Geologic mapping and environmental analyses in the vicinity of the damaged red sludge reservoir at Kolontár

Abstract The authors carried out geologic investigations in the Kolontár area in connection with the red mud catastrophe of 4 October 2010, and have acquired more detailed knowledge using geologic mapping methods. This study is an evaluation on the basis of the immediate analyses that were made after the accident and are published in this paper. Based on their research results the authors find that the alluvial deposits of the Torna Brook are highly inhomogeneous, which is manifested in the variability of stability and bearing capacity. Based on the morphology in the area of Kolontár a small, rhombus-shaped pull-apart basin can be outlined, which can be interpreted as a neotectonic event characterized by a right-lateral fault. However, further detailed research is needed in order to understand what kind of role the geologic environment played in the development of the situation that led to the dam failure

A Rudabányai- és Aggteleki-hegység szerkezetföldtani vizsgálata = Structural geological research of the Rudabánya and Aggtelek Mts.

A Rudabányai- és Aggteleki-hegységben szerkezeti, metamorf kőzettani, geokronológiai és őslénytani megfigyelések, adatok alapján új szerkezeti képet készítettünk és új szerkezetfejlődési modellt állítottunk fel. A hegységeket a nem metamorf Aggteleki- és Bódvai-sorozat, valamint az anchizónás metamorfózist szenvedett jura (Telekesoldali) sorozat(ok) és az epizónás-anchizónás átalakultságú Tornai-sorozatok építik fel. A metamorfózis és a vele együtt járó többfázisú képlékeny deformáció a kréta időszak legelején mehetett végbe. Ezt követően a metamorf sorozatok a nem metamorf egységek talpa közelébe kerültek. Mintegy 110 és 90 millió évek között a metamorf és nem metamorf egységek sorrendje többször átrendeződött, és új takarók jöttek létre. A miocénben a Rudabányai-hegységben, és az azt magába foglaló Darnó-zónában 3 töréses deformációs fázis érintette a kőzeteket, melyek a hegység DK-i zónájában pikkelyeket, balos eltolódást hoztak létre. | On the basis of new structural, metamorphic petrological, geochronological and paleontological data a new structural geometry and evolution have been suggested for the Rudabánya and Aggtelek Hills. The area is composed of the non-metamorphosed Aggtelek and Bódva nappes and the Jurassic (Telekesoldal) and Triassic (Torna) series which suffered high-temperature anchi- to epizonal metamorphism, respectively. The metamorphism and the associated multiphase ductile deformation occurred probably in the beginning of the Cretaceous. After that the metamorphosed units were exhumed and placed at the base of non-metamorphosed units. Between 110 and 90 Ma the structural order of the metamorphosed and non-metamorphosed units were reorganized in several steps and new nappes formed. In the Miocene the Rudabánya Hills and the wider Darnó Zone were affected by 3 phases of brittle deformation, which resulted in the formation of scales and sinistral strike-slip faults along the SE boundary zone of the Rudabánya Hills

Regional patterns of the accumulation of toxic and nutrient elements in the superficial formations of Hungary

South of the Sudetes and Tatra Mountains young sediments contain more of almost all micro- and mesoelements than those to the north of the Carpathian Mountains, which were covered by ice during the Late Pleistocene. As detailed investigations show this larger unit is a collection of many individual geochemical regions, among which there are four on the area of Hungary: the region of soil calcification in the central part of Hungary, the slope debris of the foothills of the Eastern Alps, the floodplains of the rivers of Eastern Hungary that are contaminated with the waste material of heavy industry, and the rest of the country. No general geochemical background can be given to the whole; the background value intervals for each element shall be given for each geochemical region separately. In Eastern Hungary, where those rivers flow that originate from the heavy industrial centers of Transylvania and Slovakia, the toxic elements can locally exceed the limit value. In the central part of the country, however, the micro-elements are frequently found below the minimum concentration required, since a carbonate accumulation zone develops above the groundwater level and the carbonate minerals contain low amounts of nutrient elements