Assessing the bioaugmentation potentials of individual isolates from landfill on metal-polluted soil

Heavy metals from leachate are persistent pollutants in soil, especially when landfills lack liners and basic structural system that prevents overflow of leachate beyond restricted areas. It is not ideal to rely only on physical and chemical options for the reclamation/restoration of such contaminated soil. Therefore, it is imperative to adopt bioremediation through the enhancement of microbial potentials. The present study investigated the use of individual isolates for the remediation of soil contaminated by leachate-metals. This is a way to understand the discrete potentials of the gram-positive bacteria species. Environmental isolates taken from contaminated soil were used to remedy soil characterized with various concentrations of metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn). Treatments A, B, and C amended with Bacillus sp., Lysinibacillus sp., and Rhodococcus sp., respectively, demonstrated better metal reduction potentials than the control experiment (Treatment D; zero microbial amendment) that depended solely on natural attenuation. With the exception of Ni, the degree of reduction of other metals was less than 50% for all treatments. This study suggests that such result reflects the potential ability of the microbes to metabolize selectively in the presence of metal pollution. However, it is difficult for the individual microbes to attain higher metal reduction efficiency (above 50%) except when blended in the appropriate formulation.     

A simulation study of capillary transport,preferential retention and distribution of salts in historic sandstone buildings

Salt crystallisation is a major problem of deterioration in historic stone buildings, monuments and sculptures. The capillary rise of soil water is one of the primary sources of salts in stone structures, which evaporates leaving the salts behind. It has been noted that the spatial distribution profile of different species of salts crystallised in historic stone buildings is not homogeneous, i.e. different salts crystallise at different locations. The capillary transport and inhomogeneous spatial distribution of different salts in the porous building materials has been considered to be a result of solubility-dependent crystallisation; however, the factors responsible for this phenomenon are not clearly known. This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing the differential distribution of salts during capillary rise of soil water. In this study, the capillary transport of salts was simulated on two different sandstones—Locharbriggs, a Permo–Triassic, red sandstone and Stoke Hall, a Carboniferous, buff sandstone. The experiments were carried out under controlled environmental conditions to eliminate the possibility of evaporation-driven crystallisation of salts depending on their solubilities. The results indicate that fractionation or differential distribution of salts takes place even in the absence of evaporation and crystallisation. The sandstones exhibit properties like an ion exchange column, and ionic species present in the salt solution show differential distribution within the porous network of sandstone.     

Nitrate contamination in a shallow urban aquifer in East Ukraine: evidence from hydrochemical,stable isotopes of nitrate and land use analysis

A combined hydrochemical and stable isotope approach was used to investigate the origin of nitrate in the shallow unconfined groundwater of Kharkiv city, Eastern Ukraine. The contamination was investigated in the context of land use within the catchment area. The observed enrichment of sulfate, chloride and nitrate suggests significant groundwater contamination in the shallow urban aquifer, which is widely used as drinking water source for the urban population. Characteristic nitrate/chloride ratios as well as stable isotope ratios (N and O) of nitrate in the most contaminated springs confirmed that septic waste from leaky sewer systems was the main source of nitrate contamination in the groundwater. Nitrate contamination is linked to the type of land use and sewage treatment regime in the catchment area. It is also modulated by the regional hydrogeology, which determines the susceptibility of a given aquifer toward groundwater pollution. A more quantitative assessment of nitrate sources based on the nitrate isotope analysis alone is rather difficult. However, our study confirms that the combination of hydrochemical tracers, robust land-use analysis and nitrate stable isotope measurements represents a valuable approach to identify the origin of the nitrate contamination.     

Climate change outlook for water resources management in a semiarid river basin: the effect of the environmental water demand

Iran is a developing country with arid and semiarid regions. Poor management of water resources combined with the effects of climate change is leading to the drying of several rivers and wetlands. Several planned water development projects, primarily for agricultural expansion, will be implemented in the coming years which could worsen impacts on vulnerable aquatic ecosystems. Proper water resources management is essential to meet present and future residential, environmental, industrial, and agricultural demands in semiarid regions. This paper presents projections of how the availability of water resources will change in the Karkheh river basin of Iran for the period 2010–2059 employing sustainability criteria in the form of time-based reliability, volumetric reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability. This paper’s results show that consideration of environmental receptors as a stakeholder of water use places limitations on agricultural development within the Karkheh river basin.     

Assessment of land use land cover change impact on hydrological regime of a basin

The sustainability of water resources mainly depends on planning and management of land use; a small change in it may affect water yield largely, as both are linked through relevant hydrological processes, explicitly. However, human activities, especially a significant increase in population, in-migration and accelerated socio-economic activities, are constantly modifying the land use and land cover (LULC) pattern. The impact of such changes in LULC on the hydrological regime of a basin is of widespread concern and a great challenge to the water resource engineers. While studying these impacts, the issue that prevails is the selection of a hydrological model that may be able to accommodate spatial and temporal dynamics of the basin with higher accuracy. Therefore, in the present study, the capabilities of variable infiltration capacity hydrological model to hydrologically simulate the basin under varying LULC scenarios have been investigated. For the present analysis, the Pennar River Basin, Andhra Pradesh, which falls under a water scarce region in India, has been chosen. The water balance components such as runoff potential, evapotranspiration (ET) and baseflow of Pennar Basin have been simulated under different LULC scenarios to study the impact of change on hydrological regime of a basin. Majorly, increase in built-up (13.94% approx.) and decrease in deciduous forest cover (2.44%) are the significant changes observed in the basin during the last three decades. It was found that the impact of LULC change on hydrology is balancing out at basin scale (considering the entire basin, while routing the runoff at the basin outlet). Therefore, an analysis on spatial variation in each of the water balance components considered in the study was done at grid scale. It was observed that the impact of LULC is considerable spatially at grid level, and the maximum increase of 265 mm (1985–2005) and the decrease of 48 mm (1985–1995) in runoff generation at grid were estimated. On the contrary, ET component showed the maximum increase of 400 and decrease of 570 mm under different LULC change scenario. Similarly, in the base flow parameter, an increase of 70 mm and the decrease of 100 mm were observed. It was noticed that the upper basin is showing an increasing trend in almost all hydrological components as compared to the lower basin. Based on this basin scale study, it was concluded that change in the land cover alters the hydrology; however, it needs to be studied at finer spatial scale rather than the entire basin as a whole. The information like the spatial variation in hydrological components may be very useful for local authority and decision-makers to plan mitigation strategies accordingly.     

Dynamic compaction evaluation using in situ tests in Sagunto’s Harbor,Valencia (Spain)

This paper presents an assessment on the use of dynamic compaction as a ground improvement technique in a port’s hydraulic fill in the new southern dock of Sagunto’s Harbor near Valencia (Spain). Soil behavior improvement was monitored by several in situ techniques such as boreholes with SPTs, DPSH, CPTU and CSWS geophysical tests. A total energy between 2188 and 3125 kN/m² (depending the area) was applied to the hydraulic fill by the dynamic compaction procedure. In situ techniques led to evaluate dynamic compaction efficiency, as well as controlling ground modifications that might cause potential damages to adjacent buildings. The dynamic compaction carried out was capable of fulfilling requirements established to use the area, that is, an average deformability modulus (E′) of 30 MPa with a minimum of 20 MPa, in a depth of 10 m. Moreover, dynamic compaction increased hydraulic fill relative density by about 75%.     

Shale gas fracturing using foam-based fracturing fluid: a review

World energy resources are depleting at an alarming rate, and natural gas has been identified as an environmentally friendly energy resource, with shale gas being one option. However, the extremely low permeability of shale plays has caused them to fail to produce a commercially viable amount of gas. Therefore, appropriate production enhancement techniques, including hydro-fracturing, are required. This paper reviews the research on shale gas production enhancement using foam-based hydro-fracturing and focuses on research on shale deposit distribution around the world, the importance of shale gas recovery, major shale gas recovery enhancement techniques, the effectiveness of foam-based fracturing depending on the foam type used and the formation properties, advantages and limitations of foam-based fracturing compared to other fluids, and existing experimental and numerical studies and field studies. According to the available experimental and modelling studies on foam fracturing, N₂-based foams are stronger than CO₂-based foams. The effective viscosity that controls the foam rheology decreases with increasing temperature and decreasing pressure and foam quality, and fracture length reduces and fracture width increases with increasing foam quality. Although this technique has been tested in few shale plays worldwide, most studies have been performed in the USA and Canada. Therefore, the foam fracturing technique is still comparatively novel for other countries around the world.     

A numerical simulation of residual circulation in Tampa Bay. Part I: Low-frequency temporal variations

The residual (time-average) salinity and circulation in a numerical ocean model of the Tampa Bay estuary are shown to experience significant temporal variation under realistic forcing conditions. A version of the Estuarine Coastal Ocean Model developed for Tampa Bay with 70 by 100 horizontal grid points and 11 sigma levels is examined for the years 2001–2003. Model output variables are averaged over the entire time of the simulation to generate long-term residual fields. The residual axial current is found to be dominated by the buoyancy-driven baroclinic circulation with an outflow (southwestward) at the surface and to the sides of the shipping channel, and an inflow (northeastward) usually occurring subsurface within or above the shipping channel. Averages over 30 d are used to examine variations in the residual fields. During the simulation the average surface salinity near the head of Tampa Bay varies with the freshwater inflow, from 12‰ to 33%. At the bay mouth salinity varies from 30%. to 36%.. A localized measure of the baroclinic circulation in the shipping channel indicates the residual circulation can vary strongly, attaining a magnitude triple the long-term mean value. The baroclinic circulation can be disrupted, going to near zero or even reversing, when the buoyancy-driven flow is weak and the surface winds are to the northeast. Three time periods, representing different environmental conditions, are chosen to examine these results in detail. A scaling argument indicates the relative strength of buoyancy versus wind as ΔρgH²(LC _Dω²)⁻¹, where δρ is head-to-mouth density difference across the bay,g is gravitational acceleration,H is depth,L is bay length,C _D is the surface wind drag coefficient, andw is wind speed. Tampa Bay is usually in the buoyancy dominated regime. The importance of winds in the weak-buoyancy case is demonstrated in an additional simulation without wind stress.     

Hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico: Does the science support the Plan to Reduce,Mitigate, and Control Hypoxia?

We update and reevaluate the scientific information on the distribution, history, and causes of continental shelf hypoxia that supports the 2001 Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force 2001), incorporating data, publications, and research results produced since the 1999 integrated assessment. The metric of mid-summer hypoxic area on the LouisianaTexas shelf is an adequate and suitable measure for continued efforts to reduce nutrients loads from the Mississippi River and hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico as outlined in the Action Plan. More frequent measurements of simple metrics (e.g., area and volume) from late spring through late summer would ensure that the metric is representative of the system in any given year and useful in a public discourse of conditions and causes. The long-term data on hypoxia, sources of nutrients, associated biological parameters, and paleoindicators continue to verify and strengthen the relationship between the nitratenitrogen load of the Mississippi River, the extent of hypoxia, and changes in the coastal ecosystem (eutrophication and worsening hypoxia). Multiple lines of evidence, some of them representing independent data sources, are consistent with the big picture pattern of increased eutrophication as a result of long-term nutrient increases that result in excess carbon production and accumulation and, ultimately, bottom water hypoxia. The additional findings arising since 1999 strengthen the science supporting the Action Plan that focuses on reducing nutrient loads, primarily nitrogen, through multiple actions to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico.