Lithological and geochemical record of mining-induced changes in sediments from Macquarie Harbour,southwest Tasmania,Australia

Macquarie Harbour in southwest Tasmania, Australia, has been affected severely by the establishment of mines in nearby Queenstown in the 1890s. As well as heavy metal-laden acid rock drainage from the Mount Lyell mine area, over 100 Mt of mine tailings and slag were discharged into the Queen and Ring Rivers, with an estimated 10 Mt of mine tailings building a delta of ca. 2.5 km² and ca. 10 Mt of fine tailings in the harbour beyond the delta. Coring of sediments throughout Macquarie Harbour indicated that mine tailings accreted most rapidly close to the King River delta source with a significant reduction in thickness of tailings and heavy metal contamination with increasing distance from the King River source. Close to the King River delta the mine tailings are readily discriminated from the background estuarine sediments on the basis of visual logging of the core (laminations, colour), sediment grain size, sediment magnetic susceptibility and elemental geochemistry, especially concentrations of the heavy metals Cu, Zn and Pb. The high heavy metal concentrations are demonstrated by the very high contamination factors (CF > 6) for Cu and Zn, with CF values mostly >50 for Cu for the mine-impacted sediments. Although the addition of mine waste into the King River catchment has ceased, the catchment continues to be a source of these heavy metals due to acid rock drainage and remobilisation of mine waste in storage in the river banks, river bed and delta. The addition of heavy metals to the harbour sourced from the Mount Lyell mines preceded the advent of direct tailings disposal into the Queen River in 1915 with the metals probably provided by acid rock drainage from the Mount Lyell mining area.     

Types of sedimentary environment in alluvial sediments distinguished on the basis of its chemical constitution: the example of the lower course of the Obra river (Western Poland)

Research concerning chemical constitution of alluvial sediments was done in the lower course of the Obra river (Western Poland). The fragment of vertical profile, which consisted of various alluvial sediments (fine sands, peats, and sandy silts) was chosen for detailed analysis. The main research problem was to determine if lithology and chemical constitution of alluvial deposits are interconnected in a distinct way within studied section of the Obra river valley, and, if changes of chemical elements’ concentration could be used to illustrate depositional processes, which take place in riverbed and floodplain. Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, and K were determined in collected sediment samples. Next, geochemical groups of alluvial sediments were distinguished using cluster analysis. Investigated changes of chemical elements’ concentration show that there is a distinct border between the environment of organic sediments, which marks the place of former functioning of the Obra riverbed, and sandy silts, which were deposited within floodplain during floods. Besides, floodplain sediments, riverbed sediments, and reductive environment within peat deposits were singled out on the basis of the analysis.     

Chemical composition of precipitation at Mt. Vesuvius and Vulcano Island,Italy: volcanological and environmental implications

Natural precipitation and water samples from passive devices were collected at Mt. Vesuvius and Vulcano Island, Italy, during the period 2004–2006, in order to investigate its possible interactions with fumarolic gases. Evidence of chemical reactions between fumarolic fluids and rain samples before and after its deposition into the sampling devices was found at Vulcano Island. Very low pH values (down to 2.5) and significant amounts of chlorine and sulfate (up to 22 mEq/l) were measured at sampling points located close to the fumarolic field. In contrast, anthropogenic contributions and/or dissolution of aerosols (both maritime and continental) influence the chemistry of rainwaters at Mt. Vesuvius, which show inter-annual variations that are highly consistent with those recorded at the coastal site at Vulcano Island. Chemistry of waters directly exposed to fumarolic fluids may then give useful information about its temporal evolution, holding the signal of the “maximum” chemical event occurred in the meanwhile. In addition, the observation of the health status of vegetation colonizing the immediate surroundings of the fumarolic fields, due to its strong dependence on the interactions with these fluids, may work as a possible biomarker of volcanic activity.     

Geochemistry of core sediments from Mullipallam creek,South East coast of India

The Mullipallam creek in Muthupet mangroves region is the only E-W trending coastal strip in the SE coast of India and is very important, as the mangrove acts as a barrier to natural diasters. Natural, anthropogenic signals and accumulation of elements were made by collecting sediment samples at various depths in a core. All sediments were analyzed for carbonates (CaCO₃), organic carbon (OC), major (Si, Al, Fe, Na, K, Ca, Mg, P), and trace (Mn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn). Normalization with Al values has been done for all the major and trace elements and enrichment factors have been calculated. The calculated enrichment factors and comparison indicate that the trace metals (especially Pb) are enriched mainly due to the external (anthropogenic) activities in the land as well as in the coastal zone (Palk Strait).     

Effects of natural and calcined oyster shells on Cd and Pb immobilization in contaminated soils

In Korea, soils adjacent to abandoned mines are commonly contaminated by heavy metals present in mine tailings. Further, the disposal of oyster shell waste by oyster farm industries has been associated with serious environmental problems. In this study, we attempted to remediate cadmium (Cd)- and lead (Pb)-contaminated soils typical of those commonly found adjacent to abandoned mines using oyster shell waste as a soil stabilizer. Natural oyster shell powder (NOSP) and calcined oyster shell powder (COSP) were applied as soil amendments to immobilize Cd and Pb. The primary components of NOSP and COSP are calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) and calcium oxide (CaO), respectively. X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscope analyses conducted in this study revealed that the calcination of NOSP at 770°C converted the less reactive CaCO₃ to the more reactive CaO. The calcination process also decreased the sodium content in COSP, indicating that it was advantageous to use COSP as a liming material in agricultural soil. After 30 days of incubation, we found that the 0.1 N HCl-extractable Cd and Pb contents in soil decreased significantly as a result of an increase in the soil pH and the formation of metal hydroxides. COSP was more effective in immobilizing Cd and Pb in the contaminated soil than NOSP. Overall, the results of this study suggest that oyster shell waste can be recycled into an effective soil ameliorant.     

Assessment of the potential for bank filtration in a water-stressed megacity (Delhi,India)

In the densely populated semi-arid territory around Delhi, the water demand is rising continuously, while the surface- and groundwater resources are threatened by contamination and overexploitation. This is a typical scenario in many newly industrialising and developing countries, where new approaches for a responsible resources management have to be found. Bank filtration holds a great potential, thus being a low tech method and benefiting from the storage and contaminant attenuation capacity of the natural soil/rock. For this study, three field sites have been constructed to investigate bank filtration in different environments in and around the megacity with a main focus on inorganic contaminants. Hydraulic heads, temperature gradients and hydrochemistry of surface water and groundwater were analysed in three different seasons. Depending on site-specific conditions, distinct hydrogeological conditions were observed and both positive and negative effects on water quality were identified. Most concerning issues are the impact of anthropogenic ammonia, the mixing with ambient saline groundwater and the mobilisation of arsenic during the reductive dissolution of manganese- and iron-(hydr)oxides. Positive aspects are the dilution of contaminants during the mixing of waters from different sources, the sorption of arsenic, denitrification, and the precipitation of fluoride under favourable conditions.     

Is the dinoflagellate Takayama xiamenensis a synonym of Takayama acrotrocha (Kareniaceae,Dinophyceae)?

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - The naked dinoflagellate Takayama acrotrocha was identified as responsible for a bloom in Shenzhen Bay, Guangdong, China, in early spring 2021. The...     

Decadal glacial lake changes in the Koshi basin,central Himalaya,from 1977 to 2010, derived from Landsat satellite images

Changes in glacial lakes and the consequences of these changes, particularly on the development of water resources and management of glacial lake outburst flood(GLOF) risk, has become one of the challenges in the sustainable development of high mountain areas in the context of global warming. This paper presents the findings of a study on the distribution of, and area changes in, glacial lakes in the Koshi basin in the central Himalayas.Data on the number of glacial lakes and their area was generated for the years 1977, 1990, 2000, and 2010 using Landsat satellite images. According to the glacial lake inventory in 2010, there were a total of 2168 glacial lakes with a total area of 127.61 km~2 and average size of 0.06 km~2 in the Koshi basin. Of these,47% were moraine dammed lakes, 34.8% bedrock dammed lakes and 17.7% ice dammed lakes. The number of glacial lakes increased consistently over the study period from 1160 in 1977 to 2168 in 2010, an overall growth rate of 86.9%. The area of glacial lakes also increased from 94.44 km~2 in 1977 to 127.61 km~2 in 2010, a growth rate of 35.1%. A large number of glacial lakes in the inventory are small in size(≤ 0.1km~2). End moraine dammed lakes with area greater than 0.1 km~2 were selected to analyze the change characteristics of glacial lakes in the basin. The results show that, in 2010, there were 129 lakes greater than 0.1 km~2 in area; these lakes had a total area of 42.92km~2 in 1997, increasing to 63.28 km~2 in 2010. The distribution of lakes on the north side of the Himalayas(in China) was three times higher than on the south side of the Himalayas(in Nepal).Comparing the mean growth rate in area for the 33 year study period(1977-2010), the growth rate on the north side was found to be a little slower than that on the south side. A total of 42 glacial lakes with an area greater than 0.2 km~2 are rapidly growing between 1977 and 2010 in the Koshi basin, which need to be paid more attention to monitoring in the future and to identify how critical they are in terms of GLOF.     

Ternary forecast of heavy snowfall in the Honam area,Korea

The objective of this study is to improve the statistical modeling for the ternary forecast of heavy snowfall in the Honam area in Korea. The ternary forecast of heavy snowfall consists of one of three values, 0 for less than 50 mm, 1 for an advisory (50–150 mm), and 2 for a warning (more than 150 mm). For our study, the observed daily snow amounts and the numerical model outputs for 45 synoptic factors at 17 stations in the Honam area during 5 years (2001 to 2005) are used as observations and potential pre...