Geochemical evaluation of the Lagos lagoon sediments

Lagos lagoon is underlain by the Tertiary to recent coastal plain sands of the Dahomey Basin and receives a huge volume of sediments from surface runoffs, canals, rivers and other drainage networks. The dumping of domestic and industrial wastes into these drainage channels open up the possibility of deleterious materials, which carry with them toxic metallic ions, being discharged as wastes into the channels, these eventually find their ways into the lagoon. Sediments being sinks for metals, the identification and quantitative evaluation of metallic ions in the Lagos lagoon sediments is desirable. This study aimed at ascertaining the concentrations of these metallic ions in the sediments. One hundred samples of sediment were systematically obtained along the banks, drainage channels （waste discharge points）, shelves and the center of the lagoon. These samples were dried, disaggregated and sieved for grain size （granulometric） analysis to evaluate the transport and depositional mechanism; X-ray diffraction and heavy mineral separation were used to determine the mineralogy. The 〈75 μm sieved portions of the samples were digested using aqua regia at 96℃ for two hours. The resulting clear solutions were analyzed for major oxides and trace metals using the Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry （ICP-OES）. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed quartz as the preponderant mineral. The geochemical result revealed that SiO2 ranges from 78.57%-98.88%; TiO2, 0.01%-0.32%; A1203, 0.15%-6.32%; Fe2O3, 0.44%-11.62%; K2O, 0.10%-9.60%; CaO, 0.04%-5.50%; MgO, 0.04%-0.98% and P2O5, 0.01%-0.30%, The major oxide compositions indicate the dominance of sand particles over clay in the sediments.     

Factors controlling the spatial and temporal variability of dust emissions

New field measurement techniques are allowing researchers to better understand how surficial properties affect the temporal and spatial variability of dust emissions. In this paper we review the current understanding of the dust emission process and present new field measurements that examine how three surface properties： roughness, crust strength, and temporal changes of surface properties affect dust emissions. These data were collected using three unique measurement systems developed by our team. Roughness exerts considerable control on the entrainment threshold and emissions of dust from a surface. We have carried out a series of experiments designed to quantify roughness effects on aeolian sediment entrainment and transport in a shear stress partitioning framework. Our results show that the model of Raupach et al. （1993） provides very good agreement with available data to predict the amount of shearing stress on the intervening surface among roughness elements, relatively independent of their size and distribution. However, element size affects the aeolian sediment transport process beyond that attributable only to the reduction of surface shear stress caused by the roughness. Additional interactions of the elements with the saltation cloud appear to reduce the transport efficiency and potentially dust emissions as well. The effect of crust strength on dust emissions was assessed using a newly-developed pin penetrometer, which can measure crust strength in-situ. Previous researchers suggested that variation in crust strength even within a small area could lead to considerable spatial variability in dust emissions. Our measurements showed that crust strength is highly variable over a scale of centimeters. This variability may help to explain some of the observed scatter in field measurements of dust emissions for what appear to be homogeneous surfaces. Variability of dust emissions in time and space was also evaluated using a new instrument, the Portable In-Situ Wind Erosion Lab （PI-SWERL） developed to measure dust emissions from soil surfaces.     

An improved shear strength model of unsaturated soils over a wide suction rangeEI北大核心

不同类型的非饱和土在自然界中广泛存在。由于不同类型土的颗粒级配和矿物组成成分的不同,其强度特性存在较大的差异。为了建立一种适用于不同类型非饱和土的强度预测统一模型,本研究系统地分析了土体类型对非饱和土强度演化趋势的影响,在综合考虑两种常用模型优越性的基础上,提出了一种改进的非饱和土抗剪强度模型,同时,利用现有常用的强度模型,对不同类型土在广吸力范围内的强度特性进行了预测,并对拟合结果进行了对比分析。研究结果表明:(1)在广吸力范围内,不同类型土的强度演化规律可分为两类,山峰型和增长稳定型;(2)改进模型可以较为准确地预测不同类型土在广吸力范围内的强度特性;(3)明确了改进模型中各参数的物理意义,并初步给出了改进模型在应用于不同类型土时各参数取值的建议范围。     

Solvent–water extraction method for the evaluation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons bioavailability in coal–tar-contaminated soils

A solvent–water extraction method was proposed as an assessment tool to estimate the bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in coal–tar-contaminated soils. The approach taken was to measure the percent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extracted by a solvent–water mixture and comparing the results with the percent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degraded in a soil slurry reactor. Five soil samples from three former manufactured gas plant sites and a coal–tar disposal site which were operated between 1880 and 1947, and 1945 and 1950, respectively, in Iowa, USA were used in this study. Extraction experiments were conducted using acetone–water or ethanol–water mixtures with solvent volume fractions ranging from 1.0 to 0.4 (v/v). The percent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extracted from the various soils decreased as the volume fraction of the solvent in the solvent–water mixture was reduced. An acetone–water mixture of 0.6 was found to be appropriate in correlating the percent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degraded to the percent of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extracted. For the first correlation, the percent extracted and the percent biodegraded were modified by using the molecular weights and log K _ow of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, respectively. For the second correlation, the equation relating the percent extracted and the percent biodegraded was modified using soil properties such as organic carbon content and percent of clay and silt. Although the experiments were conducted for a limited number of soils, the extraction method appeared to be a good starting point in estimating the bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in coal–tar-contaminated soils.     

An invariance in the carbazoles of petroleum

A remarkable invariance in the ratio of 1,3-dimethylcarbazole （DMC） to 1,6-DMC was discovered in crude oils from the Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea. The remarkably invariant ratio is kept at a constant of about unity regardless of their concentrations, sources or maturities for the sampies. In combination with the molecular structures of 1,3- and 1,6-DMCs, the invariance might indicate that the nitrogen compounds share a common precursor with a skeleton of 1-methylcarbazole and are formed through methylation at C3 and C6 with an essentially identical rate.     

An empirical method to estimate fatalities caused by earthquakes: the case of the Ahar–Varzaghan earthquakes (Iran)

Natural Hazards - The dual Ahar–Varzaghan earthquakes occurred on August 11, 2012, at 16:53 (Iran standard time) in East Azerbaijan province of Iran. The two quakes measured 6.3 and 6.4 on...     

An Interpretation of the Origin of Distribution Anomalier of △C

Zonal distribution of seepage hydrocarbon-induced altereb carbonates over oil/gas reservoirs is a common phenomenon observed in the field.The authors considered that the continuous production of CO2 within the “alteration chimney ”gives rise to a significant difference in physical and chemical properties between its interior and the surrounding country rocks.And it is this difference that has promoted the erosion and precipitation of carbonates,thus leading to the zonal distribution of seepage hydrocarbon-induced altered carbonates over oil/gas reservoirs.This may be a reasonable interpretation of the phenomenon described above.     

Snow avalanche susceptibility evaluation in the central Shaluli Mountains of Tibetan Plateau based on machine learning method北大核心CSCD

Snow avalanches,which are widely and frequently developed at high elevations,seriously threatens the built traffic corridors in the Tibetan Plateau. Susceptibility evaluation of snow avalanche via machine learning model with a high forecast accuracy can be appled to quickly and effectively assess the regional avalanche risk. This paper took the central Shaluli Mountain region as the study area,in which the snow avalanche inventory was established through remote sensing interpretation and field investigation verification. We quantitatively extracted 17 evaluation factors via GIS-based analysis,and these factors were selected through the variance expansion factor（VIF）. Four machine learning models containing SVM,DT,MLP and KNN were used to compile the susceptibility index map of snow avalanches,and kappa coefficient and ROC curve were used to verify the accuracy. The results suggested that the susceptibility indexes obtained from SVM,DT,MLP and KNN were in the range of［0,0. 964］,［0,815］,［0,0. 995］and［0,1］,respectively. The accuracy test results show that these four models all have good prediction accuracy. Among them,the SVM model is the best. The results also indicated that the areas with the high snow avalanche susceptibility mainly distributed in Genie Mountain and Rigong Mountain,most of which were above the planation surface of the Tibetan Plateau. The average altitude of the extremely high snow-avalanche-prone areas is 4 939 m,while the average altitude of the high snow avalanche-prone areas is 4 859 m. The snow avalanche has low perniciousness on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the Sichuan-Tibet Railway in the study area. This study can provide theoretical basis and method reference for disaster prevention and mitigation of snow avalanche along Sichuan-Tibet Railway and other major projects across Shaluli Mountains region. © 2022 Science Press (China).     

Field-scale evaluation of the chemical–biological stabilization process for the remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil

Developing countries face the challenge of growing their economy while reducing the negative environmental impacts of industry, thus requiring treatment technologies that are economical and effective. One recent technology developed in the tropical part of Mexico for the remediation of petroleum-contaminated soil was tested in this scale-up project at an industrial level, whereas previously it had only been tested at laboratory scale; 150 m³ of bentonitic mud, contaminated with weathered hydrocarbons (3.4°API) at ~50,000 ppm, was treated with 4 % Ca(OH)₂, 4 % organic amendment, and a fine-root tropical grass. Hydrocarbons in soil and in leachates, as well as pH, and acute toxicity (Microtox) were monitored for 28.8 months. At the end of the study, basal respiration, root density, and earthworm toxicity were also measured. The hydrocarbon concentration in soil was reduced to 45 %, and toxicity was eliminated. Hydrocarbons in leachates were reduced to ~1 mg/l, safe for human consumption. The pH adjustment depended on low soil moisture and was stabilized at 7.1. Intense revegetation resulted in good root density, within 90 % of nearby uncontaminated soil under pasture. Basal respiration was increased to levels comparable to uncontaminated tropical soils with agricultural use, pasture and gallery forest. At an industrial scale, strict moisture control was necessary for good pH stabilization. By controlling these conditions and applying this novel treatment process, it was possible to transform a heavily contaminated geological material into a non-toxic, fertile, soil-like substrate capable of maintaining a complete vegetative cover and microbial activity comparable to similar soils in a tropical environment.     

An Improved Experimental Calibration of the Olivine-Spinel Geothermometer

The calibration of the olivine-spinel geothermometer by Fabries(1979) is commonly adopted by a number of petrologists.But the temperatures calculated in this way for ultramafic focks are significantly lower than those obtained by the pyroxene geothermometers.These O1-Sp temperatures are also lower than those measured experi-mentally in the natural system (four-phase lherzolite).Different rates of cation diffusion cannot fully account for these differences.The temperature deviation is actually related to the inconsistencies between natural and experimental data which support the calibration .A re-evaluation of the calibration is proposed on the basis of a set of new experimental data.     

Combined membrane–oxythermographic method in the solution of the geochemical problems of migration of material of natural waters

Two methods for obtaining information on the fractional composition of organic matter in natural waters (membrane filtration and oxythermography) are combined in this study. The method has a number of indisputable advantages, which distinguish it among the currently available methods of analytical chemistry. In earth science, the fractional composition of organic materials in natural waters is estimated by the concentration of organic carbon (C_org) in fractions. In our opinion, an indicator of chemical consumption of oxygen (CCO) for ecological estimation of water reservoir state is more informative, because this indicator carries specific ecological information on the necessary oxygen consumption for oxidation of pollutants coming into the natural water environment. Therefore, estimation of the CCO parameter in fractions provides real information on the availability of organic matter and the probable danger from its content in water. This is the principal novelty of the information obtained and our study. The method was tested in the study of variation of the fractional composition of water matter during passage of Volga water through the waterworks (upon removal of water from the storage reservoir through the dam of the Ivan’kovskaya hydro power plant in the Dubna area). Analogous results are almost absent in earth science literature. There is a lack of data on the influence of water release through the dam even with respect to the major-component chemical composition. Variation of the fractional composition of matter (both organic and inorganic) upon water release through a waterworks is not discussed in literature. Thus, this study is of fundamental character.     

An evaluation of residents’ perceptions of the creation of a geopark: a case study on the geopark in Mt. Huaying Grand Canyon, Sichuan Province, China

In recent years, geoparks (a geoheritage effort to protect geological features) have been vigorously promoted in China and abroad. The evaluation of a geopark is important for geopark development. However, current evaluation methods focus on geoheritage and their values, and often ignore residents’ situations, even though community participation is essential to the sustainable development of geoparks. In this paper, the Mt. Huaying Grand Canyon Geological Park was selected as a study area to evaluate resident’s perceptions of the park. Perception impact factors were selected from the perspective of the park residents. Quantitative evaluation models, based on data from questionnaires, were created using the hierarchy process model and expert evaluation method. The results showed that the following factors influenced residents’ perceptions, listed from the most significant to the least: residents’ understanding of geoheritage, participation level in commercial activities, participation level in planning decisions, satisfaction level regarding benefit distribution and level of participation willingness. It was found that residents’ level of understanding of geoheritage and their participation level in planning decisions were the main reasons for poorer perceptions of geoheritage. The keys to improving residents’ perceptions of geoheritage are to change the management system, implement people-centered policies and to establish a government-led management mode that encourages community participation and involves private business contracts.     

Impact of changing climate and land use on the hydrogeology of southeast Australia ∗

Anthropogenic climate change is the Earth's most serious large-scale environmental concern. While the projected changes of global temperatures, rainfall and surface water have been modelled in a sophisticated manner, the impact on groundwater resources is much less well constrained. In southeast Australia, the decrease in rainfall amount and an increase in temperature that are predicted by climate models are generally assumed to reduce the amount of recharge to the groundwater systems. However, the increase in recharge that has resulted from clearing of the native vegetation will almost certainly produce a greater impact on the groundwater system, increasing quantity and potentially improving quality. Additionally, the impact on recharge of changes to rainfall frequency rather than just total amount is not well documented. Overall our understanding of the impacts of climate change on groundwater systems is insufficiently advanced to make firm predictions. Indirect impacts of climate change, particularly the projected increased demand for groundwater or surface water to supplement surface water supplies also will have a major impact that may be greater than the direct effect of climate change.     

Design and application of the method for isolating magnetotactic bacteria

A simple apparatus was designed to effectively isolate magnetotactic bacteria from soils or sediments based on their magnetotaxis. Through a series of processes including sample incubation, MTB harvesting, isolation, purification and identification, several strains of bacteria were isolated from the samples successfully. By Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDXA), these bacteria were certificated to be magnetotactic bacteria. The phylogenetic relationship between the isolated magnetic strains and some known magnetotactic bacteria was inferred by the construction of phylogenetic tree based on 16SrDNA sequences. This apparatus has been proven to have the advantages of being inexpensive, simple to assemble, easy to perform and highly efficient to isolate novel magnetotactic bacteria. The research indicated that the combined approach of harvesting MTB by home-made apparatus and the method of plate colony isolation could purify and isolate magnetotactic bacteria effectively.     

Physical and chemical characteristics of the host rocks in controlling the mineralization of the Chinkuashih high-sulfidation gold–copper deposits,northeastern Taiwan

Epithermal high-sulfidation gold–copper deposits at the Chinkuashih area in northeastern Taiwan occur both within Pleistocene andesite and Miocene sedimentary rocks. Spatially associated Penshan and Shumei deposits of a major gold–copper vein, the “Main Vein”, were both mineralized along an extended normal fault zone. These deposits appear to have formed from the same original hydrothermal fluids, but in different host rock types. However, the results of trace element analyses indicate that the andesite-hosted Penshan deposit has distinctly higher ore-metal and lower LREE contents than the sediment-hosted Shumei deposit. The development of higher grade ore at Penshan deposit resulted from the presence of ferrous Fe-rich minerals in andesite that caused the deposition of a larger amount of pyrite and gold during the sulfidation–reduction reactions of acidic fluid with host rocks. Moreover, the porous–permeable silicic alteration facies of the Penshan deposit provided conduits for the circulation of ore-metal bearing fluids and the trapping of metal-bearing magmatic volatile to precipitate ore minerals. On the other hand, the higher LREE contents of the Shumei open pit reflect the low pH and abundance of mainly SO₄^2? ion in the hydrothermal fluid perhaps because sedimentary host rocks were not able to neutralize and to reduce the acidic fluid effectively through the reactions of fluid and host rocks. Moreover, the Fe-poor host rocks have lower capacity to consume H₂S and precipitate pyrite and gold. In addition, the circulation of ore-metal bearing fluids and trapping of metal-bearing magmatic volatile to precipitate ore minerals could be handicapped by the low permeability and porosity of the silicified sedimentary rocks. It is apparent from these observations that physical and chemical characteristics of host rocks are important factors in controlling the ore grade of the Chinkuashih high-sulfidation gold–copper deposits.