The reuse of waste heaps from extraction sites: An architectural methodology

This research was funded by the FCT-Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia, under grant number SFRH/BD/133777/2017. The first author thanks the FCT-Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia, under grant number SFRH/BD/133777/2017. The work of J. C. Kullberg was supported by national funds from Fundac?o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the research unit UID/GEO/04035/2013 (GeoBioTec).Nowadays, the rehabilitation of quarries is a widespread practice. It stems from the most significant environmental concern in the management of non-renewable resources. However, reusing quarry waste in the process of regeneration represents the aspect less prevalent. This procedure results from the non-commercialized material, accumulated in huge piles of waste, that constitute invasive elements of the landscape. Because of the intense industrial activity, the wastes further contribute to the degradation of the sites. The result of the waste abandonment could be reversed if this discarded material is considered as a product in the landscape requalification process. Mixing theoretical concepts with practical examples, this article proposes an application methodology to reuse the waste material in the landscape and architectural domains. This new contribution highlights the importance of considering scrap accumulations as an integral part of the architectural project, filling the existing gap in both architectural and theoretical domains. There is not any similar schematization in the literature and the idea of dealing with the mounds of wastes has been only slightly approached until now. The reached outcomes are demonstrative of the possibility of working with the waste heaps in architecture, creating a solid basis for further investigations not documented yet.publishersversionpublishe

Quarries: From abandoned to renewed places

This research was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, grant number SFRH/BD/133777/2017.Numerous industrial pits are discarded after their exploitation in every part of the world. Humanity both transforms the original morphology of the landscape, due to industrial activity in the territory, and, at the same time, rejects this "new" situation. This is to the detriment of the landscape, which is witness to this transfiguration, degradation, and abandonment. What is the future of these impersonal and empty areas? In this article, we present a general survey concerning the notion of quarry reuse to highlight the importance of this current and common problem. Our work approached the topic through a combination of the main concepts and a description of selected cases of study of quarry reconversions, sensitive to the environmental issues, climate changes, and sustainability. According to this premise, the research also provides an innovative matrix of schemes to classify the existing fundamental methods of recovery. For this effect, the investigation was proposed to be an instrument to improve the knowledge in the scientific and theoretical sectors, flanking the practical understanding, which has already started to move in this direction of reconversion, as the paper shows.publishersversionpublishe

Geologia de Portugal no contexto da Ibéria

Trata-se de uma síntese sobre a Geologia de Portugal na qual colaboraram cerca de 70 investigadores pertencentes às principais instituições de investigação nacionais

“Brecha da Arrábida”: an update summary including physical tests and mechanical properties

The Arrábida Breccia is a carbonate conglomeratic breccia occurring only in the chain with the same name, located in the central-occidental part of Portugal, close to the Setúbal city. It has been used from the last 2.000 years, since the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, until the exploration was completely stopped after the creation of the Natural Park of Arrábida in 1976. The uses of the Arrábida Breccia evolved along time, i) starting to be used by romans in the foundations of buildings and in the pavement of roads in the beginning of the first millennium, ii) then both as a structural and ornamental stone inside and outside the monuments that were regionally widespread built mainly the discoveries epoch of Portugal in the 15 and 16th centuries (the “Manueline’s style”) and finally, iii) as a decorative stone during the Baroque and Modern periods inside many palaces built during the following centuries. This evolution is related to the perception of the architects of the strong weatherability of the Arrábida Breccia when exposed to the external agents. In this work we will present for the first time the physical-mechanical properties of this stone, since they were never performed and published because the interdiction of exploitation was before the publication in 1992 of the first Portuguese catalog of ornamental stones. Special thanks to the company "ETMA – Empresa Transformadora de Mármores de Alentejo, S.A.” for the yield and preparation of the 129 test pieces necessary to carry out the tests, even more because it is a stone that although the company has in store, is available in small quantities. The scarcity of the material and its necessity for restoration works in buildings and other historical patrimonial assets requires that, with some urgency, a National inventory of available material be made since, as mentioned, the exploration from the known deposits is interdicted. The tests performed were: abrasion test (mm); apparent porosity (%); bending strength (kg/cm2); breaking load at the level of the natural stone anchoring hole; coefficient of absorption of water by capillarity of natural stone; compression breaking load after freezing test (kg/cm2); compression breaking load (kg/cm2); impact test: minimum fall height (cm); petrographic analysis; resistance to aging by thermal shock of natural stone; resistance to slipping of natural stone by means of the friction pendulum; thermal linear expansion coefficient max. val. (per ºC); volumetric weight (kg/m3) and water absorption at N.P. conditions (%). Tests that require the use of the thermal chamber to test the behavior before and after the ice-defrost cycles, due to technical issues, are still underway.For all determined properties it was verified that the values are within the expected limits for carbonated ornamental rocks. The obtained values and a comparative analysis with other rocks will be presented in the work to which this summary corresponds

Os ciclos de Wilson numa perspectiva da CPLP: um contributo para o ensino da Geologia nos países lusófonos

A extrema duração dos processos associados a um ciclo de Wilson (que se estendem por algumas centenas de milhões de anos) torna impossível a sua observação em tempo real. Torna-se por isso necessário recorrer ao estudo de exemplos extraídos de diversas partes do Mundo que se pensa representarem diferentes estádios evolutivos de diferentes ciclos de Wilson; a integração dos exemplos permite então a compreensão do processo global; no fundo, uma outra forma de aplicação do princípio do actualismo. Os exemplos que são utilizados no ensino da Geologia em qualquer parte do mundo são sempre os mesmos. Embora a situação seja normal, porque a Geologia não está limitada por fronteiras políticas, ela acaba por separar normalmente o estudo da tectónica de placas do estudo da evolução geodinâmica dos países. Neste trabalho, defende-se uma abordagem complementar passível de ser utilizada na Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, que usa exemplos destes países para a compreensão simultânea da Tectónica de Placas e da sua história geológica

Mais de 30 anos de encontros de Geoquímica Ibérica: contributos do XII Congresso Ibérico de Geoquímica e a XX Semana de Geoquímica

O Congresso Ibérico de Geoquímica é neste momento um congresso de referência no âmbito da Geologia Ibérica, particularmente no domínio da Geoquímica. Os primeiros passos que levaram à realização deste encontro remontam ao longínquo ano de 1977, quando tem lugar a primeira Semana da Geoquímica, no Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisboa). Desde aí, com diversos formatos e periodicidades, o Congresso Ibérico de Geoquímica | Semana de Geoquímica tem-se realizado periodicamente, sob égide de diversas instituições, entre as quais se destaca a nível nacional o Grupo de Geoquímica da Sociedade Geológica de Portugal (fundado em 1981). Em 2019, teve lugar em Évora o XII Congresso Ibérico de Geoquímica e a XX Semana de Geoquímica, contando com a participação de mais de 150 investigadores ibéricos (mas não só) e com mais de 120 trabalhos submetidos. De entre estes, as comissões científicas e editoriais selecionaram um conjunto de 28 trabalhos para integrar o volume especial das Comunicações Geológicas aqui apresentado, sumarizados neste artigo introdutório

Heritage Stone, Brecha da Arrábida, Portugal

The “Brecha da Arrábida” consists of an informal unit of the Upper Jurassic (Middle to Upper Oxfordian) located at the base of the “Marls, clays, limestone with black pebbles and conglomerates of Arrábida” Formation, defined at the most recent version of the Portuguese Geological Map at the 1/50.000 scale (38-B-Setúbal, IGM, 1994).The use of “Brecha da Arrábida” is closely associated with the history of the city of Setúbal. The proximity of the city to the extraction sites allowed the “Brecha da Arrábida” to become the essential raw material for the construction of various infrastructures that marked the history of the city. Given its aesthetic peculiarity and interest as a scientific object, the “Brecha da Arrábida” is profusely referenced in the bibliography, the oldest dating back to the seventeenth century, in the early “beginnings” of Geology. The facies and petrographic description, as well as its cartographic representation, aroused the interest of some scientists who marked the beginning of Portuguese Geology in the first half of the nineteenth century. From a strictly school point of view, the set of quarries in “Brecha da Arrábida” provides several possibilities of itineraries for study visits for basic education, secondary and university

Age constraints on the Late Cretaceous alkaline magmatism on the West Iberian Margin

The onshore sector of theWest Iberian Margin (WIM) was the locus of several cycles of magmatic activity during the Mesozoic, the most voluminous of which was of alkaline nature and occurred between 70 and 100 Ma. This cycle took place in a post-rift environment, during the 35 counter-clockwise rotation of Iberia and initiation of the alpine compression. It includes the subvolcanic complexes of Sintra, Sines, and Monchique, the volcanic complex of Lisbon and several other minor intrusions, covering an area of approximately 325 km2. Previous cycles were tholeiitic and transitional in nature, occuring around 200 Ma and 130–135 Ma, respectively. New LA-ICP-MS U-Pb, 40Ar/39Ar, K-Ar and Rb-Sr ages on several intrusions distributed along the onshore WIM are presented, which combined with reviously published data allows us to constrain the duration of the Late Cretaceous alkaline cycle to circa 22 Ma (94–72 Ma) and define two pulses of magmatic activity. The first one (94–88 Ma) occurred during the opening of the Bay of Biscay and consequent rotation of Iberia and clusters above N38 200 . The second pulse (75–72 Ma) has a wider geographical distribution, from N37 to N39 . This final pulse occurred during the initial stages of the Alpine orogeny in Iberia that led to the formation of the Pyrenees and Betics and to tectonic inversion of the Mesozoic basins. Isotope and trace element geochemistry point to a sublithospheric source for the alkaline magmatism that clearly distinguishes it from the previous cycles which had an important lithospheric mantle component. Also, it allows the discrimination between the two different alkaline pulses in terms of trace element abundance and residual mantle minerology. It is speculated that these differences might be the result of distinct magma ascent rates due to either more or less favourable tectonic settings that avoided or allowed the interaction with metasomatized lithosphere and equilibration with K rich minerals like amphibole and/or phlogopite

Magnesium Accumulation in Two Contrasting Varieties of Lycopersicum esculentum L. Fruits: Interaction with Calcium at Tissue Level and Implications on Quality

As the productivity and quality of tomato fruits are responsive to Mg applications, without surpassing the threshold of toxicity, the assessment of potential levels of Mg accumulation in tissues, as well as the interactions with Ca and physicochemical properties, prompt this study. An agronomic workflow for Mg enrichment, consisting of six foliar applications of MgSO4 with four concentrations (0%, 0.25%, 1% and 4%), equivalent to 0, 43.9, 175.5 and 702 g ha-1 , was applied on two tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) genotypes (Heinz1534 and Heinz9205). During fruit development, leaf gas exchange was screened, with only minor physiological deviations being found. At harvest, Mg contents among tissues and the interactions with Ca were analyzed, and it was found that in both varieties a higher Mg/Ca ratio prevailed in the most external part of the fruit sprayed with 4% MgSO4. However, Mg distribution prevailed relatively near the epidermis in H1534, while in H9205 the higher contents of this nutrient occurred in the core of the fruit, which indicated a decrease of the relative proportion of Ca. The morphologic (height and diameter), physical (dry weight and density) and colorimetric parameters, and the total soluble solids of fruits, did not reveal significant changes in both tomato varieties. It was further concluded that foliar application until 4% MgSO4 does not have physiological impacts in the fruit’s quality of both varieties, but in spite of the different patterns of Mg accumulation in tissues, if the mean value in the whole fruit is considered, this nutrient prevails in H1534. This study thus suggests that variety H1534 can be used to attain tomato fruits with added value, providing an option of further processing to achieve food products with functional properties, ultimately proving a beneficial option to producers, the food processing industry and consumers. Moreover, the study reinforces the importance of variety choice when designing enrichment workflowsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enrichment of Grapes with Zinc-Efficiency of Foliar Fertilization with ZnSO4 and ZnO and Implications on Winemaking

PDR2020-101-030727Grapes and wine are widely consumed in the world, yet their mineral content can be influenced by many factors such as the mineral composition of soils, viticulture practices and environmental conditions. In this context, considering the importance of Zn in the human physiology, the enrichment of Moscatel and Castelão grapes (white and red variety, respectively) with this nutrient prompted this study; further assessment of tissue deposition and some implications for wine production. Using two foliar fertilizers (ZnO or ZnSO4, at 150, 450 and 900 g ha−1), decreases in net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance occurred in both varieties, suggesting that the physiological threshold of Zn toxicity was reached without visible symptoms. Following foliar spraying with both fertilizers, the content of Zn in leaves of the Castelão and Moscatel varieties showed higher values in all treatments relative to the control. Moreover, in grapes this tendency occurred only in Castelão. Concerning Cu, Fe, Ca, K, S and P, some significant differences also happened in leaves and grapes among treatments. At harvest, the indexes of Zn enrichment in grapes increased between 2.14-and 8.38-fold and between 1.02-and 1.44-fold in Castelão and Moscatel varieties, respectively. Zinc in the dried skin of Castelão only increased with ZnO and ZnSO4 sprayed at 900 g ha−1 (ca. 2.71-and 1.5-fold relative to the control, respectively), but in Moscatel a clear accumulation trend could not be found. The dry weight of grapes ranged (in %) between 16 and 23 (but did not vary significantly among treatments of each variety or in each treatment between varieties), and total soluble solids (e.g., mainly soluble sugars and proteins) and color parameters showed some significant variations. Through winemaking, the contents of Zn increased in both varieties (1.34-and 3.57-fold, in Castelão and Moscatel, respectively) and in all treatments, although non-significantly in Castelão. It is concluded that, to increase the contents of Zn in grapes without reaching the threshold of toxicity, ZnO or ZnSO4 can be used for foliar spraying of Castelão and Moscatel varieties until 900 g ha −1 And that winemaking augments the level of this nutrient.publishersversionpublishe