Ciments de calcita : anàlisi de tres zones de Catalunya

Investigadors del Departament de Geologia de la UAB, en col·laboració amb investigadors d'altres centres europeus, han dut a terme una anàlisi química sobre el ciment de calcita, un dels més habituals a les roques sedimentàries detrítiques (composades per fragments), en tres zones diferents de Catalunya.Investigadores del Departament de Geologia de la UAB, en colaboracióncon investigadores de otros centros europeos, han llevado a cabo unanálisis químico sobre el cemento de calcita, uno de los más habitualesen las rocas sedimentarias detríticas -compuestas por fragmentos-, entres zonas diferentes de Cataluñ

Sedimentología de la unidad superior de la Formación Fortuna (Mioceno inferior) en el NE de Túnez

La Formación Fortuna (Oligoceno superior-Mioceno inferior) aflora ampliamente en Túnez y está constituida por tres unidades de carácter detrítico. Las dos inferiores se sedimentaron en un ambiente deltaico-lagunar mientras que la unidad superior es fluvial. Este trabajo se centra en la unidad superior de la Formación Fortuna (Aquitaniense-Burdigaliense), que en el noreste de Túnez posee una potencia de 130 m y está constituida por areniscas de tamaño fino a muy grueso con cantos dispersos de cuarzo. Los estratos, de potencias entre 0,5 y 4 m, muestran laminaciones cruzadas, que indican un transporte hacia el NE y E, paralelo a las direcciones estructurales del Atlas tunecino. En estos materiales dominan las facies de canales y de llanuras arenosas propias de un ambiente de sedimentación fluvial arenoso trenzado. Las areniscas de la unidad superior de la Formación Fortuna son cuarzoarenitas, muy maduras texturalmente, con algunos fragmentos de rocas y feldespatos. El área fuente estaba localizada en la plataforma sahariana al SO de Túnez, dada la presencia de fragmentos de areniscas cementadas por cuarzo (procedentes de las areniscas paleozoicas del Tassilis o de las areniscas cretácicas del "continental intercalaire" o de las areniscas eocenas) y de fragmentos de rocas plutónicas y metamórficas (procedentes del macizo de Hoggar). El reciclaje de las litologías sedimentarias junto con el transporte fluvial permite explicar el alto contenido en cuarzo. Pero la extrema madurez indica que las litologías del área fuente estaban afectadas por un manto de alteración que o bien era erosionado por la red fluvial miocena o bien era reciclado a través de las formaciones sedimentarias premiocenas.The Fortuna Formation (Upper Oligocene-Lower Miocene) crops out widely in Tunisia and is composed by detrital rocks arranged in three units. The lower and middle units were deposited in deltaic-lagoonal environment, while the upper unit was deposited in fluvial environment. The upper unit of the Fortuna Formation (Aquitanian-Burdigalian) in northeast Tunisia, the subject of the present study, is 130 m thick and mostly made up of fine to very coarse sandstones with disperse quartz pebbles and containing tree stems. The section is arranged in 0.5 to 4 m thick beds with abundant cross-laminations indicating E and NE directed paleocurrents (parallel to main structural trend of the Tunisian Atlas). The presence of channel and sand-flat facies indicates that sedimentation took place in a fluvial braided environment. Petrologically, sandstones of the upper unit of the Fortuna Formation are texturally mature quartz-arenites with scarce rock fragments and feldspars. The source area was located to the SW (Sahara Platform). This fact is supported by the presence of quartz-cemented arenite clasts (Palaeozoic Tassilis sandstone, Cretaceous "continental intercalaire" and Eocene sandstone) and plutonic and metamorphic rock fragments (Hoggar basement massif) in the Sahara Platform. Recycling of ancient sedimentary formations is an important process to account for high quartz-grain content (occasionally with inherited overgrowths). Also contributing to this mature composition, the source area was probably affected by an alteration mantle that could made have been primarily eroded by the Miocene Fortuna fluvial network or, alternatively, recycled from older detrital formations

The Upper Oligocene of Montgat (Catalan Coastal Ranges, Spain) : new age constrains to the western Mediterranean Basin opening

The Oligocene deposits of Montgat are integrated in a small outcrop made up of Cenozoic and Mesozoic rocks located in the Garraf-Montnegre horst, close to the major Barcelona fault. The Oligocene of Montgat consists of detrital sediments of continental origin mainly deposited in alluvial fan environments; these deposits are folded and affected by thrusts and strike-slip faults. They can be divided in two lithostratigraphic units separated by a minor southwest-directed thrust: (i) the Turó de Montgat Unit composed of litharenites and lithorudites with high contents of quartz, feldspar, plutonic and limestone rock fragments; and (ii) the Pla de la Concòrdia Unit composed of calcilitharenites and calcilithorudites with high contents of dolosparite and dolomicrite rock fragments. The petrological composition of both units indicates that sediments were derived from the erosion of Triassic (Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk and Keuper facies), Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous rocks (Barremian to Aptian in age). Stratigraphic and petrological data suggest that these units correspond to two coalescent alluvial fans with a source area located northwestwards in the adjoining Collserola and Montnegre inner areas. Micromammal fossils (Archaeomys sp.) found in a mudstone layer of the Pla de la Concòrdia Unit assign a Chattian age (Late Oligocene) to the studied materials. Thus, the Montgat deposits are the youngest dated deposits affected by the contractional deformation that led to the development of the Catalan Intraplate Chain. Taking into account that the oldest syn-rift deposits in the Catalan Coastal Ranges are Aquitanian in age, this allows to precise that the change from a compressive to an extensional regime in this area took place during latest Oligocene-earliest Aquitanian times. This age indicates that the onset of crustal extension related to the opening of the western Mediterranean Basin started in southern France during latest Eocene-early Oligocene and propagated southwestward, affecting the Catalan Coastal Ranges and the northeastern part of the Valencia trough during the latest Chattian-earliest Aquitanian times

Estratigrafía y petrología del subsuelo precuaternario del sector SW de la depresión de Barcelona (cadenas costeras catalanas, NE de Iberia)

Las numerosas obras de Ingeniería Civil que se han realizado en los últimos años en la depresión de Barcelona (ampliación del aeropuerto, ampliación del metro y AVE fundamentalmente) han permitido recabar mucha información sobre el subsuelo de esta área. En este trabajo se caracterizan las distintas unidades de subsuelo precuaternarias que aparecen en los numerosos sondeos realizados recientemente en la zona SW de la depresión de Barcelona. Se ha identificado un sustrato triásico formado por areniscas del Buntsandstein y dos unidades de edad Miocena, una basal de carácter continental y otra superior depositada en un ambiente marino. Todas estas unidades fueron fracturadas debido a una tectónica extensiva y, posteriormente, fueron fosilizadas en primer lugar por los sedimentos del Plioceno, que recubren la superficie de erosión messiniense, y finalmente, por el Cuaternario. El análisis de las distintas unidades permite obtener datos sobre la evolución paleogeográfica y tectónica de la depresión de Barcelona durante el Mioceno y el Plioceno.çCurrent building of civil Engineering infrastructures in the Barcelona plain and Llobregat delta (mainly metro and airport extension and high speed train) is providing new geological subsurface data to build better geologic models and understand the basin evolution. This work focuses on the pre-Quaternary units observed in cores. Based on petrographic analyses combined when it was possible with paleontological studies, we identified the lower Triassic Buntsandstein sandstone facies and Miocene continental and marine facies which appear compartmentalized due to extensive deformation. After this extensive episode, Pliocene and Quaternary sediments, which were deposited after the development of successive erosive surfaces, overlay the Triassic and Miocene units. The identification of these units enabled one to improve the interpretation of the tectonic and paleogeographic evolution of the Barcelona plai

Stratigraphy and petrology of the Miocene Montjuic delta: (Barcelona, Spain).

The Neogene rift in the Catalan Coastal Ranges, which is located in the NE part of the Eastern Iberian Margin, corresponds to a system of grabens formed at the nort h - we s t e rn edge of the Valencia Trough. In the central part of the Catalan Coastal Ranges are the Valls - Peneds half-graben in the onshore and the Barcelona half-graben in the offshore, which are separated by the Garraf and the Collserola-Montnegre horsts. Montjuc hill is a tilted block, which is located to the S of the Barcelona city, between the Collserola-Montn egre horst and the Barcelona half-graben . The Middle Miocene section of Montjuc is constituted by an alternation of conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone and marlstone beds. The Montjuc section was divided into four lithostratigraphic units from base to top: (1) The Morrot conglomerate and sandstone Unit, interpreted as delta plain deposits; (2) the Castell conglomerate, sandstone and mudstone Unit considered as proximal delta front deposits; (3) the Miramar marlstone Unit attribute

Obtención de vidrio a partir de residuos de la minería del estaño en Bolivia

Manufacturing of glass from tin mining tailings in Bolivia Tailings from mining activities in Bolivia represent an environmental problem. In the vicinity of the tin mines of Llallagua,Potosí department, there are large dumps and tailings. We present a study of the use of these wastes as raw materials for the manufacture of glass. This procedure aims to contribute to environmental remediation of mining areas through the vitrification, a process which offers an alternative for stabilization of hazardous waste. In addition, the marketing of the obtained product would provide an additional income to the mining areas. For this study three samples of mining waste, with grain size between sand and silt, were used. The chemical composition of these raw materials, determined by X-ray fluorescence, is granitic, with high contents of heavy metals. On the basis of its composition, glass were made from silica glass by adding CaCO3 and Na2CO3. The thermal cycle has been determined from TDA. Tg values of glass range from 626º to 709 °C. Leaching tests of the obtained glasses confirm their capacity to retain heavy metals

Identification of Natural and Anthropogenic Geochemical Processes Determining the Groundwater Quality in Port del Comte High Mountain Karst Aquifer (SE, Pyrenees)

The Port del Comte Massif (SE, Pyrenees) contains one of the most important vulnerable and strategic karst aquifers for supplying freshwater to the city of Barcelona (Spain). It is a fragile system, whose possible environmental impact is highly conditioned by land use. To improve the hydrogeological knowledge of the system, between September 2013 and October 2015, a detailed fieldwork was carried out for the revision of the geological model, the inventory of water points, and the in situ physico-chemical characterization on major elements and isotopes of up to a total of 43 springs, as well as precipitation water. This paper focuses on the characterization of the geochemical processes that allow explanation of the observed chemical variability of groundwater drained by the pristine aquifer system to determine the origin of salinity. The results show that the main process is the dissolution of calcite and dolomite, followed by gypsum and halite, and a minor cation exchange-like process. Sulfur and oxygen isotopes from dissolved sulfate in the studied springs point out a geogenic origin related to the dissolution of gypsum from Triassic and Tertiary materials, and that the contribution from anthropogenic sources, like fertilizers, is lower. Nitrate in groundwater is not an important issue, with a few localized cases related with agricultural activities. The multidisciplinary approach has allowed the development of a consistent hydrogeological conceptual model of the functioning of the aquifer system, which can be replicated in other places to understand the geogenic character of the hydrogeochemistry