Fate and transport of pollutants through a municipal solid waste landfill leachate in Sri Lanka

This study focuses on the characterization of leachate generated from Gohagoda dumpsite in Kandy, Sri Lanka, assessment of its spatial and temporal variations, and identification of subsurface canals and perched water bodies in the wetland system affected by the leachate flow. Leachate samples were collected monthly throughout dry and rainy seasons from different points of the leachate drainage channel over a period of 1 year and they were tested for quality parameters: pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved soils, alkalinity, hardness, total solids, volatile solids, total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand, nitrate-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen, phosphates, ammonium-nitrogen, chloride, dissolved organic carbon, total organic carbon and heavy metals. Sequential soil extraction procedures were performed for the characterization of leachate-affected local soil. A geophysical survey using direct current resistivity technique was conducted at locations downstream of the dumpsite. Leachate characteristics indicated that the leachate is in the methanogenic phase and the results strongly suggest that the leachate may be polluting the river where the leachate is discharged directly. Leachate exceeds the allowable limits of Sri Lankan wastewater discharge standards for many of the parameters. Significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed for most of organic and inorganic parameters among all sampling locations. Many parameters showed a negative correlation with pH. The affected soils showed high heavy metal concentrations. Resistivity study confirmed a confined leachate flow at the near surface with few subsurface canals. However, no separate subsurface plume movement was observed. The results of this research can effectively be used for the establishment of an efficient and effective treatment method for the Gohagoda landfill leachate.     

Melt/biotite B/B isotopic fractionation and the boron local environment in the structure of volcanic glasses

This paper is focused on the role of boron coordination in determining the ¹¹B/¹⁰B isotopic fractionation between melt/glass and biotite at magmatic temperatures. For this purpose, three evolved volcanic rocks from Roccastrada, Mt. Amiata, and Mt. Cimini belonging to the Neogene-Quaternary magmatism of central Italy were studied. In these samples, the measured boron biotite-glass partition coefficient ranges between 0.004 and 0.011, indicating that boron behaves as an incompatible element during biotite crystallization. The ¹¹B magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra reveal the presence of trigonal BO_3/2 units, tetrahedral BO_4/2⁻ sites, and three-coordinated BO_2/2O⁻ species containing one nonbridging oxygen. The relative contributions of these different boron sites were estimated by spectral deconvolution, and it was observed that the fraction of trigonally coordinated boron decreases with increasing K₂O concentration in the glass. The ¹¹B/¹⁰B isotopic fractionation between biotite and melt/glass was observed to be large even at magmatic temperatures and was found to be 1.0066 (Roccastrada sample), 1.00535 (Mt. Amiata sample), and 1.00279 (Mt. Cimini sample). Fractionation is mostly related to the relative amount of trigonal and tetrahedral boron sites in the glass network rather than to other processes, including the speciation of hydrous species in the glass structure. The measured α values are significantly higher than the calculated ones obtained using the reduced partition function ratios (RPFRs) for B(OH)₃ and B(OH)₄⁻ as reported by Kakihana et al. (1977) and the abundance of trigonal and tetrahedral boron obtained by ¹¹B NMR spectra. Furthermore, a nonlinear relationship is observed between the percentage of BO₄ in the glass structure and the measured 1000lnα, suggesting that the approximation of monomeric B(OH)₃ and B(OH)₄⁻ species contributions through ideal mixing in calculating the RPFRs in polyanions (Oi et al., 1989) probably does not apply to silicate glasses.The large B isotopic fractionation measured between glass and biotite and its dependence on the boron coordination in the glass are a limitation to the use of δ¹¹B in the mineral to characterize magmas. Nonetheless, the high incompatible behavior of boron in the most common magmatic minerals rules out that fractional crystallization significantly modified the B isotopic composition of the melt.     

δ 11B as tracer of slab dehydration and mantle evolution in Western Anatolia Cenozoic Magmatism

Boron isotope data are presented for Cenozoic Western Anatolia rocks, which define two main associations: (i) calc-alkaline, shoshonitic and ultra-potassic rocks (Early to Middle Miocene); and (ii) Late Miocene–Quaternary intraplate alkali basalts. Boron data, together with Sr–Nd isotope and other trace elements, are consistent with a progressive dehydration of the slab, producing fluid phases gradually depleted in B (and ¹¹B). These fluids were added to the supraslab mantle, triggering a partial melting that gave rise to orogenic magmatism. The stretching and tearing of the slab caused by the faster convergence of Greece over Africa with respect to Anatolia facilitated an interaction of the upwelling subslab asthenosphere with residual slab-fluids during the Late Miocene followed by production of typical intraplate magmas during the Pleistocene–Holocene, whose relatively high δ¹¹B (approximately −2‰) is considered representative of the local asthenosphere not affected by subduction contamination.     

Eocene age of eclogite metamorphism in Pakistan Himalaya: implications for India-Eurasia collision

A geochronological investigation of two rocks with an eclogitic assemblage (omphacite-garnet-quartz-rutile) from the High Himalaya using the Sm/Nd, Rb/Sr, U/Pb and Ar/Ar methods is presented here. The first three methods outline a cooling history from the time of peak metamorphism at 49±6 Ma recorded by Sm/Nd in garnet-clinopyroxene to the closure of Rb/Sr in phengite at 43±1 Ma and U/Pb in rutile at 39–40 Ma. The Sm/Nd isotopic system was fully equilibrated during eclogitization and has not been disturbed since; its mineral ages may date the peak metamorphic conditions (650±50°C at 13–18 kbar: Pognante and Spencer, 1991). The Ar/Ar data reveal the presence of substantial amounts of excess ⁴⁰Ar in hornblende, and yield a statistically acceptable but geologically meaningless phengite plateau age of 81.4±0.2 Ma, inconsistent with Sm/Nd, Rb/Sr and U/Pb. This questions the use of such a chronometer for the dating of high-pressure assemblages. The results imply a Late Palaeocene or Early Eocene subduction of the northern Indian plate margin in NW Himalaya. The fact that eclogites are restricted to NW Himalaya may be the result of a peculiar p-T-t path associated with a high convergence rate during the first indentation, in contrast to the later and slow subduction in Central and Eastern Himalaya.     

Palaeomagnetic and geochronological results from the Cambro-Ordovician Granite Harbour Intrusives inland of Terra Nova Bay (Victoria Land, Antarctica)

Palaeomagnetic investigations and Rb–Sr dating were carried out on samples from two plutons from the Granite Harbour Intrusives of the Transantarctic Mountains inland of Terra Nova Bay. The Rb–Sr whole rock–biotite ages from Teall Nunatak (475±4, 483±4 Ma), a quartz-diorite pluton cropping out to the south of Priestley Glacier, are older than that from the Mount Keinath monzogranite (450±4 Ma), which is located to the north of the glacier. These results are consistent with the literature data, which suggest that during the last phases of the Ross Orogeny the cooling rate of the basement was significantly lower to the north than to the south of Priestley Glacier. The Teall Nunatak quartz-diorite is characterized by a stable magnetization, whose blocking-temperature spectrum ranges from 530 to 570 °C. At one site, the stable magnetization is screened by a large secondary component of opposite polarity, removed by thermal demagnetization below 300 °C. The characteristic directions after thermal demagnetization yielded a southern pole located at lat. 11°S, long. 21°E. The magnetization of Mount Keinath monzogranite consists of several components with overlapping stability spectra. A characteristic direction was isolated at one site only, obtained by demagnetizing the specimens in the temperature range from 380 to 460 °C.
  Comparison with the other East Antarctica poles shows that those from Victoria Land are very well grouped and give a reliable early Ordovician palaeopole (lat. 5°S, long. 23°E, with K =196 and A ₉₅=3.7°), whereas the poles from Wilkes, Enderby and Dronning Maud Land are dispersed. We tentatively advance the hypothesis that the dispersion reflects different magnetization ages due to the slow cooling of these regions during the last stages of the Ross Orogeny.     

Sulfur Determination in Geological Samples Based on Coupled Analytical Techniques: Electric Furnace-IC and TGA-EGA

A study has been undertaken to determine sulfur in geological samples by coupled analytical techniques. Two measurement methods have been developed: one using an electric furnace coupled to an ion chromatograph (electric furnace-IC) and another using infrared (IR) and quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) for evolved gas analysis (EGA) coupled with a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). In the electric furnace-IC method, measurement was performed without any sample pre-treatment. The measurement conditions were optimised by varying sample quantity, type of catalyst (WO₃, Cu, W and V₂O₅) and sample/catalyst ratio, and the detection limit was 10 μg g⁻¹. Sulfur ores decompose at different temperatures. However, TGA-EGA allowed identification of the different forms of sulfur in the sample, even when they were found in very low concentrations, because the sulfur was continuously analysed. The developed chromatographic method allowed simultaneous analysis of several sample components, such as S, Cl and F, with a low detection limit. The method was much faster and more specific than the methods described in the literature. The results of the sulfur determination had low scatter, possibly because the samples underwent little handling during analysis: the operator only weighed and placed the sample in the furnace, the rest of the measurement process was fully automated. The results obtained by both the developed methods have been validated by using reference materials and comparison with combustion-IR spectroscopy, a standard method for determining total sulfur in a sample.     

A seasonal study of the atmospheric dynamics over the Iberian Peninsula based on circulation types

A seasonal analysis of the atmospheric circulation over the Iberian Peninsula (IP) based on circulation types (CTs) obtained from sea level pressure and 500-hPa geopotential height is presented. The study covers the period of 1958–2008, when a high variability and important changes in winter and spring precipitation and temperature have been reported. Frequency, persistence, and the most probable transitions of the circulation types are analyzed. Among the clustering methods available in the literature, two of the most reliable classification methods have been tested, K-means and simulated annealing and diversified randomization. A comparison of both methods over the IP is presented for winter (DJF). The quality of the circulation types obtained through both methods as well as the better stability achieved by K-means suggest this method as more appropriated for our target area. Twelve CTs were obtained for each season and were analyzed. The patterns obtained were regrouped in five general situations: anticyclonic, cyclonic, zonal, summertime, and hybrid-mixed. The analysis of frequencies of these situations offers a similar characterization of the atmospheric circulation that others previously obtained by subjective methods. The analysis of the trends in frequency and persistence for each CT shows few significant trends, mainly in winter and spring with a general decrease of the cyclonic patterns and an increase of the anticyclonic situations. This can be related to the negative precipitation trends reported by other authors. Regarding the persistence, an interesting result is that there is a high interannual variability of the persistence in autumn and spring, when patterns can persist longer than in other seasons. An analysis of the most probable transitions between the CTs has been performed, revealing the existence of cyclic sequences in all seasons. These sequences are related to the high frequency of certain patterns such as the anticyclonic situations in winter. Finally, a clear seasonal dependence of the transitions between cyclonic situations associated with extratropical disturbances was found. This dependence suggests that the transitions of low-pressure systems towards the south of the IP are more likely in spring and autumn than in winter.