Abstract

Detailed soil gas surveys were conducted at two mine districts to understand gas migration mechanisms from deposits buried at different depths. The Tolfa (Lazio, Central Italy) and Neves-Corvo (Baixo Alentejo, Portugal) mine districts have different characteristics: the former is relatively shallow (30–100m) whereas the latter is at a depth of 400–500m and covered by low-permeability metamorphic rocks. The studied gases included major (N2, O2, CO2) and trace (4He, 222Rn) gases, hydrocarbons (CH4, C2H6 and C3H8) and S compounds (H2S, COS, SO2). The measured concentrations (some examples of max values at Tolfa: Rn 233Bq/L, CO2 9.5%, CH4 12.3ppm, COS 3.7ppm; and at Neves-Corvo: Rn 130Bq/L, CO2 24.3%, CH4 0.1%) indicate that gases migrate preferentially through zones of brittle deformation by advective processes, as suggested by the relatively high rate of migration needed to obtain anomalies of short-lived 222Rn in the soil pores. Considering the different depths of the two ore deposits, obtained results can be considered as features of near-field (Tolfa) and far-field (Neves-Corvo) gas migration.

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