Nitrogen Attenuation in Septic System Plumes

The persistence of inorganic nitrogen is assessed in a set of 21 septic system plumes located in Ontario, Canada, that were studied over a 31-year period from 1988 to 2019. In the plume zones underlying the drainfields, site mean NO₃⁻ values averaged 34 ± 27 mg N/L and exceeded the nitrate drinking water limit (DWL) of 10 mg N/L at 16 of 21 sites. In plume zones extending up to 30 m downgradient from the drainfields, site mean NO₃⁻ values averaged 24 ± 20 mg N/L and exceeded the DWL at 9 of 13 sites. Site mean total inorganic nitrogen (TIN; NH₄⁺ + NO₃⁻ − N) removal averaged 34 ± 26% in the drainfield zones and 36 ± 44% in the downgradient plume zones, indicating that much of the removal occurred within the drainfields. Removal was much higher at nine sites where drainfield TIN included >10% NH₄⁺ (62 ± 25% removal). TIN removal was not correlated with wastewater loading rate, system age, or sediment carbonate mineral content, but was correlated with water table depth, where shallower water table sites had generally less complete wastewater oxidation. At many of these sites, both NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ were present together in the plumes and were lost concomitantly, suggesting that the anammox reaction was making an important contribution to the observed TIN loss. When groundwater nitrate contamination is a concern, considering on-site treatment system designs that lead to a lesser degree of wastewater oxidation, could be a useful approach for enhancing N removal.     

Detection of Contaminant Plumes by Borehole Geophysical Logging

Two borehole geophysical methods—electromagnetic induction and natural gamma radiation logs—were used to vertically delineate landfill leachate plumes in a glacial aquifer. Geophysical logs of monitoring wells near two land-fills in a glacial aquifer in west-central Vermont show that borehole geophysical methods can aid in interpretation of geologic logs and placement of monitoring well screens to sample landfill leachate plumes.
Zones of high electrical conductance were delineated from the electromagnetic log in wells near two landfills. Some of these zones were found to correlate with silt and clay units on the basis of drilling and gamma logs. Monitoring wells were screened specifically in zones of high electrical conductivity that did not correlate to a silt or clay unit. Zones of high electrical conductivity that did not correlate to a silt or clay unit were caused by the presence of ground water with a high specific conductance, generally from 1000 to 2370 μS/cm (microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius). Ambient ground water in the study area has a specific conductance of approximately 200 to 400 μS/cm. Landfill leachate plumes were found to be approximately 5 to 20 feet thick and to be near the water table surface.     

Exceptionally Long MTBE Plumes of the Past Have Greatly Diminished

Studies published in the late 1990s and early 2000s identified the presence of exceptionally long methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) plumes (more than 600 m or 2000 feet) in groundwater and have been cited in technical literature as characteristic of MTBE plumes. However, the scientific literature is incomplete in regard to the subsequent behavior and fate of these MTBE plumes over the past decade. To address this gap, this issue paper compiles recent groundwater monitoring records for nine exceptional plumes that were identified in prior studies. These nine sites exhibited maximum historical MTBE groundwater plume lengths ranging from 820 m (2700 feet) to 3200 m (10,500 feet) in length, exceeding the lengths of 99% of MTBE plumes, as characterized in multiple surveys at underground storage tank sites across the United States. Groundwater monitoring data compiled in our review demonstrate that these MTBE plumes have decreased in length over the past decade, with five of the nine plumes exhibiting decreases of 75% or more compared to their historical maximum lengths. MTBE concentrations within these plumes have decreased by 93% to 100%, with two of the nine sites showing significant decreases (98% and 99%) such that the regulatory authority has subsequently designated the site as requiring no further action.     

Arsenic Cycling in Hydrocarbon Plumes: Secondary Effects of Natural Attenuation

Monitored natural attenuation is widely applied as a remediation strategy at hydrocarbon spill sites. Natural attenuation relies on biodegradation of hydrocarbons coupled with reduction of electron acceptors, including solid phase ferric iron (Fe(III)). Because arsenic (As) adsorbs to Fe‐hydroxides, a potential secondary effect of natural attenuation of hydrocarbons coupled with Fe(III) reduction is a release of naturally occurring As to groundwater. At a crude‐oil‐contaminated aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota, anaerobic biodegradation of hydrocarbons coupled to Fe(III) reduction has been well documented. We collected groundwater samples at the site annually from 2009 to 2013 to examine if As is released to groundwater and, if so, to document relationships between As and Fe inside and outside of the dissolved hydrocarbon plume. Arsenic concentrations in groundwater in the plume reached 230 µg/L, whereas groundwater outside the plume contained less than 5 µg/L As. Combined with previous data from the Bemidji site, our results suggest that (1) naturally occurring As is associated with Fe‐hydroxides present in the glacially derived aquifer sediments; (2) introduction of hydrocarbons results in reduction of Fe‐hydroxides, releasing As and Fe to groundwater; (3) at the leading edge of the plume, As and Fe are removed from groundwater and retained on sediments; and (4) downgradient from the plume, patterns of As and Fe in groundwater are similar to background. We develop a conceptual model of secondary As release due to natural attenuation of hydrocarbons that can be applied to other sites where an influx of biodegradable organic carbon promotes Fe(III) reduction.     

Monitoring and Mathematical Modeling of Contaminated Ground-Water Plumes in Fluvial Environments

Ground-water monitoring to delineate a contaminant plume in fluvial hydrostratigraphic units often is uncertain. Fluvial deposits consist typically of interbedded layers of sands, silts and clays, with buried stream channel deposits of sands or gravels. The channel deposits are often interpreted erroneously to be discontinuous between test holes and in cross section due to their sinuosity. Erroneous conclusions pertaining to the areal continuity of these geometrically complex deposits are inevitable unless the investigator thoroughly understands the depositional environment(s). The hydraulic conductivity of buried stream channel deposits may be several orders of magnitude higher than the matrix materials in which they are enclosed. The higher hydraulic conductivity of buried stream channel deposits has potentially significant ramifications with respect to ground-water monitoring to delineate the geometry of a contaminant plume migrating through these deposits. Ground-water monitoring at uranium mill waste disposal sites located in fluvial environments began on a significant scale in about 1977. A uranium mill tailing disposal site located in such an environment in central Wyoming is among the first sites monitored. Thirty-seven monitor wells were constructed at the site to delineate a seepage plume originating from one of the tailing ponds. This case history illustrates the need for a detailed under—standing of the hydrostratigraphy at a waste disposal site in order to interpret the meaning of ground-water quality data effectively. Water quality data from monitor wells located on a hit or miss basis often are misleading. The hydrostratigraphic horizon from which a water quality sample is collected must be well defined before the sample analyses can be interpreted quantitatively.     

Plumes of the plasmasphere and variations in the geomagnetic field horizontal component

The effects of the dayside and dusk plumes of the plasmasphere during the ring current recovery phase on the disturbance level of the ground geomagnetic field horizontal component have been considered. It has been indicated that the geomagnetic field horizontal component changes specifically and synchronously in the region corresponding to the plasmaspheric dayside plume. Outside the plume the time variations in the geomagnetic field horizontal component pronouncedly differs. A spectral analysis of disturbances in the geomagnetic field horizontal components in the range of geomagnetic pulsations indicated that the intensity in the range of Pc4 pulsations increases at magnetic stations located on field lines corresponding to the dayside and dusk plumes of the plasmasphere. These pulsations detected in the dynamic spectrum of the geomagnetic field horizontal components in the dayside plume region of the plasmasphere, probably reflect the resonance oscillations of magnetic field lines in the region of field-aligned currents at comparatively low altitudes. We assume that this is caused by the instability of field-aligned currents originating as a result of the interaction between the ring current energetic ions and electromagnetic waves in the region with a relatively dense background plasma of the dayside plume.     

Plumes,subaxial pipe flow,and topography along the Mid-Oceanic Ridge

If plate thickness depends on crustal age, the region of extensive partial melting below the spreading axis will be wider around fast-spreading ridges. The melt region creates a subaxial conduit channeling partial melts away from ridge-centered hot spots. The channel is here modeled by an elliptical pipe of semiminor (vertical) axis 2 × 10⁶ cm (20 km) and semimajor (horizontal) axis KS, where S is spreading half-rate (cgs) and K is a constant of magnitude 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁵ seconds. This simple analytical model is used to explain the observation that maximum hot spot elevations on the Mid-Oceanic Ridge fall dramatically with increasing spreading rate (there are no Icelands or Afars on the East Pacific Rise!). A hot spot under a fast-spreading ridge has a broad pipe in which to discharge its partial melts; hence, only a slight topographic gradient and a low elevation is needed to discharge the mass flux rising out of the deeper mantle at the hot spot center. A second factor is that partial melts are “used up” faster in the accretion process on fast-spreading ridges. In the simple analytical model, both factors operating together explain the rapid fall of hot spot heights with increasing spreading half-rate. This result indirectly helps confirm the idea of horizontal pipe flow below the Mid-Oceanic Ridge.A theoretical topographic profile through a hot spot on the Mid-Oceanic Ridge is derived from the assumption that the pressure — i.e., topographic — gradient at a distance x from the hot spot is sufficient to supply all the accreting lithosphere downstream of x, out to x_n, the limit of topographic hot spot influence. The predicted profile is quadratic in x and concave upward, and resembles several observed profiles where neighboring hot spots are not so close as to confuse the profiles. Some observed profiles are more nearly linear or even convex upward. This could be explained, for example, by downstream increases in viscosity or decreases in pipe dimensions.A hot spot on a ridge spreading at much less than 1 cm/yr half-rate would produce an enormous elevation of the ridge axis, according to our model, because the pipe would be very narrow. Such a large topographic high would create a large gravity potential which would cause the plates to move apart faster, thereby widening the pipe, and reducing the topographic high. The system of ridges and hot spots may thus be self-regulating with respect to plate speeds; this could explain why spreading half-rates on the Mid-Oceanic Ridge are in many areas as low as 1.0 cm/yr but very rarely as low as 0.5 cm/yr.     

Examining the Extraction Efficiency of Petroleum-Derived Dissolved Organic Matter in Contaminated Groundwater Plumes

The extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) was examined for groundwater samples from an aquifer contaminated with crude oil. Five different types of extraction techniques were investigated to determine which method is best suited for the analysis of potentially toxic petroleum-derived DOM. The five types were a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) with dichloromethane (DCM) and total petroleum hydrocarbons-diesel range (TPH_d) with DCM (EPA method 3510C), and three solid-phase extraction (SPE) stationary phases that are routinely used for extraction of polar analytes from water. For the LLE and TPH_d, that is selective for nonpolar compounds, the extraction efficiency of petroleum-derived DOM decreased downgradient as the petroleum-derived DOM becomes increasingly polar due to biodegradation. In contrast, the average extraction efficiency by the SPE methods was greater than 65% across the gradient. The results showed that SPE is more efficient for extracting petroleum-derived DOM at hydrocarbon-contaminated sites. The use of a method with greater extraction efficiency for partially oxidized hydrocarbons may prove useful in determining relationships between their composition and structure and potential for risks to human health or the environment.