High Temperature Sulfate Minerals Forming on the Burning Coal Dumps from Upper Silesia, Poland

Abstract

The subject of this work is the assemblage of anhydrous sulfate minerals formed on burning coal-heaps. Three burning heaps located in the Upper Silesian coal basin in Czerwionka-Leszczyny, Radlin and Rydułtowy near Rybnik were selected for the research. The occurrence of godovikovite, millosevichite, steklite and an unnamed MgSO4, sometimes accompanied by subordinate admixtures of mikasaite, sabieite, efremovite, langbeinite and aphthitalite has been recorded from these locations. Occasionally they form monomineral aggregates, but usually occur as mixtures practically impossible to separate. The minerals form microcrystalline masses with a characteristic vesicular structure resembling a solidified foam or pumice. The sulfates crystallize from hot fire gases, similar to high temperature volcanic exhalations. The gases transport volatile components from the center of the fire but their chemical compositions are not yet known. Their cooling in the near-surface part of the heap results in condensation from the vapors as viscous liquid mass, from which the investigated minerals then crystallize. Their crystallization temperatures can be estimated from direct measurements of the temperatures of sulfate accumulation in the burning dumps and studies of their thermal decomposition. Millosevichite and steklite crystallize in the temperature range of 510–650 °C, MgSO4 forms at 510–600 °C and godovikovite in the slightly lower range of 280–450 (546) °C. These values are higher than those previously reported.

The low-temperature germinating spores of the thermophilic Desulfofundulus contribute to an extremely high sulfate reduction in burning coal seams

“…Biotopes associated with burning coal seams are characterized by both high sulfate concentrations and elevated temperatures. Sulfates are abundant secondary minerals in burning coalfields ( Parafiniuk and Siuda, 2021 ). Numerous gypsum roses observed on our sampling sites 1 and 2 ( Figure 1 ) are evaporites, where crystal formation occurred as a result of an influx of water containing dissolved calcium sulfate balanced by an outflow of water due to evaporation ( Hope et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Biotopes associated with burning coal seams are characterized by both high sulfate concentrations and elevated temperatures. Sulfates are abundant secondary minerals in burning coalfields (Parafiniuk and Siuda, 2021). Numerous gypsum roses observed on our sampling sites 1 and 2 (Figure 1) are evaporites, where crystal formation occurred as a result of an influx of water containing dissolved calcium sulfate balanced by an outflow of water due to evaporation (Hope et al,FIGURE 6 Changes in the number of cells outgrown from spores and sulfide concentration during Al36 spores exposure in fresh WB medium with CO as the sole electron donor at 20 (A) and 15°C (B): ▲ −Log10 number of cells/mL (triangles), □ sulfide concentration in the medium (squares).…”

Tracing electron density changes in langbeinite under pressure

“…The research material for our study comes from the Kalusa (formerly Kałusz) deposit in Ukraine. Langbeinite has also been noted from volcanic fumaroles in Kamchatka, Russia and from high-temperature exhalations in burning coal dumps in the Upper Silesia coal basin (Parafiniuk & Siuda, 2021). Langbeinite is composed of relatively light atoms/ions such as potassium, magnesium, sulfur and oxygen, and belongs to a wider group of sulfate minerals with similar structures.…”

Editorial for Special Issue “Formation of Sulfate Minerals in Natural and Industrial Environments”

“…Although the mineralogy of sulfates has been extensively studied, not all phases are known or understood in detail, and therefore further research efforts are still required. This is especially true for conditions related to human activities and so-called anthropogenic minerals [16]. Complex mixtures of anhydrous sulfates can crystallize, for instance, in coal-burning heaps such as those found in Silesia, Poland.…”