Modern and late Quaternary clay mineral distribution in the area of the SE Mediterranean Sea

The present-day clay mineral distribution in the southeastern Levantine Sea and its borderlands reveals a complex pattern of different sources and distribution paths. Smectite dominates the suspended load of the Nile River and of rivers in the Near East. Illite sources are dust-bearing winds from the Sahara and southwestern Europe. Kaolinite is prevalent in rivers of the Sinai, in Egyptian wadis, and in Saharan dust. A high-resolution sediment core from the southeastern Levantine Sea spanning the last 27 ka shows that all these sources contributed during the late Quaternary and that the Nile River played a very important role in the supply of clay. Nile influence was reduced during the glacial period but was higher during the African Humid Period. In contrast to the sharp beginning and end of the African Humid Period recorded in West African records (15 and 5.5 ka), our data show a more transitional pattern and slightly lower Nile River discharge rates not starting until 4 ka. The similarity of the smectite concentrations with fluctuations in sea-surface temperatures of the tropical western Indian Ocean indicates a close relationship between the Indian Ocean climate system and the discharge of the Nile River.     

Contamination risk and drinking water protection for a large-scale managed aquifer recharge site in a semi-arid karst region,Jordan

Karst aquifers in semi-arid regions are particularly threatened by surface contamination, especially during winter seasons when extremely variable rainfall of high intensities prevails. An additional challenge is posed when managed recharge of storm water is applied, since karst aquifers display a high spatial variability of hydraulic properties. In these cases, adapted protection concepts are required to address the interaction of surface water and groundwater. In this study a combined protection approach for the surface catchment of the managed aquifer recharge site at the Wala reservoir in Jordan and the downstream Hidan wellfield, which are both subject to frequent bacteriological contamination, is developed. The variability of groundwater quality was evaluated by correlating contamination events to rainfall, and to recharge from the reservoir. Both trigger increased wadi flow downstream of the reservoir by surface runoff generation and groundwater seepage, respectively. A tracer test verified the major pathway of the surface flow into the underground by infiltrating from pools along Wadi Wala. An intrinsic karst vulnerability and risk map was adapted to the regional characteristics and developed to account for the catchment separation by the Wala Dam and the interaction of surface water and groundwater. Implementation of the proposed protection zones for the wellfield and the reservoir is highly recommended, since the results suggest an extreme contamination risk resulting from livestock farming, arable agriculture and human occupation along the wadi. The applied methods can be transferred to other managed aquifer recharge sites in similar karstic environments of semi-arid regions.     

A framework for karst ecohydrology

Ecohydrology can be defined as the science of integrating hydrological and biological processes over varied spatial and temporal scales. There exists in karst a strong and direct interaction between the circulation and storage of groundwater and surface water. These fluxes in turn affect the spatial distribution of organisms in these habitats. Because of the fact that the appearance, storage and circulation of water in karstified areas is significantly different from other more homogenous and isotropic terrains, karst ecohydrology should develop original methods and approaches. At the same time, traditional approaches are also very useful. Large karst underground geomorphological patterns occur in many sizes and varieties, ranging from a few meters long or deep to very large, the deepest being deeper than 1 km and longer than hundreds of kilometres. In this article, special attention is paid to ecohydrological functions of karst underground features (caves, pits, conduits, etc.), which play a crucial dual role in (1) hydrology and hydrogeology of water circulation and storage and (2) ecology of many rare and endangered species. Differences in morphology, hydrology, hydrogeology and climate have resulted in a range of different environments, which provide the opportunity for the coexistence of different species. The role of the epikarst and vadose zones, as well as caves in ecohydrological processes, is discussed. The importance of the flood factor in karst ecology is analysed. The aim of this article is to move forward the discussion among different disciplines to promote and develop a conceptual framework for karst ecohydrology.     

Similarities and differences in hydrous pyrolysis of biomass and source rocks

In laboratory simulation of oil generation, products from closed systems pyrolysis of immature source rocks in the presence of water gives the closest match to petroleum compositions observed in nature. Fresh biomass can also be converted to fluids by pyrolysis, but in the absence of the sedimentary diagenetic transformations, the initially much higher oxygen content gives high yields of oxygen containing products. In this work, the reactions that occur during hydrous pyrolysis of a Kimmeridge source rock, a brown coal and two polymeric waste materials from alginate production are compared in terms of quantities of the main products and kinetic models of the reaction systems. The biomass pyrolysis and the simulated maturation are described in similar reaction networks. Conversion of biomass to fluids occurred with reaction networks and activation energy distributions comparable to the brown coal, while for the Kimmeridge source rock reactions a simpler reaction network could be used. The biomass samples gave a high degree of conversion to fluid products, and higher yields of bitumen than the coal.     

Effects of base catalysis on the product distribution from pyrolysis of woody biomass in the presence of water

Previous work has shown that woody biomass can generate oil-like products during hydrous pyrolysis. However, the yield of extractable organic matter is rather small, and the proportion of coke is high. In order to increase the oil yield and decrease the coke generation, experiments with added base catalysts have been made. NaOH was chosen as the catalyst. Experimental design is used to investigate the effects of variable experimental conditions during pyrolysis. The results are compared with similar experiments without a catalyst, and show a general decrease in coke formation and increase in the extractable organic matter with a dominance of polar compounds. The variable with the largest effect on yields is the amount of water, while pyrolysis temperature and the amount of starting material have minor effects.     

Mobility of heavy metals in harbour sediments: an environmental aspect for the reuse of contaminated dredged sediments

Different methods to determine the source strength of two harbour sediment fractions were applied and are discussed with a focus on As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Four different batch experiments were performed with both the sandy and the silty fractions of harbour sediments sampled at the disposal site for dredged material in Bremen Seehausen, north Germany. In addition to the batch experiments a modified centrifugation tube was used in order to obtain pore water from the unsaturated silty fraction. Column experiments were run with the sandy fraction of the material under saturated and unsaturated conditions, irrigated with artificial acid rain water. The results show that the legal threshold value applying to Mo and Pb is not exceeded in any of the methods applied to the sandy or the silty fractions. As for the sandy fraction, Cr and Co were also below this limit. Cd, Ni, Cu and Zn exceeded the threshold values in some of the batch experiments applied to both fractions, depending on the pH value and the elution agent used in the experiment. All results obtained from saturated column leaching were below the respective threshold values; however, it should be noted that the pH was between 7 and 8 throughout the entire experiment. This pH also applied to the unsaturated column, with the exception of the first flush. This first sample had a pH value of 3.8, which was due to sulphide oxidation at the beginning of the experiment and led to strong leaching of all the elements under study. As a consequence, arsenic, Cu and Ni values exceeded their respective threshold values.     

Impact of grout curtains on karst groundwater behaviour: an example from the Dinaric karst

Grout curtains are vertical grout walls installed in the ground. In karst terrains, their construction is primarily connected with dams and reservoirs. Their main role is to increase water tightness and to prevent progressive erosion, blocking possible seepage paths along karst fissures and conduits. In this article, changes in the behaviour of the groundwater level (GWL) and the water temperature in nine deep piezometers, which were caused by the construction of a grout curtain at the ?ale Reservoir on the Cetina River (Croatia), were analysed. The total length of the grout curtain is 3966 m. It spreads 120 m below the dam. The most analysed data are from the period after the dam had been built. Only few data and figures concern the comparison between pre‐ and post‐dam periods. The hourly data of the GWL and the water temperature were analysed for the period between 1 September 2008 at 02:00 h to 31 December 2009 at 23:00 h (11 687 h total) in six deep piezometers (marked in the text and figures as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). For three piezometers (marked in the text and figures as A, B and C), some discontinuous measurements of the GWL and the water temperature were available for analysis. The construction of the grout curtain made strong, sudden and possibly dangerous changes to the characteristics of the aquifer and the circulation of groundwater in the local area. Special attention is paid to analyses of the behaviour of the hourly GWL data measured in the piezometers pairs (two neighbouring piezometers, one inside and the other outside of the grout curtain). During more than 80% of the analysed period, the GWL was higher in the piezometer inside the grout curtain than the one outside of it. The intensity and range of the dynamics of GWL was higher in piezometer outside the grout curtain than the inside ones. After the construction of the grout curtain, the maximum measured hydrostatic pressure on some parts of the grout curtain was approximately 40 m. It changes quickly in both time and direction. The water temperature was found to be similar in all of the measured piezometers, and it varies between 10.2 and 15.7 °C with an average value of 12.7 °C. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative study to evaluate three ground-based optical remote sensing techniques under field conditions by a gas tracer experiment

Today, ground-based optical remote sensing (ORS) has become an intensively used method for quantifying pollutant or greenhouse gas emissions from point or area sources, and for the validation of airborne or satellite remote sensing data. In this study, we present the results of a release experiment using acetylene (C₂H₂) as a tracer gas, where three ORS techniques were simultaneously tested for two main purposes: (1) the detection of emission sources and (2) the quantification of release rates. Therefore, passive and active open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (OP-FTIR) and open-path tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) were applied and evaluated. The concentration results of the active ORS methods are compared to those estimated by a Lagrangian stochastic atmospheric dispersion model. Our results reveal that passive OP-FTIR is a valuable tool for the rapid detection and imaging of emission sources and the spatial tracer gas distribution; while with active OP-FTIR and TDLAS, C₂H₂ concentrations in the sub-ppm range could be quantified that correlated well with the concentration data obtained by our modeling approach.