Total mercury in terrestrial systems (air-soil-plant-water) at the mining region of San Joaquín,Queretaro, Mexico

Deficient management of cinnabar mining left the San Joaquín region with high concentrations of mercury in its soils (2.4 – 4164 mg kg^-1). Numerous cinnabar mines have contributed to the dispersion of mercury into agricultural (0.5 –314 mg kg^-1) and forest (0.2 – 69 mg kg^-1) soils. Sediments are a natural means of transportation for mercury, causing its spreading, especially in areas near mine entrances (0.6 – 687 mg kg^-1). The nearness of maize crops to mines favors mercury accumulation in the different plant structures, such as roots, stems, leaves, and grain (0.04 – 8.2 mg kg^-1); these being related to mercury volatilization and accumulation in soils. Mercury vapor present in the settlements could indicate a constant volatilization from lands and soils (22 – 153 ng m^-3). The mercury levels found in the soils, in maize grain, and in the air resulted greater than the standards reported by the Official Mexican Norm (NOM) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Mercury in rainwater is due mainly to the presence of suspended atmospheric particles, later deposited on the surface (1.5 – 339 μg |^-1). Mercury dissolution was found in the drinking water (10 – 170 ng |^-1), with concentrations below those established by the NOM and the WHO. The contamination existing in the San Joaquín region does not reach the levels of the world’s greatest mercury producers: Almaden (Spain) and Idrija (Slovenia). It is, however, like that found in other important second degree world producers such as Guizhou (China). The population of San Joaquín, as well as its surrounding environment, are constantly exposed to mercury contamination, thus making a long term monitoring necessary to determine its effects, especially to people.     

Crustal structure and tectonic setting of the south central Andes from gravimetric analysis

Based on terrestrial gravity data, in this paper we prepared a map of Bouguer anomalies, which was filtered to separate shallow and deep gravity sources. Based on a density model and gravimetric inversion techniques, the discontinuous crust-mantle boundary and the top of crystalline basement were modeled. Subsequently, the equivalent elastic thickness (Te) was evaluated, considering information from the crust-mantle discontinuity and topographic load, finding high Te values in the eastern Andean foothills and west of the Velasco range. These results are consistent with the positive isostatic and residual Bouguer anomaly values, which suggest the presence of high-density rocks in the mid-to upper crust. In addition, petrographic and geochemical analysis conducted in surface outcrops suggest a mantle origin.     

Strike‐slip tectonics and basin inversion in the Western Mediterranean: the Post‐Messinian evolution of the Alboran Sea

A comprehensive interpretation of single and multichannel seismic reflection profiles integrated with biostratigraphical data and log information from nearby DSDP and ODP wells has been used to constrain the late Messinian to Quaternary basin evolution of the central part of the Alboran Sea Basin. We found that deformation is heterogeneously distributed in space and time and that three major shortening phases have affected the basin as a result of convergence between the Eurasian and African plates. During the Messinian salinity crisis, significant erosion and local subsidence resulted in the formation of small, isolated, basins with shallow marine and lacustrine sedimentation. The first shortening event occurred during the Early Pliocene (ca. 5.33–4.57 Ma) along the Alboran Ridge. This was followed by a major transgression that widened the basin and was accompanied by increased sediment accumulation rates. The second, and main, phase of shortening on the Alboran Ridge took place during the Late Pliocene (ca. 3.28–2.59 Ma) as a result of thrusting and folding which was accompanied by a change in the Eurasian/African plate convergence vector from NW‐SE to WNW‐ESE. This phase also caused uplift of the southern basins and right‐lateral transtension along the WNW‐ENE Yusuf fault zone. Deformation along the Yusuf and Alboran ridges continued during the early Pleistocene (ca. 1.81–1.19 Ma) and appears to continue at the present day together with the active NNE‐SSW trending Al‐Idrisi strike‐slip fault. The Alboran Sea Basin is a region of complex interplay between sediment supply from the surrounding Betic and Rif mountains and tectonics in a zone of transpression between the converging African and European plates. The partitioning of the deformation since the Pliocene, and the resulting subsidence and uplift in the basin was partially controlled by the inherited pre‐Messinian basin geometry.     

The Central Iberian arc, an orocline centered in the Iberian Massif and some implications for the Variscan belt

An arcuate structure, comparable in size with the Ibero-Armorican arc, is delineated by Variscan folds and magnetic anomalies in the Central Iberian Zone of the Iberian Massif. Called the Central Iberian arc, its sense of curvature is opposite to that of the Ibero-Armorican arc, and its core is occupied by the Galicia-Trás-os-Montes Zone of NW Iberia, which includes the Rheic suture. Other zones of the Iberian Massif are bent by the arc, but the Ossa-Morena and South Portuguese zones are not involved. The arc formed during the Late Carboniferous, at final stages of thermal relaxation and collapse, and an origin related with right-lateral ductile transpression at the scale of the Variscan belt is proposed. The Central Iberian arc explains the width of the Central Iberian Zone, clarifies the position of the allochthonous terranes of NW Iberia, and opens new perspectives for correlations with the rest of the Variscan belt, in particular, with the Armorican Massif, whose central zone represents the continuation of the southwest branch of the arc detached by strike-slip tectonics.     

Magnetic anisotropy of hematite natural crystals: increasing low-field strength experiments

Hematite is a very abundant mineral in natural rock samples. Despite being one of the most important carriers of remanent magnetization, its magnetic anisotropy is not well understood partially due to its high coercivity and complex behavior. In particular, the field intensity beyond which the Rayleigh relation no longer holds varies from one crystal to another. This field threshold is usually less than the field used in most commercial instruments. The nonlinear behavior of low-field susceptibility may thus hinder the magnetic fabric analysis. We have carried out an intensive study of the low-field bulk susceptibility and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) at increasing low fields in the range of 2–450 A/m (effective value) in a collection of hematite natural crystals. Standard rock magnetic properties, X-ray diffraction, and mass spectrometry have also been determined in order to discover the parameters influencing the low-field susceptibility variations with field. The AMS principal directions, the shape of the AMS ellipsoid, and the degree of anisotropy are the parameters that can vary with different applied fields. It has been found that there is no correlation between magnetic properties like coercivity or saturation magnetization and the range in which the Rayleigh approximation is valid. However, there seems to be a correlation with the peak width determined from X-ray diffraction, suggesting that the Rayleigh region in hematite crystals is related to the spatial orientation of the physical domains within the basal plane.     

Hydrogeochemistry of fluoride in the Quequen river basin: natural pollutants distribution in the argentine pampa

Fluoride pollution is a widespread problem in Argentina, as it is in many areas of the World. Former investigations have demonstrated that the dissolution of volcanic glass disseminated in the loess-like sediments is the main source of fluoride in the Argentine pampas. Nevertheless, fluoride distribution is erratic and the factors controlling it are not yet well-known. A large amount of hydrochemical data collected in the Quequen Grande river catchment is used in order to contribute to the understanding of fluoride distribution and mobility in groundwater in the Argentine pampas. The Quequen Grande river catchment is 10,000 km². It extends between two low hills ranges of Precambrian metamorphic rocks and sedimentary Paleozoic rocks, filled by a thick sequence of Cenozoic sediments, mainly silts and silt-clayed, with sand layers. These sediments form a multilayer phreatic aquifer, which is recharged from precipitation infiltration, discharging through streams directly into the sea. Fluoride concentration in surface water (n = 353) ranges between 0 and 6.5 mg/l, with an average value of 2.14 mg/l. Groundwater concentration (n = 135) is from 0 up to 5.7 mg/l, with an average of 1.84 mg/l. Considering the statistic distribution of fluoride, two groups of samples can be determined. A dominant group between 0 and 3 mg/l, with a mean value around 1.5 mg/l, corresponding to samples widely distributed in the catchment; and a second one group with fluoride contents between 3 and 6 mg/l, corresponding to a smaller area in the central-west border. Two different sources are proposed. Volcanic glass dissolution is responsible for dominant values in the catchment, while the weathering of biotite from the Paleozoic bedrock can be assumed to account for the higher concentrations in the second group.     

Degradation and Detoxification of Chlorophenols in Continuous‐Flow Fixed‐Bed Aerobic Reactors

An indigenous bacterial strain of Delftia sp. capable of degrading 2,4‐dicholorophenol and an indigenous bacterial community that degrades 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol (TCP) were employed to inoculate continuous down‐flow fixed‐bed reactors. Continuous‐reactors were constructed from PVC employing hollow PVC cylinders as support material. Synthetic wastewater was prepared by dissolving the corresponding chlorophenol in non‐sterile groundwater. Biodegradation was evaluated by spectrophotometry, chloride release, GC, and microbial growth. Detoxification was evaluated by using Daphnia magna as test organism. Delftia sp. was able to remove an average of 95.6% of DCP. Efficiency in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was of 88.9%. The indigenous bacterial community that degrades TCP reached an average efficiency of 96.5 and 91.6% in terms of compound and COD removal, respectively. In both cases stoichiometric removal of chloride and detoxification was achieved. When synthetic wastewater feed was cut off for 7 days, both reactors showed a fast recovery after inflow restarting, reaching average outlet concentration values within 36 h. The promising behavior of the microorganisms and the low cost of the reactors tested allow us to suggest their possible application to remediation processes.     

Cotton Fiber/ZrO2, A New Material for Adsorption of Cr(VI) Ions in Water

The natural cotton fiber was used to synthesize an anion exchange, containing ZrO₂ film on its surface, NCFZC (natural cotton fiber/ZrO₂ composite). This anion exchanger was produced by the reaction of the zirconium oxychloride and hydroxyl groups on surface of the natural cotton fiber. The material was used for Cr(VI) ions adsorption studies. Adsorption equilibrium time and optimum pH for Cr(VI) adsorption were found to be 6 h and 4.0, respectively. The Langmuir and Temkin isotherms were used to models adsorption equilibrium data. The adsorption capacity of NCFZC was found to be 1.33 mmol/g. Kinetic studies showed that the rate of adsorption of Cr(VI) on NCFZC obeyed a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model.     

Local sea level change scenarios for the end of the 21st century and potential physical impacts in the lower Ria de Aveiro (Portugal)

Sea level change is an important consequence of climate change due to its impact on society and ecosystems. Analyses of tide-gauge data have indicated that the global sea level has risen during the 20th century and several studies predict that the mean sea level will continue to rise during the 21st century, intensifying coastal hazards worldwide. In Portugal, the Ria de Aveiro is expected to be one of the regions most affected by sea level change.The main aim of this study is to evaluate the potential impacts of the mean sea level change on the hydrodynamics and morphodynamics of the Ria de Aveiro. With this purpose, local mean sea level change was projected for the period 2091-2100 relative to 1980-1999, for different Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) scenarios developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These projections revealed an increase in the mean sea level between 0.28 m under scenario B1 and 0.42 m under scenario A2.The results obtained for sea level rise scenario A2 projection were used to force the morphodynamic model MORSYS2D, previously implemented for the Ria de Aveiro. The modelling results were compared with model forecasts for the present sea level. The residual sediment transport and its balance at the lagoon inlet were computed and analysed for both situations. While the residual sediment transport is generally seaward, sediments tend to deposit inside the inlet due to the weak sediment transport at its mouth. The direction of the residual flux will not change with the sea level rise, but sediment fluxes will intensify, and accretion inside the inlet will increase.The rise in mean sea level will also affect the lagoon hydrodynamics. The tidal prism at the lagoon mouth will increase by about 28% in spring tide. In the lower lagoon only a slight increase of the tidal asymmetry is predicted.     

Geochemical processes in a Mediterranean Lake: a high-resolution study of the last 4,000 years in Zoñar Lake,southern Spain

High-resolution geochemical analysis of a 6-m-long sediment core from Zoñar Lake, southern Spain, provides a detailed characterization of major changes in lake and watershed processes during the last 4,000 years. Geochemical variables were used as paleolimnological indicators and complement Zoñar Lakes’s paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on sedimentological and biological proxies, which define periods of increasing allochthonous input to the lake and periods of dominant autochthonous sedimentation. Chemical ratios identify periods of endogenic carbonate formation (higher Ca/Al, Sr/Al and Ba/Al ratios), evaporite precipitation (higher S/Al, Sr/Al ratios), and anoxic conditions (higher Mo/Al, U/Th ratios and Eu anomaly). Higher productivity is marked by elevated organic carbon content and carbonate precipitation (Mg/Ca). Hydrological reconstruction for Zoñar Lake was based on sedimentological, mineralogical and biological proxies, and shows that lower lake levels are characterized by Sr-rich sediments (a brackish lake with aragonite) and S-rich sediments (a saline lake with gypsum), while higher lake levels are characterized by sediments enriched in elements associated with alumino-silicates (Al, K, Ti, Fe, trace and rare earth elements), reflecting fresher conditions. Geochemical indicators also mark periods of higher detrital input to the lake related to human activity in the watershed: (1) during the Iberian Roman Humid Period (650 BC–AD 300), around the onset of the Little Ice Age (AD 1400), during the relatively drier Post-Roman and Middle Ages (AD 800–1400), and over the last 50 years, due to mechanized farming practices. Heavy metal enrichment in the sediments (Cu and Ni) suggests intensification of human activities during the Iberian Roman Period, and the use of fertilizers during the last 50 years.