Hazardous elements and amorphous nanoparticles in historical estuary coal mining area

In Brazil, intense coal exploitation activities have led to environmental deterioration, including soil mortification, water contamination, loss of ecosystem, and atmospheric contamination. In addition,considerable quantities of sulfur-rich residues are left behind in the mining area; these residues pose grave environmental issues as they undergo sulfide oxidation reactions. When sulfur oxides come in contact with water, extreme acid leachate is produced with great proportions of sulfate, and hazardous elements(HEs), which are identified as coal drainage(CMD). CMD is an environmental pollution challenge, particularly in countries with historic or active coal mines. To prevent CMD formation or its migration, the source must be controlled; however, this may not be feasible at many locations. In such scenarios, the mine water should be collected, treated, and discharged. In this study, data from 2005 to2010 was gathered on the geochemistry of 11 CMD discharges from ten different mines. There are several concerns and questions on the formation of nanominerals in mine acid drainage and on their reactions and interfaces. The detailed mineralogical and geochemical data presented in this paper were derived from previous studies on the coal mine areas in Brazil. Oxyhydroxides, sulfates, and nanoparticles in these areas possibly go through structural transformations depending on their size and formation conditions. The geochemistry of Fe-precipitates(such as jarosite, goethite, and hematite) existent in the CMD-generating coal areas and those that could be considered as a potential source of hazardous elements(HEs)(e.g., Cr) were also studied because these precipitates are relatively stable in extremely low pH conditions. To simplify and improve poorly ordered iron, strontium, and aluminum phase characterization, field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HR-TEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction(XRD) and sequential extraction(SE) studies were executed on a set CMD samples from the Brazilian mines. This study aimed to investigate the role of both nanomineral and amorphous phase distribution throughout the reactive coal cleaning rejects profile and HEs removal from the water mine to provide holistic insights on the ecological risks posed by HEs, nanominerals, amorphous phases, and to assess sediments in complex environments such as estuaries.     

Blocking Distributions in the Atmosphere

The zonal momentum generation in forced stationary waves may exceed the requirement for momentum balance after long, if the waves do not change their patterns. This suggests that the changes in stationary wave patterns would be required by maintenance of momentum balance over the external forcings. It will be found that the low frequency anomalies like blocking regimes may produce reversed zonal momentum variations, if they happen in the observed centre areas. The zonal momentum balance in the stationary waves may be maintained effectively by alternation between the normal and blocking circulation regimes. Thus, from the point of long-term zonal momentum balance, we may explain the geographical distributions of the blocking centres and the seasonal variations in blocking areas and frequencies.     

使用单一探空廓线作12小时客观降水预报

在别得港(Bet Degan),以色列使用了一个近似于Schell(1946)和Krown(1953)提出的,用温度和露点的探空廓线来制作和试验的一个12小时降水预报客观程序,根据该程序作的62次预报证实,正确率达89%,虽然有些超过预报的降水量级是明显的,但是,在同一季节,用该程序的技术比通常用于日常业务的主观预报技术更适宜些。     

恩格尔—普雷契特(Engel-Precht)碳酸钾方法中的非催化多相动力学

制造 K_2CO_3的恩格尔—普雷契特方法由于经济和技术上的原因,在德国已被弃之不用。本工作试图查明和解决过程的控制问题,并提供改变原始的间歇操作为连续流程所必须的动力学数据。研究了两个反应:即恩格尔盐(KHCO_3·MgCO_3·4H_2O)的生成反应和该不溶性盐分解为 KHCO_3溶液和 MgCO_3·3H_2O 固相的反应。在研究反应最佳条件的同时,还确定了恩格尔盐生成反应(KCO,CO_2和MgCO_3·3H_2O 在水溶液料浆中的反应)的动力学和机理。对恩格尔盐分解的动力学、机理和最佳条件也同样地做了测定。本文完成了恩格尔—普雷契特方法中所有反应的研究,并与以前两次发表的结果(MgO 的水合和 MgO 的碳化)一起提出了关于设计一个有效的连续的流程所需要的所有数据。     

Deep water circulation, residence time, and chemistry in a karst complex

We investigated the hydrochemistry of a complex karst hydrosystem made of two carbonate units along a coastal lagoon. Ground water emerges on the lagoon floor from a submarine spring. In addition, thermal waters circulate through the limestone and mix with karst water near the lagoon shore. A distinction between the water from the two carbonate units is related to marine influences and human activities. In one of the massifs, the data show an incongruent dissolution of dolomite with time. In the other system, a slight contamination by saline fluids from the thermal reservoir has led to high calcium and magnesium concentrations. 36Cl, 14C, and 3H data constrain the residence time of the water, and allow for the distinguishing of four circulation types: (1) shallow surface circulation (primarily above sea level) in the karstic units with short residence times (<20 years); (2) shallow subsurface circulation (approximately 0 to -50 m) below the karstic units with residence time in the order of 50 years; (3) deep circulation at depth of 700 to 1500 m in the Jurassic limestones below thick sedimentary cover, with residence time of several thousand years for a part of the water; and (4) deep circulation at a depth of approximately 2500 m, which represents the thermal reservoir in the Jurassic units with residence time of approximately 100,000 years. An interpretative hydrogeological framework is based on the constraints of the geochemical analyses of the deep thermal system, and by water flow from the surface to the deep parts of the carbonate formations.     

Kinetic partitioning of Co,Mn, Cs,Fe, Ag,Zn and Cd in fresh waters (Loire) mixed with brackish waters (Loire estuary): experimental and modelling approaches

To simulate the behavior of radionuclides along a salinity gradient, in vitro sorption and desorption kinetics of Co, Mn, Cs, Fe, Ag, Zn and Cd were studied in Loire river water and the macrotidal Loire estuarine water over two different seasons. Partitioning between the dissolved phase and suspended solids were followed up over 100 h after adding radioactive tracers to freshly collected freshwater (sorption stage); this stage was followed by desorption in fresh and estuarine waters. A kinetic model describing the interactions between trace metals and particles under a salinity gradient was developed and calibrated. Among parameters and/or processes that control the fate and behavior of contaminated particles during their transfer in estuarine systems, this study shows that the speciation of trace metals is controlled by: (i) the chemical water composition: for all the elements except for Fe, desorption increased with salinity; however, the amplitude of such an effect strongly depended on the element and/or on the composition of the particulate phase (and consequently on the season); (ii) the possibility for a given element to form (or not) stable surface particle moieties such as oxides or inner-sphere complexes; (iii) the distribution of a given element among different types of sites characterised by different binding forces that can lead (or not) to re-adsorption processes after mixing of contaminated particles with uncontaminated water.Our model enabled the quantification of the contribution and the characteristic time of reactions that took place over short and long periods on the global partitioning between particulate and dissolved phases during sorption and desorption and to determine the extent to which these reactions were modified by the salinity.     

Assessment of urban and industrial contamination levels in the bay of Cádiz,SW Spain

Measuring the amount of pollution is of particular importance in assessing the quality and general condition of an ecosystem. In this paper, some of the results obtained as a consequence of the specific agreement between the Environmental Agency (Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía) and the University of Cadiz to assess the environmental condition of the marine bottom and waters are showed. Physical and chemical analyses in water and sediments were undertaken at various sampling sites close to urban and industrial locations. Later on, these results were studied under statistical analysis to reveal any possible relationships between the parameters employed, and to identify any analogous behaviour between the sampling sites. Physical-chemical data revealed that sediments and waters analysed were moderately contaminated and, in addition, no great differences were found between in rising and ebbing tide conditions. Finally, considering only the pollution level, from the cluster analysis of sediments two major groups appear, one of which corresponded to those sites located in the outer bay, and the other to those situated in the inner bay. However, number 6 and 14 sampling sites cannot be associated to those groups due to be related to points with important local discharges.     

Box coring artifacts in sediments affected by a waste water outfall

Variations in porosity of surface sediments are often the major cause of sediment loss during gravity and box coring. Sediments with a high content of organic matter usually have higher porosity, and thus, lower resistance (strain) towards mechanical disturbance. Here, we demonstrate that box coring artifacts (i.e. sediment loss and core shortening) can be produced in sediments from the Palos Verdes (PV) shelf, which in the past had received relatively high loads of organic carbon (OC) enriched particulate matter originating from the Whites Point outfall that had created a high porosity layer at depth. This has been overlooked as a possibility for obtaining low estimates of sediment and pollutant accumulation rates. Since any such sediment loss during coring can lead to serious underestimates of sedimentation rates, our results here may have important implications for any attempts at reconstructing pollutant fluxes and histories in these coastal marine sediments.