The problem of transfer of radionuclide pollution by sea ice

The problem of the radioactive pollution of the ice cover is discussed in this paper. An estimation of the possible transport of the radionuclides by drifting ice from the Kara Sea into the Arctic Ocean is presented. The conclusion about the importance of the contribution of drifting ice to the contamination of the Greenland coastal water is based on the comparison of estimates of the multiyear export of radioactive drifting ice from the Kara Sea with the observed concentrations of the radionuclides in the Greenland coastal water.     

Melt water chemistry and its impact on stream water quality

Samples of snowpack leachate were collected over a 60 day period of the spring melt season in 1988 and 1989 at a 10 km² upland catchment in the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. These were analysed for major ions to assess snowpack chemistry dynamics through the spring and to assess the melt water influence on stream water chemistry. The data clearly show preferential elution of sulphate and nitrate over chloride and hydrogen over the other cations during the early melt of 1988. Following the addition of ions to the snow surface, either as snow or later in the season as rain, the elution sequence is reproduced. Comparison of leachate chemistry with stream chemistry samples taken at the basin outlet indicate that snow pack melt water contributes directly to stream water. The stream water chemistry signal is, however, noisy and the stream concentrations are considerably damped relative to the snowpack leachate. This is thought to be a consequence of differential melting within the catchment as the snowpack at lower altitudes is at a more advanced stage of melt and so holds fewer solutes and mixing with groundwater contributions. Temperature observations at different altitudes within the catchment support this interpretation.     

Pigmentation of massive corals as a simple bioindicator for marine water quality

Photo-acclimatisation by the algal endosymbionts of scleractinian corals to changes in environmental conditions may influence their density and/or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments, and hence coral brightness, on short time-scales. To examine coral pigmentation as a bioindicator of water quality, the brightness of massive corals was quantified using colour charts, concentrations of the pigment chlorophyll a and reflectance spectrometry in the field and with manipulative experiments. Along a water quality gradient, massive Porites became progressively lighter as nutrients decreased and irradiance increased. A laboratory experiment showed that Porites nubbins darkened within 25 days following exposure to reduced water quality. The results of a transplantation experiment of Porites nubbins in a manipulation incorporating multiple depths and zones of water quality confirmed colony brightness as a simple tool to monitor changes in marine water quality, provided effects due to other influences on pigmentation, e.g. seawater temperatures, are taken into consideration.     

Delayed impact of new volcanic ejecta on ground water quality

We observed long-term changes in the concentrations of dissolved ions in ground water caused by leachate from new volcanic ejecta deposited on the ground surface of the volcanic Miyakejima Island, Japan. Water samples were collected from nine wells and two rain collectors over a period of more than 10 years, and samples of runoff water were collected periodically. The samples were analyzed for temperature, pH, alkalinity, Cl⁻, and SO₄²⁻; some of the samples were also analyzed for δ¹³C. Because the leachate from the volcanic ejecta contained sulfate, we recorded an increase in SO₄²⁻ concentrations in the (unconfined) well water. The increase in SO₄²⁻ was initially detected between less than 1.4 and 5.2 years after the eruption, showing peak concentrations from 2.4 to 6.4 years after the eruption. This delayed response reflects the transit time of downward-moving SO₄²⁻ in the vadose zone, corresponding to an apparent movement rate of 0.4 to 7.2 cm/d. The rate relates to the mean recharge, represented as a fraction of local mean rainfall, and is calculated using the Cl⁻ balance method. The magnitude of the recorded increases reflects the volume of volcanic mudflow on the ground surface within the basin. For the management of ground water after an eruption, it is therefore important to know the chemical properties of the volcanic ejecta and the spatial distribution of mudflow to estimate the magnitude of the effect of ejecta on ground water quality.     

Development of marine water quality criteria for the USA

The US Environmental Protection Agency has developed guidelines for deriving numerical national water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic organisms and their uses. These guidelines provide the method for deriving water quality criteria, including minimum data base requirements, data evaluation procedures, and calculations. The guidelines have been in place for a long time, and states have used them to derive water quality standards for their water bodies. More recent efforts have been directed towards the development of technical guidance based on the concept that bioassessment and biocriteria programs for estuaries and near coastal waters are interrelated and are critical components of comprehensive water resource protection and management. This is a holistic approach to protection and management, integrating biological assessments into traditional chemical and physical evaluations and augmenting the established water quality criteria. The method for deriving water quality criteria and the approach for biocriteria development for marine systems are described.     

组合型浮床生态系统的构建及其改善湖泊水源地水质的效果

研究开发了一种由水生植物、水生动物及微生物膜构建的组合型浮床生态系统.在野外条件下,考察了该浮床对富营养化湖泊水在静态条件下的净化效果.结果表明,20 d内TN、TP的去除率分别为83.7%和90.7%,透明度也有大幅提高.而且,组合型浮床系统对有机物尤其是难降解有机物的去除能力较强,在25 d内,对r-BHC、HE、DDE、DDD、DDT的去除率分别为25.2%、63.8%、42.1%、71.6%和27.6%,氯苯、阿特拉津的去除率达55.9%和72.1%.水生动物的代谢活动提高了有机物的生物可降解性和氮磷的植物可利用性.该新型浮床可用于水源地水质改善、污水净化生态工程、富营养水体的生态恢复等.     

Water quality improvement through five constructed serial wetland cells and its implications on nonpoint-source pollution control

ABSTRACT

Constructed wetlands can be used for reducing nonpoint-source pollution and providing ecological services in a watershed. This paper presents a field monitoring study on water quality improvement in constructed wetlands of five cells in series. The wetland system covers 59.9 ha, or 0.08% of the watershed area; it diverts 7.3 million m³ (hm³) water (or 4.3% annual flow) from a degraded river. The results showed that the hydraulic retention times (HRT) of the five cells ranged from 5 to 15 days, 18.4% inflow was lost to seepage and increased evapotranspiration (ET) in the wetlands; the wetlands retained 99.1% total suspended solids (TSS), 60.9% total phosphorus (TP), and 54.4% total nitrogen (TN) from the inflow. Major reductions of TSS and TP were observed in the first two large cells that occupied 57% of the total wetland area. The smaller cells did not show advantages over the bigger ones in pollutant retention as reported in some studies. Although significant water quality benefit can be achieved by the constructed wetlands, the increased water loss may be a concern, particularly in dry regions.

EDITOR Z.W. Kundzewicz; ASSOCIATE EDITOR T. Okruszko     

Bathing water quality in the North sea,and the Mediterranean

The bacteriological quality of bathing waters is examined for two coastlines with very different environmental characteristics, namely Whitley Bay in the north east of England and the Bay of Naples in the Mediterranean. The Whitley Bay beach is contaminated by sea outfalls, but tidal action is vigorous, the water is cool and sunlight is not very strong. The water does not meet the EEC standards for bathing water quality at the present time, but a new sewerage system soon to be completed should effect a substantial improvement.In the Bay of Naples there is very little tide, the water is warm and sunlight is usually strong in the bathing season. The water quality meets the EEC standards for most of the authorized beaches and pollution is restricted to a few well defined zones in the Bay.     

The impact of land use on stream water quality in Slovakia

In the first part of this paper, the impact of forestry, agriculture and urban activities on the quality of surface water is analysed. Daily data from 15 forest and agricultural experimental catchments of the Institute of Hydrology, Slovak Academy of Sciences are used. It is shown, that the nitrate concentrations in surface water have decreased in Slovakia since 1989 as a result of decreased use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers (lower intensity of agricultural production in Slovakia owing to recent economic changes). The annual nitrate specific load varies from 5.90 to 110 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, the annual sulphate load varied from 29.16 to 509.60 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and the annual phosphate load varied from 0.0098 to 0.0224 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ during 1990–1992.

In the second part, a two-step method of three-component hydrograph separation of rain-, soil- and groundwater is proposed. The method is used in the Manelo-Gribov microbasin (O.95 km²) in Eastern Slovakia. The annual contribution of surface runoff in total runoff volume was 57.5%, the contribution of interflow runoff was 21.1%, and the contribution of groundwater was 21.4%, during the period from 1 August to 31 July 1992. A deterministic regression model for predicting daily nitrate concentrations from values of stream daily discharge and flow component data was developed. A set of 1421 modelled NO₃⁻¹ data was compared with the set of measured data.     

Biogeographical distribution and diversity of bacterial and archaeal communities within highly polluted anoxic marine sediments from the marmara sea

Physicochemical and microbiological characterization of anoxic sediments taken from seven highly polluted sites of the Marmara Sea was carried out. The 16S rRNA based microbial community structure analyses were performed using domain-specific PCR followed by denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing of characteristic bands. The results showed that the microbial communities in these sediments were diverse and evenly distributed. Relating the prokaryotic and geochemical variables through statistical tools revealed that the microbial diversity in the sediments significantly related to depth, and S, Mn and Fe content of the sediments. Fermentative bacteria, denitrifying bacteria and hydrogenotrophic methanogens were dominant whereas sulfate reducing bacteria were absent in the DGGE patterns. This unusual microbial community structure implied that the newly discovered anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification process may occur in these subseafloor environments.     

稳定分层水库水质的季节性变化特征及扬水曝气水质改善

为了解深水型水库水体的热分层结构、水质特征及扬水曝气系统对水质的改善情况,对水温、溶解氧、pH、叶绿素a、营养盐、溶解性有机碳浓度等水质指标进行为期一年的监测,探讨各项指标的季节性变化规律.结果表明,黑河水库水体呈单循环混合模式,在3-10月形成自然热分层,水体的热分层导致相应水库水质明显分层.黑河水库为偏碱性水体,叶绿素a、总磷、总氮、铵态氮和溶解性有机碳浓度平均值分别为2.21 μg/L、0.022 mg/L、1.32 mg/L、0.20 mg/L和2.93 mg/L,表明黑河水库处于中-富营养状态.热分层期底部水体溶解氧浓度在0～7.9 mg/L之间,平均值为2.9 mg/L,氮磷质量比在41～100之间,表明黑河水库是一个底部季节性缺氧、高营养盐型水库.在水库自然热分层末期,应用扬水曝气技术,不仅改善了底部水体的厌氧/缺氧环境,抑制了厌氧/缺氧条件下内源污染物的释放和藻类的增殖,而且还使得水库水体提前混合,实现了强制混合与水体自然混合过程的有机衔接,延长了水质持续改善的作用时效,有效地改善了水环境,保障了安全供水.     

稳定分层水库水质的季节性变化特征及扬水曝气水质改善

为了解深水型水库水体的热分层结构、水质特征及扬水曝气系统对水质的改善情况,对水温、溶解氧、p H、叶绿素a、营养盐、溶解性有机碳浓度等水质指标进行为期一年的监测,探讨各项指标的季节性变化规律.结果表明,黑河水库水体呈单循环混合模式,在3-10月形成自然热分层,水体的热分层导致相应水库水质明显分层.黑河水库为偏碱性水体,叶绿素a、总磷、总氮、铵态氮和溶解性有机碳浓度平均值分别为2.21μg/L、0.022 mg/L、1.32 mg/L、0.20 mg/L和2.93 mg/L,表明黑河水库处于中-富营养状态.热分层期底部水体溶解氧浓度在0~7.9 mg/L之间,平均值为2.9 mg/L,氮磷质量比在41~100之间,表明黑河水库是一个底部季节性缺氧、高营养盐型水库.在水库自然热分层末期,应用扬水曝气技术,不仅改善了底部水体的厌氧/缺氧环境,抑制了厌氧/缺氧条件下内源污染物的释放和藻类的增殖,而且还使得水库水体提前混合,实现了强制混合与水体自然混合过程的有机衔接,延长了水质持续改善的作用时效,有效地改善了水环境,保障了安全供水.     

Effects of an artificial stream on marine communities

A brackish lagoon near Marseilles now receives an erratic inflow of fresh water. The fauna and flora were studied before and after the construction of a canal which introduces the fresh water. Instead of the expected change from a marine-dominated to a brackish biota, a general impoverishment has resulted. Increasing urbanization and industrialization of the area is causing extensive deterioration of the coastal environment of which this lagoon forms a part.     

Rocky-shore communities as indicators of water quality: a case study in the Northwestern Mediterranean

The collection of 152 samples from the upper sublittoral zone along the rocky coasts of Catalonia (Northwestern Mediterranean) was carried out in 1999 in order to test the suitability of littoral communities to be used as indicators of water quality in the frame of the European Water Framework Directive. Detrended correspondence analysis were performed to distinguish between different communities and to relate communities composition to water quality. Samples collected in reference sites were included in the analysis. Mediterranean rocky shore communities situated in the upper sublittoral zone can be used as indicators of the water quality: there is a gradient from high to bad status that comprises from dense Cystoseira mediterranea forests to green algae dominated communities. The geographical patterns in the distribution of these communities show that the best areas are situated in the Northern coast, where tourism is the main economic resource of the area, and the worst area is situated close to the metropolitan zone of Barcelona with high population and industrial development. Thus, Mediterranean sublittoral rocky shore communities are useful indicators of water quality and multivariate analysis are a suitable statistical tool for the assessment of the ecological status.     

基于水质改善目标的太湖适宜换水周期分析

准确估算换水周期对于研究湖泊水体化学、生物变化以及污染物迁移、扩散、转化有着重要意义,换水周期是湖泊的一个重要环境参数.根据2010年实测水文、气象和环湖水量、水质条件,建立3组情景模式:第1组为实况方案,第2组是环湖水量倍比缩放方案,第3组为望虞河水量倍比缩放方案.采用EcoTaihu模型模拟3组情景模式下太湖及各湖区营养盐状况,并根据实测结果对模型进行校验.模型计算结果表明:在2010年太湖水文、气象条件下,150~160 d换水周期条件下太湖氮、磷浓度最低,即太湖适宜换水周期为150~160 d.     

Valuation of in-stream water quality improvement via fuzzy contingent valuation method

Society benefits from rivers in many aspects. To the extent of water resources management, one of the salient issues is that the social benefit of in-stream water quality improvements is often difficult to be quantified for possible cost justification in many water pollution control programs. The difficulties arise from that many service flows of water quality are not channelled through the market system to consumers and producers. With different socio-economic structures, such valuation could be even more challenging when taking river basins with low-income level into account. Recent advances in fuzzy set theory provide a germain insight to viewing the in-stream water quality as a kind of fuzzy resource due to varying awareness of the quality of life. This paper provides a technical analysis using the fuzzy contingent valuation mothod (FCVM) to value in-stream water quality improvements in terms of three fuzzy resources from aesthetic to recreational, and to ecological aspects. Traditional CVM may allow interest groups or affected parties to join and present a more flexible asset assessment with respect to the prescribed environmental features in the river corridor. Yet the FCVM provides a mechanism that lies in providing a mapping (via fuzzy set theory) from a survey of respondents valuation of subjective assessments of water quality into objective economic measures in terms of water quality parameters that management can more directly manipulate. With this new tool, the traditional CVM assessment outputs in a well-developed river basin may even lead to derive a simular valuaton function in a form of a regression equation in a developing river basin where the incme level is relatively low. As part of the sustainablity analysis basin wide, a case study in Taiwan showed that such effort may provide supportive information for cost benefit analysis in many water pollution control programs corresponding to different temporal and spatial scales.     

Changes in octocoral communities and benthic cover along a water quality gradient in the reefs of Hong Kong

Cover of the main reef benthic groups, and abundances and taxonomic richness of octocorals were surveyed in the reefs of Hong Kong, and related to spatial and water quality gradients. Nutrient and particle concentrations are high throughout the area, with concentrations declining from the south towards the north-eastern region. Regression tree analyses showed that hard coral cover was most strongly related to water clarity, that macroalgal cover was highest in areas with high wave action and high water clarity, and that crustose coralline algae were negatively related to sedimentation. Octocoral communities (42 species in 23 genera) were dominated by zooxanthellae-free taxa; those few species with zooxanthellae were restricted to reefs with low wave action and high water clarity in the north-eastern region. The water quality gradient spans from conditions that are marginal for zooxanthellate octocorals while still supporting diverse scleractinian communities, towards an estuarine endpoint where zooxanthellate octocorals cease to exist and hard coral communities are reduced to a few resilient colonies. The data suggest that the types, abundances and richness of zooxanthellate octocorals, and the shift from zooxanthellate to azooxanthellate octocoral communities, may act as useful indicators of water clarity in regions where long-term water quality data are unavailable.