Mineralogy and geochemistry of vents formed on the burning coal mining waste dump Anna I, Alsdorf, Germany

The coal mining waste dump Anna I of the Anna black coal underground mine in Alsdorf (Germany) – in operation between 1854 and 1983 – is characterized by internal combustion. Volatile products of this process are emitted though vent-like holes and fractures on the top of the dump. Surface temperatures are heterogeneous within a dm-scale and partly exceed 210 degrees centigrade. The pH of condensed vapour (more…)

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Pyrochlore Composition As Indicator For The Carbonatite Evolution Stages At Sokli?

Pyrochlore is a common accessory mineral in granite pegmatites, nepheline syenites and carbonatites. The general chemical formular is A2-mB2X6-wY1-n • pH2O where A includes Na, Ca, U, Th , Pb, REE, Ba and Sr; B includes Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr and Fe; X = O and OH; Y = O, OH and F. The ability to accomodate many different elements leads to a wide range of pyrochlore varieties.
In Sokli (Finland) pyrochlore composition (more…)

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U-Th-Pb- elemental and isotopic distribution of pyrochlore minerals from the Sokli carbonatite complex, N-Finland

Pyrochlore, ideally (Ca,Na)2(Nb5O6)(OH,F), is a relatively common accessory mineral in many rock-types including carbonatites. In the Sokli carbonatite, N. Finland, pyrochlore concentrates to economically important amounts, where it forms the ore mineral of niobium. (more…)

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