The effect of adsorbed lipid on pyrite oxidation under biotic conditions

The chemolithoautotrophic bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, commonly occurs in acid mine drainage (AMD) environments where it is responsible for catalyzing the oxidation of pyrite and concomitant development of acidic conditions. This investigation reports on the growth of this bacterial species on the pyrite surface and in the aqueous phase at a pH close to 2 as well as the role of adsorbed lipid in preventing pyrite dissolution. Both acid washed pyrite and acid-washed pyrite coated with lipids were used as substrates in the studies. The choice of lipid, 1,2-bis(10,12-tricosadiynoyl)-sn-Glycero-3-Phosphocholine lipid (23:2 Diyne PC), a phosphocholine lipid, was based on earlier work that showed that this lipid inhibits the abiotic oxidation rate of pyrite. Atomic force microscopy showed that under the experimental conditions used in this study, the lipid formed ~4–20 nm layers on the mineral surface. Surface-bound lipid greatly suppresses the oxidation process catalyzed by A. ferrooxidans. This suppression continued for the duration of the experiments (25 days maximum). Analysis of the bacterial population on the pyrite surface and in solution over the course of the experiments suggested that the pyrite oxidation was dependent in large part on the fraction of bacteria bound to the pyrite surface.     

SEDIMENT TRANSPORT PROCESSES IN AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS

lINTR0DUCTI0NTheerosion,transportanddep0siti0nofsedimentinawatershedarepallofthenaturalsystemofwatershedprocesses.InanundistUrbedwatershed,s0ilsinuplandareasaregraduallyeroded,transportCdforsomedistanceandeventuallydepositedatlowereIevations.WhenwatershedsaredistUrbedbyhumanactivitiessuchasclearingofvegetation,urbaniZati0n,orotherchangesthataffectthelandscaPe,unstablechannelswithlocallyhighratesoferosion,transport,0rdepositionofsedimentoftenaretheresult.Theimpact0fer0sionisespeciallyhigh…     

Pyrite surface interaction with selected organic aqueous species under anoxic conditions

The interaction between low-molecular weight organic compounds and pyrite under anoxic conditions has been studied using a combination of electrophoresis and batch sorption experiments. The results suggest that acetate, carbamide, ethylamine, formamide, purine, D-ribose, and adenine, as well as the amino acids alanine, cysteine and glycine, interact within the electrophoretic shearplane of the pyrite surface. The observed surface interaction between the negatively charged surface of pyrite and the organic aqueous species takes place regardless of the formal charge of the aqueous species of interest. This indicates that the interaction of organic molecules with pyrite surfaces under anoxic conditions is dictated by interactions with specific surface sites (thiol or iron surface sites) rather than electrostatic forces. Dissolved metals typically enhance the interaction of the organics species. This enhancement is either due to an alteration in the distribution of thiol and iron groups on the pyrite surface or by the formation of ternary surface complexes.     

Effects of afforestation on groundwater recharge and water budgets in the western region of Uruguay

Uruguay has stimulated the development of its forest sector since the promulgation of Forest Law N° 15 939 in December of 1987. Nevertheless, the substitution of natural grasslands with forest plantations for industrial use has raised concerns regarding hydrological processes of groundwater recharge and water consumption involving evapotranspiration. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of this substitution approach on water resources. Input data were collected from two small experimental watersheds of roughly 100–200 hectares located in western Uruguay. The watersheds are characterized by Eucalyptus Globulus ssp. Maidenni and natural grasslands for cattle use. Total rainfall, stream discharge, rainfall redistribution, soil water content and groundwater level data were collected. Groundwater recharge was estimated from water table fluctuations and from groundwater contributions to base flows. Seasonal and annual water budgets were computed from October of 2006 to September of 2014 to evaluate changes in the hydrological processes. The data show a decrease in annual specific discharge of roughly 17% for mean hydrological years and no conclusive effects on annual groundwater recharge in the forested watershed relative to the reference pasture watershed. Reduced annual specific discharge is equivalent to the mean annual interception. The computed actual annual evapotranspiration is consistent with international catchment measurements. Reduction rates vary seasonally and according to accumulated rainfall and its temporary distribution. The degree of specific discharge decline is particularly high for drier autumns and winters (32 to 28%) when the corresponding rainfall varies from 275 to 400 mm. These results are of relevance for water resources management efforts, as water uses downstream can be affected. These findings, based on a study period dominated by anomalous wet springs and summers and by dry autumns and winters, oppose earlier results based on 34 years of rainfall and discharge data drawn from Uruguayan large basins. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bowing of dimensional granitic stones

Bowing is a well-known phenomenon seen in marbles used as building veneers. This form of rock weathering occurs as a result of external factors such as temperature, humidity, the system for anchoring the marble slabs or the panel dimensions. Under the same external conditions, many factors will determine the degree of deformation including petrography, thermal properties and residual locked stresses. The usual way to solve the problem of bowed marble slabs is to replace them with other materials, such as granites, in which the deformation still exists but is less common. In this study, eight ornamental granites with different mineralogy, grain size, grain shape, porosity and fabric were tested in a laboratory to assess their susceptibility to bowing. Three slabs of granite, each cut with a different orientation, were studied under different conditions of temperature (90 and 120°C) and water saturation (dry and wet) to investigate the influence of these factors together with that of anisotropy. At 90°C, only the granite with the coarsest grain size and low porosity exhibited deformation under wet conditions. At 120°C and wet conditions, three of the granites showed evident signs of bowing. Again, the granite with the coarsest grain size was the most deformed. It was concluded that the wide grain size distribution influences microcracking more than other expected factors, such as the quartz content of the rock. Also, mineral shape-preferred orientation and porosity play an important role in the bowing of the studied granites.     

Impact of pulsed Atlantic water inflow into the Alboran Basin at the time of the Zanclean flooding

The study of more than 500 single- and multichannel seismic records enabled the generation of a detailed palaeo-bathymetric map of the Messinian surface over most of the Alboran Basin, Western Mediterranean. This regional surface is characterized by several erosional features (channels, terraces and canyons) and topographic highs (structural, volcanic and diapiric in origin). The most prominent feature is the incised Zanclean Channel crossing the entire basin, its entrenchment having been associated with the opening of the Strait of Gibraltar and subsequent inflow of Atlantic waters. The incision depth of the channel is variable, suggesting local variations in the erosive capacity of the Atlantic inflow, conditioned mainly by the regional basin topography and the local presence of topographic highs. Adjacent to this channel along the Spanish and Moroccan margins, and near the Strait of Gibraltar, several submarine terraces developed at different depths suggest a pulsed flooding of the Alboran Basin. There could have been two major inflow phases of Atlantic water, one shortly before and another during the Zanclean flooding, the latter accompanied by periods of relative sea-level stillstands that enabled terrace development. Alternatively, these features were all generated during the main flooding evident and subsequent pulsed infilling of the basin.     

Ground response curves for rock masses exhibiting strain‐softening behaviour

A literature review has shown that there exist adequate techniques to obtain ground reaction curves for tunnels excavated in elastic‐brittle and perfectly plastic materials. However, for strain‐softening materials it seems that the problem has not been sufficiently analysed. In this paper, a one‐dimensional numerical solution to obtain the ground reaction curve (GRC) for circular tunnels excavated in strain‐softening materials is presented. The problem is formulated in a very general form and leads to a system of ordinary differential equations. By adequately defining a fictitious ‘time’ variable and re‐scaling some variables the problem is converted into an initial value one, which can be solved numerically by a Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method, which is implemented in MATLAB environment. The method has been developed for various common particular behaviour models including Tresca, Mohr–Coulomb and Hoek–Brown failure criteria, in all cases with non‐associative flow rules and two‐segment piecewise linear functions related to a principal strain‐dependent plastic parameter to model the transition between peak and residual failure criteria. Some particular examples for the different failure criteria have been run, which agree well with closed‐form solutions—if existing—or with FDM‐based code results. Parametric studies and specific charts are created to highlight the influence of different parameters. The proposed methodology intends to be a wider and general numerical basis where standard and newly featured behaviour modes focusing on obtaining GRC for tunnels excavated in strain‐softening materials can be implemented. This way of solving such problems has proved to be more efficient and less time consuming than using FEM‐ or FDM‐based numerical 2D codes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The RHESSI Experimental Data Center

The RHESSI Experimental Data Center (HEDC) at ETH Zürich aims to facilitate the use of RHESSI data. It explores new ways to speed up browsing and selecting events such as solar flares. HEDC provides pre-processed data for on-line use and allows basic data processing remotely over the Internet. In this article, we describe the functionality and contents of HEDC, as well as first experiences by users. HEDC can be accessed at http://www.hedc.ethz.ch. Additional graphical material and color versions of most figures are available on the CD-ROM accompanying this volume. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1022413302246