Abstract
The Carboniferous Bowland Shale in England, and its correlatives in Ireland, contain anomalously high concentrations of trace elements, including selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo) and arsenic (As). High levels of these elements reflect high sulphur contents as these elements occur as trace constituents of pyrite. Anomalous Se in particular may have a volcanic provenance, from contemporary volcanic activity and/or drainage from Ordovician volcanogenic sulphide deposits. Following concern over the release of Se and As into groundwater during shale gas extraction in the US, the potential fate of Se and As during any future shale gas extraction from the Bowland Shale merits attention. It is at least an environmental issue that must be managed, but at best it could be an opportunity for extraction of Se in an environmentally sensitive manner.
Highlights
The Carboniferous Bowland Shale, and its correlatives in Ireland, is receiving much attention for their potential resources of shale gas (Smith et al, 2010; Jones, 2012; Andrews, 2013; Taylor et al, 2013)
Much of the Se in black shales is associated with organic matter, but Se/TOC ratios vary according to Se availability (Mitchell et al, 2012)
The high Se content of the British and Irish Carboniferous shales may reflect an anomalous source in the watershed
Summary
The Carboniferous Bowland Shale, and its correlatives in Ireland, is receiving much attention for their potential resources of shale gas (Smith et al, 2010; Jones, 2012; Andrews, 2013; Taylor et al, 2013). Organic geochemical data is available for the Bowland Shale (Armstrong et al, 1997; Andrews, 2013), and an assessment of radionuclide flux from shale gas exploitation has been made (Almond et al, 2014), there is no modern published database on trace element geochemistry. This is surprising, given concern over the possible contamination of ground waters by fracking (Myers, 2012; Vidic et al, 2013; Vengosh et al, 2014; Shonkoff et al, 2014). Concern has been expressed over the release of Se to ground waters through shale gas exploration in the USA (Fontenot et al, 2013, reiterated in numerous open access publications, e.g. Hildenbrand et al, 2013, Meyer, 2013, Schug et al, 2013)
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