Selenium Enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland: Problem or Opportunity for Shale Gas Extraction?

John Parnell; Connor Brolly; Sam Spinks; Stephen Bowden

doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008

Selenium Enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland: Problem or Opportunity for Shale Gas Extraction?

John Parnell, Connor Brolly, Sam Spinks, Stephen Bowden

CSIRO

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

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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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	82-87
Number of pages	6
Journal	Applied Geochemistry : Journal of the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry
Volume	66
Early online date	12 Dec 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008
Publication status	Published - Mar 2016

Bibliographical note

Research was partly supported by NERC grants (NE/L001764/1 and NE/M010953/1). Mrs. A. Sandison provided skilled technical support. Barnett Shale was kindly provided by Hu Qinhong. The manuscript was improved by the helpful comments of a reviewer.

Keywords

selenium
molybdenum
arsenic
Bowland Shale
carboniferous
shale gas

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10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008Licence: CC BY

Selenium enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland: Problem or opportunity for shale gas extraction?
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Final published version, 763 KBLicence: CC BY

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@article{8e9acd88a5184032be974264b9d06410,

title = "Selenium Enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland: Problem or Opportunity for Shale Gas Extraction?",

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.",

keywords = "selenium, molybdenum, arsenic, Bowland Shale, carboniferous, shale gas",

author = "John Parnell and Connor Brolly and Sam Spinks and Stephen Bowden",

note = "Research was partly supported by NERC grants (NE/L001764/1 and NE/M010953/1). Mrs. A. Sandison provided skilled technical support. Barnett Shale was kindly provided by Hu Qinhong. The manuscript was improved by the helpful comments of a reviewer.",

year = "2016",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008",

language = "English",

volume = "66",

pages = "82--87",

journal = "Applied Geochemistry : Journal of the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry ",

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T2 - Problem or Opportunity for Shale Gas Extraction?

AU - Parnell, John

AU - Brolly, Connor

AU - Spinks, Sam

AU - Bowden, Stephen

N1 - Research was partly supported by NERC grants (NE/L001764/1 and NE/M010953/1). Mrs. A. Sandison provided skilled technical support. Barnett Shale was kindly provided by Hu Qinhong. The manuscript was improved by the helpful comments of a reviewer.

PY - 2016/3

Y1 - 2016/3

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - selenium

KW - molybdenum

KW - arsenic

KW - Bowland Shale

KW - carboniferous

KW - shale gas

U2 - 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008

DO - 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008

M3 - Article

SN - 0883-2927

VL - 66

SP - 82

EP - 87

JO - Applied Geochemistry : Journal of the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry

JF - Applied Geochemistry : Journal of the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry

ER -

Selenium Enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland: Problem or Opportunity for Shale Gas Extraction?

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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