Concentrations and distribution of elements in milled-coal, power plant ashes and stack-emitted materials in a Western Canadian coal-fired power plant

The focus of this study is to determine the concentrations and the distributions of elements of prime environmental concern （As, Cd, Cr, Cu Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se and V） and other elements of environmental interest （B, Ba, Be, Co, Mn, U） in milled coals, power plant ashes, and stack-emitted materials from a Western Canadian power plant using bituminous coal. The concentrations of elements were determined using neutron activation analysis （NAA）, Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy （ICPES）, and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass spectroscopy （ICP-MS） for most elements, Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption （GFAA） for Pb, and Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption （CVAA） for Hg. The result of the study shows that the total rate of input is 423.5 kg/d for elements of prime environmental concern and 280 kg/d for elements of environmental interest. The concentrations of most elements in milled coal are low as compared to world coals and other Canadian milled coals. The total output of these two groups of elements is 2.9 kg/d and 110.4 kg/d, respectively. This indicates that only a small amount of the total input elements from the milled coal is emitted. Most of it is captured by the bottom and ESP ashes with the exception of the highly volatile As Hg, F, Br, and Cl. The element with highest rate of emission for elements of prime environmental concern is Se （0.73 kg/d） and B （95 kg/d） for the elements of some environmental interest.     

Spatial analysis and hazard assessment of mercury in soil around the coal-fired power plant: a case study from the city of Baoji, China

Based on systematic sampling of soil around the coal-fired power plant (CFPP), the content of Hg was determined, using atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The result shows that the content of Hg in soil is different horizontally and vertically, ranges from 0.137 to 2.105 mg/kg (the average value is 0.606 mg/kg) and is more than the average content of Hg in Shaanxi, Chinese and world soil. In this study, spatial distribution and hazard assessment of mercury in soils around a CFPP were investigated using statistics, geostatistics and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Ordinary kriging was carried out to map the spatial patterns of mercury and disjunctive kriging was used to quantify the probability of the Hg concentration higher than the threshold. The maps show that the spatial variability of the Hg concentration in soils was apparent. These results of this study could provide valuable information for risk assessment of environmental Hg pollution and decision support. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Heating experiments relevant to the depletion of Na,K and Mn in the Earth and other planetary bodies

We have studied the evaporation of Na, K and Mn from Al-Na-K- and Mn-rich silicates at various conditions. Total alkali oxide contents ranged from 5 to 20%. The evaporation rate of Na increases with temperature and decreasing oxygen fugacity and decreases with duration of heating. The loss of K is in all cases less pronounced than for Na. Heating in an evacuated vacuum furnace is more effective in removing Na and K from melt droplets than in furnaces with one atm gas flow of air or gas mixtures controlling the oxygen fugacity. The strong pumping required to keep the vacuum removes Na and K atoms very effectively. In all experiments, the rate of evaporation is determined by quasi-equilibrium between a thin layer of Na and K rich gas above the molten silicates. The results of the experiments are in agreement with several other studies.In experiments with more than one sample in the furnace, equilibration of Na- and K-rich samples with Na- and K-poor samples occurred rapidly, mediated by the ambient gas phase.The results of experiments with Mn in starting compositions showed much stronger losses of Na than Mn under a variety of conditions.Thus the nearly chondritic Mn/Na ratios in the Earth cannot be the result of evaporation of Na and Mn in Earth-making materials, as the Mn/Na ratios in evaporation residues would be much higher than chondritic ratios. Such evaporation processes may have occurred in the parent material of Moon, Vesta and Mars.The data suggest, in agreement with earlier hypotheses, that the high and variable contents of Na and K in chondrules require a gas phase high in Na and K equilibrating with chondrule melts. The volume of nebular gas parental to a certain type of chondrites was heated and Na and K were lost from the chondrule precursors to the gas phase. Subsequently the nebular parcel was compressed leading to higher partial pressures of Na and K. Flash heating then produced chondrule melts which incorporated some of the gaseous Na and K and then cooled rapidly. The large range of Na and K contents in chondrule melts reflects very local enrichments of Na and K in the gas phase. Despite these variations bulk chondritic meteorites have well defined bulk Na and K contents, implying a closed system during formation of chondrules and matrix.     

Spatial variability of soil properties in relation to land use and topography in a typical small watershed of the black soil region,northeastern China

Soil degradation resulted from unreasonable land use and erosion has been a serious problem in the black soil region of northeastern China. This paper seeks to understand the relationships between topsoil properties and topography and land use for land management targeting at improving soil quality in this region. A total of 292 soil samples and 81 volumetric rings were taken from a typical small watershed of the region in June 2005 for examining total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), soil texture (classified into gravel, sand, silt, and clay), and bulk density (ρ _b), respectively. Spatial variability of these soil properties was evaluated with classical statistics and geostatistics methods. The results of classical statistics indicated that TC, TN, sand, silt, clay content, and ρ _b were moderate variables while gravel had great variability. Soil properties were mainly correlated to slope position, elevation and land types. Geostatistical analyses showed that the spatial autocorrelation for TC, TN, and silt was weak, strong for clay and moderate for and ρ _b sand, respectively. The spatial variations of soil properties are affected comprehensively by topographic factors, land use, erosion, and erosion control in this watershed. Past erosion, however, is the most important component to induce change of soil properties. In this small watershed, current soil and water conservation measures play an important role in controlling soil loss. But the restoration of soil properties was unsatisfactory. Comparing with untilled soil of this region, TC, TN, silt content are excessively low; whereas ρ _b, sand and clay content are excessively high; gravel appears at most sampling locations. It is necessary for improving soil properties to protect forest and grassland and change cultivation system of farmlands.     

认清形势把握机遇努力提高我国铀资源保障水平

核地质事业是核工业的基础和先行。半个世纪前，毛主席、党中央高瞻远瞩．做出了发展我国原子能事业的伟大战略决策。1955年4月2日，核工业地质局的前身地质部第三局在北京成立。专门负责我国铀矿地质勘查工作。50年来，在党中央的亲切关怀下，在国家有关部门的大力支持下．核地质工作者以地质找矿为荣、献身铀矿地质事业为荣、艰苦奋斗为荣，经受了种种艰难困苦的严峻考验。     

EIAs,power and political ecology: Situating resource struggles and the techno-politics of small-scale mining

Academics across disciplines are increasingly employing political ecology lenses to unpack conflicts related to resource extraction. Yet, an area that remains under-researched and under-theorised is how environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are embedded in politics and imagined as sites of power relations. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in Zimbabwe engaging small-scale gold miners, EIA consultants and government officials, this article examines the changing social significance of EIAs during and after a nationwide police operation that was framed by authorities as targeting non-compliance with environmental policy, illegal mining and illicit trading. Among other articulations of dissent, small-scale miners associations protested that EIA enforcement rhetoric served unjustly as a rationale for halting livelihoods and extracting rent from miners in times of economic difficulty. The article challenges EIA narratives that focus narrowly on risk management or governance failure, exploring technocratic obfuscations and how enforcement rhetoric was perceived in relation to criminalisation and coercion, expert environmental consultancy cultures and adapted legacies of colonial practice in contemporary dynamics of rule. Heavy-handed policing under the banner of enforcing order impinged on livelihoods and had counterproductive effects in addressing environmental problems, while complying with expensive EIA report-producing requirements was far beyond the means of most small-scale miners. The article rethinks how technical EIA rhetoric becomes entangled in spaces of contentious politics, the perils of looking only at particular scales of relations to the exclusion of others, and what it means to re-engage Donald Moore’s notion of “shifting alignments and contingent constellations of power.” Suggesting future directions in political ecology theorising in relation to extractive sectors, it calls for careful attention to the situated politics of EIAs – situated in time and space, amid varying relations of power – and how multiple hegemonic practices are conceptualised and challenged.     

Spatial analysis of land use and shallow groundwater vulnerability in the watershed adjacent to Assateague Island National Seashore,Maryland and Virginia,USA

Spatial relations between land use and groundwater quality in the watershed adjacent to Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland and Virginia, USA were analyzed by the use of two spatial models. One model used a logit analysis and the other was based on geostatistics. The models were developed and compared on the basis of existing concentrations of nitrate as nitrogen in samples from 529 domestic wells. The models were applied to produce spatial probability maps that show areas in the watershed where concentrations of nitrate in groundwater are likely to exceed a predetermined management threshold value. Maps of the watershed generated by logistic regression and probability kriging analysis showing where the probability of nitrate concentrations would exceed 3 mg/L (>0.50) compared favorably. Logistic regression was less dependent on the spatial distribution of sampled wells, and identified an additional high probability area within the watershed that was missed by probability kriging. The spatial probability maps could be used to determine the natural or anthropogenic factors that best explain the occurrence and distribution of elevated concentrations of nitrate (or other constituents) in shallow groundwater. This information can be used by local land-use planners, ecologists, and managers to protect water supplies and identify land-use planning solutions and monitoring programs in vulnerable areas.     

Pengelly's legacy reconsidered: a GIS approach to spatial analysis of palaeontological and archaeological collections from Kents Cavern, England

Tens of thousands of palaeontological and archaeological remains were collected by William Pengelly during 19th century excavations of Kents Cavern, but are now widely dispersed between museums. This has previously precluded spatial analysis. We have now assembled available museum records into a single database, and, using our previously-reconstructed Pengelly excavation map as a base, we have been able to exploit the unique Pengelly location code to set up a GIS mapping system. This allows, for the first time, the analysis of spatial patterns. In addition, the GIS serves to highlight potential problems of recording or curation in the original data. Here we report on the construction of the GIS system and its first use in the analysis of spatial distribution of bear remains. The maps demonstrate that Ursus deningeri entered the cave through a now-sealed High Level Chamber entrance at the back of the cave in the middle Pleistocene, whereas Ursus arctos accessed the cave in the late Pleistocene through the now-sealed Northeast Gallery entrance. The denning areas are reconstructed as Labyrinth/Bear's Den for U. deningeri and Vestibule/Great Chamber for U. arctos. Considerable post-mortem re-distribution of the remains of both species is indicated.     

Quantifying the protective function of a forest against rockfall for past,present and future scenarios using two modelling approaches

Following a major rockfall event in 1987, two types of protection measures were taken in the village Saint Martin le Vinoux (French Alps). Firstly, technical measures using civil engineering were installed, and secondly, a forest management intervention to increase its protection was carried out. This study aims to assess whether this intervention was successful in the sense that it improved the protective function of the forest. We evaluated the rockfall risk for the situation of 1987 (before the intervention), today and the future, using model simulations with past, present and future vegetation cover scenarios. To increase the meaningfulness of our results, we used two different models, called Rockfor^.NET, which is a rapid one-dimensional rockfall forest evaluation tool, using simple slope and forest characteristics and RockyFor, a process based on three-dimensional rockfall simulation model that takes the barrier effect of individual trees explicitly into account. Both models correctly predicted that the forest was not capable of stopping rocks from the 1987 rockfall event. Further, both models indicate an increase of the number of rocks reaching the base of the slope from 1987 onwards. RockyFor shows an increase from 11% in 1987 to 19% in 2086. Rockfor^.NET shows an increase from 26% in 1987 to 56% in 2086. We conclude that a second attempt to increase the protective function of the forest should aim at restoring a dense coppice stand.     

Using robust kriging and sequential Gaussian simulation to delineate the copper- and lead-contaminated areas of a rapidly industrialized city in Yangtze River Delta,China

A total of 540 topsoil samples (0–15 cm), 188 subsoil samples (20–40 cm), and four individual soil profiles were collected in this study for mapping the Cu- and Pb-contaminated areas in soils of Zhangjiagang city, an industrialized city in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. Robust geostatistical methods were applied for identifying possible spatial outliers of Cu and Pb data, and then a sequential Gaussian simulation was employed for delineating the potential areas where Cu or Pb concentration was affected by diffuse pollution. The results showed that the spatial outliers of Cu and Pb were strongly associated with various types of factories. The anthropogenic input of Cu to soils at local hotspots was closely related to emissions of printing and dyeing, metallurgical, and chemical factories, whereas a lead oxide factory and a chemical factory resulted in a considerable increase of Pb in the topsoil of the study area. Approximately 30% of the total land area of the study was at potential risk from the Cu or Pb diffuse pollution resulting from rapid industrialization of the area over the past 20 years.     

Making a difference: Forest biodiversity,affective capacities,and the micro-politics of expert fieldwork

Protecting biodiversity requires the practice of making nature values present in natural resource use decisions. In this article, such practices are explored from the perspective of affective capacities for expert fieldwork in forestry. Affective capacities are broadly acknowledged in the literature on embodied knowing, and by the practitioners themselves, as a necessary condition for knowing nature. We will extend this discussion to the politics involved. Drawing on a case study in Finland, the article points out that professional foresters’ affective ways of knowing nature are controlled by institutionalised strategies and practices. Thus, power is exercised through fieldwork, determining how nature can and should be known in forestry. The article concludes that since policy implementation takes place through the intensities present in mundane routines, governance studies would benefit from understanding how the various technologies of governance interact with emergent and embodied capacities.     

Understanding the spatial representativeness of air quality monitoring network and its application to PM2.5 in the mainland China

Air pollution has seriously endangered human health and the natural ecosystem during the last decades. Air quality monitoring stations (AQMS) have played a critical role in providing valuable data sets for recording regional air pollutants. The spatial representativeness of AQMS is a critical parameter when choosing the location of stations and assessing effects on the population to long-term exposure to air pollution. In this paper, we proposed a methodological framework for assessing the spatial representativeness of the regional air quality monitoring network and applied it to ground-based PM_2.5 observation in the mainland of China. Weighted multidimensional Euclidean distance between each pixel and the stations was used to determine the representativeness of the existing monitoring network. In addition, the K-means clustering method was adopted to improve the spatial representativeness of the existing AQMS. The results showed that there were obvious differences among the representative area of 1820 stations in the mainland of China. The monitoring stations could well represent the PM_2.5 spatial distribution of the entire region, and the effectively represented area (i.e. the area where the Euclidean distance between the pixels and the stations was lower than the average value) accounted for 67.32% of the total area and covered 93.12% of the population. Forty additional stations were identified in the Northwest, North China, and Northeast regions, which could improve the spatial representativeness by 14.31%.     

Dissolved trace elements in river water: spatial distribution and the influencing factor, a study for the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, China

Twenty-nine water samples were collected from different river channels of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, China. An inductively coupled plasma-mass spectromonitor (ICP-MS) was used to measure concentrations of the trace elements in these samples. The results suggest that the average concentrations of rare earth elements in river water show an increasing trend from the West River, the North River, the rivers of the Pearl River Delta, and the Shenzhen River to the East River. Relatively high concentrations of heavy metals appear in the East River, the rivers of the Pearl River Delta and the Shenzhen River, while the West River and the North River have relatively low heavy metal concentrations. Trace element concentrations in samples collected near urban or industrial areas are much higher than those of samples collected from distant areas, away from urban and industrial areas. After natural conditions, human activities have significant influence on the trace element concentrations in river water. This trace element concentration’s spatial distribution in the river water from the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone is actually an integrated effect of natural conditions and human activity.     

Approaches to agricultural technology adoption and consequences of adoption in the third world: a critical review

There is a large body of literature spanning many disciplines on the adoption of agricultural innovations in the Third World. Each discipline has identified its own set of factors which are concerned with particular aspects of the adoption—diffusion process. However, seldom are these findings consolidated so that clear perspective exists for policy makers and development specialists. In this paper, studies from a wide cross-section of disciplines have been grouped under four areas and are critically examined. Variations in adoption are linked to a combination of on and off farm factors which vary in importance depending on the socio-economic and institutional contexts in which the farmers operate. Widespread adoption occurs when opportunities are equally available and farmers are provided with the means to take advantage of them.     

Networking,context and firm-level innovation: Cooperation through the regional filter in Norway

The paper assesses the role for innovation of one aspect which has been generally overlooked by evolutionary economic geography: context. It analyses how context shapes the impact of collaboration on firm-level innovation for 1604 firms located in the five largest city regions of Norway. Specifically, the analysis shows how the benefits to firms of collaborating within regional, national, and international innovation networks are affected by the knowledge endowments of the region within which the firm is located. Using a logit regression analysis, we find, first, that only national and international networking have a significant positive impact on the likelihood of innovation (the former only for process innovation), whereas the regional knowledge endowments have no direct effect. Second, regional cooperation is particularly effective in regions with high investments in R&D, whereas international cooperation is important in regions with an educated workforce – and regional and national collaboration may be ineffective in such cases. We conclude that, in the case of Norway, context is essential in determining the capacity of firms to set up networks and innovate. Regions with an educated workforce can use the resulting absorptive capacity to successfully assimilate knowledge being diffused through global pipelines from faraway places. However, this absorptive capacity is likely to be heavily filtered if regional firms mainly rely on internal connections within Norway.     

加强地质科技项目管理 助力新时期找矿突破

找矿突破战略行动自实施以来,取得了一系列成果,重要和紧缺矿种新增资源储量保持较快增长,国内矿产资源保障能力增强。通过近5年的探索和努力,找矿效果显著,新发现一批重要矿产地,新增一批矿产资源,发现并查明了大湖塘钨矿床、大营铀矿床、沙坪沟钼矿床等一批世界级矿床,西藏甲玛铜矿床、多龙铜矿床、青海夏日哈木镍矿床等一批超大型矿床,并有望形成西藏扎西康铅锌矿床、贵州铜仁锰矿床等一批新的资源基地,对于立足国内资源保障,优化矿产资源格局具有重要的推动作用。2015年,全国地质勘查投资总额为899.3亿元,新发现主要固体矿产大中型矿产地144处。     

The assemblage diaspore+quartz in metamorphic rocks: a petrological, experimental and thermodynamic study

The upper pressure limit of pyrophyllite is given by the equilibria (i) pyrophyllite=diaspore+quartz and (ii) pyrophyllite=diaspore+coesite. High- P experimental investigations carried out to locate equilibrium (i) yield brackets between 497 °C/24.8  kbar and 535 °C/25.1  kbar, and between 500 °C/23  kbar and 540 °C/23  kbar. Equilibrium (ii) was bracketed at 550 °C between 26.0 and 28.3  kbar. In the experimental P–T  range, equilibria (i) and (ii) are metastable with respect to kyanite. A stable P–T  grid is calculated using thermodynamic data derived under consideration of the present experimental results. According to these data, the lower pressure limit of the assemblage diaspore+quartz according to equilibrium (i) range from about 12  kbar/300 °C to 20  kbar/430 °C (in the presence of pure water). The upper stability of diaspore+quartz is limited by the reaction diaspore+quartz=kyanite+H₂O at about 450 °C (nearly independent of pressure) and, to higher pressure, by the quartz=coesite transition. Equilibrium (ii) is metastable over the whole P–T  range.
Natural occurrences600.S of the diaspore–quartz assemblage in metamorphic rocks in Sulawesi, New Caledonia, Amorgos and the Vanoise are characterized by minerals indicative of high- P such as ferro-magnesiocarpholite, glaucophane, sodic pyroxene and lawsonite. The metamorphic P–T  conditions of these rocks are estimated to be in the range 300–400 °C, >8  kbar. These data are compatible with the derived P–T  stability field of the diaspore+quartz assemblage. We conclude that, in metamorphic rocks, diaspore+quartz is, as ferrocarpholite, an indicator for unusual low- T  /very high- P settings.     

依托科技 加强科研 努力做好地震分析预报工作

30年来 ,福建全体分析预报人员以高度的事业心、责任感为提高地震预测预报水平作出无私的奉献。面对现今严峻震情压力 ,我们要更加努力工作 ,依托科技、加强科研 ,为防震减灾事业做出新贡献。     

The first power generation test of hot dry rock resources exploration and production demonstration project in the Gonghe Basin,Qinghai Province,China

Hot dry rock (HDR) is a kind of clean energy with significant potential. Since the 1970s, the United States, Japan, France, Australia, and other countries have attempted to conduct several HDR development research projects to extract thermal energy by breaking through key technologies. However, up to now, the development of HDR is still in the research, development, and demonstration stage. An HDR exploration borehole (with 236 °C at a depth of 3705 m) was drilled into Triassic granite in the Gonghe Basin in northwest China in 2017. Subsequently, China Geological Survey (CGS) launched the HDR resources exploration and production demonstration project in 2019. After three years of efforts, a sequence of significant technological breakthroughs have been made, including the genetic model of deep heat sources, directional drilling and well completion in high-temperature hard rock, large-scale reservoir stimulation, reservoir characterization, and productivity evaluation, reservoir connectivity and flow circulation, efficient thermoelectric conversion, monitoring, and geological risk assessment, etc. Then the whole-process technological system for HDR exploration and production has been preliminarily established accordingly. The first power generation test was completed in November 2021. The results of this project will provide scientific support for HDR development and utilization in the future.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.     

How pressure solution creep and fracturing processes interact in the upper crust to make it behave in both a brittle and viscous manner

The upper crust has been described as being dominated by brittle deformation along faults, or ductile where folds and cleavage have developed. These two mechanical behaviors are explained by two different mechanisms of deformation: (i) fracture; and (ii) fluid-enhanced deformation (e.g. pressure solution). These two mechanisms operate at two time scales: fast for brittle deformation, slow for pressure solution. Natural observations of relationships between pressure solution and fractures in sandstones, or indented pebbles, and experimental results of pressure solution with an indenter technique indicate that both mechanisms can interact: fracture development increases the kinetics of the pressure solution process, pressure solution relaxes the stress between fracturing events. A simple model of brittle–ductile deformation, applied to indented limestone pebbles, shows that cycles of slow deformation can alternate with short-time fracture.