The geochemistry of salt marshes: Sedimentary ion diffusion,sulfate reduction,and pyritization

A series of seasonal cores was taken in a high marsh near the terminus of Delaware Bay, U.S.A. A seasonal harmonic diffusion model was successfully fit to the concentration profiles of chloride ion in the salt marsh pore waters yielding a calculated sedimentary diffusion coefficient.Virtually all other chemical reactions within salt marsh sediments are directly linked to the rate and stoichiometry of organic decomposition. The rich organic input from the grass Spartina alterniflora is oxidized anaerobically through the process of sulfate reduction. Over 90% of this net decomposition of organic matter takes place in the uppermost 20 cm. The model for sulfate reduction proposed yields an internally consistent set of both pore water (HCO^?₃, NH⁺₄, HPO^2?₄, HS^?, SO^2?₄) and solid phase (FeS₂) distribution profiles for these sediments. Steady state assumptions and the use of mean annual constants can be employed to model the net rates of diagenetic processes in salt marshes. The pore water concentrations of sulfate ion as well as those ions released by sulfate reduction (HCO^?₃, NH⁺₄, HPO^2?₄, HS^?) are modeled by a system composed of an upper zone, where extensive reconsumption of these metabolite ions occurs, and a lower zone where steady state production and no ion reconsumption occurs.A major product of the sulfate reduction is pyrite, whose accumulation rate is greatest between 7 and 9 cm depth, where it equals the net rate of sulfate reduction. Above this zone little pyrite accumulates due to extensive reoxidation. Below 9 cm the rate of pyritization is controlled by the rate of sulfidation of a refractory iron phase.     

Terrace stratigraphy in the Tunica Hills of Louisiana

The age and number of important fossil-producing late Pleistocene terraces in the Tunica Hills have recently become quite controversial. One hypothesis holds that only a single loess-mantled Farmdalian terrace flanks the streams in this area. The other maintains that there are two terraces. The youngest is considered essentially Holocene in age while the older is Sangamon in age. Radiometric and stratigraphic evidence collected for this study indicates that there are two terraces. The youngest is late Woodfordian to Holocene in age while the other is Farmdalian.     

Solubility of crude oil in methane as a function of pressure and temperature

The solubility of a 44° API (0.806 sp. gr.) whole crude oil has been measured in methane with water present at temperatures of 50 to 250°C and pressures of 740 to 14,852 psi, as have the solubilities of two high molecular weight petroleum distillation fractions at temperatures of 50 to 250°C and pressures of 4482 to 25,266 psi. Both increases in pressure and temperature increase the solubility of crude oil and petroleum distillation fractions in methane, the effect of pressure being greater than that of temperature. Unexpectedly high solubility levels (0.5–1.5 grams of oil per liter of methane—at laboratory temperature and pressure) were measured at moderate conditions (50–200°C and 5076–14504 psi). Similar results were found for the petroleum distillation fractions, one of which was the highest molecular weight material of petroleum (material boiling above 266°C at 6 microns pressure). Unexpectedly mild conditions (100°C and 15,200 psi; 200°C and 7513 psi) resulted in cosolubility of crude oil and methane. Under these conditions, samples of the gas-rich phase gave solubility values of 4 to 5 g/l, or greater.Qualitative analyses of the crude-oil solute samples showed that at low pressure and temperature equilibration conditions, the solute condensate would be enriched in C₅–C₁₅ range hydrocarbons and in saturated hydrocarbons in the C₁₅₊ fraction. With increases in temperature and especially pressure, these tendencies were reversed, and the solute condensate became identical to the starting crude oil.The data of this study, compared to that of previous studies, shows that methane, with water present, has a much greater carrying capacity for crude oil than in dry systems. The presence of water also drastically lowers the temperature and pressure conditions required for cosolubility.The data of this and/or previous studies demonstrate that the addition of carbon dioxide, ethane, propane, or butane to methane also has a strong positive effect on crude oil solubility, as does the presence of fine grained rocks.The n-paraffin distributions (as well as the overall composition) of the solute condensates are controlled by the temperature and pressure of solution and exsolution, as well as by the composition of the original starting material. It appears quite possible that primary migration by gaseous solution could ‘strip’ a source rock of crude-oil like components leaving behind a bitumen totally unlike the migrated crude oil. The data of this study demonstrate previous criticisms of primary petroleum migration by gas solution are invalid; that primary migration by gaseous solution cannot occur because methane cannot dissolve sufficient volumes of crude oil or cannot dissolve the highest molecular weight components of petroleum (tars and asphaltenes).     

Landslide risk assessment

Landslide risk can be assessed by evaluating geological conditions associated with past events. A sample of 2,4 16 slides from urban areas in West Virginia, each with 12 associated geological factors, has been analyzed using SAS computer methods. In addition, selected data have been normalized to account for areal distribution of rock formations, soil series, and slope percents. Final calculations yield landslide risk assessments of <0.50=low risk, 0.50 to 1.50=moderate risk, and >1.50=high risk. The simplicity of the method provides for a rapid, initial assessment prior to financial investment. However, it does not replace on-site investigations, nor excuse poor construction.     

The evolution of groundwater rights and groundwater management in New Mexico and the western United States

Historically, rights in water originated as public property and only later became individualized rights to utilize the public resource, in a manner consistent with the public welfare needs of society, but protected by principles of property law. Five basic regulatory systems for rights in groundwater in the United States have evolved to date. The problems raised by the hydrologic differences between groundwater hydraulically connected to stream systems and groundwater in non-replenished aquifers have been resolved to some extent by a couple of leading court cases. Numerical modeling and other technical methodologies have also evolved to evaluate the scientific issues raised by the different hydrologic conditions, but these are not immune from criticism. The current role of aquifers is evolving into that of storage facilities for recycled water, and their utilization in this manner may be expanded even further in the future. The policy implications of the choices relating to joint management of ground and surface water cannot be overstated. As this paper demonstrates, proactive administration of future groundwater depletions that affect stream systems is essential to the ultimate ability to plan for exploitation, management and utilization of water resources in a rational way that coordinates present and future demand with the reality of scarcity of supply. The examples utilized in this paper demonstrate the need for capacity building, not just to develop good measurement techniques, or to train talented lawyers and judges to write good laws, but also for practical professional water managers to keep the process on a rational course, avoiding limitless exploitation of the resource as well as conservative protectionism that forever precludes its use.

Stepwise use of GFLOW and MODFLOW to determine relative importance of shallow and deep receptors

A stepwise modeling approach is implemented in which a regional one-layer analytic element model is used to simulate the flow system and to furnish boundary conditions for an extracted local three-dimensional model. In this case study the stepwise approach is used to evaluate the fate of recharge in the Menomonee Valley adjacent to Lake Michigan. Two major receptors exist for recharge that flows through contaminated valley fill: the surface water estuary and a tunnel system constructed approximately 75 to 110 m below land surface to store storm runoff. The primary objective of the modeling is to delineate the contributing areas of recharge to each receptor. Of interest is the ability of the one-layer regional model to furnish flux boundary conditions to the local three-dimensional model despite the presence of vertical flow conditions at the boundaries of the local model. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the local model was insensitive to the vertical distribution of the flux. Each step of the modeling approach demonstrates that both receptors play an important role in capturing valley recharge. The pattern of capture of the one-layer model differed in shape from that delineated by the multi-layer local model in the presence of a flow system with pronounced vertical anisotropy and with sinks drawing water from different elevations.     

Ecological condition of US Mid-Atlantic estuaries, 1997-1998

The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA-Estuaries) evaluated ecological conditions in US Mid-Atlantic estuaries during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Over 800 probability-based stations were monitored in four main estuarine systems--Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Estuary, Maryland and Virginian coastal bays, and the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System. Twelve smaller estuaries within the four main systems were also assessed to establish variance at the local scale. A subset of the MAIA-Estuaries data is used here to estimate the extent of eutrophication, sediment contamination, and benthic degradation in mid-Atlantic estuaries. An Environmental Report Card and Index of Environmental Integrity summarize conditions in individual estuaries, the four estuarine systems, and the entire MAIA region. Roughly 20-50% of the region showed signs of eutrophication (high nutrients, excessive production of organic matter, poor water clarity, or depleted dissolved oxygen), 30% had contaminated sediments, and 37% had degraded benthic communities. Compared with the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)-Virginian Province study in 1990-1993, larger fractions of Chesapeake Bay (17%) and Delaware River (32%) had increased metals or organics in sediments.     

Morphology and geotechnique of active-layer detachment failures in discontinuous and continuous permafrost, northern Canada

Fifty active-layer detachment failures triggered after forest fire in the discontinuous permafrost zone (central Mackenzie Valley, 65° N.) are compared to several hundred others caused by summer meteorological triggers in continuous permafrost (Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, 80°N). Most failures fall into compact or elongated morphological categories. The compact type occur next to stream channels and have little internal disturbance of the displaced block, whereas the elongated types can develop on any part of the slope and exhibit greater internal deformation. Frequency distributions of length-to-width and length-to-depth ratios are similar at all sites. Positive pore pressures, expected theoretically, were measured in the field at the base of the thawing layer. Effective stress analysis could predict the instability of slopes in both areas, providing cohesion across the thaw plane was set to zero and/or residual strength parameters were employed. The location of the shear planes or zones in relation to the permafrost table and the degree of post-failure secondary movements (including headwall recession and thermokarst development within the failure track) differed between the localities, reflecting dissimilarity in the environmental triggers and in the degree of ground thermal disturbance.