Resumo

BARRIENTOS, Yolanda et al. ELEMENTAL AND MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MINERAL PRECIPITATE AND THE WATER EVAPORATION SOLIDS AT TURUMO SPRING, MIRANDA STATE, VENEZUELA . Investigación y Postgrado [online]. 2003, vol.18, n.1, pp.04-12. ISSN 1316-0087.

Spring mineral precipitates are the result of water chemical saturated or supersaturated conditions due to the total solid contents made up primarily of inorganic salts with small amounts of organic matter. The main objective of this study was to determine the elemental and mineralogical chemical composition of the spring mineral precipitate and the evaporation solids (RAS) contained in the water. Turumo spring is located at the Petare-Guarenas highway, 840 m above the sea level and in areas belonging to the Las Mercedes Shale deposit. The mineral precipitate samples were removed from the drainage pipe, dried at room temperature and analyzed using the DRX y FRX techniques. The water evaporation solids were obtained by gravimetry according to the APHA-Standard Methods (1985). The elemental analysis of mineral precipitates indicated the presence of the following chemical elements: O, Ca, C, S and Al; and the RAS (550 ºC): S, O, and Ca, with sulfur being relatively more abundant for this group. The mineralogical study indicated that calcite (CaC03) was the only mineral form present in both samples. Those results showed that the mineralized water spring and the precipitate chemical composition were related to the geochemistry of the Las Mercedes Shale deposit.

Palavras-chave : mineral content; chemical analysis; Las Mercedes Shale deposit.