Selenium contamination in the Colorado River Basin, western USA： Remediation by leaching and nanof＇dtration membranes

Selenium （Se） is an essential micronutrient to biota, but can become a potent toxicant at elevated concentrations. The natural sources and chemical properties of Se species make the boundary between deficiency and toxicity narrow for some biota, with both phenomena common around the globe. Large areas of farmland in the Colorado River Basin （CRB） generate salinized drainage water with Se concentrations much higher than 5 μg/L, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic water-quality criterion for the protection of aquatic life. We have carried out detailed field and laboratory studies to investigate Se geochemistry and remediation in two of these areas： the Middle Green River Basin, Utah and the Salton Sea Basin, California, located respectively in the Upper and Lower CRB. Results from these and other studies show that approximately 90% of the dissolved Se in the Colorado River and its tributaries originally is derived from the Upper Cretaceous Mancos Shale and equivalent pyritic marine units that outcrop in the Upper CRB. Selenium is mobilized commonly by biogeochemical oxidation of this pyritic shale and is concentrated mainly as selenate （SeO4^2-） in soils and agricultural drainage water of dry climates by evaporation. Minor （0%-5%） amounts of Se are present as the selenite species （HSeO3^-） and （SEO3^2-）, but these species and the more reduced species, elemental Se （SeO） and selenide （Se^2-）, have much lower solubility and/or have high sorptive affinity towards organic matter, clay minerals and iron oxyhydroxides. The concentration of dissolved Se （-2.5 μg/L） and salinity in the Lower Colorado River water are among the highest of the world major rivers. Because of low precipitation （7 cm/a） and extreme evapotranspiration （-1.8 m/a） rates in the Salton Sea Basin, California, Se values in irrigation water imported from the Colorado River increase to 〉300 μg/L in drainage wastewater. Removal of Se from contaminated wastewater by nanofiltration membranes was demonstrated in laboratory and pilot-scale field experiments.     

A novel strategy using biodegradable EDDS for the chemically enhanced phytoextraction of soils contaminated with heavy metals

For the sake of cost and potential environmental risk, it is necessary to minimize the amount of chelates used in chemically-enhanced phytoextraction. In the present study, a biodegradable chelating agent, EDDS was added in a hot solution at 90℃ to the soil in which garland chrysanthemum （Chrysanthemum coronarium L.） and beans （Phaseolus vulgaris L., white bean） were growing. The application of hot chelate solutions was much more efficient than the application of normal chelate solutions （25℃） in improving the uptake of heavy metals by plants. When 1 mmol kg1 of EDDS as a hot solution was applied to soil, the concentrations ofCu, Zn and Cd and the total phytoextraction by the shoots of the two plant species exceeded or approximated those in the shoots of plants treated with 5 mmol kg^-1 of normal EDTA solution. The concentrations of metals in the shoots of beans were significantly correlated with the relative electrolyte leakage rate of root cells, indicating that the root damage resulting from the hot solution might play an important role in the process of chelate-enhanced metal uptake. The soil leaching study demonstrated that decreasing the dosage of chelate resulted in decreased concentrations of soluble metals in soils. On the 28th day following the application of chelate, the concentrations of soluble metals in the EDDS treated soil were not significantly different from the concentrations in the control soil to which chelates had not been applied.     

Permeable Reactive Barrier for the treatment of contaminated surface water in Katedan industrial development area, Hyderabad, India

Permeable Reactive Barrier （PRB） is an emplacement of inert material （s） in the subsurface, designed to intercept a contaminated plume, provides a preferential flow path through the reactive media, and transforms the contaminant into environmentally acceptable forms to attain concentration remediation goals at the discharge of the barrier. The phenomena, which help in remediation within PRB, are adsorption/sorption, precipitation, oxidation/reduction and biodegradation. Various materials like zero-valent iron, zero-valent bi-metals, natural zeolites, organic carbon, fly ash, zeolites, limestone, activated alumina, apatites, etc. have been tried by many researchers to remove organic and inorganic contaminants. In USA, Canada, and many European countries commercial full-scale and pilot scale PRBs are successfully working. The design and installation of full scale PRBs needs laboratory treatability and dynamic flow column experiments？ The concept of PRB is being applied to treat contaminated surface water in the Katedan industrial area, Hyderabad, India. National Geophysical Research Institute （NGRI）, Hyderabad, India, conducted systematic studies in collaboration with Norwegian Geotechnical Institute （NGI）, Norway, to develop PRB technique to decontaminate the surface water pollution due to industrial effluent. A site assessment study in the Katedan Industrial Area, were carried out and water, soil and sediment from the lakes of the area were found to be polluted with high concentrations of heavy metals like As, Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni, etc. Adsorption studies at NGRI with synthetic samples and in-situ industrial effluent using different reactive media for removing contaminants like arsenic, chromium, cadmium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc have been carried out and yielded satisfactory results. The performance of zero-valent iron and limestone is encouraging in removing As,     

Characterization of cristobalite in ash and dome rock from the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat： Implications for respiratory health hazards

A link between the inhalation of respirable silicas （SiO2） and respiratory diseases such as silicosis is widely recognized. Ash from dome collapse eruptions on Montserrat has been found to contain high levels （〉20%） of silicas in the form of cristobalite, tridymite, quartz and/or amorphous silica. The toxicity of these silica polymorphs varies widely. Cristobalite and quartz （tridymite less well established） are viewed as carcinogenic to humans whereas amorphous silica generally shows a reduced biological response. In assessing the potential health effects of volcanic ash particulates it is vital to determine the types and concentration of silicas as well as their size （respirable fraction）, shape and surface properties. The aim of this study is to develop methods to assess potentially toxic respirable airborne silicas in the dome collapse ash （applicable to a range of ash types） and to develop a model to predict the levels and types of respirable silicas from future eruptions. The model is being developed by comparing dome rock with related ash from a series of previous eruption events. Mineralogical assessment using conventional scanning X-ray diffraction （XRD） was hampered by difficulties in differentiating characteristic peaks for cristobalite and tridymite in complex multi-component ash samples （containing high levels of plagioclase）. These difficulties have been largely overcome using an Enraf-Nonius PDS120 diffractometer with curved （120 degrees 20） position sensitive detector （PSD）. The determination of size, shape and elemental characteristics of ash particulate and dome rock samples has been carried out using automated analytical scanning electron microscopy. The quantification of mineral proportions using PSD-XRD was highly successful with an accuracy of 1 to 2 wt%. However, the determination of phase proportions using automated analytical SEM was problematic due to scattering effects and the multiphase nature of many of the particles.     

Hydrogeochemical controls on surface and groundwater chemistry in naturally acidic, porphyry-related mineralized areas, southern Rocky Mountains

In southern Rocky Mountains, catchments characterized by acidic, metalliferous waters that are relatively unaffected by human activity usually occur within areas that have active or historical mining activity. The US Geological Survey has utilized these mineralized but unmined catchments to constrain geochemical processes that control the surface- and ground-water chemistry associated with near surface acid weathering as well as to estimate premining conditions. Study areas include the upper Animas River watershed, Lake City, Mt. Emmons, and Montezuma in Colorado and Questa in New Mexico. Although host-rock lithologies range from Precambrian gneisses to Cretaceous sedimentary units to Tertiary volcanic complexes, mineralization is Tertiary in age and associated with intermediate to felsic composition, porphyritic plutons. Pyrite is ubiquitous. Variability of metal concentrations in water is caused by two main factors： mineralogy and hydrology. Parameters that potentially affect water chemistry include： host-rock lithology, intensity of hydrothermal alteration, sulfide mineralogy and chemistry, gangue mineralogy, length of flow path, precipitation, evaporation, and redox conditions. Springs and headwater streams have pH values as low as 2.5, sulfate up to 3700 mg/L and high dissolved metal concentrations （for example： Al up to 170 mg/L; Fe up to 250 mg/L; Cu up to 3.5 mg/L and Zn up to 14 mg/L）. With the exception of evaporative waters, the lowest pH values and highest Fe and Al concentrations occur in water draining the most intense hydrothermally altered areas consisting of the mineral assemblage quartz-sericite-pyrite. Stream beds tend to be coated with iron floc, and some reaches are underlain by ferricrete. When iron-rich ground water interacts with oxygenated waters in the stream or hyporheic zone, ferrous iron is oxidized to ferric iron, which is less soluble, leading to the precipitation of iron oxyhydroxides.     

美国地质调查局激光雷达应用新进展

随着激光雷达(Light detection and ranging,Lidar)技术的成熟,美国地质调查局(U.S.Geo-logical Survey,USGS)在这个方向开展了许多应用研究。科学家们正在发展表达、使用高分辨率Lidar数据的新型技术;同时,为方便公众获取相应信息,数据及提取信息的发布手段也在研究之中。以下通过几个实例做一简要介绍。1典型研究1.1数据分发建立国家地图集(National Map)的一个目标是向公众发布基础数字地理信息。该地图集的高程部分是通过USGS地球观测系统(EROS)数据中心的国家高程数据集(National ElevationDataset,NED)维护的。NED提供3种…     

新疆博格达南缘后碰撞期陆内裂谷和水下滑塌构造

本文较为系统地研究了哈密市七角井-车轱辘泉和乌鲁木齐市白杨沟地区晚古生代后碰撞期陆内裂谷和滑塌构造的几何学、岩石学和地球化学特征。研究表明,在博格达山南缘的七角井-车轱辘泉一带,玄武岩和流纹岩彼此互层产出,构成厚度较大的后碰撞期双峰式火山岩系,呈近东西方向平行造山带展布,堆积在早二叠世红色磨拉石之上;在白杨沟一带,后碰撞水下滑塌堆积岩与火山岩共存,构成一个厚1300m的滑塌构造剖面,由水下滑塌堆积岩夹双峰式火山岩带、枕状熔岩-气孔状玄武岩带和硅质、泥砂质岩带所组成。其底部以北东走向的拆离断层和晚石炭世灰岩、砂岩岩层接触。在岩石地球化学特征上,火山岩的SiO2含量在53%-67%之间出现间断,呈现双峰式火山岩的特点。其中,流纹岩SiO2平均71.65%,CaO2.15%,Na2O与K2O含量相近(3.2%-3.7%),含碱量>含钙量,ANKC值>1.1;轻稀土富集、稀土总量高,铕亏损,具明显Eu负异常。与之共生的玄武岩则以富硅贫碱为特征,SiO2平均51.05%,TiO2含量变化较大,轻稀土轻度富集,铕异常不明显,属拉斑系列玄武岩类。其特征和东非阿法尔裂谷的双峰式火山岩相近,反映陆内裂谷环境。对滑塌堆积岩带中的辉绿玢岩作锆石U-Pb测年,获289±5Ma年龄值,相当于二叠纪初期。从晚二迭叠世开始,全区处于相对稳定的剥蚀-堆积环境中,形成了厚度较大的磨拉石,并逐渐演化为三叠纪的准平原化环境。     

工业革命以来青藏高原与南极冰芯高分辨率甲烷记录对比研究

自工业革命以来全球大气CH4含量呈快速的增长趋势, 但达索普冰芯记录所显示的北半球中低纬度地区大气CH4增长的启动时间要晚于极地冰芯记录近100 a. 由于受北半球人类活动CH4排放、CH4在大气中的寿命及大气中CH4的传输等过程的影响, 最近150 a以来, 中低纬度大气CH4与南极大气CH4含量在不同的时段表现出不同的净积累量和增长速率, 且20世纪两次世界大战期间达索普冰芯记录明确显示出人类活动排放的减缓使大气CH4呈负增长. 对比研究认为, 到20世纪中叶人类活动的甲烷排放已达到极高值, 中低纬度大气中CH4增长率及年积累逐步趋于平稳且略有降低. 可以认定, 工业革命以来中低纬度地区大气CH4与南极大气CH4含量的变化在不同的时段在受控于人类活动影响的同时, CH4在大气中的行为和传输过程以及东亚中低纬度季风气候的影响决定了两地之间大气CH4含量变化存在显著的差异.     

澳大利亚的第三纪及第三纪—第四纪过渡期(英文)

第三纪的板块运动驱动着澳大利亚的气候和植被进行演化。广布的湿润森林区是澳大利亚老第三纪的特征。一直到始新世 ,生物多样性都在不断地提高。毫无疑问 ,这是澳大利亚由高南纬区向北部中纬区运移的结果。从始新世到上新世 ,澳大利亚的气候总体上要比现在湿润 ,但降水量季节性变化的增强推动了中新世以后硬叶植物和旱生植物的发展。上新世晚期似乎与第四纪一样 ,都出现过周期性干旱。这种干旱与冰期条件有关 ,至少由南澳大利亚晚第四纪的记录可以认识到这一点 ,澳大利亚的这段历史与东亚的气候变迁是同步发生的。在东亚 ,印—澳板块的运动致使青藏高原抬升 ,从而引发了区内乃至全球气候的巨变。穿越赤道区的季风和信风的环流格局 ,致使新第三纪和第四纪中国与澳大利亚的气候系统的相关性更强。