Refining the estimation of metal loads dissolved in acid mine drainage by continuous monitoring of specific conductivity and water level

The accurate estimation of metal loads transported by streams is necessary to calculate reliable mass transfers of metals between compartments, both at local and global scales. This estimation is particularly relevant in the case of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers (SW Spain) due to their significant contribution to the total metal transfer from continents to the ocean. At a local scale, the metal load transported by streams plays a key role in predicting the biogeochemical evolution of water reservoirs affected by Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). This work uses the relationships between specific conductivity (SC) and dissolved elements to calculate the metal load of the River Meca, a tributary of the Odiel. The SC and the water level were continuously monitored from April 2009 to June 2010. Water samples were also collected and measurements of the discharge were carried out manually once a month. The relationships between the SC and the concentration of dissolved elements are, in general, very good (R² > 0.90). However, some key elements such as Fe show a very poor correlation. A simple methodology based on the MIX code (a maximum likelihood method to estimate mixing ratios) was used to elucidate their different behaviours. During the dry period (April–December, 2009) the Fe concentration was lower than that deduced from the SC recorded value due to the precipitation of Fe-oxihydroxides, which also reduced the concentrations of As, Cr, Pb and, to a lesser extent, Cu. At the same time Na, Sr, Ca and Li were enriched because of the higher interaction with the riverbed materials. Correlations between the SC and the metal concentration improved significantly when each period was considered separately. A second dry period (April–June 2010) shows high SC values, although no dissolution/precipitation of solid phases is evidenced. This indicates that SC alone is not enough to predict the dissolved metal loads in Mediterranean AMD streams. The metal load transported by the River Meca was determined for the hydrological year 2009/10 as 1933 ± 129 tonnes of Fe, 990 ± 155 of Al and 378 ± 41 of Zn.     

Tampa Bay Coastal Wetlands: Nineteenth to Twentieth Century Tidal Marsh-to-Mangrove Conversion

Currently, mangroves dominate the tidal wetlands of Tampa Bay, Florida, but an examination of historic navigation charts revealed dominance of tidal marshes with a mangrove fringe in the 1870s. This study's objective was to conduct a new assessment of wetland change in Tampa Bay by digitizing nineteenth century topographic and public land surveys and comparing these to modern coastal features at four locations. We differentiate between wetland loss, wetland gain through marine transgression, and a wetland conversion from marsh to mangrove. Wetland loss was greatest at study sites to the east and north. Expansion of the intertidal zone through marine transgression, across adjacent low-lying land, was documented primarily near the mouth of the bay. Generally, the bay-wide marsh-to-mangrove ratio reversed from 86:14 to 25:75 in 125?years. Conversion of marsh to mangrove wetlands averaged 72?% at the four sites, ranging from 52?% at Old Tampa Bay to 95?% at Feather Sound. In addition to latitudinal influences, intact wetlands and areas with greater freshwater influence exhibited a lower rate of marsh-to-mangrove conversion. Two sources for nineteenth century coastal landscape were in close agreement, providing an unprecedented view of historic conditions in Tampa Bay.     

Functional and Compositional Responses of Periphyton Mats to Simulated Saltwater Intrusion in the Southern Everglades

Periphyton plays key ecological roles in karstic, freshwater wetlands and is extremely sensitive to environmental change making it a powerful tool to detect saltwater intrusion into these vulnerable and valuable ecosystems. We conducted field mesocosm experiments in the Florida Everglades, USA to test the effects of saltwater intrusion on periphyton metabolism, nutrient content, and diatom species composition, and how these responses differ between mats from a freshwater versus a brackish marsh. Pulsed saltwater intrusion was simulated by dosing treatment chambers monthly with a brine solution for 15 months; control chambers were simultaneously dosed with site water. Periphyton from the freshwater marsh responded to a 1-ppt increase in surface water salinity with reduced productivity and decreased concentrations of total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These functional responses were accompanied by significant shifts in periphytic diatom assemblages. Periphyton mats at the brackish marsh were more functionally resilient to the saltwater treatment (~?2 ppt above ambient), but nonetheless experienced significant shifts in diatom composition. These findings suggest that freshwater periphyton is negatively affected by small, short-term increases in salinity and that periphytic diatom assemblages, particularly at the brackish marsh, are a better metric of salinity increases compared with periphyton functional metrics due to functional redundancy. This research provides new and valuable information regarding periphyton dynamics in response to changing water sources in the southern Everglades that will allow us to extend the use of periphyton, and their diatom assemblages, as tools for environmental assessments related to saltwater intrusion.     

Climatic and tectonic controls on carbonate deposition in syn‐rift siliciclastic fluvial systems: A case of microbialites and associated facies in the Late Jurassic

This work provides new insights to assess the factors controlling carbonate deposition in the siliciclastic fluvial systems of rift basins. Sedimentological and stable‐isotope data of microbialites and associated carbonate facies, along with regional geological information, are shown to reveal the influence of climate and tectonics on the occurrence and attributes of carbonate deposits in these settings. The Vega Formation – a 150 m thick Lower Kimmeridgian siliciclastic fluvial sequence in Asturias Province (northern Spain) – constitutes a candidate for this approach. This unit includes varied facies (stromatolites; rudstones, packstones and wackestones containing oncoids, intraclasts, charophytes and shell bioclasts; marlstones and polygenic calcareous conglomerates) that formed in a low‐gradient fluvial–lacustrine system consisting of shallow, low‐sinuosity oncoid‐bearing channels and pools within marshy areas, with sporadic coarse alluvial deposition. The sedimentological attributes indicate common erosion by channel overflow and rapid lateral changes of subenvironments caused by water‐discharge variations. The carbonate fluvial–lacustrine system developed near uplifted marine Jurassic rocks. The occurrence of the system was conditioned by normal faults (active during the deposition of the unit) that favoured: (i) springs of HCO₃–Ca‐rich water from a Rhaetian–Sinemurian carbonate rock aquifer; and (ii) carbonate deposition in areas partially isolated from the adjacent siliciclastic fluvial system. The microbialite δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values support deposition in a hydrologically open system, fed by ambient‐temperature meteoric water, with riparian vegetation. Three types of lamination in the stromatolites and oncoids reflect distinct morphological types of cyanobacterial communities. The textural pattern of lamination parallels δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O changes, suggesting short‐term cycles of precipitation and temperature. A moderately to strongly contrasted seasonal and/or pluriannual precipitation regime is inferred from the cyclic δ¹³C pattern of the lamination and from the discontinuous and asymmetrical growth of oncoids. Thus, the isotopic and sedimentological attributes of the carbonate deposits were linked to short‐term climate changes associated with semi‐arid conditions, consistent with the studied climatic zone.     

Time-dependent ground movements induced by shield tunneling in soft clay: a parametric study

In this work, the effects of coupled hydromechanical (consolidation) processes associated with shield tunneling excavation in soft clays are investigated with particular attention to the prediction of ground movements at the ground surface. A series of 2d FE analyses have been carried out in parametric form in order to investigate the effects of tunnel excavation velocity relative to the soil consolidation rate and the hydraulic boundary conditions at the tunnel boundary. The shield advancement process has been simulated with a simplified procedure incorporating both volume loss and ovalization of the tunnel section. In order to investigate the relative importance of soil consolidation during the excavation process, different characteristic times for the tunnel face advancement and for the consolidation process around the tunnel have been considered, for the two limiting conditions of fully permeable liner and impervious liner. The potential damage induced by the tunnel excavation on existing structures, based on computed ground surface distortions and horizontal deformations, has been found to vary significantly with time during the consolidation process. The results of the simulations allowed to obtain useful information on the minimum tunnel face advancement speed for which the assumption of fully undrained conditions for the soil during the excavations is acceptable, as well as on the speed range for which solving the fully coupled hydromechanical problem is necessary.     

Improved initial ensemble generation coupled with ensemble square root filters and inflation to estimate uncertainty

The performance of the Ensemble Kalman Filter method (EnKF) depends on the sample size compared to the dimension of the parameters space. In real applications insufficient sampling may result in spurious correlations which reduce the accuracy of the filter with a strong underestimation of the uncertainty. Covariance localization and inflation are common solutions to these problems. The Ensemble Square Root Filters (ESRF) is also better to estimate uncertainty with respect to the EnKF. In this work we propose a method that limits the consequences of sampling errors by means of a convenient generation of the initial ensemble. This regeneration is based on a Stationary Orthogonal-Base Representation (SOBR) obtained via a singular value decomposition of a stationary covariance matrix estimated from the ensemble. The technique is tested on a 2D single phase reservoir and compared with the other common techniques. The evaluation is based on a reference solution obtained with a very large ensemble (one million members) which remove the spurious correlations. The example gives evidence that the SOBR technique is a valid alternative to reduce the effect of sampling error. In addition, when the SOBR method is applied in combination with the ESRF and inflation, it gives the best performance in terms of uncertainty estimation and oil production forecast.     

Analysis of fault leakage from Leroy underground natural gas storage facility, Wyoming, USA

Leroy natural-gas storage site is an anticlinal, fault-bounded, aquifer-storage system located in Wyoming, USA. Based on its abundant data, uncontrolled leakage history and subsequent control by the facility operators, a modeling framework was developed for studying reservoir behavior, examining pressure and gas-inventory histories, as well as gas and brine leakage, and evaluating the sensitivity of that behavior to uncertainty about reservoir properties. A three-dimensional model capturing the bounding fault, layered geologic stratigraphy, and surface topography was calibrated by history data of reservoir pressure and gas inventory. The calibrated model predicted gas arrival at the ground surface that was consistent with the timing of observed gas bubbling into a creek. A global sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the parameters influencing fault leakage, and a geomechanical stability analysis was conducted to investigate the likelihood of fault reactivation. In general, it is shown that a discrete leakage pathway is required to explain the observed gas leakage and its subsequent operational control by reducing reservoir pressures. Specifically, the results indicate that fault leakage is a plausible explanation for the observed gas leakage. The results are relevant to other natural-gas storage sites, as well as other subsurface storage applications of buoyant fluids, such as CO₂.     

Effects of uncertainty of lithofacies, conductivity and porosity distributions on stochastic interpretations of a field scale tracer test

We investigate the importance of selecting two different methodologies for the determination of hydraulic conductivity from available grain-size distributions on the stochastic modeling of the depth-averaged breakthrough curve observed during a forced-gradient tracer test experiment. The latter was performed in the Lauswiesen alluvial aquifer, located near the city of Tübingen, Germany, by injecting NaBr into a well at a distance of about 50 m from a pumping well. We also examine the joint effect of the choice of the transport model adopted to describe solute transport at the site and the way the spatial distribution of porosity is assessed. In the absence of direct measurements of porosity, we consider: (a) the model used by Riva et al. (J Contam Hydrol 88:92–118, 2006; J Contam Hydrol 101:1–13, 2008), which relates the natural logarithms of effective porosity and conductivity through an empirical, experimentally-based, linear relationship derived for a nearby experimental site; and (b) a model based on a commonly used relationship linking the total porosity to the coefficient of uniformity of grain size distributions. Transport is described in terms of a purely advective process and/or by including mass exchange processes between mobile and immobile regions. Modeling of flow and transport is performed within a Monte Carlo framework, upon conceptualizing the aquifer as a random composite medium. Our results indicate that the model adopted to describe the correlation between conductivity and porosity and the way grain-sieve information are incorporated to depict the heterogeneous distribution of hydraulic conductivity can have relevant effects in the interpretation of the data at the site. All the conceptual models employed to describe the structural heterogeneity of the system and transport features can reasonably reproduce the global characteristics of the experimental depth-averaged breakthrough curve. Specific details, such as the peak concentration and the time of first arrival, can be better reproduced by a double porosity transport model when a correlation between conductivity and porosity based on grain size information at the site is considered. The best prediction of the late-time behavior of the measured breakthrough curves, in terms of the observed heavy tailing, is offered by directly linking porosity distribution to the spatial variability of particle size information.     

Sources of Terrestrial Organic Carbon in the Mississippi Plume Region: Evidence for the Importance of Coastal Marsh Inputs

High sedimentation rates along river-dominated margins make these systems important repositories for organic carbon derived from both allochthonous and autochthonous sources. Using elemental carbon/nitrogen ratios, molecular biomarker (lignin phenol), and stable carbon isotopic (bulk and compound-specific) analyses, this study examined the sources of organic carbon to the Louisiana shelf within one of the primary dispersive pathways of the Mississippi River. Surface sediment samples were collected from stations across the inner, mid, and outer Louisiana shelf, within the Mississippi River plume region, during two cruises in the spring and fall of 2000. Lignin biomarker data showed spatial patterns in terrestrial source plant materials within the river plume, such that sediments near the mouth of the Mississippi River were comparatively less degraded and richer in C₄ plant carbon than those found at mid-depth regions of the shelf. A molecular and stable isotope-based mixing model defining riverine, marsh, and marine organic carbon suggested that the highest organic carbon inputs to the shelf in spring were from marine sources (55?C61% marine organic carbon), while riverine organic carbon was the highest (63%) in fall, likely due to lower inputs of marine organic carbon at this time compared with the spring season. This model also indicated that marsh inputs, ranging from 19 to 34% and 3?C15% of the organic carbon in spring and fall, respectively, were significantly more important sources of organic carbon on the inner Louisiana shelf than previously suggested. Finally, we propose that the decomposition of terrestrial-derived organic carbon (from the river and local wetlands sources) in mobile muds may serve as a largely unexplored additional source of oxygen-consuming organic carbon in hypoxic bottom waters of the Louisiana shelf.