A complete set of new thermodynamic data has been determined for three Al and Fe arsenate minerals: mansfieldite, angelellite and kamarizaite.
Majzlan J., Nielsen U.G., Dachs E., Benisek A., Drahota P., Kolitsch U., Herrmann J., Bolanz R., Števko M. (2018): Thermodynamic properties of mansfieldite (AlAsO4·2H2O), angelellite (Fe2(AsO4)2O3) and kamarizaite (Fe3(AsO4)2(OH)3·3H2O). Mineralogical Magazine 82, 1333-1354. (DOI)
In 2018, Zdeněk Johan Award was awarded to Petr Drahota for his paper: Drahota et al. (2017) Biologically induced formation of realgar deposits in soil, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 218, 237–256. Congratulations!
We had beautiful sunny time during the mid-October geochemical field mapping course in the area of Černovice u Tábora and Kamenice nad Lipou in southern Bohemia.
The findings of this study indicated that the historical mining village of Kaňk is highly contaminated by As, Cu, Pb, and Zn, of which As is the most significant contaminant. Despite the high concencentration of As in mining wastes (∼1.15 wt.%), urban soils (∼0.3 wt.%), and road dusts (∼ 440 mg/kg), risk was associated only with mining waste and contaminated soil material via oral exposure (not the inhalation pathway)
Drahota P., Raus K., Rychlíková E., Rohovec J. (2018): Bioaccessibility of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn in mine waste, urban soil, and road dust in the historical mining village of Kaňk, Czech Republic. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 40, 1495-1512. (DOI)
The re-measurement of mercury (Hg) concentrations in archived environmental samples (soils, peats) after several years of storage indicated that there is no statistical difference between new measurements and original data. As a result, archived samples can be used to evaluate historical soil mercury contamination.
Navrátil T., Burns D. A., Nováková T., Kaňa J., Rohovec J., Roll M., Ettler V. (2018): Stability of mercury concentration measurements in archived soil and peat samples. Chemosphere 208, 707-711. (DOI)
As a part of a special issue of the university journal Forum dedicated to 670th anniversary of Charles University foundation, Jakub Trubač, EGG-member and head of Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory, was interviewed as a representative of Faculty of Science. He starts with the citation of one of his teachers, Dr. Fratišek V. Holub, who said: “Rocks are the only solid basis of our world”:-) Enjoy the interview on pages 52-53 of the electronic document (link).
A combination of multiple techniques including XAS and isotopes helped to decipher the mobility of Tl in mining-polluted desert soil in Namibia. Mechanical transport of fine particles of post-flotation tailings is probably responsible for Tl dispersion in soil profiles.
Grösslová Z., Vaněk A., Oborná V., Mihaljevič M., Ettler V., Trubač J., Drahota P., Penížek V., Pavlů L., Sracek O., Kříbek B., Voegelin A., Göttlicher J., Drábek O., Tejnecký V., Houška J., Mapani B., Zádorová T. (2018): Thallium contamination in desert soil in Namibia: Chemical, mineralogical and isotopic insights. Environmental Pollution 239, 272-280. (DOI)
A first long-term (2 years) field experiment indicated how As and other metal(loid) contaminants can be released from As-rich copper smelter flue dust after deposition in contrasting soils. Up to 72% of As was leached out from the flue dust after incubation. The majority of As became highly mobile and could represent a risk for individual environmental compartments (soil, water).
Jarošíková A., Ettler V., Mihaljevič M., Penížek V., Matoušek T., Culka A., Drahota P. (2018): Transformation of arsenic-rich copper smelter flue dust in contrasting soils: A 2-year field experiment. Environmental Pollution 237, 83-92. (DOI)
We published first Cu isotope data in pine tree rings and surrounding polluted and unpolluted soils in the Zambian Copperbelt. In highly polluted soil profiles, there is greater Cu isotope fractionation and Cu isotope compositions in tree rings indicate that there was a non-root uptake of Cu uptake by the trees.
Mihaljevič M., Jarošíková A., Ettler V., Vaněk A., Penížek V., Kříbek B., Chrastný V., Sracek O., Trubač J., Svoboda M., Nyambe I. (2018): Copper isotopic record in soils and tree rings near a copper smelter, Copperbelt, Zambia. Science of the Total Environment 621, 9-17. (DOI)
On Friday February 3, 2018, Alice Jarošíková defended her PhD entitled “Experimental in situ transformation of smelting wastes in soils”. On the photo, where she is second from the left, you find her together with two reviewers Prof. Edgar Hiller (Comenius University, Bratislava) and Prof. Barbora Doušová (Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague) and her supervisor, Prof. Vojtěch Ettler. Congratulations, Alice!
