Evaluation of nitrate source in surface water of southwestern China based on stable isotopes

Stable isotope tracing and analysis play an important role in interpretation of hydrological and ecological processes at the watershed scale and can provide information regarding the flow path, water source, nutrient loss and biogeochemical cycles of a system. In this study, environmental isotopes (δ¹⁸O-H₂O, δD, δ¹⁵N-NO₃ ^?, δ¹⁸O-NO₃ ^?) and chemical compositions of surface water in Guizhou Province, China, were measured to evaluate the primary sources of nitrate and characterize the processes affecting nitrate as well as its correlation with vegetation cover in karstic areas. The δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O-NO₃ ^? levels ranged from +1.3 to +9.8 ‰ and +4.7 to +16.9 ‰, respectively, which indicated that nitrate in water from the investigated area primarily originated from nitrification of soil organic matter during the sampling period. There was also a wide range of isotopes in the water and high contents of nitrate in karstic areas with poor vegetation cover, indicating that water and nutrient loss were serious problems hindering plant growth in the study areas. For example, there was a positive relationship between isotopic composition and nitrate content in the natural forest and negative relationship in Libo County nearby, which suggested that the nitrate fate was affected by land use and human disturbance.     

滇中红层浅层地下水的特征和农村供水示范工程的建立

为了缓解滇中红层区村镇居民生活用水的困难,中国地质调查局在该区实施了地下水勘查与供水示范项目。依据项目的勘查数据、供水示范工程并结合前人已有的成果,重点探讨了示范区不同类型地下水的分布、赋存特点和多种类型钻井取水、多种供水模式供水的地下水开发利用方式。     

The role of the lowermost boundary conditions in the hydrological response of shallow sloping covers

In many areas of the world, slopes covered by shallow unsaturated non-plastic soil layers experience rainfall-induced landslides causing heavy damage and casualties every year. Landslide occurrence depends on the amount of water infiltrated and stored. Among the contributing factors are the hydraulic conditions at the lowermost boundary, a feature that is often disregarded. The paper focuses on this topic, presenting the results of some laboratory and numerical experiments on ash-pumice interfaces. A strategy is then proposed for selecting the lowermost boundary condition, and some studies are carried out to compare the results obtained with the proposed solution and other more popular ones.     

Lake Tai: The limnology of a shallow lake in China

Lake Tai (Tai Hu) is located in the S part of the Yangtze River delta, has a surface area of 2,425 km², a mean depth of 2.12 m, and a volume of 5.15 km³. The climate of the region is characterised by an average annual air temperature of 15.7°C, precipitation of 1,178 mm and evaporation from the water surface of about 1,024 mm. The average annual water temperature is 17.1°C. A positive and a negative thermocline may occur in one day, a characteristic of polymictic lakes. The average water level is 3.03 m above Wusong datum. Total annual inflow was 8.7 km³ with a total outflow of 9.0 km³ and a residence time about 212 days during an average water year. Influent-effleunt currents and wind currents both occured in the lake with a velocity of between 0,1 and 0,3 m s^–1; the height of wind generated waves up to 1 m when the wind velocity was about 13 m s^–1. The average transparency of lake was 0.39 m and the water colour about XV-XVI. The salinity of water was 157.66 mg 1^–1, alkalinity 1.22 meq 1^–1, total hardness 1.523 meq 1^–1 and the pH 8.0. The lake water belonged to calcium bicar-bonate and calcium-sodium bicarbonate types during the study period. The biota had 114 genera of phytoplankton, 122 species of zooplankton, 68 species of benthos, 61 species of aquatic macrophytes and 106 species of fish. Ten species were considered predominant:Microcystis aeruginosa, Anabaena spiroides, Chroomonas acuta, Strobilidum velox, Tintinnopsis conicus, Corbicula fluminea, Zizania latifolia, Phragmites communis, Coilia ectenes taihuensis, and Protosalanx hyalocranius.     

The source rocks in the southwestern part of the South Sakhalin Basin

In the southwestern part of the South Sakhalin Basin, the main source rocks are early Miocene clayey deposits of the Upper Due Suite, middle Miocene dark gray and black mudstone of the Kurasiy Suite, and, probably, black mudstone of the Bykov Suite of Late Cretaceous age.     

Field and numerical investigations on triggering mechanism in typical rainfall-induced shallow landslides: a case study in the Ren River catchment,China

Natural Hazards - A combined field hydrological monitoring and hydro-mechanical numerical investigation into the triggering mechanism in rainfall-induced shallow landslides was proposed and carried...     

兰坪盆地白秧坪Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag多金属矿集区元素共生分异机制及物质来源

兰坪白秧坪Cu-Ag多金属矿集区夹持于金沙江和澜沧江断裂之间,属兰坪-思茅中新生代坳陷带之兰坪盆地北部,可分东矿带和西矿带二部分。本文通过对白秧坪金属矿集区东西2个矿带的矿石矿物电子探针分析、成矿元素含量和组合分析及S同位素的讨论得出:(1)东西2个矿带矿石矿物组合类型及微量元素组合特征具明显不同,前者矿石矿物组分较为简单,西带较为复杂,不仅有Pb、Zn和Cu的独立矿物,还存在Co和Bi的矿物;(2)东矿带Ag、As、Cd、Pb、Sb和Zn的富集从南到北依次减弱,Bi的富集依次增强,Cu的富集趋势越往北越富集,亏损元素为Co、Cr、Ni和V;西矿带Ag、Pb、Zn的富集属吴底厂和李子坪矿段最富集,而Cu则在小丫口和白秧坪矿段最富集。亏损元素为Ba、Co、Cr、Ni和V,但各个矿段这些元素的亏损程度有所不同,有的矿段部分元素有稍富集趋势;(3)Co、Ni和Cr等微量元素西带高于东带,而Sr、Pb、Zn和Ba元素则东带高于西带,与各自的矿物组合类型一致,且元素的共生分异机制与构造分带存在一定的耦合关系;(4)兰坪盆地火山岩为白秧坪多金属矿集区提供了主要物源,Mo、Co和Ni等元素显示其成矿可能与隐伏基性-超基性岩浆有关的深部来源有关;S同位素特征表明东西矿带金属硫化物硫源均以幔源为主。     

浅水流动阻力特性的试验研究

为研究浅水流动的阻力特性,专门设计了一个试验模型,其规模较大,测量设施齐全。通过多种流量和加糙条件的试验得出:加糙密度将直接影响水流的阻力,小流量时的阻力系数变化明显,随流量的加大,加糙的影响逐渐减弱;阻力系数随相对粗糙度的加大而增加,不受流量变化的影响;表面流速分布均匀,其平均值与断面平均流速相关性良好。     

On prevention and mechanism of bed separation water inrush for thick coal seams: a case study in China

Bed separation can occur in overlying strata, especially in hard and soft interbedded roof strata. If these strata prone to form bed separation are rich aquifers, water can accumulate into bed separation and maybe cause a serious water hazard under the condition of water inflow passages existence. Therefore, studying these types of roof water inrush mechanisms, forecasting roof water inrush, and formulating preventive and control measures in advance are extremely important to a mine. In this paper, we takes the typical case of water inrush in the workface number 1121 at Hongliu coal mine as an example, and study the mechanism of water inrush in detail. Primarily, field drilling with water leakage and color TV observations showed that the maximum height of the water conducting fractured zone was 12.50 times the thickness of the coal seams, which spread to the overlying coarse-grained sandstone aquifer. Secondly, the numerical simulation indicated that bed separation storage space was prone to form under the combination of coarse-grained sandstone and mudstone geological structure. The detection using UWTEM revealed that the groundwater accumulated in this bed separation and formed a water bag (bed separation water). When the water bag reached a certain degree, water bursting happened with the main roof collapsing. Finally, prevention, effective drainage methods, and successful experiences with bed separation water have been summarized, and it will have a major significance to coal mines suffering from bed separation water inrush.     

西南岩溶石山区断陷盆地岩溶水系统分类及供水意义

笔者根据岩溶区水文地质条件及特征的差异，以地下水循环的特征为纲，应用系统分析方法，将岩溶水系统分为三级，对各级系统进行了分类。第一级为岩溶水系统，第二级分为浅循环和深循环岩溶水系统、第三级分别进一步分为裸露型、裸露-覆盖型、裸露-埋藏型、滞水型及层控型和断裂带型6类基本的岩溶水文地质单元。并论述了各类型的水文地质特征，指出了各类系统的供水意义，对断陷盆地岩溶水资源的勘查和开发有较大的参考价值。     

The role of deuterium excess in determining the water salinisation mechanism: A case study of the arid Tarim River Basin,NW China

Understanding the water salinisation mechanism is the basis for regional salt management. Mineral dissolution, evaporation and transpiration are the main factors controlling natural water salinity in arid inland basins; however, the two are difficult to differentiate. Because deuterium excess decreases during evaporation and is unrelated to the isotopic composition of the initial water, it is a potential tool for determining the contribution of the evapoconcentration of a given water body using the relationship between deuterium excess and salinity rather than between δ¹⁸O (or δ²H) and salinity. In this paper, the relationship between the residual water fraction and deuterium excess was derived from the Rayleigh distillation equation. The contribution of evapoconcentration and mineral dissolution and/or transpiration for a given water body can be determined by comparing the residual water fraction and salinity between the initial water and the evapoconcentrated water. The extremely arid Tarim River Basin in NW China is taken as an example to demonstrate deuterium excess and salinity evolution from the source stream to river water, lake/reservoir water and groundwater. The results show that mineral dissolution contributes most of the salinity (67–77%) for Boston Lake and the Kongque and Tarim rivers relative to the source stream. Mineral dissolution and/or transpiration contribute greater salinity (73–99.6%) to the groundwater recharged by the river water in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River. The study provides a method for determining the salinisation mechanism and is important for salt movement and management.     

Development law of air leakage fractures in shallow coal seams: a case study in the Shendong Coalfield of China

Continuous air leakage from ground mining-induced cracks is a significant cause of coal spontaneous combustion, low oxygen at the working face and other disasters in shallow coal seams. This paper studies mining-induced cracks and air leakage caused by the repeated mining of shallow coal seams at the Bulianta coal mine, Shendong Coalfield, China. A similar simulation experiment was carried out in the laboratory, and then the ground mining-induced cracks were observed and the crack air leakage was detected. The results showed that the surface air flowed into the composite goaf before the fractures redeveloped to the surface during the process of lower coal seam mining. Due to the different development processes of vertical fractures in various regions, the width of the vertical fractures in the boundary area of the overlying goaf increases significantly after the repeated mining of coal seams, while the vertical fractures in the central area of the overlying goaf experience almost no change. The distribution of the surface air leakage cracks is in the shape of “回”. Graben-type cracks and half-graben-type cracks are surface air leakage cracks, which are the focus of surface air leakage problems, especially the half-graben-type cracks. The results are important in engineering for reducing air leakage from surface mining-induced cracks.     

中国东部及南海西部陆缘CO2气藏形成机理

以我国东部及南海西部陆缘众多CO2气葳为依据,分析了气藏中气体组分、同位素组成及分布特征,指出该地区从北至南分布着一巨型北东向岩浆幔源无机成因CO2气藏带,莺歌海盆地中具有壳幔混源特征,其形成机理与欧亚板块和太平洋板块碰撞俯冲带所形成的构造岩浆作用有关;靠近俯冲带,热源体以火山岩体、基性玄武岩为主,远离俯冲带则以泥底辟热流体为主;超壳断裂是幔源气和热源的输运通道。     

The limnology and paleolimnology of a shallow eutrophic lake in Eastern China

Xuanwu Lake (3.7 km²) is a shallow (mean depth 1.4 m) hypereutrophic lake (annual productivity greater than 600 g cm^–2) located in East China's flood plain near the N end of Nanjing, China's ninth largest city. Paleolimnological data based on a 16 cm long sediment core removed from near the center of the lake indicated that nutrient pollution tolerant diatoms have replaced pollution intolerant taxa which were common near the base of the core (approximately 35 years before present). These paleolimnological observations support the hypothesis that progressive eutrophication is occurring in Xuanwu Lake. This conclusion is corroborated by direct comparisons of the present day phytoplankton and zooplankton species composition within the lake and published accounts of its species composition during the mid 1970's.During the last decade, zooplankton density has increased 153% and zooplankton species' richness has declined by 33%. Phytoplankton biomass has increased over 10-fold and the lake's photic zone has decreased to its current (1987) condition (1% surface light intensity at 0.7 m).Xuanwu Lake, like many similar shallow polymictic lakes in E China, has not been depleted of dissolved oxygen near its bottom. This is due to frequent wind mixing, of the entire lake. Thus its progressive hypereutrophication does not result in the same suite of problems experienced by lakes whose hypolimnion is stagnant for long periods of time.     

Using stable isotopes of nitrogen to study its source and transformation in a heavily farmed watershed

Twenty private wells and ten stream locations were sampled to assess the source and fate of dissolved nitrate in the Cedar River watershed of Iowa, USA. The average levels of nitrate in groundwater decreased from 39.5 mg/L in May, to 38 mg/L in July, to 30 mg/L in September. Although several surface water samples exceeded MCL in May, most values dropped to below 20 mg/L by July and September. The decreasing N levels were attributed to the gradual uptake of nitrate by growing crops as well as the cyanobacterial growth in the aquatic systems. The δ¹⁵N values of dissolved nitrate in groundwater ranged from +0.45 to +5.35‰, whereas those in surface water ranged from +1.48 to +5.16‰. The results suggested that commercial fertilizers and soil organic nitrogen were probably mixed up in their transport pathways. A fertilizer-only source would provide much lower delta values, whereas soil nitrogen would provide higher than observed delta values. Denitrification was considered unlikely because of the low δ¹⁵N values, high nitrate concentrations, and moderately high DO content in groundwater. Animal wastes were not found as a possible source of nitrate in the water. This is supported by the low chloride concentrations and lower than 10‰ delta values in the water samples. The study demonstrates that nitrogen isotope data in coordination with the dissolved nitrate levels and land use can be effectively used in nitrogen source identification and its transformation studies.     

The variational technique of data assimilation using adjoint equations in a shallow water model

The variational technique of data assimilation using adjoint equations has been illustrated using a nonlinear oceanographic shallow water model. The technique consists of minimizing a cost function representing the misfit between the model and the data subject to the model equations acting as constraints. The problem has been transformed into an unconstrained one by the use of Lagrange multipliers. Particular emphasis has been laid on finite difference formulation of the algorithm. Several numerical experiments have been conducted using simulated data obtained from a control run of the model. Implications of this technique for assimilating asynoptic satellite altimeter data into ocean models have been discussed.