pore water from upstream to downstream showed the same trend as the sediment, but MeHg in pore water did not show a declining pattern with distance from the GOCP. These results suggested that sediments experienced serious contamination of Hg, and the contaminated sediment is an important Hg contamination source to the overlying water.     

坦桑尼亚PL10451矿区绿岩带型金矿床地质特征及找矿标志

PL10451矿区位于坦桑尼亚环维多利亚湖南部的恩泽加绿岩带上,该绿岩带具有优越的金成矿地质条件和巨大的金成矿潜力,目前已发现有众多特大型、大型金矿床。该地区的绿岩带型金矿床类型主要包括构造蚀变岩型、石英脉型及BIF型金矿床,其成矿受构造、岩浆岩与地层等条件严格控制。本文以恩泽加绿岩带西北部的PL10451矿区为研究区,通过详细的野外地质调查和工程验证,认为矿区金矿（化）体为受剪切带控制的构造蚀变岩型金矿,矿石结构以粒状变晶结构、交代结构和碎裂结构等为主;矿石构造以稀疏浸染状构造、细脉状构造及星点状构造等为主。矿（化）体围岩蚀变特征明显,黄铁矿化、硅化、绿泥石化与该区金成矿关系密切,并具有“低阻-高极化”的地球物理特征和“Au-As明显富集”的地球化学特征。     

青海土房子南地区金多金属矿地球化学特征及找矿远景

青海土房子南金多金属矿处于祁漫塔格-都兰华力西期铁、钴、铜、铅、锌、锡硅灰石(锑、铋)成矿带,区内构造活动强烈,断裂构造以与昆北断裂平行展布的次级断裂为主,具有较好的含矿热液通道和储矿空间。通过1∶5万水系沉积物工作,采用衬值法圈定出4处衬值异常,综合分析区内地质地球化学特征,查明区内元素的分布规律和组合特征,重点选择HS132Au(W Mo As Co)地球化学异常,进行重点查证并圈定了四条蚀变带。研究表明,该区具备良好的成矿地质条件,成矿潜力较大,具有良好的找矿前景。     

Effects of soil conservation measures in a partially vegetated area after forest fires

After forest fires on the east coast of Korea in 2000, some burnt areas were left untreated. Although 80% of the area was reasonably revegetated within 3 months, about 20% of the area was partially vegetated, mainly due to a low density of sprouters and poor growing conditions (eroded soil and steep slopes). Three years after the fires, the effect of soil conservation measures, such as mulching with wood chips, seeding with native plant species and log erosion barriers (LEBs), on runoff and soil erosion were examined using runoff plots. Wood chip mulching greatly reduced runoff and sediment yields and these effects were consistent regardless of the volume of rainfall. Neither seeding nor LEBs reduced runoff and sediment yields. No positive or negative effects of mulching, seeding or LEBs on ground vegetation cover were observed. The ineffectiveness of seeding and LEBs may have been due to the steep slope, the failure of germination and establishment of seeded plants, and the small diameter of logs. Treating hill slopes with mulch should be considered where post-fire regeneration is slow and there is an absence of organic material such as litter.     

Temporal and spatial influences of flooding on dissolved mercury in boreal reservoirs

Dissolved total mercury and methylmercury concentrations ([HgT]D and [MeHg]D, respectively) in natural lakes and reservoirs of varying age (2 months to 69 years) were monitored between 1993 and 1997, during different times of the year and at several sites within the same reservoir. Both HgT-D and MeHgD in flooded environments were significantly greater (Student's t-test, P < 0.001) than those determined for neighbouring lakes, with average concentrations of 2.35+/-0.85 ng(-1) (n = 79) vs. 1.51+/-0.43 ng l(-1) (n = 70) for HgT-D and 0.28+/-0.10 ng Hg l(-1) (n = 87) vs. 0.05+/-0.025 ng Hg l(-1) (n = 30) for MeHgD. Furthermore, the proportion of HgT-D in the methylated form was, on average, nearly four times greater in the reservoir sites as compared with those of the lakes (12% vs. 3.6%). Simple linear regressions used to compare [MeHg]D with nine water quality parameters suggest that factors controlling the presence of MeHgD are not the same in all flooded environments. Overall, our results demonstrate that [MeHg]D are higher in reservoirs as compared with natural lakes and that up to 18 years after reservoir construction [MeHg]D remain elevated as compared with background levels.     

Transfer of mercury and methylmercury along macroinvertebrate food chains in a floodplain lake of the Beni River, Bolivian Amazonia

We have evaluated the mercury and methylmercury transfers to and within the macroinvertebrate communities of a floodplain lake of the Beni River basin, Bolivia, during three hydrological seasons and in two habitats (open water and vegetation belt). Using the stable isotopes δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, six trophic chains were identified during a previous study. Four are based on only one source: seston, organic matter from the bottom sediment, periphyton and macrophytes. Two are based on mixed sources (seston and periphyton in one case, periphyton and macrophytes in the other). During sampling, we found only one taxon that had surface sediment organic matter as food source and very few taxa whose trophic source was constituted by macrophytes. The periphyton was the most important source during all seasons; it produced the longest chain, with three trophic positions. Whatever the season and trophic source, all collected macroinvertebrates contained methyl mercury and the latter was biomagnified in all trophic chains that we identified. The biomagnification of methylmercury through invertebrate trophic chains accurately reflected the existence and length of these chains. Biomagnification was virtually non-existent in the sediment-based chain, low and restricted to the dry season in the macrophyte-based chain. It was significant in the seston-based chain, but limited by the existence of only two trophic levels and restricted to the wet season. Finally, it was very effective in the periphyton-based chain, which offers the highest rate of contamination of the source but, above all, the largest number of trophic levels.     

关于GPS-RTK测量仪器在矿区采空区的应用分析

随着我国科学技术事业的迅速发展,卫星定位技术水平也在不断地提高,GPS-RTK实时动态(GPS-Real Time Kinematic)定位技术在工程测绘领域中得到很好地利用并已经成为一项很成熟的技术。目前在现有的测量仪器中,相比较全站仪和普通的GPS,GPS-RTK具有很多优势。同时,由于RTK技术的不断地发展完善,能够在野外实时测量达到厘米级定位精度,不仅使工程测绘的工作方式发生了根本性的进步,也极大地提高了工程测绘的工作效率、拓展了工程测绘的工作范围。本文为该区域的采空区监测提供了应用GPS-RTK技术的参考。     

黄土地区小流域坡面侵蚀研究

针对黄土地区小流域坡面侵蚀的特点,分析了土壤、土地类型、坡度等对其的影响,并通过野外大型降雨装置,依据坡面径流理论,模拟分析了不同土地类型下坡面的产流过程,为小流域坡面侵蚀的进一步研究工作提供参考。     

采动区建筑物的保护措施研究

阐述了地下开采引起的不同地表变形形式对建筑物的危害,探讨了采动区建筑物的抗变形设计及其保护措施,对采动区建筑物保护提出了今后工作和研究的建议,进而拓宽了地下开采后地面建筑物保护研究的思路。