Planning for source water protection in Ontario

Ontario began developing a drinking water source protection planning process in 2000, after a rural community's water supply was contaminated by pathogens from agricultural runoff. An expert committee report has recommended legislating a new source protection “sphere of jurisdiction” for municipalities; however, no specific new municipal tools or authorities have been proposed as yet. This paper reports findings from an evaluation of the extent to which existing institutional arrangements for land use planning and water management facilitate or constrain source protection by municipalities. A case study of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo suggests there is the potential to link land use planning more strongly to water management through creative use of existing tools, forgoing the need for major institutional changes.     

The origin of the Pedra Furada sandstone tubular structures (South of Lisbon, Portugal)

The Pedra Furada is a 12 m wide, 18 m high outcrop feature showing hundreds of ferruginised sandy tubes and looking in part like a giant organ. In this paper the origin of the tubes is explained on the basis of geochemical, petrographic and microscopic (optical and electronic) analytical data. The tubes are considered to represent vertical escape channels for overpressured water, exhibiting inward decreasing grain size due to water velocity gradients inside the escape channels. The ferruginisation is due to iron oxides associated with colloidal/clayey fine sediments and to goethite formed from solution. The overpressure of water may be due to seismically fluidised beds below the Pedra Furada outcrop or to artesian water ascent. In both cases, fault rupturing may have played a major role in the focussing of the ascending flow.     

The effect of thermal treatment on the 57Fe Mössbauer spectrum of beryl

Mössbauer spectra (MS) of blue, green and yellow beryl (ideally Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈) containing approximately 1% of iron were obtained at 295 and 500 K. Room temperature (RT) spectra of both blue and green samples showed the presence of an asymmetric Fe²⁺ doublet (ΔE _Q~2.7 mm/s, δ~1.1 mm/s), with a very broad low-velocity peak. There is no clear evidence for the presence of a ferric component. The MS of the yellow sample at RT consists of an intense central absorption with parameters typical for Fe³⁺ (ΔE _Q~0.4 mm/s, δ~0.29 mm/s), plus an apparently symmetrical Fe²⁺ doublet. This sample acquires a light-blue shade upon heating in air at about 620 K. Thermal treatments at high temperatures caused no significant changes in the MS, but the green and yellow beryl acquire a blue colour. All these results are interpreted in relation to the existence of channel water and the distribution of iron among the available crystallographic sites.     

Spatial assessment and redesign of a groundwater quality monitoring network using entropy theory, Gaza Strip, Palestine

Using entropy theory, a methodology was developed for the evaluation and redesign of groundwater quality monitoring wells in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Essential to the methodology is the development of a Transinformation Model (TM) which yields the amount of information transfer and the dependency between the wells as a function of distance. The TM parameters, such as the minimum transinformation and the range, were employed for evaluating the network which revealed that most of the distances between wells were less than the range. It also indicated that a high percentage of redundant information existed in the network. Therefore, the network was reduced by superimposing a square pattern over the monitored area and selecting one well per square block in a stratified pattern. The methodology was tested using the chloride data collected from 1972–2000 from 417 groundwater quality monitoring wells in the Gaza Strip. The number of the groundwater quality monitoring wells in the Gaza Strip was reduced by 53%, while there was 26% redundant information based on the minimum existing distance between wells. This methodology is meant to help monitor the groundwater quality (salinity) in the Gaza Strip.     

DMS and SO2 at Baring Head, New Zealand: Implications for the Yield of SO2 from DMS

Atmospheric dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations were measured at Baring Head, New Zealandduring February and March 2000. Anti-correlated DMS and SO₂ diurnalcycles, consistent with the photochemical production of SO₂ from DMS, were observed in clean southerly air off the ocean. The data is used to infer a yield of SO₂ from DMS oxidation. The estimated yields are highly dependent on assumptions about the DMS oxidation rate. Fitting the measured data in a photochemical box model using model-generated OH levels and the Hynes et al. (1986) DMS + OH rate constant suggests that theSO₂ yield is 50–100%, similar to current estimates for the tropical Pacific.However, the observed amplitude of the DMS diurnal cycle suggests that the oxidation rate is higher than that used by the model, and therefore, that theSO₂ yield is lower in the range of 20–40%.     

Advective, orographic and radiation fog in the Tarapacá region, Chile

A project in northern Chile was undertaken to determine the origin and behaviour of fog in the coastal and inland locations of the Tarapacá Region. In the Pampa del Tamarugal, 50 km from the sea, conditions exist for the formation of radiation fog. Advective fog has been studied on the coast and orographic fog was observed at a few coastal sites near mountain ranges with elevations above 1000 m. Fog water collected by two standard fog collectors (SFC) for 3 1/2 years showed an average flux of 8.5 l m⁻² day⁻¹ on the coast and 1.1 l m⁻² day⁻¹ inland 12 km from the coastline. On only a few days in 10 months was water collected at the inland site of Pampa del Tamarugal. GOES satellite images are shown to illustrate the pattern of formation of the stratocumuli cloud over the sea, its approach to the coastline, the entrance of fog by corridors through the coastal range and the presence of radiation fog inland. The results are important for the understanding of fog formation and dissipation along the coastal mountain range and for the recognition of potential sites for the installation of fog water collectors, which can be used as a water source in the Atacama Desert. The results also provide vital information for use in the preservation of the unique ecosystems of the most arid desert of the world.     

贵州关岭生物群中植物化石的发现及其意义

关岭生物群是近年来在我国贵州关岭地区瓦窑组中发现的一个十分重要的生物群 ,其中的植物化石经研究计有 Equisetites cf.arenaceus(Jaeger) Bronn.、Ctenozamitessarrani Zeiller。依据植物化石 C.sarrani常见于晚三叠世和 E.cf.arenaceus系似木贼属中较古老的类型 ,指出含植物化石的地层时代为晚三叠世卡尼期。瓦窑组系海相沉积 ,其中的植物化石无疑为异地埋藏 ,但从化石通常保存尚好来看 ,估计搬运的距离不会很远 ,它们可能是从距海岸不远的陆地被河流带到较平静的海湾或海槽而沉积下来的。此外 ,从该组植物茎干化石具清楚的年轮分析 ,推测卡尼期时 ,贵州关岭一带为非热带雨林地区 ,一年中气候不是四季如一 ,而是有明显的季节变化