Oxygen- and sulfur-isotope geochemistry of acidic groundwater discharge in British Columbia, Yukon, and District of Mackenzie, Canada

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1689-1695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert O. van Everdingen ◽  
M. Asif Shakur ◽  
Frederick A. Michel
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Sulfur Isotope ◽  
Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Black Shales ◽  
Metal Sulfides ◽  
Sulfide Mineralization ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Acidic Groundwater ◽  
Isotope Analyses

The Paint Pots in Kootenay National Park (British Columbia) appear to derive the Fe, Zn, Pb, and [Formula: see text] contents of their water from sulfide mineralization in Lower and Middle Cambrian carbonates. The Fe, Zn, Ni, and [Formula: see text] contents of groundwater discharging into a tributary of Engineer Creek (Yukon) are likely derived from sulfide mineralization in Devonian or Ordovician black shales exposed in the area. The high Fe and [Formula: see text] contents of a natrojarosite deposit northeast of Fort Norman (Northwest Territories) are probably derived from pyritiferous Cretaceous shales in that area. Isotope analyses of water and of dissolved and precipitated sulfur species from these three sites where acidic, heavy-metal-bearing groundwater is being discharged revealed that between 38 and 74% of the oxygen used in the subsurface oxidation of metal sulfides is supplied by H2O molecules rather than by molecular (dissolved) oxygen. The available data also suggest that lower percentages of water oxygen in the secondary sulfates reflect increasing activity of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans or similar bacteria in the oxidation process.

Pyrite trace-element and sulfur isotope geochemistry of paleo-mesoproterozoic McArthur Basin: Proxy for oxidative weathering

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (9) ◽  
pp. 1256-1272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indrani Mukherjee ◽  
Ross R. Large ◽  
Stuart Bull ◽  
Daniel G. Gregory ◽  
Aleksandr S. Stepanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Sulfur Isotope ◽  
Gradual Increase ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Black Shales ◽  
Elemental Ratios ◽  
System A ◽  
Icp Ms

Abstract Redox-sensitive trace elements and sulfur isotope compositions obtained via in situ analyses of sedimentary pyrites from marine black shales are used to track atmosphere-ocean redox conditions between ∼1730 and ∼1360 Ma in the McArthur Basin, northern Australia. Three black shale formations within the basin (Wollogorang Formation 1730 ± 3 Ma, Barney Creek Formation 1640 ± 3 Ma, and Upper Velkerri Formation 1361 ± 21 Ma) display systematic stratigraphic variations in pyrite trace-element compositions obtained using LA-ICP-MS. The concentrations of several trace elements and their ratios, such as Se, Zn, Se/Co, Ni/Co, Zn/Co, Mo/Co, Se/Bi, Zn/Bi, Ni/Bi, increase from the stratigraphically lower Wollogorang Formation to the Upper Velkerri Formation. Cobalt, Bi, Mo, Cu, and Tl show a consistent decrease in abundance while Ni, As, and Pb show no obvious trends. We interpret these trace element trends as a response to the gradual increase of oxygen in the atmosphere-ocean system from ∼1730 to 1360 Ma. Elements more mobile during erosion under rising atmospheric oxygen show an increase up stratigraphy (e.g., Zn, Se), whereas elements that are less mobile show a decrease (e.g., Co, Bi). We also propose the increase of elemental ratios (Se/Co, Ni/Co, Zn/Co, Mo/Co, Ni/Bi, and Zn/Bi) up stratigraphy are strong indicators of atmospheric oxygenation. Sulfur isotopic compositions of marine pyrite (δ34Spyrite) from these formations, obtained using SHRIMP-SI, are highly variable, with the Wollogorang Formation exhibiting less variation (δ34S = –29.4 to +9.5‰; mean –5.03‰) in comparison to the Barney Creek (δ34S = –13.8 to +41.8‰; mean +19.88‰) and Velkerri Formations (δ34S = –14.2 to +52.8‰; mean +26.9‰). We propose that the shift in mean δ34S to heavier values up-section corresponds to increasing deep water oxygenation from ∼1730 to 1360 Ma. Incursion of oxygenated waters possibly caused a decrease in the areal extent of anoxic areas, at the same time, creating a possibly efficient reducing system. A stronger reducing system caused the δ34S of the sedimentary pyrites to become progressively heavier. Interestingly, heavy δ34S in pyrites overlaps with the increase in the concentration of certain trace elements (and their ratios) in sedimentary pyrites (Se, Zn, Se/Co, Ni/Co, Zn/Co, Mo/Co, Ni/Bi, and Zn/Bi). This study concludes that there was a gradual increase of atmospheric oxygen accompanied by ocean oxygenation through the first ∼400 million years of the Boring Billion (1800–1400 Ma) in the McArthur Basin.

Scanning Electron Microscope Study of Bacteria on Mineral Surfaces

1976 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 130-131
Author(s):  
V.K. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Oxidation Reaction ◽  
Electron Microscope Study ◽  
Elemental Sulfur ◽  
Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Metal Sulfides ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Mineral Surfaces ◽  
Mineral Surface ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscope Study

There are two strains of bacteria viz. Thiobacillus thiooxidansand Thiobacillus ferrooxidanswidely mentioned to play an important role in the leaching process of low-grade ores. Another strain used in this study is a thermophile and is designated Caldariella .These microorganisms are acidophilic chemosynthetic aerobic autotrophs and are capable of oxidizing many metal sulfides and elemental sulfur to sulfates and Fe2+ to Fe3+. The necessity of physical contact or attachment by bacteria to mineral surfaces during oxidation reaction has not been fairly established so far. Temple and Koehler reported that during oxidation of marcasite T. thiooxidanswere found concentrated on mineral surface. Schaeffer, et al. demonstrated that physical contact or attachment is essential for oxidation of sulfur.

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of the Sullivan massive sulfide deposit, Kimberley, British Columbia

1984 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 933-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce E. Nesbitt ◽  
Fred J. Longstaffe ◽  
David R. Shaw ◽  
Karlis Muehlenbachs
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Massive Sulfide ◽  
Sulfide Deposit ◽  
Massive Sulfide Deposit

The Age of Sulfide Mineralization at Rossland, British Columbia

1973 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Fyles ◽  
J. E. Harakal ◽  
W. H. White
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Sulfide Mineralization

The “evolution” of Anomalocaris and its classification in the arthropod class Dinocarida (nov.) and order Radiodonta (nov.)

1996 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desmond Collins
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Sea Cucumber ◽  
Great Difficulty ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Mistaken Identification

The remarkable “evolution” of the reconstructions of Anomalocaris, the extraordinary predator from the 515 million year old Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, reflects the dramatic changes in our interpretation of early animal life on Earth over the past 100 years. Beginning in 1892 with a claw identified as the abdomen and tail of a phyllocarid crustacean, parts of Anomalocaris have been described variously as a jellyfish, a sea-cucumber, a polychaete worm, a composite of a jellyfish and sponge, or have been attached to other arthropods as appendages. Charles D. Walcott collected complete specimens of Anomalocaris nathorsti between 1911 and 1917, and a Geological Survey of Canada party collected an almost complete specimen of Anomalocaris canadensis in 1966 or 1967, but neither species was adequately described until 1985. At that time they were interpreted by Whittington and Briggs to be representatives of “a hitherto unknown phylum.”Here, using recently collected specimens, the two species are newly reconstructed and described in the genera Anomalocaris and Laggania, and interpreted to be members of an extinct arthropod class, Dinocarida, and order Radiodonta, new to science. The long history of inaccurate reconstruction and mistaken identification of Anomalocaris and Laggania exemplifies our great difficulty in visualizing and classifying, from fossil remains, the many Cambrian animals with no apparent living descendants.

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