Evaluation of remedial alternatives for a petroleum contaminated unconfined aquifer with fluctuating groundwater level

This study evaluated remedial alternatives for a petroleum-contaminated site where an unconfined aquifer composed of a sandy layer of about 3–3.5 m thickness is covered by alluvial deposits and reclaimed soil of about 1.5 m thickness. Precambrian gneiss, of low permeability, lies below the sandy layer. The shallow water table is about 3 m below the surface, but shows high fluctuations of up to 1.5 m in response to precipitation events. The unsaturated soil near the water table and the groundwater are highly contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, especially toluene, which have apparently leaked from storage tanks. Selection of the remedial alternatives required consideration of the relevant laws on soil and groundwater conservation in Korea, the results of risk analysis and the hydrogeological conditions. The contaminated area has been divided into zones in which different remediation goals are set based on risk analysis and the degree of natural attenuation. It is estimated that the clean-up goal can be achieved in two years by the combined use of a trench drain and well point pumping to collect the contaminated groundwater for treatment, and a dual air injection system for the contaminated soil.     

Contributors to chromium isotope variation of meteorites

We report the results of a comprehensive, high precision survey of the Cr isotopic compositions of primitive chondrites, along with some differentiated meteorites. To ensure complete dissolution of our samples, they were first fused with lithium borate-tetraborate at 1050-1000 °C. Relative to the NIST Cr standard SRM 3112a, carbonaceous chondrites exhibit excesses in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr from 0.4 to 1.6ε (1ε = 1 part in 10,000), and ordinary chondrites display a common ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr deficit of ∼0.4ε. Analyses of acid-digestion residues of chondrites show that carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites share a common ⁵⁴Cr-enriched carrier, which is characterized by a large excess in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr (up to 200ε) associated with a very small deficit in ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr (<2ε). We did not find ⁵⁴Cr anomalies in either bulk enstatite chondrites or in leachates of their acid-digestion residues. This either requires that the enstatite chondrite parent bodies did not incorporate the ⁵⁴Cr anomaly carrier phase during their accretion, or the phase was destroyed by parent body metamorphism. Chromium in the terrestrial rocks and lunar samples analyzed here show no deviation from the NIST SRM 3112a Cr standard. The eucrite and Martian meteorites studied exhibit small deficits in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr. The ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr variations among different meteorite classes suggest that there was a spatial and/or temporal heterogeneity in the distribution of a ⁵⁴Cr-rich component in the inner Solar System.We confirm the correlated excesses in ⁵⁴Cr/⁵²Cr and ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr for bulk carbonaceous chondrites, but the new data yield a steeper slope (∼6.6) than that reported in Shukolyukov and Lugmair (2006). The correlated excesses may affect the use of the Mn-Cr chronometer in carbonaceous chondrites. We could not confirm the bulk carbonaceous chondrite Mn-Cr isochron reported by Shukolyukov and Lugmair (2006) and Moynier et al. (2007), mostly because we find much smaller total variations in ε⁵³Cr (∼0.2). All bulk chondrites have small ε⁵³Cr excesses (up to 0.3) relative to the Earth, most likely reflecting the sub-chondritic Mn/Cr ratio of the Earth. The ε⁵³Cr variations in chondrites do seem to grossly correlate with Mn/Cr and yield an initial Solar System ⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn value of 5.4(±2.4) × 10⁻⁶, corresponding to an absolute age of 4566.4 (±2.2) Ma.Nuclear interactions with cosmic rays result in coupled excesses in ε⁵⁴Cr and ε⁵³Cr with a ∼4:1 ratio in phases with high Fe/Cr. These are most dramatically demonstrated in the iron meteorite Carbo, showing excesses in ε⁵⁴Cr of up to 140ε. These new results show that the Mn-Cr chronometer should be used with caution in samples/minerals with high Fe/Cr and long cosmic ray exposure ages.     

40Ar/39Ar dating of the Jiali and Gaoligong shear zones: Implications for crustal deformation around the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis

We conducted a comprehensive ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological study of the Jiali and Gaoligong shear zones to obtain a better understanding of crustal deformation and tectonic evolution around the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS). The new age data reveal that the main phase of deformation in the Jiali and Gaoligong shear zones occurred from 22 to 11 Ma and from 18 to 13 Ma, respectively. Structural data collected during this study indicate that the Jiali shear zone underwent a change in shear sense from sinistral to dextral during its movement history. Based on a comparison with the deformation histories of other major shear zones in the region, we argue that the initial sinistral motion recorded by the Jiali shear zone was coincident with that of the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone, which marked the northern boundary of the southeastward extrusion of the Indochina block during the Early Miocene. From the Middle Miocene (～18 Ma), the Jiali shear zone changed to dextral displacement, becoming linked with the dextral Gaoligong shear zone that developed as a consequence of continued northward indentation of the Indian continent into Asia. Since this time, the Jiali and Gaoligong shear zones have been united, defining the southwestern boundary of the EHS during clockwise rotation of the eastward-extruding Tibetan block, as revealed by recent GPS data. The temporal change in regional deformation pattern from southeastward block extrusion to clockwise rotation of crustal fragments may have played an important role in the development of the eastern Himalayan drainage system around the EHS.     

Circulation

Low-frequency current and temperature variability on the southeast US continental shelf during summer conditions of weak wind forcing and vertical stratification was found to be similar in many aspects to previous findings for winter, when stronger wind forcing and vertical homogeneity prevails. Subtidal variability in the outer shelf is dominated by the weekly occurrence of Gulf Stream frontal eddies and meanders. These baroclinic events strongly affect the balance of momentum in the outer shelf, but not at mid-shelf. A negative alongshore sea level slope of order −10⁻⁷ is required to balance mean along-shelf momentum at the shelf edge, similar to oceanic estimates, and can contribute to the observed northward mean flow over the shelf.Low-frequency flow at mid-shelf and coastal sea level fluctuations appear to occur as a forced wave response to local alongshore wind stress events that are coherent over the shelf domain. Momentum balances indicate a trapped wave response similar to the arrested topographic wave found in the mid-Atlantic Bight (CSANADY, 1978). Density driven currents from river discharge do not appear to be significant at mid-shelf. Cold, subsurface intrusions of deeper, nutrient rich Gulf Stream waters can occasionally penetrate to mid- and inner-shelf regions north of Cape Canaveral, causing strong phytoplankton and zooplankton responses. These events were observed following the simultaneous occurrence of upwellings from northward winds and Gulf Stream frontal eddies at the shelf break during periods when the Stream was in an onshore position. Subsurface Gulf Stream intrusions to mid-shelf occur only during the summer, when the shelf is vertically stratified and cross-shelf density gradients do not present a barrier as in winter.     

Lake-ice collapse trenches in Wisconsin,U.S.A.

A series of trenches about a metre deep, 20 to 30 m wide, and as much as 2 km in length occurs in central Wisconsin, along the east shore of proglacial Lake Wisconsin. They are interpreted to be collapse trenches formed when shore ice melted after being buried beneath an expanding outwash plain.     

A TEM and EELS study of carbon in a melt fragment from the Gardnos impact structure

A carbon‐rich melt fragment from the Gardnos impact structure has been studied for a better understanding of the preservation and structural form(s) of carbon that have been processed by impact melting. The carbon was analyzed in situ in its original petrographic context within the melt fragment, using high‐resolution techniques including focused ion beam‐transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Results show that the carbon is largely uniform and has a nanocrystalline grain size. The Gardnos carbon has a graphitic structure but with a large c/a ratio indicating disorder. The disorder could be a result of rapid heating to high temperatures during impact, followed by rapid cooling, with not enough time to crystallize into highly ordered graphite. However, temperature distribution during impact is extremely heterogenous, and the disordered Gardnos carbon could also represent material that avoided extreme temperatures, and thus, it was preserved. Understanding the structure of carbon during terrestrial impacts is important to help determine if the history of carbon within extraterrestrial samples is impact related. Furthermore, the degree of preservation of carbon during impact is key for locating and detecting organic compounds in extraterrestrial samples. This example from Gardnos, together with previous studies, shows that not all carbon is lost to oxidation during impact but that impact melting can encapsulate and preserve carbon where it is available.     

A time-dependent radiation condition for transient wave-structure interactions

An extrapolated version of a time-dependent nonreflecting boundary condition is developed for use at artificial boundaries to truncate infinite/semi-infinite domains for transient water wave problems. Test examples include single- and multiple-frequency flap wavemaker problems and free vibrations of a floating circular cylinder. The finite element results compare favorably to analytical solutions. It is shown that with the proposed boundary condition the numerical simulations have little reflections from the artificial boundaries.