Recurring Jökulhlaups in Sälka, Northern Sweden

An ice‐dammed lake at the margin of the glacier Sälkaglaciären, in the Kebnekaise Mountains in northern Sweden, drained suddenly in July 2003 producing a flood with a measured peak discharge of 9.5±0.25 m³s^‐1. The total lake volume of 4.55×10⁵ million³ drained within two days. The hydrograph of this event is characteristic of a jökulhlaup controlled by a single basal ice tunnel that enlarges due to melting. The jökulhlaup had an exponential rise to a peak discharge, and following the peak, a very steep fall in discharge as the water supply to the drainage system ceased. A similar jökulhlaup was observed in August 1990 with an estimated release of 8.05×10⁵ m³ water. Jökulhlaups at Sälkaglaciären are recurring events and have been indirectly observed since the 1950s.     

Sorption and anaerobic biodegradation of soluble aromatic compounds during groundwater transport. 1. Laboratory column experiments

. This paper deals with sorption and anaerobic biodegradation of the soluble aromatic fraction of jet fuel and how it is influenced by pore-water velocity during transport in a groundwater aquifer. The study was carried out as controlled laboratory column experiments. A binary mixture of toluene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene with a concentration ratio of 2:1 was used through the entire investigations. The column experiments were conducted with contaminated sediments and groundwater, taken from wells at a field research site. The columns were operated anaerobically under continuous-flow conditions at 10 °C in a temperature-controlled refrigerator. Two percent sodium azide was added to the injection solution of two of the columns to prevent biodegradation of the studied organic mixture. Chloride was used as a conservative tracer to characterize the hydrodynamic parameters such as dispersivity and porosity of the columns. The results showed that both compounds in the mixture were attenuated because of sorption and biodegradation processes in the columns. 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene was attenuated more significantly than toluene. Biodegradation of toluene was coupled mainly with the microbial reduction of ferric iron, whereas 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, in contrast, was mostly sorbed. Their sorption and biodegradation were studied with different pore-water velocities, and a mass balance approach was applied to calculate biodegradation rates. The biodegradation rates of toluene were –0.16, –0.21, and –0.26 (unit: mM day^–1) for pore-water velocities of 96, 82.4, and 54.9 (unit: cm day^–1), respectively. This indicates that a decrease in the pore-water velocity significantly enhanced the biodegradation of toluene, consistent with other reports in the literature. For 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene the biodegradation rates were –0.05, –0.13 (unit: mM day^–1) for pore-water velocities of 96 and 82.4 (unit: cm day^–1), respectively. The biodegradation rate of 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene did not increase at the lowest pore water velocity as expected. This might be a result of substrate competition.     

Using the pseudospectral method on curved grids for 2D elastic forward modelling1

When applying the conventional Fourier pseudospectral method (FSM) on a Cartesian grid that has a sufficient size to propagate a pulse, spurious diffractions from the staircase representation of the curved interfaces appear in the wavefield. It is demonstrated that these non-physical diffractions can be eliminated by using curved grids that conform to all the interfaces of the subsurface. Methods for solving the 2D acoustic wave equation using such curved grids have been published previously by the authors. Here the extensions to the full 2D elastic wave equations are presented. The curved grids are generated by using the so-called multiblock strategy which is a well-known concept in computational fluid dynamics. In principle the sub-surface is divided into a number of contiguous subdomains. A separate grid is generated for each subdomain patching the grid lines across domain boundaries to obtain a globally continuous grid. Using this approach, even configurations with pinch outs can be handled. The curved grid is taken to constitute a generalized curvilinear coordinate system. Thus, the elastic equations have to be written in a curvilinear frame before applying the numerical scheme. The method implies that twice the number of spatial derivatives have to be evaluated compared to the conventional FSM on a Cartesian grid. However, it is demonstrated that the extra terms are more than compensated for by the fewer grid points needed in the curved approach.     

PCBs and chlorinated pesticides in the atmosphere and aquatic organisms of Ross Island, Antarctica

PCBs, p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE and lindane (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane) were monitored in the lower atmosphere of Ross Island, in Antarctica for 2 yr. Geometrical means were 15.2 pg m⁻³ for PCBs, 2.0 pg m⁻³ for p,p′-DDT, 1.0 pg m⁻³ for p,p′-DDE and 25.8 pg m⁻³ for lindane. Atmospheric levels of lindane were positively correlated with temperature, and a significant difference was found between spring-summer and summer-winter concentrations. No season related differences were found for the other chlorinated hydrocarbons, possibly owing to their lower vapour pressure and the cold climate. Periods with increased atmospheric levels of PCBs and DDT compounds were recorded. Lindane, p,p′-DDE and PCBs were present in fish and zooplankton sampled close to Ross Island. Pollutant levels in the zooplankton (on an extractable fat basis) were highest during the Antarctic spring and autumn and were inversely correlated to their fat content.     

Handling of waste in ports

A present major problem for ports is arranging adequate reception facilities for ship-generated waste, as the lack of such facilities is a problem to many shipowners. To preserve the environment in and around the ports it is necessary also to deal efficiently with the port-generated waste.

Although international conventions on the retention of waste on board ships for subsequent discharge to shore reception facilities have been ratified by most seafaring nations, a considerable part of the ship-generated waste still goes into the sea. Much of the waste generated in ports will also be dumped in quantities that at least affect the local marine environment. The regulations governing the handling of port-generated waste are often national and/or local legislation, whereas the handling of ship-generated waste is governed by the MARPOL Convention in most parts of the world.

The handling of waste consists of two main phases—collection and treatment. Waste has to be collected in every port and on board every ship, whereas generally only some wastes are treated and to a certain degree in ports and on board ships.

This paper considers the different kinds of waste generated in both ports and on board ships, where and how it is generated, how it could be collected and treated. The two sources are treated together to show how some ship-generated waste may be treated in port installations primarily constructed for the treatment of the port-generated waste, making integrated use of the available treatment facilities.

The different types of wastes can be divided into different categories. A world-wide accepted categorization of ship-generated waste has been established in the MARPOL 73/78 Convention. This will also be used for grouping the port-generated waste.     

U–Pb TIMS age constraints on the evolution of the Neoproterozoic Meatiq Gneiss Dome,Eastern Desert,Egypt

Ages are used to constrain the temporal evolution of the Meatiq Gneiss Dome, Eastern Desert, Egypt, by dating (ID-TIMS) pre-, syn-, and post-tectonic igneous rocks in and around the dome. The Um Ba’anib Orthogneiss, comprising the deepest exposed structural levels of the dome, has a crystallization age of 630.8 ± 2 Ma. The overlying mylonites are interpreted to be a thrust sheet/complex (Abu Fannani Thrust Sheet) of highly mylonitized metasediments (?), migmatitic amphibolites, and orthogneisses with large and small tectonic lenses of less-deformed intrusives. Two syn-tectonic diorite lenses in this complex have crystallization ages of 609.0 ± 1.0 and 605.8 ± 0.9 Ma, respectively. The syn-tectonic Abu Ziran diorite, cutting across the tectonic contact between mylonite gneisses of the Abu Fannani Thrust Sheet and a structurally overlying thrust sheet of eugeoclinal rocks (“Pan-African nappe”), has a magmatic emplacement age of 606.4 ± 1.0 Ma. Zircons from a gabbro (Fawakhir ophiolite) within the eugeoclinal thrust sheet yielded a crystallization age of 736.5 ± 1.2 Ma. The post-tectonic Fawakhir monzodiorite intrudes the ophiolitic rocks and has an emplacement age of 597.8 ± 2.9 Ma. Two other post-tectonic granites, the Arieki granite that intrudes the foliated Um Ba’anib Orthogneiss, and the Um Had granite that cuts the deformed Hammamat sediments, have emplacement ages of 590 ± 3.1 and 596.3 ± 1.7 Ma, respectively. We consider formation of the Meatiq Gneiss Dome to be a young structural feature (<631 Ma), and our preferred tectonic interpretation is that it formed as a result of NE–SW shortening contemporaneous with folding of the nearby Hammamat sediments around 605–600 Ma, during oblique collision of East and West Gondwana.