Geometry and dynamics of the freshwater—seawater interface in a coastal aquifer in southeastern Spain

Abstract

The contact between freshwater and seawater in coastal aquifers is studied using a relatively simple model for homogeneous aquifers. However, for real aquifers it is not so simple. The desalination plant built to supply water to the city of Almería is situated over the aquifer in the southern part of the River Andarax Delta. Its design capacity is 1100 L s^?1, and it is supplied from boreholes pumping water from beneath the freshwater—seawater contact in this aquifer. Well logs kept over a period of two years have allowed us to accurately define the interface geometry of the freshwater—seawater contact. Lithological data collected from 31 boreholes have also indicated the existence of strata with low hydraulic conductivity, within others of high conductivity. During a simultaneous pumping test of six wells with 690 L s^?1 total discharge, electrical conductivity measurements showed the influx of seawater 6–10 m below sea level and a drawdown of the interface in the piezometers closest to the pumping wells.     

Carbon dioxide exchange and the mechanism of environmental control in a farmland ecosystem in North China Plain

CO2 flux was measured continuously in a wheat and maize rotation system of North China Plain using the eddy covariance technique to study the characteristic of CO2 exchange and its response to key environmental factors. The results show that nighttime net ecosystem exchange (NEE) varied exponentially with soil temperature. The temperature sensitivities of the ecosystem (Q10) were 2.94 and 2.49 in years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, respectively. The response of gross primary productivity (GPP) to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in the crop field can be expressed by a rectangular hyperbolic function. Average Amax andαfor maize were more than those for wheat. The values ofαincreased positively with leaf area index (LAI) of wheat. Diurnal variations of NEE were significant from March to May and from July to September, but not remarkable in other months. NEE, GPP and ecosystem respiration (Rec) showed significantly seasonal variations in the crop field. The highest mean daily CO2 uptake rate was -10.20 and -12.50 gC·m-2·d-1 in 2003 and 2004, for the maize field, respectively, and -8.19 and -9.50 gC·m-2·d-1 in 2003 and 2004 for the wheat field, respectively. The maximal CO2 uptake appeared in April or May for wheat and mid-August for maize. During the main growing seasons of winter wheat and summer maize, NEE was controlled by GPP which was chiefly influenced by PAR and LAI. Rec reached its annual maximum in July when Rec and GPP contributed to NEE equally. NEE was dominated by Rec in other months and temperature became a key factor controlling NEE. Total NEE for the wheat field was -77.6 and -152.2 gC·m-2·a-1 in years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, respectively, and -120.1 and -165.6 gC·m-2·a-1 in 2003 and 2004 for the maize field, respectively. The cropland of North China Plain was a carbon sink, with annual -197.6 and -317.9 gC·m-2·a-1 in years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, respectively. After considering the carbon in grains, the cropland became a carbon source, which was 340.5 and 107.5 gC·m-2·a-1 in years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, respectively. Affected by climate and filed managements, inter-annual carbon exchange varied largely in the wheat and maize rotation system of North China Plain.     

Influence of the modified global ocean tide model with local tides of East and South China Seas on load gravity in China and its neighbor area

Introduction With the development of science and technology, the accuracy of gravity measurement is im-proved. The gravity observation with FG5 gravimeter has reached accuracy of μ magnitude. And the high accurate superconducting gravimeter can detect the tiny signal of 10?2 μ magnitude in frequency domain. With the high-accuracy gravity observation on Earth′s surface, the Earth′s tidal parameters can be determined precisely. And the observations can also be used to invert the struc-ture…     

Mantle plume,large igneous province and continental breakup——Additionally discussing the Cenozoic and Mesozoic mantle plume problems in East China

Based on the former workers study results such as numerical simulation of fluid mechanics,seismic tomography of the whole earth and igneous rocks,the basic characteristics of mantle plumes are summarized in detail,namely the mantle plume,from the D″layer near the core-mantle bouundary(CMB)of 2900 km deep,is characterized by the spape of large head and thin narrow conduit,by the physical property of high temperature and low viscosity.The LIP(large igneous province)is the best exhibition when the mantle plume ascends to the surface.According to the basic characteristics of the mantle plumes and the LIP,as well as the temporal-spatial relationships between the mantle plume and continental breakup,the detailed research on petrology,geochemistry,temporal-spatial distribution,tectonic background of the Cenozoic-Mesozoic igneous rocks and gravity anomaly distribution in East China has been done.As a result,the Mesozoic igneous rocks in Southeast China should not be regarded as an example of typical LIP related to mantle plumes.for their related characteristics are not consitent with those of the typical LIPs related to mantle plumes.The Cenozoic igneous rocks in Northeast China have no the typical characteristics of mantle plumes and hotspots,so the Cenozoic volcanism in Northeast China might have no the direct relationships with the activity of mantle plumes.     

Large microplastic particles in sediments of tributaries of the River Thames,UK – Abundance,sources and methods for effective quantification

Sewage effluent input and population were chosen as predictors of microplastic presence in sediments at four sites in the River Thames basin (UK). Large microplastic particles (1 mm–4 mm) were extracted using a stepwise approach to include visual extraction, flotation and identification using Raman spectroscopy. Microplastics were found at all four sites. One site had significantly higher numbers of microplastics than other sites, average 66 particles 100 g^? 1, 91% of which were fragments. This site was downstream of a storm drain outfall receiving urban runoff; many of the fragments at this site were determined to be derived of thermoplastic road-surface marking paints. At the remaining three sites, fibres were the dominant particle type. The most common polymers identified included polypropylene, polyester and polyarylsulphone. This study describes two major new findings: presence of microplastic particles in a UK freshwater system and identification of road marking paints as a source of microplastics.

Carbon and hydrogen isotopic characteristics of natural gases from the Luliang and Baoshan basins in Yunnan Province, China

The Luliang and Baoshan basins are two small ba- sins in Yunnan Province. In the recent ten years or so, there have been found a number of natural gas pools of commercial importance in the two basins. Although the gas pools are small in size, the natural …     

Quantifying the sources of dissolved inorganic carbon within the sulfate-methane transition zone in nearshore sediments of Qi’ao Island,Pearl River Estuary,Southern China

The significance of the various biogeochemical pathways that drive carbon cycling and the relative fractions of dissolved inorganic carbon(DIC) produced by these reactions within the sulfate-methane transition zone(SMTZ) are still being debated. Unraveling these processes is important to our understanding of the benthic DIC sources and their contributions to the global carbon cycle. Here, we measure pore water geochemistry(chlorine, sulfate, methane, Ca~(2+), Mg~(2+), DIC and δ~(13)C-DIC) as well as solid geochemistry(sedimentary organic carbon(SOC) and δ~(13)C of SOC) in nearshore sediments from Qi'ao Island in the Pearl River Estuary of the Southern China Sea. Our analysis indicates that SOC originates from the mixing of carbon from terrestrial and marine sources, and that terrestrial materials dominate the net loss of SOC during the degradation of organic matter, especially at sites located near the river outlets. Sulfate reduction via SOC degradation is not appreciable in the upper sediment layer due to conservative mixing-dilution by freshwater. However, below this layer, the anaerobic oxidation of methane(AOM) and methanogenesis occur. Within the SMTZ, the δ~(13)C mass balance shows that the proportions of DIC derived from organoclastic SO_4~(2-) reduction(OSR) and AOM are 50.3% to 66.7% and 0.1% to 17.9%, respectively, whereas methanogenesis contributes 17.0% to 43.9%. This study reveals that the upward diffusion of DIC from ongoing methanogenesis significantly influences carbon cycling within the SMTZ in these estuarine sediments. As a result, we suggest that the plots of the ratio of change in sulfate to change in DIC in pore water should be used with caution when discriminating between sulfate reduction pathways in methane-rich sediments.     

Spatial distribution and temporal variation of reference evapotranspiration during 1961–2006 in the Yellow River Basin,China

Abstract

To explore the spatial and temporal variations of the reference evapotranspiration (ET_ref) is helpful to understand the response of hydrological processes to climate changes. In this study, ET_ref was calculated by the Penman-Monteith method (P-M method) using air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and sunshine hours at 89 meteorological stations during 1961–2006 in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China. The spatial distribution and temporal variations of ET_ref were explored by means of the kriging method, the Mann-Kendall (M-K) method and the linear regression model, and the causes for the variations discussed. The contribution of main meteorological variables to the variations of ET_ref was explored. From the results we found that: (1) the spatial distributions of ET_ref display seasonal variation, with similar spatial patterns in spring, summer and autumn; (2) temporal trends for ET_ref showed large variation in the upper, middle and lower regions of the basin, most of the significant trends (P?=?0.05) were detected in the middle and lower regions, and, in particular, the upward and downward trends were mainly detected in the middle region and lower region of the basin, respectively; and (3) sensitivity analysis identified the most sensitive variable for ET_ref as relative humidity, followed by air temperature, sunshine hours and wind speed at the basin scale.

Citation Yang, Zhifeng, Liu, Qiang & Cui, Baoshan (2011) Spatial distribution and temporal variation of reference evapotranspiration during 1961–2006 in the Yellow River Basin, China. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(6), 1015–1026.     

Temporal and spatial variation and stability of the oasis in the Sangong River Watershed, Xinjiang, China

The unique ecological landscapes are composed of the mountain systems with the obviousvertical differentiation, vast natural desert systems, and oasis systems on which the human beings rely for the existence in the arid areas in West China. Oases are the …     

Distribution of clay minerals in marine sediments off Chennai,Bay of Bengal,India： Indicators of sediment sources and transport processes

Clay mineralogy, texture size and statistical analyses were carried out on surface sediments from the continental shelf of Chennai, Bay of Bengal, India. The purpose of this study is to characterize the clay mineral distribution and its relation to the hydrodynamics off Chennai to identify the sources and transport pathways of the marine sediments. Characterization of clay minerals in coastal sediments by Fourier Transform Infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy has provided the association of quartz, feldspar, kaolinite, chlorite, illite and iron oxides （magnetite and hematite） derived from river catchments and coastal erosion. Kaolinite, chlorite, illite, iron oxides, and organic matter are the dominant minerals in Cooum, and Adayar region. High quartz and feldspar zones were identified in Marina, which are being confined the sand zone and paralleling the coast. The strong relationships among the wave energy density, sand, quartz and carbonate revealed that wave induced littoral drift system play a dominant role in transportation and deposition of sediments in the Chennai coast. The sediment texture and minerals data are in agreement well with the previous results of hydrodynamics and littoral drift models in this region. Multivariate statistical analyses （correlation, cluster and factor analyses） were carried out and obtained results suggested that clay minerals and organic matter are trapped in silt and clay particles, whereas quartz, feldspar and carbonate are associated with sand particles. Results of sediment sources and transport processes from this study will be useful to predict the fate of the pollutants released from land or the potential change in sediment delivery to coastal areas.     

Quaternary biogenic opal records in the South China Sea: Linkages to East Asian monsoon, global ice volume and orbital forcing

Particulate fluxes investigated in the central South China Sea (SCS) during 1993―1996 indicate that opal flux can be used to show primary productivity change, which provides a foundation for tracing the evolutionary relationship between the surface productivity and East Asian monsoon in the SCS during the late Quaternary glacial and interglacial periods. Based on the studies of opal % and their mass accumulation rates (MAR) at the six sites recovered from the SCS during the “Resolution” ODP Leg 184 and “Sonne” 95 cruise of the Sino-Germany cooperation, opal % and their MARs increased evidently in the northern sites since 470―900 ka, and they enhanced and reduced, respectively, during the glacial and interglacial periods. Whereas they increased obviously in the southern sites since 420―450 ka, and they augmented and declined, respectively, during the interglacial and glacial periods. The vari- ability in opal % and their MARs in the late Quaternary glacial cyclicity indicate the “seesaw” pattern of surface productivity in the SCS. The winter monsoon intensified during the glacial periods, surface productivity increased and decreased, respectively, in the northern and southern SCS. The summer monsoon strengthened during the interglacial periods, surface productivity increased and decreased, respectively, in the southern and northern SCS. The cross spectral analyses between the opal % in the northern and southern SCS during the Quaternary and global ice volume (δ 18O) and orbital forcing (ETP) indicate that the East Asian winter and summer monsoons could be ascribed to the different drive mechanisms. On the orbital time scale, the global ice volume change could be a dominant factor for the winter monsoon intension and temporal variations. As compared with the winter monsoon, the correlative summer solar radiation with the obliquity and precession in the Northern Hemisphere could be a mostly controlling factor for the summer monsoon intension and temporal variations.     

The nutrient forms, cycling and exchange flux in the sediment and overlying water system in lakes from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River

This paper is a review of research works concerning the nutrient transportation, transformation and exchange between water, sediment and biota in the lakes from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River conducted in the context of project entitled "The Processes and Mechanism of Lake Eutrophication in Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River". All the lakes from this area are shallow lakes. According to the typical lake site research, the lakes from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River have a higher baseline of nutrition in the history. Normally the trophic status of these lakes can be categorized into medium-trophic or eutrophic. Human activities have been enhanced during the last decades, which speed up the lake eutrophic process. Lake eutrophication control needs to reduce not only the external nutrient inputs from watershed but also the internal loading from the sediments. Investigations revealed that the lake sediments in this area are considerablly high in nutrition in which at most about 30% of phosphorus exists in the form of bio-available in the sediment. The surface sediment will exert great effects on the nutrient exchange between water-sediment interface via adsorption and release of nutrient. The nutrient release from the sediment in these shallow lakes is mainly in two ways, i.e. in the undisturbed condition the nutrient is released through diffusion created by the nutrient gradient from sediment to overlying water; whereas in disturbed condition, the nutrient release is determined by the hydrodynamic forcing intensity and the sediment resuspension. Metallic elements such as the iron, manganese and aluminium and the aerobic-anaerobic ambience will affect the release of nutrients. The disturbed release will increase the total nutrients in the water column significantly in the short period. At the beginning of sediment resuspension, the dissolved nutrient concentration will increase. This increase will be damped if the ferric oxide and aluminium are rich in sediment because of the adsorption and flocculation. This means that the lakes have capability of eliminating the nutrient loadings. Investigations for the lakes from middle and down stream of Yangtze River have suggested that most lakes have the self-cleaning capability. Dredging the control of the internal loading, therefore, is only applicable to the small lakes or undisturbed bays which normally are situated nearby the city or town and rich in organic materials in the sediment. In addition, the strong reduction condition and weak aeration of these lakes and bays make these small lakes and bays release much more bio-available nutrient and without much self-eliminating capability. Moreover, eutrophication induced algal bloom in these lakes will change the pH of water, which further induces the increase in the nutrient release. In turn, the increase in nutrient release promotes the growth of phytoplankton and results in severe algal bloom. For the heavily polluted water, research suggests that the biomass of bacteria and alkaline phosphatase activity will be higher corresponding to the higher concentration of nutrients, which accelerates the nutrient recycling between water, sediment and biota. Quick recycling of nutrient, in turn, promotes the production and biomass growth of microorganism and leads to more severe eutrophication. Further research work should focus on the nutrient transformation mechanism and the effects of microbial loop on the eutrophication.     

Thorium isotopes （22STh, 230Th, 232Th） and applications in reconstructing the Yangtze and Yellow River floods

In the past decades, the floods of the Yangtze and Yellow River introduced unexpected changes of the ecological community and sedimentary dynamics in the East China Sea （ECS）. To reconstruct the flood events in the ECS, 228Th, 230Th and 232Th have been examined in a sediment core. The specific activities of three thorium isotopes have good positive relations with fine fractions （〈63 μm）, indicating that Th activity concentrations heavily depend upon the sediment grain size. The size-normalized activities of 228Th, 23-Th and 232Th showed significant variations. Coincidences between the higher Th activities and historical floods of the Yangtze and Yellow River demonstrated that size-normalized Th recorded the two rivers＇ flood events. The activity ratios of thorium isotopes, i.e. 230Th/232Th and 228Th/232Th, also showed similar patterns to the historical river floods. In three periods （1740s, 1840-1860s and 1930-1960s）, characterized by frequent floods, the thorium activity ratios were fairly low and close to the Yangtze and Yellow River estuary sediments, coinciding with the less oceanic 228Th and 230Th contributions during the flooding periods. Accordingly, these results support the size-normalized Th activity and thorium ratios as proxies of the river floods in coastal seas.     

Thermal Process in the Crust and Upper Mantle in Xingtai-Shulu area of Hebei Province,China

Study of geothermal field data,terrestrial heat flow values,and other geophysical data from the Xingtai-Shulu area of Hebei Province made us more understanding of the distribution of geothermal fields and deep structures and their interrelation.The study illustrates that the geothermal field has an apparent lateral inhomogeneity and is evidently correlated by the structure of the crust and upper mantle in the area.The relation of the geothermal field distribution to the structure indicates that in comparison with the depression zone,the uplift zone has a higher heat flow value and a larger geothermal gradient.The analysis of the relation between distribution of earthquake epicenters and geothermal field and mathematical simulation of thermal stress in the area suggests that thermal stress plays an important role in the process of earthquake generation.     

Cenozoic Tectonic Deformation and Related Geodynamics in the Western Part of Sichuan and Yunnan,Southwest China

Tectonic deformation of Cenozoic strata,youthful tectonontorphology,and high seismicity in the western part of Sichuan and Yunnan(Southwest China)marked intensive tectonism there during the Ceno7oic.It is a good place for studying the continental geodynamics because it is far away from those active plate boundaries surrounding the East Asian continent but near the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Xizang(Tibet)plateau.The present study discriminated two phases of tectonic deformation with quite different styles in Cenozoic.Early compression deformation,expressed by folds,thrust,and even nappe structure,mainly occurred between the middle and late Eocene.Late extension deformation expressed by block-faulting started at least in the late Pliocene.Nonconformity,absence of strata,nonsuccessive tectonism,and inverse movement of the faults in late stages illustrated that two different deformation phases should be caused by different geodynamic processes.The early compression deformation would be related to Ar     

Geochemical features and genesis of the natural gas and bitumen in paleo-oil reservoirs of Nanpanjiang Basin, China

Bitumen from the Nanpanjiang Basin occurs mainly in the Middle Devonian and Upper Permian reef limestone paleo-oil reservoirs and reserves primarily in holes and fractures and secondarily in minor matrix pores and bio-cavities. N2 is the main component of the natural gas and is often associated with pyrobitumen in paleo-oil reservoirs. The present study shows that the bitumen in paleo-oil reservoirs was sourced from the Middle Devonian argillaceous source rock and belongs to pyrobitumen by crude oil cracking under high temperature and pressure. But the natural gas with high content of N2 is neither an oil-cracked gas nor a coal-formed gas generated from the Upper Permian Longtan Formation source rock, instead it is a kerogen-cracked gas generated at the late stage from the Middle Devonian argilla- ceous source rock. The crude oil in paleo-oil reservoirs completely cracked into pyrobitumen and methane gas by the agency of hugely thick Triassic deposits. After that, the abnormal high pressure of methane gas reservoirs was completely destroyed due to the erosion of 2000--4500-m-thick Triassic strata. But the kerogen-cracked gas with normal pressure was preserved under the relatively sealed condition and became the main body of the gas shows.     

CO_2 flux evaluation over the evergreen coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest in Dinghushan, China

The Dinghushan flux observation site, as one of the four forest sites of ChinaFLUX, aims to acquire long-term measurements of CO2 flux over a typical southern subtropical evergreen coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest ecosystem using the open path eddy covariance method. Based on two years of data from 2003 to 2004, the characteristics of temporal variation in CO2 flux and its response to environmental factors in the forest ecosystem are analyzed. Provided two-dimensional coordinate rotation, WPL correction and quality control, poor energy-balance and underestimation of ecosystem respiration during nighttime implied that there could be a CO2 leak during the nighttime at the site. Using daytime (PAR > 1.0μmol-1·m-2·s-1) flux data during windy conditions (u* > 0.2 m·s-1), monthly ecosystem respiration (Reco) was derived through the Michaelis-Menten equation modeling the relationship between net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Exponential function was employed to describe the relationship between Reco and soil temperature at 5 cm depth (Ts05), then Reco of both daytime and nighttime was calculated respectively by the function. The major results are: (i) Derived from the Michaelis-Menten equation, the apparent quantum yield (α) was 0.0027±0.0011 mgCO2·μmol-1 photons, and the maximum photosynthetic assimilation rate (Amax) was 1.102±0.288 mgCO2·m-2·s-1. Indistinctive seasonal variation of o or Amax was consistent with weak seasonal dynamics of leaf area index (LAI) in such a lower subtropical evergreen mixed forest. (ii) Monthly accumulated Reco was estimated as 95.3±21.1 gC·m-2 mon-1, accounting for about 68% of the gross primary product (GPP). Monthly accumulated NEE was estimated as -43.2±29.6 gC·m-2·mon-1. The forest ecosystem acted as carbon sink all year round without any seasonal carbon efflux period. Annual NEE of 2003 and 2004 was estimated as -563.0 and -441.2 gC·m-2·a-1 respectively, accounting for about 32% of GPP.     

Geochemistry and chronology of the Jiehekou Group metamorphic basic volcanic rocks in the LǖIiang Mountain area,Shanxi, China

Relative to the Wutai Mountain and Heng Mountain areas, the Lliang Mountain area has been poorly documented geologically. In Geology of Shanxi Province[1], the detailed stratigraphic division was conducted in the L黮iang Mountain area. It was considered t…     

Primary migration and secondary alteration of the Upper Paleozoic gas reservoir in Ordos Basin,China — Application of fluid inclusion gases

The composition of fluid inclusions (FI) often represents the initial geochemical characteristics of palaeo-fluid in reservoir rock. Influence on composition and carbon isotopic composition of gas during primary migration, reservoir-forming and subsequent secondary alterations are discussed through comparing fluid inclusion gas with coal-formed gas and natural gas in present gas reservoirs in the Ordos Basin. The results show that primary migration of gas has significant effect on the molecular but not on the carbon isotopic composition of methane. Migration and diffusion fractionation took place during the secondary migration of gas in Upper Paleozoic gas reservoir according to carbon isotopic composition of methane in Fls. Composition and carbon isotopic composition of natural gas were nearly unchanged after the gas reservoir forming through comparing the FI gases with the natural gas in present gas reservoir.