Magnetically Separable Water Treatment Technologies and their Role in Future Advanced Water Treatment: A Patent Review

Magnetic separation has been recognized as an important property for the simple deployment of micro and sub‐microparticles into solution in the field of water treatment. Many materials with desirable properties for water decontamination are hindered due to the difficulty inherent in removing them from solution post‐treatment. By securing these materials to magnetic compounds, this important issue can be solved as removing active materials from wastewater requires only the application of a magnetic field. This review article presents and discusses many recent technologies, in the form of patents, which exploit the property of magnetic separation for advanced water treatment, including methods of adsorbing pollutants from wastewater and magnetically separating them, as well as methods of deploying active materials for the degradation of contaminants, then magnetically retrieving these catalysts. The requirement for advanced wastewater treatment methods becomes more essential as new, persistent contaminants arise as a result of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and industrial processes which cannot be addressed by traditional water treatment procedures. Magnetic separation promises to be a critical factor in these advanced methods, allowing the safe deployment of active materials which would otherwise be unusable, opening the gate to more efficient, economic and environmentally friendly water purification.     

Can GPS-Derived Surface Loading Bridge a GRACE Mission Gap?

We investigated two ‘gap-filler’ methods based on GPS-derived low-degree surface loading variations (GPS-I and GPS-C) and a more simple method (REF-S) which extends a seasonal harmonic variation into the expected Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission gap. We simulated two mission gaps in a reference solution (REF), which is derived from a joint inversion of GRACE (RL05) data, GPS-derived surface loading and simulated ocean bottom pressure. The GPS-I and GPS-C methods both have a new type of constraint applied to mitigate the lack of GPS station network coverage over the ocean. To obtain the GPS-C solution, the GPS-I method is adjusted such that it fits the reference solution better in a 1.5 year overlapping period outside of the gap. As can be expected, the GPS-I and GPS-C solutions contain larger errors compared to the reference solution, which is heavily constrained by GRACE. Within the simulated gaps, the GPS-C solution generally fits the reference solution better compared to the GPS-I method, both in terms of spherical harmonic loading coefficients and in terms of selected basin-averaged hydrological mass variations. Depending on the basin, the RMS-error of the water storage variations (scaled for leakage effects) ranges between 1.6 cm (Yukon) and 15.3 cm (Orinoco). In terms of noise level, the seasonal gap-filler method (REF-S) even outperforms the GPS-I and GPS-C methods, which are still affected by spatial aliasing problems. However, it must be noted that the REF-S method cannot be used beyond the study of simple harmonic seasonal variations.     

Assessing Risks of Shallow Riparian Groundwater Quality Near an Oil Sands Tailings Pond

The potential discharge of groundwater contaminated by oil sands process‐affected water (OSPW) is a concern for aquatic ecosystems near tailings ponds. Groundwater in the area, but unaffected by OSPW, may contain similar compounds, complicating the assessment of potential ecological impacts. In this study, 177 shallow groundwater samples were collected from riparian areas along the Athabasca River and tributaries proximate to oil sands developments. For “pond‐site” samples (71; adjacent to study tailings pond), Canadian aquatic life guidelines were exceeded for 11 of 20 assessed compounds. However, “non‐pond” samples (54; not near any tailings pond) provided similar exceedances. Statistical analyses indicate that pond‐site and non‐pond samples were indistinguishable for all but seven parameters assessed, including salts, many trace metals, and fluorescence profiles of aromatic naphthenic acids (ANA). This suggests that, regarding the tested parameters, groundwater adjacent to the study tailings pond generally poses no greater ecological risk than other nearby groundwaters at this time. Multivariate analyses applied to the groundwater data set separated into 11 smaller zones support this conclusion, but show some variation between zones. Geological and potential OSPW influences could not be distinguished based on major ions and metals concentrations. However, similarities in indicator parameters, namely ANA, F, Mo, Se, and Na‐Cl ratio, were noted between a small subset of samples from two pond‐site zones and two OSPW samples and two shallow groundwater samples documented as likely OSPW affected. This indicator‐based screening suggests that OSPW‐affected groundwater may be reaching Athabasca River sediments at a few locations.     

Discussion of the Möller radiation chart

Summary M?ller's assumptions for the carbon dioxide-water vapor overlap region, which lead to the construction of his radiation chart, are reinvestigated in the light of modern theory. A new radiation chart, taking into account the carbon dioxide-water vapor overlap, is constructed using water vapor and carbon dioxide absorption data as furnished byM?ller andElsasser respectively. The results of the radiative fluxes computed from the new chart are compared with equivalent results using the original M?ller and the revised Elsasser radiation diagrams, as well as with measurements.

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Zusammenfassung Die Berechtigung derM?llerschen Annahme zur getrennten Behandlung von Kohlens?ure- und Wasserdampfabsorption zwecks Konstruktion eines atmosph?rischen Strahlungsdiagrammes wird im Lichte der modernen Theorie diskutiert. Ein neues Strahlungspapier wird vorgelegt, das die gleichzeitige Anwesenheit von Kohlens?ure und Wasserdampf im gleichen Spektralbereich berücksichtigt. Dieses beruht auf Wasserdampf- und Kohlens?uredaten, die vonM?ller undElsasser vorgegeben wurden. Nach dem neuen Strahlungsdiagramm berechnete Werte werden mit Me?werten und theoretischen Werten verglichen, die mit dem ursprünglichen M?llerschen und mit dem verbesserten Elsasserschen Strahlungspapier ermittelt wurden.

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Résumé Au vu des théories modernes, on discute l'hypothèse formulée parM?ller et sa justification, hypothèse selon laquelle il est nécessaire de traiter séparément l'absorption du dioxyde de carbone et celle de la vapeur d'eau lors de l'établissement d'un diagramme du rayonnement atmosphérique. On propose alors un nouvel abaque qui tient compte de la présence simultanée du dioxyde de carbone et de la vapeur d'eau dans la même région spectrale. Cet abaque s'appuie sur les valeurs données parM?ller et parElsasser, valeurs valables pour ces deux gaz. On compare le résultat de calculs effectués avec ce nouvel abaque à des mesures et à des valeurs théoriques ces dernières étant basées tant sur les travaux originaux deM?ller que sur l'abaque amélioré deElsasser.

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With 4 Figures     

Submarine hydrothermal activity and gold-rich mineralization at Brothers Volcano, Kermadec Arc, New Zealand

Brothers volcano, of the Kermadec intraoceanic arc, is host to a hydrothermal system unique among seafloor hydrothermal systems known anywhere in the world. It has two distinct vent fields, known as the NW Caldera and Cone sites, whose geology, permeability, vent fluid compositions, mineralogy, and ore-forming conditions are in stark contrast to each other. The NW Caldera site strikes for ??600?m in a SW?CNE direction with chimneys occurring over a ??145-m depth interval, between ??1,690 and 1,545?m. At least 100 dead and active sulfide chimney spires occur in this field and are typically 2?C3?m in height, with some reaching 6?C7?m. Their ages (at time of sampling) fall broadly into three groups: <4, 23, and 35?years old. The chimneys typically occur near the base of individual fault-controlled benches on the caldera wall, striking in lines orthogonal to the slopes. Rarer are massive sulfide crusts 2?C3?m thick. Two main types of chimney predominate: Cu-rich (up to 28.5?wt.% Cu) and, more commonly, Zn-rich (up to 43.8?wt.% Zn). Geochemical results show that Mo, Bi, Co, Se, Sn, and Au (up to 91?ppm) are correlated with the Cu mineralization, whereas Cd, Hg, Sb, Ag, and As are associated with the dominant Zn-rich mineralization. The Cone site comprises the Upper Cone site atop the summit of the recent (main) dacite cone and the Lower Cone site that straddles the summit of an older, smaller, more degraded dacite cone on the NE flank of the main cone. Huge volumes of diffuse venting are seen at the Lower Cone site, in contrast to venting at both the Upper Cone and NW Caldera sites. Individual vents are marked by low-relief (??0.5?m) mounds comprising predominately native sulfur with bacterial mats. Vent fluids of the NW Caldera field are focused, hot (??300°C), acidic (pH????2.8), metal-rich, and gas-poor. Calculated end-member fluids from NW Caldera vents indicate that phase separation has occurred, with Cl values ranging from 93% to 137% of seawater values. By contrast, vent fluids at the Cone site are diffuse, noticeably cooler (??122°C), more acidic (pH?1.9), metal-poor, and gas-rich. Higher-than-seawater values of SO₄ and Mg in the Cone vent fluids show that these ions are being added to the hydrothermal fluid and are not being depleted via normal water/rock interactions. Iron oxide crusts 3?years in age cover the main cone summit and appear to have formed from Fe-rich brines. Evidence for magmatic contributions to the hydrothermal system at Brothers includes: high concentrations of dissolved CO₂ (e.g., 206?mM/kg at the Cone site); high CO₂/³He; negative ??D and ??¹⁸O_H2O for vent fluids; negative ??³⁴S for sulfides (to ?4.6??), sulfur (to ?10.2??), and ??¹⁵N₂ (to ?3.5??); vent fluid pH values to 1.9; and mineral assemblages common to high-sulfidation systems. Changing physicochemical conditions at the Brothers hydrothermal system, and especially the Cone site, occur over periods of months to hundreds of years, as shown by interlayered Cu?+?Au- and Zn-rich zones in chimneys, variable fluid and isotopic compositions, similar shifts in ³He/⁴He values for both Cone and NW Caldera sites, and overprinting of ??magmatic?? mineral assemblages by water/rock-dominated assemblages. Metals, especially Cu and possibly Au, may be entering the hydrothermal system via the dissolution of metal-rich glasses. They are then transported rapidly up into the system via magmatic volatiles utilizing vertical (??2.5?km long), narrow (??300-m diameter) ??pipes,?? consistent with evidence of vent fluids forming at relatively shallow depths. The NW Caldera and Cone sites are considered to represent stages along a continuum between water/rock- and magmatic/hydrothermal-dominated end-members.     

The thermal boundary-layer interpretation of D″ and its role as a plume source

The “anomalous” layer in the lowermost mantle, identified as D″ in the notation of K.E. Bullen, appears in the PREM Earth model as a 150 km-thick zone in which the gradient of incompressibility with pressure, $\text{d}\text{K}\text{d}\text{P}$, is almost 1.6, instead of 3.2 as in the overlying mantle. Since PREM shows no accompanying change in density or density gradient, we identify D″ as a thermal boundary layer and not as a chemically distinct zone. The anomaly in $\text{d}\text{K}\text{d}\text{P}$ is related to the temperature gradient by the temperature dependence of K_s, for which we present a thermodynamic identity in terms of accessible quantities. This gives the numerical result (?K_s/?T)_P=?1.6×10⁷ Pa K^?1 for D″ material. The corresponding temperature increment over the D″ range is 840 K. Such a layer cannot be a static feature, but must be maintained by a downward motion of the lower mantle toward the core-mantle boundary with a strong horizontal flow near the base of D″. Assuming a core heat flux of 1.6 × 10¹² W, the downward speed is 0.07 mm y^?1 and the temperature profile in D″, scaled to match PREM data, is approximately exponential with a scale height of 73 km. The inferred thermal conductivity is 1.2 W m^?1 K^?1. Using these values we develop a new analytical model of D″ which is dynamically and thermally consistent. In this model, the lower-mantle material is heated and softened as it moves down into D″ where the strong temperature dependence of viscosity concentrates the horizontal flow in a layer ～ 12 km thick and similarly ensures its removal via narrow plumes.     

藏南沉错钻孔硅藻组合与湖水古盐度定量恢复

通过藏南沉错钻孔化石硅藻组合研究, 应用青藏高原硅藻-湖水电导率转换函数, 对沉错最近300年来湖泊古盐度进行了定量恢复. 推导的电导率变化与近代湖泊水位变化记录有明显的负相关关系, 表明沉错湖水盐度可以反映大气有效湿度的变化. 古盐度的重建揭示了几次重要水文事件: 小冰期最后一次冷期(约1845~1885AD), 湖水明显淡化, 反映了冷湿气候组合特点; 20世纪60年代以来, 湖水盐度呈急剧增高趋势, 也是近300年来盐度最高、增加幅度最大时期, 湖水的咸化反映的有效湿度降低与近几十年来温度的不断上升而导致的蒸发量的增加有关.     

Multiple mantle sources during island arc magmatism: U–Pb and Hf isotopic evidence from the Kohistan arc complex, Pakistan

ABSTRACT This paper presents high-precision U–Pb ages and initial Hf isotopic compositions of zircon from mafic to felsic rocks of the Kohistan Arc Complex, Pakistan. Three magmatic pulses tapping geochemically different reservoirs are distinguished. Partial melting of mantle with MORB-type isotopic characteristics generated 99–92-Ma-old magmas. Plutonism around 85 Ma tapped a more fertile mantle source, most likely consisting of a >600-Ma-old metasomatically enriched mantle, or of mantle contaminated by an old sedimentary component; 82-Ma-old felsic peraluminous dykes have MORB-type isotopic compositions considered to be inherited from remelting earlier magmas in the deep base of the arc. The isotopic results demonstrate several and rather rapid changes in melt source region during arc development. They also show that there was subordinate continental influence and negligible importance of slab components for the Hf budget during the generation of the Kohistan Arc Complex.