Remediation of NAPL source zones: lessons learned from field studies at Hill and Dover AFB

Innovative remediation studies were conducted between 1994 and 2004 at sites contaminated by nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) at Hill and Dover AFB, and included technologies that mobilize, solubilize, and volatilize NAPL: air sparging (AS), surfactant flushing, cosolvent flooding, and flushing with a complexing-sugar solution. The experiments proved that aggressive remedial efforts tailored to the contaminant can remove more than 90% of the NAPL-phase contaminant mass. Site-characterization methods were tested as part of these field efforts, including partitioning tracer tests, biotracer tests, and mass-flux measurements. A significant reduction in the groundwater contaminant mass flux was achieved despite incomplete removal of the source. The effectiveness of soil, groundwater, and tracer based characterization methods may be site and technology specific. Employing multiple methods can improve characterization. The studies elucidated the importance of small-scale heterogeneities on remediation effectiveness, and fomented research on enhanced-delivery methods. Most contaminant removal occurs in hydraulically accessible zones, and complete removal is limited by contaminant mass stored in inaccessible zones. These studies illustrated the importance of understanding the fluid dynamics and interfacial behavior of injected fluids on remediation design and implementation. The importance of understanding the dynamics of NAPL-mixture dissolution and removal was highlighted. The results from these studies helped researchers better understand what processes and scales are most important to include in mathematical models used for design and data analysis. Finally, the work at these sites emphasized the importance and feasibility of recycling and reusing chemical agents, and enabled the implementation and success of follow-on full-scale efforts.     

THE MODIFICATION OF A TOPOGRAPHIC PLOTTER AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE THREE DIMENSIONAL PLOTTING OF STEREOMICROGRAPHS

A number of proposals have been put forward for the extraction of three dimensional data from a pair of electron microscope photographs taken from different angles. The methods used have, in general, been either point by point analyses or rather inconvenient. This paper shows that an existing photogrammetric plotter of topographic accuracy can, with very simple modification, be converted to give continuous plotting facilities from certain such micrographs.     

The use of caddisfly fauna (Insecta: Trichoptera) to characterise the Late‐glacial River Trent,England

Trichoptera have been utilised infrequently in palaeoecological studies despite their value as environmental indicators of freshwater habitat structure and quality, via their aquatic larvae, and catchment macroclimate conditions, via the aerial adults. Two sites, dated ca. 11 600 ¹⁴C yr BP, in the middle reaches of the River Trent (England) supported caddisfly (Trichoptera) assemblages indicative of a dynamic braided river with extensive floodplain development. At the first, Barrow‐upon‐Trent, the caddisfly assemblage was dominated by taxa indicative of a medium to large gravel‐bed river (Lepidostoma hirtum, Micrasema setiferum and taxa from the family Hydropsychidae). At the second site, Hemington, the caddisfly fauna was dominated by taxa from the families Limnephilidae and Phryganeidae. These usually occur in slow flowing and standing waters and are indicative of cut‐off channels on the floodplain. Micrasema setiferum does not occur in the contemporary UK fauna and has a modern distribution across central Europe and Fennoscandia. A gridded climatology extracted for those geographical areas where M. setiferum occurs today indicated a greater degree of continentality than currently prevailing in the Trent catchment. The value of Trichoptera in palaeoecological studies is explored and a model of channel evolution for the River Trent is presented based on caddisfly data. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.