The Effects of Ground Water Sampling Devices on Water Quality: A Literature Review

This paper reviews both field and laboratory studies that tested or compared the ability of various types of sampling devices to deliver representative ground water samples. Several types of grab samplers, positive displacement devices, and suction-lift devices were evaluated, Gas-lift and inertial-lift pumps were also evaluated. This study found that most of these devices can. under certain circumstances, alter the chemistry of ground water samples, das-lift pumps, older types of submersible centrifugal pumps, and suction-lift devices are not recommended when sampling for sensitive constituents such as volatile organics and inorganics, or inorganics that are subject to oxidation/precipitation reactions. In general, of the devices reviewed in this paper, bladder pumps gave the best recovery of sensitive constituents. However, better performance could be achieved for several devices if improved operational guidelines were developed by additional testing, especially at lower flow rates. Clearly, further research is warranted. Future studies should focus on pumping rate, flow control mechanisms, and dedication or decontamination of sampling devices.     

Effect of Concentration on Sorption of Dissolved Organics by PVC, PTFE, and Stainless Steel Well Casings

This report examines sorption of low ppb levels of organic solutions by polytetra- fluoroethylene (PTFE), rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and stainless steel 304 and 316 well casings. Nineteen organics were selected, including several munitions and chlorinated solvents. Compounds were selected to offer a range of physical properties, such as solubility in water, octanol/water partition coefficient, and molecular structure. When these results were compared with the results from a similar study conducted at ppm levels, the rate and extent of sorption by PTFE and PVC were the same as seen previously for almost all analytes. There were no losses of any compounds associated with stainless steel. At these low levels (ppm and ppb), the rate of diffusion within the polymer (PVC and PTFE) is independent of concentration. Only with PTFE are the rates rapid enough to be of concern when monitoring for some contaminants in ground water. Tetrachloroethylene was the compound PTFE sorbed the most rapidly. The study showed that PVC well casings are suitable for monitoring low levels (ppm and ppb) of organics.     

Fossil mammoths from Santa Cruz Island, California

Mammoth remains on Santa Cruz Island, one of the four Northern Channel Islands of California, are very sparse, in marked contrast to those reported from Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands of the same island group. A probable major reason for this scarcity is that Quaternary deposits are greatly restricted on Santa Cruz Island. It is proposed, contrary to popular opinion, that fossils found on Santa Cruz Island were derived from animals which died on the island, and were not transported there by humans. Reasons for this conclusion are that the size and geological context of the fossils are similar to those of the largest mammoth fossils of Santa Rosa Island, and that, in spite of extensive investigations by many persons, mammoth remains have not been found in middens, either on the islands or on the adjacent mainland.     

The fate of Chernobyl radiocesium in the River Öre catchment,northern Sweden

A¹³⁷Cs-balance for the catchment of the River Öre in central northern Sweden which received about 30 kBq m^–2 of radiocesium from the Chernobyl accident was calculated for the period 1986–1991. Altogether, slightly less than 10% of the total deposition in the catchment was estimated to be exported from the terrestrial parts during this period of time. More than 90% of this loss is transported with the River Öre to the outer sea of the Gulf of Bothnia. The retention in Lake Örträsket which is the only lake along the river course and the Öre Estuary outside the river mouth was thus slightly less than 10%. Nearly all of the radiocesium deposited in the lake is permanently retained in the sediments and successively covered with less radioactive sediment. A considerable export of radiocesium from the estuary to the outer sea takes place due to resuspension and subsequent transport by wind and wave generated currents.     

Coarsening of three-dimensional structured and unstructured grids for subsurface flow

We present a generic, semi-automated algorithm for generating non-uniform coarse grids for modeling subsurface flow. The method is applicable to arbitrary grids and does not impose smoothness constraints on the coarse grid. One therefore avoids conventional smoothing procedures that are commonly used to ensure that the grids obtained with standard coarsening procedures are not too rough. The coarsening algorithm is very simple and essentially involves only two parameters that specify the level of coarsening. Consequently the algorithm allows the user to specify the simulation grid dynamically to fit available computer resources, and, e.g., use the original geomodel as input for flow simulations. This is of great importance since coarse grid-generation is normally the most time-consuming part of an upscaling phase, and therefore the main obstacle that has prevented simulation workflows with user-defined resolution. We apply the coarsening algorithm to a series of two-phase flow problems on both structured (Cartesian) and unstructured grids. The numerical results demonstrate that one consistently obtains significantly more accurate results using the proposed non-uniform coarsening strategy than with corresponding uniform coarse grids with roughly the same number of cells.     

Geomorphic and dendroecological impacts of slushflows in central Gaspé Peninsula (Québec, Canada)

Slushflows are rare phenomena in southeastern Canada. Here we report for the first time the occurrence of slushflows in a subalpine environment in eastern Canada (Mt. Albert, Gaspé Peninsula, Québec). Because nothing is known of their frequency- magnitude in the area, we reconstructed the chronology of slushflow events over the past century using dendrogeomorphic techniques based on impact scars, reaction wood and traumatic resin ducts. Slushflows contributed to the formation of a tongue-shaped accumulation of 17900 m² at the outlet of a firstorder drainage basin. The slushflow boulder tongue was composed of heterogeneous-sized, angular and unoriented clasts, which are markedly different from the sediments of an adjacent alluvial fan. Although movements were initiated above the subalpine forest limit, slushflows induced forest fragmentation along the treed slope. Three slushflow events were identified over the past century, in 1925, 1964 and 1988, respectively, which indicate exceptional initiation conditions and considerable geomorphic activity of individual events.