Post-injection spreading and trapping of CO2 in saline aquifers: impact of the plume shape at the end of injection

We use an analytical model for the post-injection spreading of a plume of CO₂ in a saline aquifer under the action of buoyancy and capillary trapping to show that the spreading behavior is at all times strongly influenced by the shape of the plume at the end of the injection period. We solve the spreading equation numerically and confirm that, at late times, the volume of mobile CO₂ is given by existing asymptotic analytical solutions. The key parameters governing plume spreading are the mobility ratio, M, and the capillary trapping number, Γ—the former sets the shape of the plume at the end of the injection period, and the latter sets the amount of trapping. As a quantitative measure of the dependence of the spreading behavior on the initial shape, we use a volume ratio. That is, we evolve the plume from a true end-of-injection initial shape and also from an idealized “step” initial shape, and we take the ratio of these mobile plume volumes in the asymptotic regime. We find that this volume ratio is a power-law in M, where the exponent is governed exclusively by Γ. For conditions that are representative of geologic CO₂ sequestration, the ratio of mobile volumes between “true” and “step” initial plume shapes can be 50% or higher.     

The conventions of agri-environmental practice in New Zealand: farmers, retail driven audit schemes and a new spirit of farming

Audit schemes dictating the parameters of environmentally and socially acceptable management practice have emerged as a pervasive feature of global agri-food production. While the impacts of such schemes on the global movement of food and fibre and the evolving terrains of power in agri-food relations are well documented, the associated reconstruction of farming identities in the localities where audits are implemented has received less attention. The emerging responses to audit schemes in the New Zealand kiwifruit and dairy sectors are key examples of the contentious nature through which auditing is incorporated within farming practice. Analysis of these responses reveals the potential for audits to alter the spirit of farming in New Zealand, initiating new conventions of interaction between producers and industries. Within a convention theory framework, the incorporation of auditing within standard management practice involves a negotiated process in which the farmers employ strategic justifications of their capability (and value) relative to the quality designations established by the audit. Rather than evaluate the relative merits of a farm, its product and its owner through the craft and skill of the independent land manager, successful farming is increasingly associated with the individual’s ability to conform to an audit’s structures. The global trend toward audit schemes suggests that similar challenges to the spirit of farming may be replicated in other contexts.     

Surface complexation modeling of Cu(II) adsorption on mixtures of hydrous ferric oxide and kaolinite

Background  

The application of surface complexation models (SCMs) to natural sediments and soils is hindered by a lack of consistent models and data for large suites of metals and minerals of interest. Furthermore, the surface complexation approach has mostly been developed and tested for single solid systems. Few studies have extended the SCM approach to systems containing multiple solids.     

Hypoxic events in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, during the summer of 2001

Bottom water hypoxic events were observed in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island during the summer of 2001 using a towed sensor, vertical casts at fixed stations, and continuous monitoring buoys. This combination of approaches allowed for both extensive spatial and temporal sampling. Oxygen concentrations below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acute hypoxia criterion of 2.3 mg l^?1 were observed in the northern parts of Narragansett Bay, including the Providence River. We estimate 39% of the area of the Providence River was affected by acute hypoxia between July and September 2001. All other regions experienced only small areas of acute hypoxia (<5%), and no acute hypoxia was observed from Quonset Point south. The area encompassing oxygen concentrations below the EPA chronic hypoxia criterion of 4.8 mg l^?1 was much more extensive in the upper half of Narragansett Bay, sometimes covering the majority of the region, though it is unclear whether exposure to concentrations below this criterion persisted long enough to significantly affect marine species in these areas. Vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen typically exhibited a mid water oxygen minimum near the pycnocline, followed by a slight increase in oxygen with depth. The surface waters above the pycnocline were typically supersaturated with oxygen. The northern portions of the Bay where the most extensive hypoxia was observed corresponded to the regions with both the greatest thermohaline stratification, the highest nutrient inputs, and the highest primary productivity.     

A Rhaetian microvertebrate fauna from Stowey Quarry,Somerset, U.K.

Rhaetian bone beds have been described from many locations in south-west England, around Bristol. One site that has never been reported is Stowey Quarry, some 13?km south of Bristol. This quarry yielded Lias, and revealed thin Rhaetian units in the quarry floor, including two bone beds, the basal Rhaetian bone bed, and a second, higher bone bed, also within the Westbury Formation. The fossil fauna of both includes elements typical of Rhaetian bone beds elsewhere, but showing differences in faunal composition between the two. The basal bone bed yielded more specimens and more species, with three taxa (Sargodon tomicus, Rhomphaiodon minor and Hybodus cloacinus) exclusive to this bed and eleven identified in total. Severnichthys acuminatus accounts for more than 50% of the countable teeth from the basal bone bed, followed by Gyrolepis albertii with 20%, Lissodus minimus with 14% and Rhomphaiodon minor with 9%. The basal bone bed, as ever, is dominated by chondrichthyans, whereas the upper bone bed is dominated by osteichthyans, which form 90% of the non-dental remains. The only unique taxon is Dapedium, and Gyrolepis albertii is the most abundant species with 45% of countable teeth, followed by Severnichthys acuminatus with 38% and Duffinselache holwellensis with 11%. These faunal differences, and the equally good condition of specimens between both samples confirms that the upper bone bed is independent of the basal bone bed, and is not a reworked subsample.     

Church-based social capital, networks and geographical scale: Katrina evacuation, relocation, and recovery in a New Orleans Vietnamese American community

This research examines the role of social capital and networks to explain the evacuation, relocation, and recovery experiences of a Vietnamese American community in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As the single largest community institution, the parish church’s complex bonding and bridging social capital and networks proved particularly critical in part because of its historically based ontological security. The process of evacuation, but especially relocation and recovery, was dependent on deploying co-ethnic social capital and networks at a variety of geographical scales. Beyond the local or community scale, extra-local, regional, and national scales of social capital and networks reproduced a spatially redefined Vietnamese American community. Part of the recovery process included constructing discursive place-based collective-action frames to successfully contest a nearby landfill that in turn engendered social capital and networks crossing ethnic boundaries to include the extra-local African American community. Engaging social capital and networks beyond the local geographical scale cultivated a Vietnamese American community with an emergent post-Katrina cultural and political identity.     

Sulfide Oxidation across Diffuse Flow Zones of Hydrothermal Vents

The sulfide (H₂S/HS^?) that is emitted from hydrothermal vents begins to oxidize abiotically with oxygen upon contact with ambient bottom water, but the reaction kinetics are slow. Here, using in situ voltammetry, we report detection of the intermediate sulfur oxidation products polysulfides [ $ {\text{S}}_{\text{x}}^{2 - } $ ] and thiosulfate [ $ {\text{S}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}_{ 3}^{ 2- } $ ], along with contextual data on sulfide, oxygen, and temperature. At Lau Basin in 2006, thiosulfate was identified in less than one percent of approximately 10,500 scans and no polysulfides were detected. Only five percent of 11,000 voltammetric scans taken at four vent sites at Lau Basin in May 2009 show either thiosulfate or polysulfides. These in situ data indicate that abiotic sulfide oxidation does not readily occur as H₂S contacts oxic bottom waters. Calculated abiotic potential sulfide oxidation rates are <10^?3 ??M/min and are consistent with slow oxidation and the observed lack of sulfur oxidation intermediates. It is known that the thermodynamics for the first electron transfer step for sulfide and oxygen during sulfide oxidation in these systems are unfavorable, and that the kinetics for two electron transfers are not rapid. Here, we suggest that different metal catalyzed and/or biotic reaction pathways can readily produce sulfur oxidation intermediates. Via shipboard high-pressure incubation experiments, we show that snails with chemosynthetic endosymbionts do release polysulfides and may be responsible for our field observations of polysulfides.     

The Effects of Tidal Export from Salt Marsh Ditches on Estuarine Water Quality and Plankton Communities

Salt marshes are an important transition zone between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and in their natural state, they often function to cycle or trap terrestrially derived nutrients and organic matter. Many US salt marshes were ditched during the twentieth century, potentially altering their functionality. The goal of this 4-year study was to assess the impact of water from ditches within seven salt marshes on estuarine water quality and plankton communities within four estuaries on Long Island, NY, USA. We found that concentrations of inorganic nutrients (ammonium, phosphate), dissolved and particulate organic nitrogen and carbon (POC, PON, DOC, DON), and total coliform bacteria were significantly enriched in salt marsh ditches compared to the estuaries they discharged into. In addition, concentrations of ammonium and DON became more enriched in ditches as tidal levels decreased, suggesting these constituents were generated in situ. Quantification of nitrogen sources in Flanders Bay, NY, suggested salt marsh ditches could represent a substantial source of N to this estuary during summer months. Experimental incubations demonstrated that water from salt marsh ditches was capable of significantly enhancing the growth of multiple classes of phytoplankton, with large diatoms and dinoflagellates displaying the most dramatic increases in growth. Experiments further demonstrated that salt marsh ditchwater was capable of significantly enhancing pelagic respiration rates, suggesting discharge from ditches could influence estuarine oxygen consumption. In summary, this study demonstrates that tidal draining of salt marsh ditches is capable of degrading multiple aspects of estuarine water quality.     

Lead-210 sediment geochronology in a changing coastal environment

Sediment accumulation rate studies utilizing excess ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs were conducted as part of recent investigations of biogeochemical cycling at a single site in Cape Lookout Bight, a rapidly changing coastal basin on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (U.S.A.). Cores three meters in length reveal a depositional history for the bight interior characterized by a gradual transition in texture from coarse-grained to fine-grained material over the period 1946–1979. This transition is controlled by progressive enclosure of the bight by an active northerly migrating recurved spit. The textural gradation is periodically interrupted by layers of well-sorted sand associated with major storm events. Lead-210 data indicate that the upper meter of the sediment has accumulated at a rate of 3.35 to 4.71 g · cm^?2 · yr^?1 or approximately 8.4 to 11.8 cm · yr^?1 (at ø = 0.84). Below 120 cm depth, dilution of clay and silt by low activity sand necessitates correction of the ²¹⁰Pb profile in order to establish a geochronology. Grain size ²¹⁰Pb distribution measurements at three depths reveal that the specific activity (dpm · g^?1) of clay is 3.2 times that of silt and 24.7 times that of sand. Corrections of bulk sediment excess ²¹⁰Pb activities based on these measurements lead to dates for textural changes which are consistent with charted changes in basin morphology and major storm events.Sixteen ¹³⁷Cs measurements between 33–241 cm depth reveal a peak activity at 105–115 cm and indicate a minimum sedimentation rate of approximately 2.7 g · cm^?2 · yr^?1.