The role of the Río de la Plata bottom salinity front in accumulating debris

The Río de la Plata, one of the most important South American estuarine environments, is characterized by a bottom salinity front that generates an ecotone between the river and the estuary. Based on bottom trawls and costal sampling we describe the distribution, types, and amount of debris found in the bottom and shoreline across this front. Plastics and plastic bags were the main debris types in both areas. Concentrations of total debris upriver the front were always significantly higher than downriver the front showing that the front acts as a barrier accumulating debris. Moreover, a large part of debris end ups accumulated in the coastal area upriver the frontal position. This area is particularly sensitive because the coastline encompasses an UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve and a Ramsar site, and due to the ecological significance of the front for many valuable species.     

世界级金银铜铜锌矿床的定量分析

迄今为止，世界范围内已探明的资源总量，计金１９．３万吨，银１７４万吨，铜１５亿２千万吨，铅３亿４千９百万吨，锌７亿１千３百万吨。马上述所探明的每种金属堆积成立方体、则金，边长为２２ｍ的立方体；银，边长为５５ｍ的立方体；铜，边长为５５０ｍ的立方体；铅，边长为３１０ｍ的立方体；锌，边长为４６０ｍ的立方体。     

Numerical examination of the factors controlling DNAPL migration through a single fracture

The migration of five dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) through a single fracture in a clay aquitard was numerically simulated with the use of a compositional simulator. The effects of fracture aperture, fracture dip, matrix porosity, and matrix organic carbon content on the migration of chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichloroethylene, trichloroethylene, tetra-chloroethylene, and 1,2-dibromoethane were examined. Boundary conditions were chosen such that DNAPL entry into the system was allowed to vary according to the stresses applied. The aperture is the most important factor of those studied controlling the migration rate of DNAPL through a single fracture embedded in a clay matrix. Loss of mass to the matrix through diffusion does not significantly retard the migration rate of the DNAPL, particularly in larger aperture fractures (e.g., 50 microm). With time, the ratio of diffusive loss to the matrix to DNAPL flux into the fracture approaches an asymptotic value lower than unity. The implication is that matrix diffusion cannot arrest the migration of DNAPL in a single fracture. The complex relationships between density, viscosity, and solubility that, to some extent, govern the migration of DNAPL through these systems prevent accurate predictions without the use of numerical models. The contamination potential of the migrating DNAPL is significantly increased through the transfer of mass to the matrix. The occurrence of opposite concentration gradients within the matrix can cause dissolved phase contamination to exist in the system for more than 1000 years after the DNAPL has been completely removed from the fracture.     

Transient analysis of the source of water to wells: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

A transient flow modeling analysis for potential public-supply wells on western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, demonstrates the difference between transient and steady-state recharge areas can have important implications for wellhead protection. An example of a single pumping well illustrates that commonly used steady-state time-related capture areas do not represent the recharge area and travel times of water being pumped from the well until sufficient time has elapsed for steady-state flow conditions to be established. Until that time, transient recharge areas are needed to account for the portion of water discharging from the well that entered the aquifer before pumping started. An example of two pumping wells demonstrates the same area at the water table cannot supply water to more than one well under steady-state flow conditions. Transient recharge areas to multiple wells can overlap, however, until steady-state flow conditions are established. The same area can, therefore, be a source of water to more than one well during early pumping times, and the water pumped from a given well may derive from source areas, including contaminated areas, that do not lie within the well's steady-state recharge area.     

Inorganic species in geologic fluids: correlations among standard molal thermodynamic properties of aqueous ions and hydroxide complexes

Correlations among experimentally determined standard partial molal thermodynamic properties of inorganic aqueous species at 25 degrees C and 1 bar allow estimates of these properties for numerous monatomic cations and anions, polyatomic anions, oxyanions, acid oxyanions, neutral oxy-acid species, dissolved gases, and hydroxide complexes of metal cations. Combined with correlations among parameters in the revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers (HKF) equation of state (Shock et al., 1992), these estimates permit predictions of standard partial molal volumes, heat capacities, and entropies, as well as apparent standard partial molal enthalpies and Gibbs free energies of formation to 1000 degrees C and 5 kb for hundreds of inorganic aqueous species of interest in geochemistry. Data and parameters for more than 300 inorganic aqueous species are presented. Close agreement between calculated and experimentally determined equilibrium constants for acid dissociation reactions and cation hydrolysis reactions supports the generality and validity of these predictive methods. These data facilitate the calculation of the speciation of major, minor, and trace elements in hydrothermal and metamorphic fluids throughout most of the crust of the Earth.