The Role of Fracture Structure in Leachate Pollution at Landfills： A Case Study of a Landfill in Chongqing City

This paper studies a landfill where there are three faults running through.As serious pollution has occurred to the geological environment,the landfill is to be closed up and renovated.The paper aims to explore the role of fracture structure in leachate pollution at the landfill.The research was carried out in several stages.First,mathematical models of the pre-renovation landfill with three faults running through and the landfill after renovation were established.And then,the boundary conditions and parameters of the two mathematical models were determined.The groundwater level of the landfills was simulated in order to modify the two mathematical models.As a result,a feasible mathematical model was achieved.Based on this model,a comparison was made of the COD concentration variations in the inside leachate and outside leachate between the two landfills. Accordingly,the impacts of the fracture structure on the pollution of leachate at the landfills could be identified.The study results show that while faults contribute to the migration of leachate,they also serve as a confluence of leachate,thus further deteriorating the environment.The COD concentrations of the inside leachate and the outside leacbate of the pre-renovation landfill are respectively 800 mg/L and 220 mg/L higher than those of the post.renovation landfill.Therefore,measures must be taken to handle the leachate seepage in areas where there are faults as well as the neighboring areas so as to get the environmental pollution under control.     

Prediction of pollutant dispersion in a street canyon by CFD

Urban pollution dispersion has been studied extensively with the rapid increase of traffic. The Computational Fluid Dynamics （CFD） approach is used increasingly to simulate the pollutant dispersion in order to replace the costly experiment. As a benchmark experiment, the results of pollutant dispersion in a street canyon are often used to validate numerical models. The following problems are usually neglected： （1） How to distinguish the open country street canyon （shortened as OCSC） and urban roughness street canyon （shortened as URSC） and to determine computation field; （2） How to give the value of turbulent kinetic energy, k, and dissipation rate, e, at inlet boundary. The aim of the research is to solve the above problems. A two-dimensional numerical model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations coupled with RNG k-e turbulence model is adopted in this study. The main conclusions are： （1） For OCSC, two side buildings should be inside the computation domain. The inlet and outlet boundary should be set up at some distance from the fight and left buildings, respectively. The distance between the inlet boundary and the fight building is at least three times the height of the fight building because the incoming velocity, k and e, need some distance to be fully developed. （2） For the simulation of pollutant dispersion in URSC, it can be simplified the air flowing over upwind canyons as it flows on very rough ground. Then, the inlet and outlet boundary can be set up at the roof of fight and left buildings. The results of pollutant dispersion in the 10th street canyon out of 16 street canyons show the correctness of above simplification. （3） The determination of k and e value at the inlet boundary is sometimes difficult. Our results show the values of k and e are very important to get good results.     

Different mercury species in the atmosphere over the municipal solid waste landfills

Mercury （Hg） in atmosphere can indicate the air quality and the intensity of the Hg emission sources, and the potential impact of the emission source on the local, regional, and global environments. Landfill is a place where municipal solid waste is transported, dumped, spread, and buried, during these disposal processes, some Hg contained in the wastes will be released into atmosphere. This paper presents different Hg species in the atmosphere over the near surface at 5 landfills, i.e., 3 landfills in Guiyang and 2 landfills in Wuhan. Besides one operational sanitary landfill, Gaoyan, the other four landfills just present the total gaseous mercury （TGM） over 0.1 m above the ground; in the Gaoyan landfill, TGM was measured at two altitudes, 0.1 m and 2 m, and other Hg species, reactive gaseous mercury （R.GM）, total particulate mercury （TPM）, monomethyl mercury （MMHg） and dimethyl mercury （DMHg） were also monitored at 2 m above the ground. TGM was measured by Tekran 2537A mercury analyzer, RGM was collected by KCl coated denuders, TPM by quartz filters, MMHg absorbed by dilute HCl solution, DMHg absorbed by CarbotrapTM and analyzed by GC-CVAFS. The results showed that the TGM over the closed landfills has an obvious diurnal pattern, with maximum at daytime and minimum during nighttime, which reflects the Hg emission process over the landfill cover surface, the typical average TGM was about 10-30 ng/m^3 at 2 closed landfills, which was several times higher than the global background; at the soil covered part of the active landfills, TGM concentration range and variation are similar to those at the closed landfills; when the weather is clear, the highest TGM appeared at the working face and downwind of the wording face, TGM can reach up to 500 ng/m^3 at these places, but at raining days, there is no distinct discrepancy between TGM measured at the upwind and downwind of the working face.     

Miocene Tectonic Evolution from Dextral-Slip Thrusting to Extension in the Nyainqentanglha Region of the Tibetan Plateau

Dextral-slip in the Nyainqentangiha region of Tibet resulted in oblique underthrusting and granite generation in the Early to Middle Miocene, but by the end of the epoch uplift and extensional faulting dominated. The east-west dextral-slip Gangdise fault system merges eastward into the northeast-trending, southeast-dipping Nyainqentangiha thrust system that swings eastward farther north into the dextral-slip North Damxung shear zone and Jiali faults. These faults were took shape by the Early Miocene, and the large Nyainqentangiha granitic batholith formed along the thrust system in 18.3-11.0 Ma as the western block drove under the eastern one. The dextral-slip movement ended at -11 Ma and the batholith rose, as marked by gravitational shearing at 8.6-8.3 Ma, and a new fault system developed. Northwest-trending dextral-slip faults formed to the northwest of the raisen batholith, whereas the northeast-trending South Damxung thrust faults with some sinistral-slip formed to the southeast. The latter are replaced farther to the east by the west-northwest-trending Lhunzhub thrust faults with dextral-slip. This relatively local uplift that left adjacent Eocene and Miocene deposits preserved was followed by a regional uplift and the initiation of a system of generally north-south grabens in the Late Miocene at -6.5 Ma. The regional uplift of the southern Tibetan Plateau thus appears to have occurred between 8.3 Ma and 6.5 Ma. The Gulu, Damxung-Yangbajain and Angan graben systems that pass east of the Nyainqentangiha Mountains are locally controlled by the earlier northeast-trending faults. These grabens dominate the subsequent tectonic movement and are still very active as northwest-trending dextral-slip faults northwest of the mountains. The Miocene is a time of great tectonic change that ushered in the modern tectonic regime.     

A Mathematical Calculation Model Using Biomarkers to Quantitatively Determine the Relative Source Proportion of Mixed Oils

It is difficult to identify the source（s） of mixed oils from multiple source rocks, and in particular the relative contribution of each source rock. Artificial mixing experiments using typical crude oils and ratios of different biomarkers show that the relative contribution changes are non-linear when two oils with different concentrations of biomarkers mix with each other. This may result in an incorrect conclusion if ratios of biomarkers and a simple binary linear equation are used to calculate the contribution proportion of each end-member to the mixed oil. The changes of biomarker ratios with the mixing proportion of end-member oils in the trinal mixing model are more complex than in the binary mixing model. When four or more oils mix, the contribution proportion of each end-member oil to the mixed oil cannot be calculated using biomarker ratios and a simple formula. Artificial mixing experiments on typical oils reveal that the absolute concentrations of biomarkers in the mixed oil cause a linear change with mixing proportion of each end-member. Mathematical inferences verify such linear changes. Some of the mathematical calculation methods using the absolute concentrations or ratios of biomarkers to quantitatively determine the proportion of each end-member in the mixed oils are deduced from the results of artificial experiments and by theoretical inference. Ratio of two biomarker compounds changes as a hyperbola with the mixing proportion in the binary mixing model, as a hyperboloid in the trinal mixing model, and as a hypersurface when mixing more than three end- members. The mixing proportion of each end-member can be quantitatively determined with these mathematical models, using the absolute concentrations and the ratios of biomarkers. The mathematical calculation model is more economical, convenient, accurate and reliable than conventional artificial mixing methods.     

A Comprehensive Investigation of an Offshore Active Fault in the Western Sagami Bay, Central Japan

Offshore active faults, especially those in the deep sea, are very difficult to study because of the water and sedimentary cover. To characterize the nature and geometry of offshore active faults, a combination of methods must be employed. Generally, seismic profiling is used to map these faults, but often only fault-related folds rather than fracture planes are imaged. Multi-beam swath bathymetry provides information on the structure and growth history of a fault because movements of an active fault are reflected in the bottom morphology. Submersible and deep-tow surveys allow direct observations of deformations on the seafloor (including fracture zones and microstructures). In the deep sea, linearly aligned cold seep communities provide indirect evidence for active faults and the spatial migration of their activities.The Western Sagami Bay fault (WSBF) in the western Sagami Bay off central Japan is an active fault that has been studied in detail using the above methods. The bottom morphology, fracture     

Active Tectonic Belts in Tibet and Their Control on Earthquakes

A series of nearly N-S-trending active tectonic belts are found in Tibet. The earthquakes there mostly belong to shallow-focus ones, and are characterized by high frequency, high intensity and short recurrence intervals. The epicentres are mainly located near the boundary faults along the active tectonic belts. They are most concentrated, with small earthquake magnitudes, at the turning or intersecting parts of the boundary faults, and are less concentrated, bat with big earthquake magnitudes, in other parts of the boundary faults. The mechanic properties of the seismic fracture belts are generally related to their strike: the NW-trending ones are of dextral strike-slip nature and the NE-trending ones are of sinistral strike-slip nature, while the nearly N-S-trending ones exhibit the nature of tensional normal faults. In the region the earthquakecontrolling structures are considered to be the active tectonic belts, while the seismogenetic structures are the boundary faults in the active tectonic belts.     

Research on surface water environment planning of urban forest conservation in Jiufeng of Wuhan

Conservation of Urban Forest Site in Jiufeng is constructed as an ecotourism function urban forest conservation combining mountain and vegetation resource around. According to fieldwork, the conservation is located in the outskirts of the city where non-point pollution is dominant. In order to master the source intensity and its distribution, data from Quickbird remote sensing in 2004 and field collection are adopted to establish the environment database including data layers of districts, land use, map, soil map, DEM, water and road systems, soil property and economy. Traditional quantitative analysis of non-point pollution intensity has encountered with the following difficulties： （1） Large area of vegetation landscape reconstruction will create tremendous ecological benefits, but calculation of pollution decrease brought by reconstruction is difficult to achieve. （2） In conservation reconstruction will be implemented in the residential are step by step, i.e., of moving, repairing and centralization, which is a complex project with wide time span, leading to inaccurate prediction. （3） Construction of the conservation will speed up the development of local tourism, thus if a single society index is chosen to predict the pollution intensity, the development trend of the region could not be figured out completely. Consequently acreage of different planning land use is counted and models of urban and rural areas respectively help to compute unit pollution load. In the urban area, the pollution load of the same land use is regarded as the function of population density, clean frequency and precipitation, while in the rural area, SCS model, universal soil loss equation （USLE） and pollution transfer model are applied to compute unit pollution load of TN and TP. The results of total pollution load are TN 179.706 kg/a and TP 33.814 kg/a. For impracticability of routine planning measures, the project applies measures of distribution controlling against water erosion and soil loss and concentrated-dispersive controlling to lighten non-point pollution brought by living sewage.     

Critical Loads of Heavy Metals in a Highly Polluted Catchment Area in Egypt

Heavy metals in different environmental compartments can be hazardous to ecosystems. Budgets of Cd, Pb and Zn in small ecosystems of the Shubra E1-Kheima area in Egypt are presented. The budgets are not in steady state because they change with time. So the concentrations of the metals are a function of time. The critical loads of heavy metals to soils can be calculated from an inventory of inputs and outputs of the trace components in the catchment area.Critical time is an important parameter for critical load evaluation because it can indicate which of the heavy metals may be the most acute threat to the soils. Egyptian soil in the Shubra ElKheima area seems to be in danger of heavy metal pollution by Zn, Cd and Pb. The calculated critical loads and their exceedances are approximate indicators of the hazards in the soil system.The critical time is a warning signal to initiate an environmental evaluation of possible pollution hazards.     

Increase of vulnerability of karst aquifers due to leakage from landfills

Karst aquifers are very vulnerable to various pollution sources. Among these, landfills can contribute contaminants over long periods. Groundwater quality monitoring is required to assess the impact of a landfill leachate on underlying aquifer water or spring discharge. Tracer tests are useful for selecting the location and frequency of sampling. Three landfill sites in karst areas were studied with tracer tests. Additional insight was accomplished by the comparison of the tracer transfer and the breakthrough curves obtained from these tests with the results of two other tracer tests carried out in the same period in karst areas without a landfill. To explain the differences observed, the hypothesis of increased permeability below the landfill due to the presence of inorganic acids in leachates was further tested. The results of detailed, long-term monitoring of contaminated drip water in the Postojna Cave were used to verify the hypothesis. The analysis of the simultaneously increased content of calcium, magnesium, and contaminants in the drip water indicates a direct correlation between limestone dissolution and contaminants. Increased dissolution increases secondary porosity and thus permeability of the vadose zone resulting in higher vulnerability of underlying aquifers and springs in the vicinity landfills.     

Apparent Formation Factor for Leachate-Saturated Waste and Sediments: Examples from the USA and China

The formation factor relates bulk resistivity to pore fluid resistivity in porous materials. Understanding the formation factor is essential in using electrical and electromagnetic methods to monitor leachate accumulations and movements both within and around landfills. Specifically, the formation factor allows leachate resistivity, the degree of saturation, and, possibly, even the hydraulic conductivity of the waste to be estimated from non-invasive surface measurements. In this study, apparent formation factors are computed for three landfills with different types of waste as well as sediments contaminated by landfill leachate. Resistivity soundings at the closed Mallard North landfill in suburban Chicago (Illinois, USA) mapped leachate surfaces that were confirmed by monitoring wells. The resistivity of leachate-saturated waste from resistivity sounding inversions was then divided by the leachate resistivity values measured in-situ to compute apparent formation factors (Fa) ranging from 1.6 to 4.9. A global Fa of 3.0±1.9 was computed for the entire monitored portion of this landfill At a nearby mixed laboratory waste landfill, a 2D inverted resistivity section was used to compute an Fa of 2.9. Finally, a distinctly different Fa value of 10.6±2.8 was computed for leachate-saturated retorted oil and organic compounds. The Fa for aquifers containing contaminated groundwater fall in the same range as aquifers with normal groundwater, 1.7-3.9. However, models from inverted sounding curves over these contaminated areas exhibit unusually low resistivity layers, which may be diagnostic of contamination.     

城市垃圾填埋场甲烷资源量与利用前景

垃圾填埋气的主要成分为CH4、CO2等气体,可严重污染大气、地下水和生态环境,并对全球气候变暖产生一定的影响;同时填埋气也是一种清洁可再生能源和资源,回收和利用垃圾填埋气可实现环境、安全、能源、资源、经济多重效益。目前,垃圾填埋气的利用主要为甲烷利用。本文介绍了填埋气中甲烷资源量的计算方法,采用一阶动力模型对国内城市垃圾填埋气中的甲烷排放量进行了计算和预测,获得了城市生活垃圾填埋气中甲烷的资源量的范围,并分析了国内垃圾填埋气排放的特点和趋势以及国内外对填埋气利用的途径、方法及效果。结合清洁发展机制（CDM）项目和国情分析了垃圾填埋气的利用前景,并提出了填埋气回收利用的主要问题和建议,为国内城市生活垃圾填埋气的利用提供了有益参考。     

Can stable isotopes be used to monitor landfill leachate impact on surface waters?

Bacterially mediated methanogenesis in municipal solid waste landfills has been shown to cause an enrichment of carbon stable isotope ratios of dissolved inorganic carbon and hydrogen stable isotope ratios of water in landfill leachate. In the present study, we investigate the universality of this enrichment in leachate obtained from four diverse landfill sites in New Zealand. At each site, surface water samples upstream and downstream of landfills were analysed to examine the applicability of stable isotope ratios as a tool for monitoring leachate contamination in landfill-associated streams. The design of leachate collection systems, operational history, and landfill location appeared to strongly influence leachate isotopic values and the effectiveness of isotope ratios as an environmental monitoring tool for surface water.     

Permeability of Municipal Solid Waste in Bioreactor Landfill with Degradation

Bioreactor landfills are operated for rapid stabilization of waste, increased landfill gas generation for cost-effective energy recovery, gain in landfill space, enhanced leachate treatment, and reduced post closure maintenance period. The fundamental process of waste stabilization in bioreactor landfill is recirculation of generated leachate back into the landfills. This creates a favorable environment for rapid microbial decomposition of the biodegradable solid waste. In order to better estimate the generated leachate and design of leachate recirculation system, clear understanding of the permeability of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) with degradation and the factors influencing the permeability is necessary. The objective of the paper is to determine the changes in hydraulic properties of MSW in bioreactor landfill with time and decomposition. Four small-scale bioreactor landfills were built in laboratory and samples were prepared to represent each phase of decomposition. Then, the changes in hydraulic properties of MSW in bioreactor landfill with time and decomposition were determined. A series of constant head permeability tests were performed on the samples generated in laboratory scale bioreactor landfills to determine variation of permeability of MSW with degradation. The test results indicated that the permeability of MSW in bioreactor landfills decreases with decomposition. Based on the test results, the permeability of MSW at the first phase of degradation was estimated as 0.0088 cm/s at density 700 kg/m³. However, with degradation, permeability decreased to 0.0013 cm/s at the same density, for MSW at Phase IV.     

非卫生垃圾填埋场渗滤液污染防治对策研究

针对非卫生垃圾填埋场环境污染问题,以某垃圾填埋场为例,通过 WHI UnSat Suite软件 HELP模块计算不同填埋条件下渗滤液渗漏量。利用GMS模拟了该垃圾场中心抽水条件下污染物迁移变化规律。结果表明,简单地表防渗条件下,渗滤液渗漏量为现状条件下的50%,增铺 HDPE土工膜后,渗漏量可减少99%。卫生填埋渗滤液仅为现状条件下的3.6＆#215;10-3倍。当抽水量为2000 m3/d时,Cl-浓度呈明显下降趋势,由84 mg/L降至80.1 mg/L。     

片沸石、钙基膨润土去除垃圾渗滤液中有害物质的实验研究

以位于北京昌平小汤山的阿苏卫垃圾卫生填埋场渗滤液为研究对象,在不同的环境条件下:酸度(pH=5~9),温度(4℃~30℃),利用片沸石、钙基膨润土去除垃圾渗滤液中有害物质的实验,以化学耗氧量(COD)、氨氮为评价指标,分别探讨片沸石、钙基膨润土的COD、氨氮去除效果与其用量、渗滤液pH、温度、振荡时间的关系。研究表明,在实验条件下,片沸石对COD的最大去除量约为31×10-3,对氨氮的最大去除量约为27×10-3;去除COD、氨氮的最佳条件分别为:片沸石用量20 g/L、pH为5、温度4℃、振荡时间100 min。在实验条件下,钙基膨润土对COD的最大去除量约为63×10-3,对氨氮的最大去除量约为14×10-3;去除COD、氨氮的最佳条件分别为:钙基膨润土用量30 g/L、pH为5、温度4℃、振荡时间100 min。根据实验结果,对片沸石、钙基膨润土去除COD、氨氮的机理主要是氢键、静电作用及离子交换作用。     

Attenuation of landfill leachate at two uncontrolled landfills

Attenuation characteristics of landfill leachate were examined for two uncontrolled landfills in Korea. The two landfills containing municipal wastes without appropriate bottom liner and leachate treatment system have different landfill age, waste volume, and most importantly different hydrogeologic settings. One landfill (Cheonan landfill) is situated in an open flat area while the other (Wonju landfill) is located in a valley. Variations of various parameters including dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved oxygen (DO), alkalinity, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), redox potential (ORP), ammonia (NH₃), nitrate (NO₃⁻), sulfate (SO₄²⁻), and chloride (Cl⁻) were examined along groundwater flow path. All these parameters were analyzed every month for a year. In the interior of the landfills, typical anaerobic conditions revealed by low DO and NO₃ concentrations, negative ORP values, high NH₃, alkalinity, and Cl⁻ concentrations were observed. Generally, higher levels of contaminants (DOC, NH₃, and Cl⁻) were detected in the dry season while they were greatly lowered in the wet season. Significantly, large decrease of Cl^- concentration in the wet season indicates that the dilution or mixing is one of dominant attenuation mechanisms of leachate. But detailed variation behaviors in the two landfills are different and they were largely dependent on permeability of surface and subsurface layers. The intermediately permeable surface of the landfills receives part of direct rainfall infiltration but most rainwater is lost to fast runoff. The practically impermeable surface of clayey silt (paddy field) at immediately adjacent to the Cheonan landfill boundary prevented direct rainwater infiltration and hence redox condition of the ground waters were largely affected by that of the upper landfill and the less permeable materials beneath the paddy fields prohibited dispersion of the landfill leachate into down gradient area. In the Wonju landfill, there are three different permeability divisions, the landfill region, the sandy open field and the paddy field. Roles of the landfill and paddy regions are very similar to those at the Cheonan. The very permeable sandy field receiving a large amount of rainwater infiltration plays a key role in controlling redox condition of the down gradient area and contaminant migration. This paper reports details of the attenuation and redox conditions of the landfill leachates at the two uncontrolled landfills.     

Stability Analyses of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills with Decomposition

A bioreactor landfill is operated to enhance refuse decomposition, gas production, and waste stabilization. Some of the potential advantages of bioreactor include rapid stabilization of waste, increased landfill gas generation, gain in landfill space, enhanced leachate treatment, and reduced post closure maintenance period. Due to the accelerated decomposition and settlement of solid waste, bioreactor landfills are gaining popularity as an alternative to the conventional Subtitle D landfills. However, the addition of leachate to accelerate the decomposition changes the physical and engineering characteristic of waste and therefore affects the geotechnical characteristics of waste mass. The changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of solid waste with time and decomposition are expected to affect the shear strength of waste mass. The objective of this paper is to analyze the stability of solid waste slopes within the bioreactor landfills, as a function of time and decomposition. The finite element program PLAXIS is used for numerical modeling of bioreactor landfills. Stability analysis of bioreactor landfills was also performed using limit equilibrium program STABL. Finally the results from finite element program PLAXIS and limit equilibrium program STABL are compared. GSTABL predicted a factor of safety of more than 1 in all the cases analyzed, whereas PLAXIS predicted a factor of safety of less than 1 at advanced stages for a slope of 2:1. However, the interface failures between solid waste and landfill liners have not been considered in this paper.