Combining geographic information system, multicriteria evaluation techniques and fuzzy logic in siting MSW landfills

This study presents a methodology for siting municipal solid waste landfills, coupling geographic information systems (GIS), fuzzy logic, and multicriteria evaluation techniques. Both exclusionary and non-exclusionary criteria are used. Factors, i.e., non-exclusionary criteria, are divided in two distinct groups which do not have the same level of trade off. The first group comprises factors related to the physical environment, which cannot be expressed in terms of monetary cost and, therefore, they do not easily trade off. The second group includes those factors related to human activities, i.e., socioeconomic factors, which can be expressed as financial cost, thus showing a high level of trade off. GIS are used for geographic data acquisition and processing. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is the multicriteria evaluation technique used, enhanced with fuzzy factor standardization. Besides assigning weights to factors through the AHP, control over the level of risk and trade off in the siting process is achieved through a second set of weights, i.e., order weights, applied to factors in each factor group, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, thus taking into account the local site characteristics. The method has been applied to Evros prefecture (NE Greece), an area of approximately 4,000 km². The siting methodology results in two intermediate suitability maps, one related to environmental and the other to socioeconomic criteria. Combination of the two intermediate maps results in the final composite suitability map for landfill siting.     

Enthalpy effects associated with Al/Si ordering in anhydrous Mg-cordierite

Measurements of the heats of solution (ΔH_soln) in molten Pb₂B₂O₅ at 708°C of anhydrous magnesian cordierites, prepared with a range of structural states, show that the enthalpy effect associated with Al/Si ordering is substantial (? 9.76 ± 1.56 kcal mole^?1). Differences in the state of order between synthetic cordierites used in phase equilibrium studies and cordierites in the natural environment could lead to significant errors in the estimation of palaeo-pressures and temperatures. A continuous change of ΔH_soln with annealing time supports the suggestion of putnis (1980) that the hexagonal → orthorhombic transformation in cordierite, which can occur via a modulated structure, is truly continuous under metastable conditions. In addition, a linear relation between ΔH_soln and the logarithm of annealing time has been found, which provides some insight into the nature of the ordering mechanisms at an atomic level. Al and Si exchanges occur continuously between neighbouring tetrahedral sites with a net drift towards increasing order. No kinetic or thermochemical distinction can be made between the development of long range and short range order.The enthalpy of vitrification (~ 12 kcal mole^?1) for a metastable stuffed β-quartz polymorph of cordierite composition is similar to that for pure quartz (on a per two oxygen basis), while the heat of vitrification for even the most disordered cordierite seen in this study is more than a factor of three greater (~40 kcal mole^?1). This is consistent with the view that cordierite glass resembles the quartz structure more closely than the crystalline cordierite structure, and that crystallisation of the glass below ~900°C is controlled by a tetrahedral framework.     

Calorimetric study of high-pressure polymorphs of MnSiO3

With increasing pressure, MnSiO₃ rhodonite stable at atmospheric pressure transforms to pyroxmangite, then to clinopyroxene and further to tetragonal garnet, which finally decomposes into MnO (rocksalt) plus SiO₂ (stishovite). High temperature solution calorimetry of synthetic rhodonite, clinopyroxene and garnet forms of MnSiO₃ was used to measure the enthalpies of these transitions. ΔH ₉₇₄ ⁰ for the rhodonite-clinopyroxene and ΔH ₂₉₈ ⁰ for the clinopyroxene-garnet transition are 520±490 and 8,270±590 cal/mol, respectively. The published data on the enthalpy of the rhodonite-pyroxmangite transition, phase equilibrium boundaries, compressibility and thermal expansion data are used to calculate entropy changes for the transitions. The enthalpy, entropy and volume changes are very small for all the transitions among rhodonite, pyroxmangite and clinopyroxene. The calculated boundary for the clinopyroxene-garnet transition is consistent with the published experimental results. The pyroxene-garnet transition in several materials, including MnSiO₃, is characterized by a relatively small negative entropy change and large volume decrease, resulting in a small positiveP – T slope. The disproportionation of MnSiO₃ garnet to MnO plus stishovite and of Mn₂SiO₄ olivine to garnet plus MnO are calculated to occur at about 17–18 and 14–15 GPa, respectively, at 1,000–1,500 K.     

Paleoproterozoic mafic dyke swarms of the Belomorian Province,eastern Fennoscandian Shield

Paleoproterozoic mafic igneous rocks (2450–1970 Ma) are exposed in the form of layered intrusions, dykes, and volcanic rocks in the Karelian, Kola and Murmansk provinces and in the form of dykes and small intrusions in the Belomorian Province, Eastern Fennoscandian Shield. The age and sequence of mafic dyke emplacement during the Paleoproterozoic are very similar in these regions. Further comparisons of geochemical characteristics of mafic dyke swarms in the Belomorian Province and neighboring cratons show considerable similarities.     

Energetics of nanoparticle oxides: interplay between surface energy and polymorphism†

Many oxides tend to form different structures (polymorphs) for small particles. High temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry has been used to measure the enthalpy as a function of polymorphism and surface area for oxides of Al, Ti, and Zr. The results confirm crossovers in polymorph stability at the nanoscale. The energies of internal and external surfaces of zeolitic silicas with open framework structures are an order of magnitude smaller than those of oxides of normal density.     

Thermodynamics of element partitioning: (1) Systematics of transition metals in crystalline and molten silicates and (2) Defect chemistry and “the Henry's law problem”

The distribution of Mg, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni among olivine, orthopyroxene, calcic clinopyroxene and liquid can be described by exchange reactions of the form: M (phase A) + Mg (phase B) = M (phase B) + Mg (phase A). The thermochemical data predict the observed partitioning within the limits of error of both sets of data when assumptions of ideal solid solution are used, except for Mn-Mg exchange. Because ΔS and ΔV for these exchange reactions are generally small, K_D varies relatively little with temperature and pressure, although individual ion distribution coefficients (D values) are more sensitive to these variables and to changing liquid composition.Trace elements present at the ppm level can enter crystals in normal lattice sites, can participate in point defect equilibria and can enter various defect sites present metastably in the crystal as a result of its P,T history. Metastable defect equilibria, in which the number of sites (grain boundaries, surfaces, intergrowths, etc.) is fixed, can lead to enhanced trace element solubility in the crystal at very low concentrations and thus to apparent deviations from Henry's law.     

Surface studies of water isotopes in Antarctica for quantitative interpretation of deep ice core data

Polar ice cores are unique climate archives. Indeed, most of them have a continuous stratigraphy and present high temporal resolution of many climate variables in a single archive. While water isotopic records (δD or δ¹⁸O) in ice cores are often taken as references for past atmospheric temperature variations, their relationship to temperature is associated with a large uncertainty. Several reasons are invoked to explain the limitation of such an approach; in particular, post-deposition effects are important in East Antarctica because of the low accumulation rates. The strong influence of post-deposition processes highlights the need for surface polar research programs in addition to deep drilling programs. We present here new results on water isotopes from several recent surface programs, mostly over East Antarctica. Together with previously published data, the new data presented in this study have several implications for the climatic reconstructions based on ice core isotopic data: (1) The spatial relationship between surface mean temperature and mean snow isotopic composition over the first meters in depth can be explained quite straightforwardly using simple isotopic models tuned to d-excess vs. δ¹⁸O evolution in transects on the East Antarctic sector. The observed spatial slopes are significantly higher (～ 0.7–0.8‰·°C^?1 for δ¹⁸O vs. temperature) than seasonal slopes inferred from precipitation data at Vostok and Dome C (0.35 to 0.46‰·°C^?1). We explain these differences by changes in condensation versus surface temperature between summer and winter in the central East Antarctic plateau, where the inversion layer vanishes in summer. (2) Post-deposition effects linked to exchanges between the snow surface and the atmospheric water vapor lead to an evolution of δ¹⁸O in the surface snow, even in the absence of any precipitation event. This evolution preserves the positive correlation between the δ¹⁸O of snow and surface temperature, but is associated with a much slower δ¹⁸O-vs-temperature slope than the slope observed in the seasonal precipitation. (3) Post-deposition effects clearly limit the archiving of high-resolution (seasonal) climatic variability in the polar snow, but we suggest that sites with an accumulation rate of the order of 40 kg.m^?2.yr^?1 may record a seasonal cycle at shallow depths.     

Monitoring and early warning of the 2012 Preonzo catastrophic rockslope failure

In this paper, we describe the investigations and actions taken to reduce risk and prevent casualties from a catastrophic 210,000 m³ rockslope failure, which occurred near the village of Preonzo in the Swiss Alps on May 15, 2012. We describe the geological predisposition and displacement history before and during the accelerated creep stage as well as the development and operation of an efficient early warning system. The failure of May 15, 2012, occurred from a large and retrogressive instability in gneisses and amphibolites with a total volume of about 350,000 m³, which formed an alpine meadow 1250 m above the valley floor. About 140,000 m³ of unstable rock mass remained in place and might collapse partially or completely in the future. The instability showed clearly visible signs of movements along a tension crack since 1989 and accelerated creep with significant hydromechanical forcing since about 2006. Because the active rockslide at Preonzo threatened a large industrial facility and important transport routes located directly at the toe of the slope, an early warning system was installed in 2010. The thresholds for prealarm, general public alarm, and evacuation were derived from crack meter and total station monitoring data covering a period of about 10 years, supplemented with information from past failure events with similar predisposition. These thresholds were successfully applied to evacuate the industrial facility and to close important roads a few days before the catastrophic slope failure of May 15, 2012. The rock slope failure occurred in two events, exposing a compound rupture plane dipping 42° and generating deposits in the midslope portion with a travel angle of 39°. Three hours after the second rockslide, the fresh deposits became reactivated in a devastating debris avalanche that reached the foot of the slope but did not destroy any infrastructure. The final run-out distance of this combined rock collapse–debris avalanche corresponded to the predictions made in the year 2004.