Lesia Lata

Electromagnetic field pretreatment of Sinapis alba seeds improved cadmium phytoextraction

ABSTRACT It was hypothesized that electromagnetic field (EMF) pretreatment of white mustard (Sinapis alba L.) seeds could increase the accumulation of non-essential, pollutant heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd) in shoots. Seeds of white mustard were treated with either 60 or 120 mT of alternating EMF (50 Hz) for 1 minute and then grown in a Petri dish in the presence of Cd, in comparison to the control (seeds grown without EMF pretreatment). Biomass production and content of calcium (Ca) and Cd in seedling shoots were measured. The Cd content in shoots from the EMF-treated seeds was higher in both variants than in the control (by 73% and 78%, respectively; p < 0.05). In plants treated with 60 mT, the Ca content was slightly, but significantly, lower (3%) than in the control. EMF stimulation did not affect the biomass production. The results have shown potential benefits of this physical seed pretreatment method in the context of cadmium phytoextraction, but more research is needed.

Stable isotope geochemistry of sulfides from intrusion in Monchegorsk, northern part of Baltic Shield

Abstract The sulfide minerals from old mafic intrusion rocks from the Kola Peninsula were analyzed on stable sulfur isotopes. These samples were already dated by the Sm-Nd method. These sulfide samples were evaluated upon a geochemical composition by ICP-MS. The sulfide mineral samples were selected from the main ore-bearing rocks of the Monchetundra layered intrusion. The analyzed sulfides formed several generations of mineralization associated with primary and hydrothermal stage of formation of the deposits. Isotopic studies confirm a few consecutive stages of mineralization. These data were compared with the results of Sm-Nd dating of sulfide mineralization. The results of geochemical and geochronological studies indicate a complementarity in the context of determining the mineralization stages.