Geochemistry Commons^™

Artificial Maturation Of Alginite And Organic Groundmass Separated From Torbanites, Michael A. Kruge, Patrick Landais, David F. Bensley

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The two principal organic constituents — Botryococcus-related alginite and organic groundmass — were isolated by density separation from two torbanite samples (from the Stellarton Fm., Nova Scotia, Canada and the King Cannel, Utah, USA). The groundmass consisted of degraded algal, bacterial and terrestrial plant debris. Aliquots of alginite and groundmass were separately heated in gold tubes for 24 hr. with 70 MPa confining pressure, at fixed temperatures ranging between 250 and 375°C. The 250, 300 and 325°C experiments run on the alginite produced very low yields of CHCl3-extractable organic matter (EOM), indicating that very little of the generation potential …

Flash Pyrolysis Of Anthropogenic And Natural Organic Matter In Polluted Sediments, Sami T. Abdel Bagi, Michael A. Kruge, Gary L. Salmon

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

INTRODUCTION - Combustion products along with spilled petroleum and industrial chemicals contribute to environmental degradation by contaminating soils and sediments. Such anthropogenic organic matter (OM), if preserved in sediments, can serve an archival function, documenting the local, history of industrial pollution. Christensen and Zhang (1993) determined the sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (P AH) to Lake Michigan from sedimentary records, finding that coal combustion was a major source for PAHs in these sediments. Bodzek and Luks-Betlej (1993) reported that atmospheric deposition is the main source of PAH in soils of the heavily industrialized Upper Silesia region of Poland. Smith and …

Exposure Of A Food Crop To Trichloroethylene From A Contaminated Aquifer, Richard G. Baringer

Theses and Dissertations

This research developed a methodology for assessment of the exposure of a mature corn crop to trichloroethylene from a contaminated aquifer. The methodology was then applied to the case of Hill AFB to determine the ability of the methodology to provide information about a specific exposure. Current procedures sample for food contamination but do not attempt to predict exposure problems. A review of the potential exposure pathways from the aquifer to the crop was conducted. Based on this review, the exposures due to soil gas and irrigation were modeled. Empirical estimated were used to approximate the expected flux of soil …

Speciation Of Heteroatoms In Coal By Sulfur- And Nitrogen-Selective Techniquestrogen-Selective Techniques, Stephen R. Palmer, Michael A. Kruge, Edwin J. Hippo, John C. Crelling

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The peroxyacetic acid oxidation products from a series of coals of organic sulfur content 0.5-9.8 wt% were examined. The distributions of organic S and N compounds were determined by gas chromatography with sulfur-selective flame photometric and nitrogen-selective thermionic specific detection respectively. A selected sample was also examined in greater detail using low-voltage high-resolution mass spectrometry. The distribution of organic sulfur compounds in the oxidation products was remarkably similar for all the coals. The number of sulfur compounds detected was small compared with that of organic nitrogen compounds detected. This suggests that the sulfur chemistry of coal is considerably simpler than …

Fossil Charcoal In Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Strata: Evidence For Catastrophic Firestorm And Megawave, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Organic matter separated from calcareous sandstone from the upper portion of a deep-water tsunami deposit at Arroyo el Mimbral, Taumalipas (Mexico), which marks the biostratigraphically-defined Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, consists primarily of fossil charcoal, including semifusinite and pyrofusinite. Analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed the highly aromatic and polyaromatic character of the organic matter assemblage, typical of the products of partial combustion. The organic matter probably originated as terrestrial vegetation that was caught in a firestorm and subsequently transported far offshore in the backwash of a megawave. These data are consistent with the hypothesis of combustion of large masses of vegetation triggered by …

Flash Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Of Lower Kittanning Vitrinites: Changes In The Distributions Of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons As A Function Of Coal Rank, Michael A. Kruge, David F. Bensley

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Chemical analyses restricted to a single coal maceral permit a focus on rank effects without concern for variations in organic matter type. Vitrinite concentrates of high purity were isolated from coal samples of the Lower Kittanning seam by multi-step density gradient centrifugation, with reflectances ranging from 0.66 to 1.39% Rmax. In addition to the previously recognized losses of phenolic compounds, the vitrinite pyrolyzates exhibit marked increases in relative concentrations of tri- and tetraaromatic hydrocarbons (especially benzo[a]fluorene, methyl-phenanthrenes, methylfluorenes and methylchrysenes) above 0.9% Rmax, i.e., beyond the "second coalification jump" of Teichmüller. Thus, petrographically-recognizable physical transformations are shown …

Identification And Quantitation Of Volatile Amines In Chesapeake Bay Sediments, Neeraja Y. Krishna

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Sediments from different parts of the Chesapeake Bay were analyzed to determine the presence of volatile amines. A HF-HCl extraction method was used to extract both exchangeable and fixed amines from the sediments and a purge-and-trap technique was used to concentrate the amines. Following derivatization with heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFBA), the HFBA-amines were analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection and with mass spectrometric detection. One primary amine, i-amylamine with a concentration ranging from 0. 78 nmoles/g dry weight to < 0.05 nmoles/g dry weight was found in a total of twenty seven samples collected on three different dates in 1993. Another primary amine, 2-methylbutylamine with a concentration ranging from 0.18 nmoles/g dry weight to < 0.05 nmoles/g dry weight was found in a total of twenty three samples collected on three different dates in 1993. A secondary amine, diethylamine was detected but could not be quantified in a total of seven samples collected in September 1993. The concentrations of these amines varied with location in the Bay, depth in the sediment, and time of year the sediments were collected. The origin of i-amylamine and 2-methylbutylamine might be from the biological decarboxylation of amino acids leucine and isoleucine, respectively. The origin of diethylamine is unknown.

An Analysis Of Dissolved Organic Compounds And Their Contribution To Iron Complexation In The Shallow Leachate Plume Of The West Kl Landfill Kalamazoo, Michigan, Eric Fahle

Masters Theses

High concentrations of dissolved iron are present in downgradient groundwater samples adjacent to the western border of the West KL Landfill. Analysis by Rudder (1988) of groundwater samples indicates oversaturation of selected iron oxides, iron sulfides and siderite in monitoring wells TW-4 and M3.

Previous research suggests that pyrogallol, gallic acid, tannic acid and similar organic compounds may retard the oxidation of ferrous iron in the shallow leachate plume of the West KL landfill (Rudder, 1988). Present research utilizing solid phase extraction, reverse phase high performance chromatography, Fourier transform IR spectrophotometry, UV/Visible spectrophotometry, and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy indicate that pyrogallol, …

Organic Geochemistry And Petrography Of Spanish Oil Shales, Michael A. Kruge, Isabel Suarez-Ruiz

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Four of the principal oil shale units of Spain were examined by organic geochemical and petrographic methods. The samples included three lacustrine shales (Carboniferous from Puertollano, Cretaceous from Llames and Miocene from Rubielos de Mora) and one marine shale (Lower Jurassic from Punta del Cuerno ). The petrographic observations show a dominance of liptodetrinite associated with bitumen-stained mineral matter and alginite, as well as a paucity of structured terrestrial organic matter. Geochemical work shows that the soluble organic matter is a mixture of terrestrially derived and aquatic, with the lacustrine samples having the strongest land plant signatures. Low values of …

Aspects Of Sporinite Chemistry, Michael A. Kruge, John C. Crelling, Edwin J. Hippo, Stephen R. Palmer

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

With the recent advent of the ability to separate coal into maceral concentrates of high purity, the individual constituents of coal can now be analyzed separately, without their mutual interference, giving a much better understanding of the macromolecular structure of coal. The sporinites from two Pennsylvanian age coal samples (Illinois Basin, U.S.A.) were studied, one from a vitrinite-rich high-volatile bituminous coal, the other from a liptinite-rich high-volatile bituminous coal of slightly higher rank. Sporinites were isolated from each coal by density gradient centrifugation. The sporinite of the vitrinite-rich coal was compared chemically and petrographically with the parent coal and with …

Geochemistry Of Selected Maine Peat Deposits, Stephen A. Norton

Maine Collection

Geochemistry of Selected Maine Peat Deposits

by Steven Allen Norton

Maine Geological Survey, Department of Conservation, Augusta, Maine, 1990.

Contents: Introduction / Purpose of Study / Location of Study Sites / Methods / Acknowledgements / Results / Water Chemistry / Dating of Short Cores / Chemistry of Short Cores / Core Interpretations / Summary / References Cited

Biological Markers In Lower Jurassic Synrift Lacustrine Black Shales, Hartford Basin, Connecticut, U.S.A., Michael A. Kruge, John F. Hubert, Jay F. Akes, Paul E. Meriney

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The East Berlin Formation (Lower Jurassic, Hartford basin, Connecticut, U.S.A.) is distinctive for its six cyclic units of lacustrine black shale and gray mudstone. separated by playa and fluvial redbeds. The black shales arc each about a meter thick and were deposited in subtropical, thermally stratified, oligomictic lakes, the youngest of which (lakes 3 through 6) were large enough to flood most of the basin and attained depths of several tens of meters.

The saturate fractions of solvent extracts of organic-rich black shales from each of the six lakes, collected at fresh roadcuts near East Berlin, arc dominated by extended …

Characterization Of Organic Sulfur Compounds In Coals And Coal Macerals, Stephen R. Palmer, Edwin J. Hippo, Michael A. Kruge, John C. Crelling

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Peroxyacetic acid oxidation has been used to investigate the type and distribution of organic sulfur species in samples of vitrinite, sporinite and inertinite, separated from the Herrin No.6 and an Indiana No.5 coal seam. It was established that organic sulfur species were selectively preserved during oxidation and their analysis led to some of the first sulfur-33 NMR spectra obtained for coal. The effects of maceral separation processes on model compounds were also studied. Results from our studies support the following conclusions: 1). Different macerals have different distributions and types of organic sulfur species. 2). Organic sulfur compounds in coal occur …

Organic Geochemistry Of A Lower Jurassic Synrift Lacustrine Sequence, Hartford Basin, Connecticut, U.S.A., Michael A. Kruge, John F. Hubert, David F. Bensley, John C. Crelling, R Jay Akes, Paul E. Meriney

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Synrift terrestrial strata of the Lower Jurassic East Berlin Formation (Hartford basin, Connecticut, U.S.A.) record cyclical expansion and contraction of major lakes, six of which were deep enough to develop anoxic bottom waters. We have studied one representative lacustrine sequence in detail, sampling a new roadcut near the village of East Berlin. The section examined is 4 m thick, with a gray siltstone at the base, deposited in shallow water, overlain by an organic-rich black shale (deep water), succeeded in turn by another gray siltstone, deposited as the lake waters gradually receded. The upper gray siltstone is chemically distinct from …

Identification And Quantitation Of Volatile Amines In Marine Sediments, Chuen Mei Huang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Pore waters which were taken from sediments of the Chesapeake Bay were analyzed to determine the presence of volatile amines. A purge-and-trap technique was used to concentrate the amines. Then, following derivatization with heptaflourobutyric anhydride, the HFBA-amines were analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection and with mass spectrometric detection. One secondary amine, diethylamine with a concentration of 0.3-0.6 uM, was found in a total of three pore water samples from cores collected on two different dates. A primary amine, sec-butylamine with a concentration of O. 05 AIM, was also found in one of these same samples. Another primary …

Biomarker Geochemistry Of The Miocene Monterey Formation, West San Joaquin Basin, California: Implications For Petroleum Generation, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Much of the Miocene Monterey Formation of California is rich in biogenic sediment, especially organic matter and silica. Because of the geologic structure, the Monterey in the subsurface near Lost Hills in the San Joaquin Basin forms a natural laboratory for the study of the diagenetic responses of these materials. Rocks of similar age and lithology are buried to depths ranging between 500 and 3500 m, and are thus exposed to a temperature range of 45–130°C. The diagenetic progression of silica from opal-A to opal-CT to microquartz is well-documented in Monterey burial history studies. However, diagenetic indicators need to be …

Influence Of Las Vegas Wash Density Current On Nutrient Availability And Phytoplankton Growth In Lake Mead, John R. Baker, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Density currents are commonly formed in reservoirs because of temperature or salinity induced density differences between inflowing and receiving waters. Anderson and Pritchard (1951) were among the first to demonstrate this in their investigations of density currents in Lake Mead. They found that the Colorado River formed an underflow in Lake Mead during the winter, an overflow in the spring and an interflow in the summer and fall. Wunderlich and Elder (1973) have since described the hydromechanics of these types of flow patterns, and density currents have been reported for several other large reservoirs (Carmack et al. 1979, Johnson and …

Chemistry Of The Spring Waters Of The Ouachita Mountains Excluding Hot Springs, Arkansas, George H. Wagner, Kenneth F. Steele

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

This report is based on the chemical analysis of the waters from 93 springs and 9 wells. Springs, when free from metal plumbing, provide an uncontaminated source of the ground water and it was desired to obtain water uncontaminated with metals. A few wells were added to the list, usually because of their unique location in the sampling grid.

Catechol Effected Dissolution Of Silicate Minerals, James Maurice Kelley

Dissertations and Theses

The chemical properties of guanidinium tris(catecholato)siliconate, [(H₂N)₂C=NH₂]₂[Si(C₆H₄O₂)₃]·XH₂O (0 < X < 1), precipitated from an ammoniacal solution of silica and catechol by adding guanidinium hydrochloride, (H₂N)₂C=NH·HC1, were studied, and infrared, nmr, x-ray powder diffraction, and analytical data were gathered.

This same compound was, upon addition of' (H₂N)₂C=NH·HC1, isolated from 0.25, M aqueous catechol solutions buffered at pH 10 and containing the silicate minerals albite, andradite, muscovite, pyrophyllite, talc, and wollastonite, and also from unbuffered catechol solutions containing wollastonite and andradite.

It is concluded from this work that the formation of an anionic catechol-silicon complex, Si(C₆H₄O₂)₃²⁻, is largely responsible for the dissolution of the minerals mentioned above. From this conclusion, it is proposed that naturally occurring members of the class of organic compounds to which catechol belongs, the aromatic v̲i̲̲c̲-diols, may play …

Water Chemistry Survey Of Boulder Basin, Lake Mead, P. R. Tramutt, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

The survey results indicate that the impoundment of water behind Hoover Dam has not adversely affected the dissolved oxygen (DO) content and that water quality and DO content were uniform regardless of depth. The study made in April-May 1964 will provide water quality data of Lake Mead prior to releases from Lake Powell as a basis for evaluating Lake Powell's effect on water quality and limnology of Lake Mead. The performance of a DO analyzer was tested and found unsatisfactory at depths below 150 ft. Parameters tested by standard chemical analyses of water samples in the Denver Laboratory and by …

The Extraction Of Tantalum And Columbium From Tantalite, Stanley P. Wisniewski

Bachelors’ Theses

In the summer of 1932, the Milwaukee Public Museum, sent an expedition to the Bad Lands and Black Hills of South Dakota, under the direction of Dr. Ira Edwards, Curator of Geology in that institution. It was at this time that the author, a member of this group, while studying the pegmatites of the Black Hills, became interested in the tantalum-columbium bearing minerals of that region, namely tantalite and columbite. At that time the writer made a detailed mineralogical study of these two minerals, as well as a thorough investigation of their occurrence in that region. In the fall of …