Arsenic Geochemistry and Hydrostratigraphy in Midwestern U.S. Glacial Deposits

Arsenic concentrations exceeding the U.S. EPA's 10 μg/L standard are common in glacial aquifers in the midwestern United States. Previous studies have indicated that arsenic occurs naturally in these aquifers in association with metal-(hydr)oxides and is released to groundwater under reducing conditions generated by microbial oxidation of organic matter. Despite this delineation of the arsenic source and mechanism of arsenic mobilization, identification of arsenic-impacted aquifers is hindered by the heterogeneous and discontinuous nature of glacial sediments. In much of the Midwest, the hydrostratigraphy of glacial deposits is not sufficiently characterized to predict where elevated arsenic concentrations are likely to occur. This case study from southeast Wisconsin presents a detailed characterization of local stratigraphy, hydrostratigraphy, and geochemistry of the Pleistocene glacial deposits and underlying Silurian dolomite. Analyses of a single core, water chemistry data, and well construction reports enabled identification of two aquifers separated by an organic-rich aquitard. The upper, unconfined aquifer provides potable water, whereas arsenic generally exceeds 10 μg/L in the deeper aquifer. Although coring and detailed hydrostratigraphic characterization are often considered impractical, our results demonstrate that a single core improved interpretation of the complex lithology and hydrostratigraphy. This detailed characterization of hydrostratigraphy facilitated development of well construction guidelines and lays the ground work for further studies of the complex interactions among aquifer sediments, hydrogeology, water chemistry, and microbiology that lead to elevated arsenic in groundwater.     

DerHydropsyche-toxizitätstest,erprobt an Fenethcarb

Fenethcarb (3,5-diethyl-phenyl-N-methylcarbamate) was used to test how far the presence of toxins in various concentrations can cause changes in the net building behaviour ofHydropsyche angustipennis (Trichoptera). To evaluate this, features of the net structure which could be measured and counted were used. The statistical significance of the results was calculated.

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Mit finanzieller Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Mothering urban space,governing migrant women: the construction of intersectional positions in area-based interventions in Berlin

In this paper, we investigate new ways of governing migrant populations in Germany brought forth by social policies on the local level of inner-city neighborhoods. In recent years, numerous initiatives on the local level have constituted the ‘migrant neighborhood’ as a site of governmental attention. One initiative that policymakers consider particularly innovative is the neighborhood mothers program in Berlin, a program that instructs migrant women as agents of neighborhood improvement and encourages them to establish peer-to-peer relations to other migrant women in order to pass on social norms. In the paper, we combine governmentality and intersectionality theory to critically examine the modes of behavior change promoted by the neighborhood mothers program and the political rationalities that are used to justify the governing of (and through) migrant women. We draw particular attention to the spatial dimensions of the neighborhood mothers program, to the ways in which it targets domestic and intimate spaces as sites of inspection and intervention and appoints migrant women as ‘door openers’ for entry of the state into the regulation of families and communities.     

SPATIAL PATTERNS AND CAUSES OF MARBLE TOMBSTONE WEATHERING IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

A 9600 km² area of southwestern Pennsylvania with widely varying amounts of historic industrial air pollution contains enough old cemeteries (135) to permit high-resolution mapping of Vermont marble tombstone weathering rates. Mean vertical-slab surface recession rates are as much as eight times greater for urban/industrial areas (maximum 3.0 mm [100 yr]^-1) than for rural areas (minimum 0.4 mm [100 yr]^-1). A damage function relates mean weathering rates to long-term numbers of employees in nearby polluting industries, and shows that even small industrial operations significantly augmented local rates of weathering within several kilometers. Marble stones near short-smokestack industries are significantly more weathered than are those near tall-smokestack, coal-fired electrical power plants. The comparatively high mean rate of marble weathering in small town cemeteries (1.1 mm [100 yr]^-1) suggests that recent acidic precipitation may be dissolving the stones throughout the study region or that pollution from home coal and oil furnaces was high. [Key words: marble tombstone, weathering, industrial air pollution, Pennsylvania.]     

Investigation of the geochemical impact of CO2 on shallow groundwater: design and implementation of a CO2 injection test in Northeast Germany

A small scale and temporally limited CO₂ injection test was performed in a shallow aquifer to investigate the geochemical impact of CO₂ upon such aquifers and to apply and verify different monitoring methods. Detailed site investigation coupled with multiphase simulations were necessary to design the injection experiment and to set up the monitoring network, before CO₂ was injected over a ten-day period at three injection wells, at a depth of 18?m below surface level into a quaternary sand aquifer located close to the town of Wittstock in Northeast Germany. Monitoring methods comprised groundwater sampling and standard analyses, as well as trace element analyses and isotope analyses; geoelectrical borehole monitoring; passive samplers to analyse temporally integrated for cations and multi-parameter probes that can measure continuously for dissolved CO₂, pH and electrical conductivity. Due to CO₂ injection, total inorganic carbon concentrations increased and pH decreased down to a level of 5.1. Associated reactions comprised the release of major cations and trace elements. Geoelectrical monitoring, as well as isotope analyses and multi-parameter probes proved to be suitable methods for monitoring injected CO₂ and/or the alteration of groundwater.     

Arsenic release from chlorine-promoted alteration of a sulfide cement horizon: Evidence from batch studies on the St. Peter Sandstone,Wisconsin, USA

Elevated As concentrations have been measured in wells in the St. Peter Sandstone aquifer of eastern Wisconsin, USA. The primary source is As-bearing sulfide minerals (pyrite and marcasite) within the aquifer. There is concern that well disinfection by chlorination may facilitate As release to groundwater by increasing the rate and extent of sulfide oxidation. The objective of this study was to examine the abiotic processes that mobilize As from the aquifer solids during controlled exposure to chlorinated solutions. Thin sections made from sulfidic aquifer material were characterized by quantitative electron probe micro-analysis before and after 24 h exposure to solutions of different Cl₂ concentrations. Batch experiments using crushed aquifer solids were also conducted to examine changes in solution chemistry over 24 h. Results of the combined experiments indicate that Cl₂ addition affects As release and uptake in two ways. First, Cl₂ increases oxidation of sulfide minerals, releasing more As from the mineral structure. Chlorine addition also increases the rate of Fe(II) oxidation and subsequent hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) precipitation, allowing for increased uptake of As onto the mineral surface. Although HFOs can act as sinks for As, they can release As if biogeochemical conditions (e.g. redox, pH) change. These results have implications not only for disinfection of drinking water wells in the study area, but also suggest that introduction of oxidants may adversely affect water quality during aquifer storage and recovery programs in aquifers containing As-bearing minerals.     

Release of arsenic and other trace elements from poultry litter: Insights from a field experiment on the Delmarva Peninsula,Delaware

A poultry litter application was conducted to examine field scale release and transport of trace elements from poultry litter into the subsurface. Field monitoring before and after litter application demonstrated increases in major ion, nutrient, and trace element concentrations in soil water after application, but concentrations of trace elements were all below regulatory standards. Using laboratory stepwise extractions of litter, calculated leaching rates of trace elements are fastest for As, followed by Cu and Zn. Comparison of the projected (from laboratory extractions) to actual (measured in the field) trace element concentrations in litter show that laboratory-derived rates generally over-predict leaching, but the long-term projections of Cu and Zn concentrations remaining in litter are within 20% of the field measurement. Arsenic leaching from litter was under-predicted by the laboratory leaching model by over 100%, suggesting that other processes (perhaps biological) occurring in the field allowed for additional As to be leached/removed. Mass balance coupled with conservative tracer calculations reveal that the vadose sediment was the main sink for the trace elements, with lesser uptake of Cu and Zn (not As) by orchard grass. Overall, results of this study showed that the fate and transport of trace elements from poultry litter are controlled by their leaching rate from litter, adsorption, uptake in vegetation and dilution. An additional process affecting As is biotransformation.     

The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Marine Protected Area: valuing local perspectives in environmental protection

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Queensland, Australia, is one of the most recognisable coral reefs in the world. In 1981 the reef was listed on the World Heritage List, to be preserved as an environmental asset of global significance for all people in perpetuity. The GBR is also a landmark Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the World Heritage Marine Programme. Yet management of this iconic property is not without controversy and in recent years a number of impacts, including coastal developments, increased shipping traffic and global warming, have all threatened the reef. Any breach of Australia's World Heritage obligation to protect and conserve the property may yet result in the GBR being placed on the World Heritage List in Danger. In light of the persistent controversy surrounding GBR management, this paper gives voice to the perspectives and values of stakeholders located in and around one site of controversy, Gladstone Harbour, in the southern section of the GBR World Heritage Area. We present the views of users directly exposed to the controversial port expansion development at Gladstone Harbour in the southern GBR to shed light on the importance of community perspectives in marine park management. Our findings show that local views act to reinforce the global environmental protection narrative which underpins the World Heritage (WH) system. In this study local and global values collide and, we argue, that overlooking the perspectives of users has potential deleterious consequences for WH marine site management.     

EFFECTS OF CO-CULTURE AND SALINITY ON THE GROWTH AND AGAR YIELD OF GRACILARIA TENUISTIPITATA VAR LIUI ZHANG ET XIA

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