The passivation of calcite by acid mine water. Column experiments with ferric sulfate and ferric chloride solutions at pH 2

Column experiments, simulating the behavior of passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage, have been performed. Acid solutions (HCl or H₂SO₄, pH 2), with initial concentrations of Fe(III) ranging from 250 to 1500 mg L⁻¹, were injected into column reactors packed with calcite grains at a constant flow rate. The composition of the solutions was monitored during the experiments. At the end of the experiments (passivation of the columns), the composition and structure of the solids were measured. The dissolution of calcite in the columns caused an increase in pH and the release of Ca into the solution, leading to the precipitation of gypsum and Fe–oxyhydroxysulfates (Fe(III)–SO₄–H⁺ solutions) or Fe–oxyhydroxychlorides (Fe(III)–Cl–H⁺ solutions). The columns worked as an efficient barrier for some time, increasing the pH of the circulating solutions from 2 to 6–7 and removing its metal content. However, after some time (several weeks, depending on the conditions), the columns became chemically inert. The results showed that passivation time increased with decreasing anion and metal content of the solutions. Gypsum was the phase responsible for the passivation of calcite in the experiments with Fe(III)–SO₄–H⁺ solutions. Schwertmannite and goethite appeared as the Fe(III) secondary phases in those experiments. Akaganeite was the phase responsible for the passivation of the system in the experiments with Fe(III)–Cl–H⁺ solutions.     

How a court, a commissioner and a lobby group brought European transport policy to life in 1985

Until the mid-1980s, transport policy was considered by many as one of the least successful domains of the European integration project. However, from the early 1990s onwards, there are clear signs of a single European transport policy, along with the accompanying implementation of infrastructure projects. What is the explanation for such a change in pace? This paper aims to offer insight in these processes by looking at the mechanisms which form and transform this policy domain. To understand the state of a policy domain and its dynamics over time an institutional approach is taken. Two concepts in political science, ‘policy arrangements’ and ‘supranational governance’ are combined and used as a framework to analyse the European transport policy domain. This analysis describes the development of several elements: organisations, rules, the transnational society, power, resources, and the central transport discourse. It demonstrates that all of these elements have developed from an intergovernmental setting towards a more supranational one. This development was slow in the first decennia when European transport policy was rather passive, but it picked up speed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the pivotal year of 1985, pressure from the transnational society resulted in a rapid change of the rules, the resources and the discourse.     

Soil erosion susceptibility assessment and validation using a geostatistical multivariate approach: a test in Southern Sicily

A certain number of studies have been carried out in recent years that aim at developing and applying a model capable of assessing water erosion of soil. Some of these have tried to quantitatively evaluate the volumes of soil loss, while others have focused their efforts on the recognition of the areas most prone to water erosion processes. This article presents the results of a research whose objective was that of evaluating water erosion susceptibility in a Sicilian watershed: the Naro river basin. A geomorphological study was carried out to recognize the water erosion landforms and define a set of parameters expressing both the intensity of hydraulic forces and the resistance of rocks/soils. The landforms were mapped and classified according to the dominant process in landsurfaces affected by diffuse or linear water erosion. A GIS layer was obtained by combining six determining factors (bedrock lithology, land use, soil texture, plan curvature, stream power index and slope-length factor) in unique conditions units. A geostatistical multivariate approach was applied by analysing the relationships between the spatial distributions of the erosion landforms and the unique condition units. Particularly, the density of eroded area for each combination of determining factors has been calculated: such function corresponds, in fact, to the conditional probability of erosion landforms to develop, under the same geoenvironmental conditions. In light of the obtained results, a general geomorphologic model for water erosion in the Naro river basin can be depicted: cultivated areas in clayey slopes, having fine-medium soil texture, are the most prone to be eroded; linear or diffuse water erosion processes dominate where the topography is favourable to a convergent or divergent runoff, respectively. For each of the two erosion process types, a susceptibility map was produced and submitted to a validation procedure based on a spatial random partition strategy. Both the success of the validation procedure of the susceptibility models and the geomorphological coherence of the relationships between factors and process that such models suggest, confirm the reliability of the method and the goodness of the predictions.     

The Messinian Sicilian stratigraphy revisited: new insights for the Messinian salinity crisis

Controversies around the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) are because of the difficulties in establishing genetic and stratigraphic relationships between its deep and shallow‐water record. Actually, the Sicilian foreland basin shows both shallow and deep‐water Messinian records, thus offering the chance to reconstruct comprehensive MSC scenarios. The Lower Gypsum of Sicily comprises primary and resedimented evaporites separated in space and time by the intra‐Messinian unconformity. A composite unit including halite, resedimented gypsum and Calcare di Base accumulated between 5.6 and 5.55 Ma in the main depocentres; it records the acme of the Messinian Salinity Crisis during a tectonic phase coupled with sea‐level falls at glacials TG14‐TG12. These deposits fully post‐date primary gypsum, which precipitated in shallow‐water wedge‐top and foreland ramp basins between 5.96 and 5.6 Ma. This new stratigraphic framework results in a three‐stage MSC scenario characterized by different primary evaporite associations: selenite in the first and third stages, carbonate, halite and potash salt in the second one associated with hybrid resedimented evaporites.     

Patterns of heritability of decreased EROD activity and resistance to PCB 126-induced teratogenesis in laboratory-reared offspring of killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) from a creosote-contaminated site in the Elizabeth River,VA, USA

Killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) from a highly contaminated site on the Elizabeth River are resistant to the acute toxicity and the cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A)-inducing activity of both the sediments from the site and chemically pure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These effects are highly heritable for one generation, but heritable to a lesser degree by subsequent generations, in clean conditions in the laboratory. We show that offspring of this population of Elizabeth River killifish are also resistant to the teratogenicity and P4501A-inducing activity of PCB congener 126, a prototypical coplanar halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon (HAH). Furthermore, the pattern of greater resistance to acute toxicity and P4501A-inducing activity in the first generation and less in subsequent generations is also observed upon exposure to PCB-126.     

珠江口外陆架表层沉积物的地球化学分区

根据249个表层沉积物样品的Ca,Al,N,P,Mg,Fe,Mn,Ti和有机碳的测定数据,利用稳健RQ型主分量分析及Q型聚类分析方法,对珠江口外陆架表层沉积物进行了地球化学分类,并将该陆架区划分成陆源细碎屑沉积区、经叠加改造的残留泥砂质沉积区、生物碎屑沉积区以及高能环境下的石英砂质沉积区。结果表明了稳健统计方法相对于传统统计方法的优越性,以及采用稳健主分量的Q载荷进行聚类分析相对于用原始变量进行聚类分析的优越性。     

南海及周边部分地区特提斯构造遗迹:问题与思考

对全球二叠纪－三叠纪古气候特征的研究表明，东特提斯地区晚三叠世古气候标志具有带状分布的特征。北巴拉望地块卡拉棉群岛科龙岛的晚三叠世沉积中发育反映较干燥古气候特征的鲕状灰岩，因此在古气候特征方面，北巴拉望地块晚三叠世地层不能与华南和印支地块同期地层对比，而应该与印度地块北缘喜马拉雅地区（向西）和琉球群岛（向东）对比。根据该古气候分析，北巴拉望地块在晚三叠世时应该位于南部亚热带较干燥气候带内，其晚三叠世的古地理位置比印支地块更靠南。对南海及南海周边部分地特提斯构造遗迹的研究，将有助于深入了解南海北部陆缘区相关构造带的性质及正确恢复南海扩张之前该区的地质发展历史。南海北部陆缘区也是研究解决特提斯构造向东延伸问题以及特提斯构造－太平洋构造时空转化问题的关键地区。     

Three-dimensional visualization of mission planning and control forthe NPS autonomous underwater vehicle

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is constructing a small autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with an onboard mission control computer. The mission controller software for this vehicle is a knowledge-based artificial intelligence (AI) system requiring thorough analysis and testing before the AUV is operational. The manner in which rapid prototyping of this software has been demonstrated by developing a controller code on a LISP machine and using an Ethernet link with a graphics workstation to simulate the controller's environment is discussed. The development of a testing simulator using a knowledge engineering environment (KEE) expert system shell that examines AUV controller subsystems and vehicle models before integrating them with the full AUV for its test environment missions is discussed. This AUV simulator utilizes an interactive mission planning control console and is fully autonomous once initial parameters are selected     

Modelling the relationship between sexual reproduction and rhizome growth in Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile

The relationship between flowering and growth performance of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile in meadows distributed along the south‐eastern coast of Sicily (Italy) was investigated by means of a statistical model (generalized linear mixed model) combined with the lepidochronological analysis. Over a 28‐year period, 67 floral stalk remains were observed. The highest flowering index was recorded in lepidochronological year 1998 (10.1%) and the Inflorescence Frequency per age showed a clear decrease corresponding to 15‐year‐old shoots. The sexual reproductive event had positive effects on rhizome elongation (cm year^?1) and leaf production (no. leaves year^?1) in the same flowering year, whilst no effect on the rhizome production (mg year^?1) was observed. Rhizome growth variables showed significant negative lagged responses in the two years following flowering. On the whole, we calculated that the effect exerted by flowering, in terms of loss on rhizome elongation and production, was about 27% and 38%, respectively. Although it has been demonstrated that recovery from the stress induced by sexual reproduction is limited to the two years after flowering, the magnitude of the reproductive cost may become quite considerable especially in comparison with the whole lifespan of individual shoots.     

Depth- and current-induced effects on wave propagation into the Altamaha River Estuary, Georgia

A study of sea surface wave propagation and its energy deformation was carried out using field observations and numerical experiments over a region spanning the midshelf of the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) to the Altamaha River Estuary, GA. Wave heights on the shelf region correlate with the wind observations and directional observations show that most of the wave energy is incident from the easterly direction. Comparing midshelf and inner shelf wave heights during a time when there was no wind and hence no wave development led to an estimation of wave energy dissipation due to bottom friction with corresponding wave dissipation factor of 0.07 for the gently sloping continental shelf of the SAB. After interacting with the shoaling region of the Altamaha River, the wave energy within the estuary becomes periodic in time showing wave energy during flood to high water phase of the tide and very little wave energy during ebb to low water. This periodic modulation inside the estuary is a direct result of enhanced depth and current-induced wave breaking that occurs at the ebb shoaling region surrounding the Altamaha River mouth at longitude 81.23°W. Modelling results with STWAVE showed that depth-induced wave breaking is more important during the low water phase of the tide than current-induced wave breaking during the ebb phase of the tide. During the flood to high water phase of the tide, wave energy propagates into the estuary. Measurements of the significant wave height within the estuary showed a maximum wave height difference of 0.4 m between the slack high water (SHW) and slack low water (SLW). In this shallow environment these wave–current interactions lead to an apparent bottom roughness that is increased from typical hydraulic roughness values, leading to an enhanced bottom friction coefficient.