Natural attenuation of septic system nitrogen by anammox

On-site disposal of sewage in septic systems can lead to groundwater plumes with NO(3)(-)-N concentrations exceeding the common drinking water limit of 10 mg/L. Currently, denitrification is considered as the principal natural attenuation process. However, at a large seasonal-use septic system in Ontario (256 campsites), a suboxic zone exists where nitrogen removal of up to 80% occurs including removal of NH(4)(+)-N. This zone has both NO(3)(-)-N and NH(4)(+)-N at >5 mg/L each. In the distal NH(4)(+)-rich zone, NH(4)(+)-N concentrations (8.1 ± 8.0 mg/L) are lower than in the proximal zone (48 ± 36 mg/L) and NH(4)(+)-N is isotopically enriched (concentration-weighted mean δ(15)N of +15.7‰) compared to the proximal zone (+7.8‰). Furthermore, δ(15)N-NH(4)(+) isotopic enrichment increases with depth in the distal zone, which is opposite to what would result if nitrification along the water table zone was the mechanism causing NH(4)(+) depletion. Bacterial community composition was assessed with molecular (DNA-based) analysis and demonstrated that groundwater bacterial populations were predominantly composed of bacteria from two Candidatus genera of the Planctomycetales (Brocadia and Jettenia). Together, these data provide strong evidence that anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) plays an important role in nitrogen attenuation at this site.     

紫坪铺水利工程地震监测预测

紫坪铺水库微震台网2004年建成,强震台网2007年建成,2005年9月水库蓄水.据对2006年10月水磨突发ML1.4级微小地震群的研究,较准确预报了2006年11月至2007年2月的水磨ML2.5级地震群,并认为该地震群是蓄水初期诱发的一些浅表卸荷型或岩溶塌陷型的小地震.2008年5月12日汶川8级特大天然地震微观震中距水库大坝17 km,水库微震台网和强震台阵正常运行,完成政府部门和水库业主的业务安排,为政府的抗震救灾有效决策提供了科学依据,为社会稳定起到了巨大作用.     

瀑布沟水库蓄水前中小地震震源参数研究

研究瀑布沟水库蓄水前库区地震的活动性以及震源机制、应力场等震源参数的性质,为水库蓄水之后可能诱发地震活动的监测、成因及类型鉴别给出可供依据的参考.研究结果显示,水库库尾边缘西部地震活动水平相对较高;库中段的中小地震活动水平相对较弱;大坝附近的库首段地震活动水平相对较低,震源深度主要集中在5-15 km.研究区内小震震源机制解结果显示,瀑布沟水库蓄水前小震主要为走滑型地震,蓄水区与研究区平均应力场总体呈NW方向.     

Signatures of Divergence and Self-Organization in Soils and Weathering Profiles

Complex system behaviors such as self-organization are difficult to address in geology. System evolution often cannot be directly observed and, in geology models and theory, must be reconciled with field evidence. However, self-organization can be addressed within the historical-interpretive paradigm by applying a measure of the degree of self-organization of geologic features, using standard interpretive methods to determine the nature of changes, and determining whether those changes result in an increase or decrease in organization. In this way, stable non-self-organizing convergent development can be distinguished from unstable chaotic self-organizing divergent development. Kolmogorov entropy (K-entropy) was used as a measure of the self-organization of soil profiles in eastern North Carolina. In general, the profiles are low in K-entropy, indicating a generally high level of predictability and information in the vertical arrangement of pedogenetic horizons. As a broad generality, the study profiles appear to be decreasing in entropy if or when surface erosion is minimal and increasing in entropy otherwise. However, results show that whether the profiles demonstrate evidence of convergent or divergent behavior is determined by the relative rates or magnitudes of three main processes: (1) horizon differentiation in surficial horizons by the formation of transitional AE or A&E horizons due to secondary podzolization, (2) thickening of the solum at the weathering front, and (3) surface erosion. There is no direct relationship between the degree of pedogenic development and self-organization. The results suggest that complex system behaviors are controlled by, and can be linked to, specific pedologic and geomorphic processes and that soils and regoliths may be characterized by both convergent and divergent developmental pathways.     

Water Discharge and Sediment Load from the Western Slopes of the Colombian Andes with Focus on Rio San Juan

Small rivers draining high-rainfall basins and mountainous terrain west of the Cordilleras in South America have disproportionately high water discharge and sediment load. Fifteen rivers in western Colombia discharge a combined 254 km3 yr-1 or 8020 m3 s-1 of water into the Pacific. Sediment yield is strongly correlated with basin area (R2=0.97), and sediment load is correlated with water discharge (R2=0.73). Rio San Juan occupies a 16,465-km2 basin with a mean annual rainfall of 7277 mm. It has the highest water discharge (2550 m3 s-1), sediment load (16x106 t yr-1), and basin-wide sediment yield (1150 t km-2 yr-1) on the entire west coast of South America. Rio Patía drains a 23,700-km2 basin with a mean annual rainfall of 2821 mm. Its water discharge, sediment load, and basin-wide sediment yield are 1291 m3 s-1, 14 t yr-1, and 972 t km-2 yr-1, respectively. Rio San Juan and Rio Patía deliver 30x106 t of suspended sediment annually into the Pacific. Analysis of data for an additional 22 rivers in Colombia that drain into the Caribbean Sea indicates that the Pacific rivers have at least twice the sediment yield compared with the larger Rio Magdalena. Our results confirm that the Pacific rivers of Colombia need to be accounted for in global sediment budgets.     

Pore water testing and analysis: the good,the bad,and the ugly

The increasingly common practice of collecting and assessing sediment pore water as a primary measure of sediment quality is reviewed. Good features of this practice include: pore water is a key exposure route for some organisms associated with sediments; pore water testing eliminates particle size effects; pore water analyses and tests can provide useful information regarding contamination and pollution. Bad features include: pore water is not the only exposure route; pore water tests lack chemical or biological realism: their "sensitivity" relative to other tests may be meaningless due to manipulation and laboratory artifacts; many sediment and surface dwelling organisms are not directly influenced by pore water. Bad features can become ugly if: other exposure pathways are not considered (for toxicity or bioaccumulation); manipulation techniques are not appropriate; pore water tests are inappropriately linked to population-level effects. Pore water testing and analyses can be effective tools provided their limitations are well understood by researchers and managers.     

四川水库地震综述

介绍了四川省境内5例水库诱发地震和2例有争议的疑似水库地诱发震。上述水库诱发地震中既有构造水库地震,又有岩溶塌陷型水库诱发地震,还有水库快速加载诱发的地震,几乎含概了水库诱发地震的所有类型。     

Vulnerability indicators of sea water intrusion

In this paper, simple indicators of the propensity for sea water intrusion (SWI) to occur (referred to as "SWI vulnerability indicators") are devised. The analysis is based on an existing analytical solution for the steady-state position of a sharp fresh water-salt water interface. Interface characteristics, that is, the wedge toe location and sea water volume, are used in quantifying SWI in both confined and unconfined aquifers. Rates-of-change (partial derivatives of the analytical solution) in the wedge toe or sea water volume are used to quantify the aquifer vulnerability to various stress situations, including (1) sea-level rise; (2) change in recharge (e.g., due to climate change); and (3) change in seaward discharge. A selection of coastal aquifer cases is used to apply the SWI vulnerability indicators, and the proposed methodology produces interpretations of SWI vulnerability that are broadly consistent with more comprehensive investigations. Several inferences regarding SWI vulnerability arise from the analysis, including: (1) sea-level rise impacts are more extensive in aquifers with head-controlled rather than flux-controlled inland boundaries, whereas the opposite is true for recharge change impacts; (2) sea-level rise does not induce SWI in constant-discharge confined aquifers; (3) SWI vulnerability varies depending on the causal factor, and therefore vulnerability composites are needed that differentiate vulnerability to such threats as sea-level rise, climate change, and changes in seaward groundwater discharge. We contend that the approach is an improvement over existing methods for characterizing SWI vulnerability, because the method has theoretical underpinnings and yet calculations are simple, although the coastal aquifer conceptualization is highly idealized.