Assessment of cement’s dust impact on the soil using principal component analysis and GIS

To evaluate the impact of the cement’s dust emitted by the eastern Moroccan cement factory (Oujda Holcim) and deposited on the soil of the Ain Lahjar commune, 58 samples of soil were collected around the factory on a radius of 3 km approximately. The physicochemical analyses of the upper 3 cm of the soil surface samples correspond to the pH, electrical conductivity, the chlorides and the oxides of Ca, Al, Fe, K, Mn, S and Si which were analyzed by the fluorescence of X-rays. The preliminary results demonstrate that this dust are especially basic and contain a high free lime (43% CaO). The principal component analysis (applied on the 58 samples of soil) allows deducting that the free lime and the sulfur oxide are the tracer elements of this form of pollution. Furthermore, the spatial projection of the factor scores of the principal component analysis using the geographical information system permits to determine the spatial distribution of more polluted areas of soils as well as to estimate their surface (63.3% of the survey zone).     

Optimal design of pumping tests in leaky aquifers for stream depletion analysis

We analyze the optimal design of a pumping test for estimating hydrogeologic parameters that are subsequently used to predict stream depletion caused by groundwater pumping in a leaky aquifer. A global optimization method is used to identify the test’s optimal duration and the number and locations of observation wells. The objective is to minimize predictive uncertainty (variance) of the estimated stream depletion, which depends on the sensitivities of depletion and drawdown to relevant hydrogeologic parameters. The sensitivities are computed analytically from the solutions of Zlotnik and Tartakovsky [Zlotnik, V.A., Tartakovsky, D.M., 2008. Stream depletion by groundwater pumping in leaky aquifers. ASCE Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 13, 43–50] and the results are presented in a dimensionless form, facilitating their use for planning of pumping test at a variety of sites with similar hydrogeological settings. We show that stream depletion is generally very sensitive to aquitard’s leakage coefficient and stream-bed’s conductance. The optimal number of observation wells is two, their optimal locations are one close to the stream and the other close to the pumping well. We also provide guidelines on the test’s optimal duration and demonstrate that under certain conditions estimation of aquitard’s leakage coefficient and stream-bed’s conductance requires unrealistic test duration and/or signal-to-noise ratio.     

Fast-changing processes in a medium subject to loading as detected by resistivity measurements

Making measurements of electric resistivity at 16 s intervals, the authors noticed fast changes of this parameter prior to the occurrence of the main fracture. The changes are superposed on bay pulsations of increasing amplitude and decreasing period. This finding opens prospects for a wider use of an electric resistivity method and proves the high quality of automatic instruments, in particular their high resolution. It also gives evidence for the occurrence of short-period precursors in the fracture zone while the main fracture is being formed.     

Geochemistry and mineralogy of arsenic in (natural) anaerobic groundwaters

Here new data from field bioremediation experiments and geochemical modeling are reported to illustrate the principal geochemical behavior of As in anaerobic groundwaters. In the field bioremediation experiments, groundwater in Holocene alluvial aquifers in Bangladesh was amended with labile water-soluble organic C (molasses) and MgSO₄ to stimulate metabolism of indigenous SO₄-reducing bacteria (SRB). In the USA, the groundwater was contaminated by Zn, Cd and SO₄, and contained <10 μg/L As under oxidized conditions, and a mixture of sucrose and methanol were injected to stimulate SRB metabolism. In Bangladesh, groundwater was under moderately reducing conditions and contained ∼10 mg/L Fe and ∼100 μg/L As. In the USA experiment, groundwater rapidly became anaerobic, and dissolved Fe and As increased dramatically (As > 1000 μg/L) under geochemical conditions consistent with bacterial Fe-reducing conditions. With time, groundwater became more reducing and biogenic SO₄ reduction began, and Cd and Zn were virtually completely removed due to precipitation of sphalerite (ZnS) and other metal sulfide mineral(s). Following precipitation of chalcophile elements Zn and Cd, the concentrations of Fe and As both began to decrease in groundwater, presumably due to formation of As-bearing FeS/FeS₂. By the end of the six-month experiment, dissolved As had returned to below background levels. In the initial Bangladesh experiment, As decreased to virtually zero once biogenic SO₄ reduction commenced but increased to pre-experiment level once SO₄ reduction ended. In the ongoing experiment, both SO₄ and Fe(II) were amended to groundwater to evaluate if FeS/FeS₂ formation causes longer-lived As removal. Because As-bearing pyrite is the common product of SRB metabolism in Holocene alluvial aquifers in both the USA and Southeast Asia, it was endeavored to derive thermodynamic data for arsenian pyrite to better predict geochemical processes in naturally reducing groundwaters. Including the new data for arsenian pyrite into Geochemist’s Workbench, its stability field completely dominates in reducing Eh–pH space and “displaces” other As-sulfides (orpiment, realgar) that have been implied to be important in previous modeling exercises and reported in rare field conditions.     

Community capacity amongst people living with HIV/AIDS

Mobilisation of people living with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s was tied to social identity and the public rendering of AIDS as a gay disease. This activism has continued in large cities alongside new streams of mobilization addressing the needs of groups such as women and Aboriginal peoples living with HIV. We draw on interviews conducted with six people living with HIV/AIDS in a small Ontario city where the population does not allow for services tailored to specific groups. We investigate experiences of social engagement amongst people living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS and examine why efforts to establish a community-based participatory research project was unsuccessful. Drawing from indicators of community capacity developed by Jackson et al. (Health Promot Int 18(4): 339–350, 2003) we identify the role of stigma both amongst different groups living with HIV/AIDS and the wider public as undermining a common sense of community and, potentially, our efforts to establish a community-based participatory research process.     

白垩纪红层冰筏沉积的古气候及古地理意义

冰筏沉积是负载沉积物的冰块进入海洋或湖泊中,冰块融化沉积物坠落所形成的,它们可形成于高海拔具有明显气候垂直分带的低纬度地区或者是高纬度地区。我们在研究松辽盆地白垩纪古气候时,首次在泉头组红层中发现冰筏沉积。根据泉头组孢粉缉合的研究表明,它们除了具有热带一亚热带植物的孢粉以外,还有少量喜冷分子混生现象。经研究这些矛盾现象,反映泉头组时期盆地外围地形高差大,形成明显的气候垂直分带现象,这是造成这些矛盾现象的主要原因。冰筏沉积的发现对松辽盆地古气候古地理的恢复皆具有十分重要的意义。     

能源与全球环境

目前,“可再生能源”这个词已进入技术发展的阶段。我们目前利用的能源是不可再生的。我们生活在都市中。由于太阳光照射1小时的能量即可满足我们一年的能源需要,今后的能源利用必定要考虑太阳能。利用地球内部的热量梯度即地热能在今后亦是诱人的。原子能尤其是聚变能的潜力极大,但尚没有迹象表明,人类非得将精力消耗在利用裂变能上不可,尽管目前这方面的技术有被滥用的趋势。     

Microvariability and fast variability of stars. I. standard stars

This is a study of observations of the photometric quantities Vt and Bt, reported in the Hipparcos catalog, for 15 standard stars in order to search for microvariability and rapid variability in their emission. The microvariability is found to be characterized mainly by smooth fluctuations in the brightness. Changes in the magnitudes of the stars HD 28355 and HD 130109 with a period of ~150 min and an amplitude <0^m.02 appear to be caused by vertical shifts in their photospheres. Changes in the magnitudes with an amplitude of ~0^m.01 and a period of 11.4^d in the star e Eri were related to the rotation of spots. A similar microvariability period and amplitude in the star 51 Peg most likely originates in the influence of a planet.     

A new insight into the problem of annual periodicity of the electric resistivity of the Earth’s crust in earthquake prediction research

As a result of the analysis of both the monitoring data of the electric resistivity of the Earth’s crust at the Garm test site using a modified method of dipole sounding and the earthquake catalogue of this test site it is shown that annual periodicity exists not only in the variations of the electric resistivity of the Earth’s crust but also in seismicity. It is not clear yet whether the appearance of the annual periodicity in the variations of electric resistivity is related to the influence of the periodic processes of earthquake nucleation on this process or both processes are synchronized by a third, unknown process. The results of the investigation show that the annual component of time variations in the electric resistivity contains important information about the processes in the Earth’s crust and should not be filtered out but, in contrast, studied in detail. The joint analysis of periodic components in the compared time series of the electric resistivity of the Earth’s crust and earthquakes opens new possibilities for deeper understanding of the processes of seismicity genesis and for improving the methods of strong earthquakes prediction.     

Lithologic mapping of HED terrains on Vesta using Dawn Framing Camera color data

The surface composition of Vesta, the most massive intact basaltic object in the asteroid belt, is interesting because it provides us with an insight into magmatic differentiation of planetesimals that eventually coalesced to form the terrestrial planets. The distribution of lithologic and compositional units on the surface of Vesta provides important constraints on its petrologic evolution, impact history, and its relationship with vestoids and howardite‐eucrite‐diogenite (HED) meteorites. Using color parameters (band tilt and band curvature) originally developed for analyzing lunar data, we have identified and mapped HED terrains on Vesta in Dawn Framing Camera (FC) color data. The average color spectrum of Vesta is identical to that of howardite regions, suggesting an extensive mixing of surface regolith due to impact gardening over the course of solar system history. Our results confirm the hemispherical dichotomy (east‐west and north‐south) in albedo/color/composition that has been observed by earlier studies. The presence of diogenite‐rich material in the southern hemisphere suggests that it was excavated during the formation of the Rheasilvia and Veneneia basins. Our lithologic mapping of HED regions provides direct evidence for magmatic evolution of Vesta with diogenite units in Rheasilvia forming the lower crust of a differentiated object.