Physical and chemical characterization of zoned minerals as a measure of environmental change

分区矿物的物理和化学特征作为环境变化的衡量标准

• 批准号: 612-2011
• 负责人: Halden, Norman
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=543889
• 关键词: Physical; chemical; characterization; zoned; minerals

Zoning in minerals occurs on a variety of length-scales in many environments, as minerals take time to grow, this zoning records changes in the environment over time. Zoning patterns may be interpreted as (i) driven by external forcing, with evidence of chemical disequilibrium or (ii) self-organization with micron-scale oscillatory zoning, here trace elements are particularly sensitive to environmental change. This research will quantify rates and extent of environmental change using zoned mineral chemistry in near surface environments. Otoliths, ear bones of bony fish, will be used as a tool for i) monitoring the affects of mine tailings on aquatic organisms and environments, and ii) assessing migratory behaviour in fish; and an examination of the physical and chemical controls of mineral growth in ice. Incremental structures in biominerals can be used to establish background chemical/trace element levels in aqueous environments, and monitor environmental change. The scale and rate of response of the biomineral to externally driven environmental change is largely unknown, and the biomineral is often "buffered" by the metabolism of the organism. Metabolic transformation of trace elements makes their use as temporal markers of contaminant uptake tenuous. The advantage of otoliths is that they are metabolically inert, retaining a complete record of chemical exposure over several years to decades. Research is planned in four areas: 1) otolith microchemistry focusing on Sr, Ba and Mn, Hg & Se in otoliths; 2) stable isotope analysis of otoliths from migratory fish species to assess the extent of trace element uptake connected with organic carbon (food sources; 3) trace element analysis of synthetic CaCO3 and 4) trace element characterization of carbonate minerals from sea ice. Zoning patterns will be analyzed by fs-NIR-LA-ICP-MS and SIMS. Mining operations require water for processing and/or tailings storage so resource extraction and conservation are often seen as competing interests. Data from this research will inform land use decisions and fish management practices crucial to planning in northern Canada as mineral exploration and global warming proceed.

矿物的分区在许多环境中发生在各种长度尺度上，因为矿物需要时间生长，这种分区记录了环境随时间的变化。分带模式可以解释为：（i）由外部强迫驱动，具有化学不平衡的证据;或（ii）具有微米尺度振荡分带的自组织，其中微量元素对环境变化特别敏感。这项研究将使用近地表环境中的分区矿物化学来量化环境变化的速率和程度。耳石，硬骨鱼的耳骨，将被用作一种工具，用于i）监测尾矿对水生生物和环境的影响，ii）评估鱼类的洄游行为;以及检查冰中矿物生长的物理和化学控制。生物矿物中的增量结构可用于建立水环境中的背景化学/微量元素水平，并监测环境变化。生物矿物对外部驱动的环境变化的响应规模和速率在很大程度上是未知的，并且生物矿物通常被生物体的新陈代谢“缓冲”。微量元素的代谢转化使得它们作为污染物吸收的时间标志物的用途变得脆弱。耳石的优点是它们是代谢惰性的，保留了几年到几十年的化学暴露的完整记录。 计划在四个领域进行研究：1）耳石微化学，重点是耳石中的Sr，Ba和Mn，Hg和Se; 2）洄游鱼类耳石的稳定同位素分析，以评估与有机碳（食物来源）相关的微量元素吸收程度; 3）合成CaCO 3的微量元素分析和4）海冰碳酸盐矿物的微量元素表征。将通过fs-NIR-LA-ICP-MS和西姆斯分析分区模式。采矿作业需要水进行加工和/或尾矿储存，因此资源开采和保护往往被视为相互竞争的利益。这项研究的数据将为土地利用决策和鱼类管理实践提供信息，这些决策和鱼类管理实践对加拿大北方的矿产勘探和全球变暖的进行至关重要。