Effect of trace metals on halophilic and mixed cultures in anaerobic treatment

Trace metals are known to stimulate the activity of anaerobic methanogenic bacteria involved in the degradation of organic matter. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of three trace metals, iron, nickel and cobalt on the activity of halophilic methanogens, digester sludge and a mixed culture of halophilic bacteria and digester sludge, at various salt concentrations. Iron slightly stimulated both initial and maximum specific methanogenic activity (SMA) of halophilic methanogens at all salt concentrations. Iron addition was also able to increase both initial and maximum SMA of the mixed culture. Iron could not stimulate either initial or maximum SMA of digester sludge at salt concentrations of more than 10 g/L. Adding cobalt showed no benefit on the initial and maximum SMA of halophilic methanogens. A slight increase in the initial SMA was observed in mixed culture when cobalt was injected to the system containing sodium concentrations of 10–30 g/L. At salt concentrations above 40 g/L, cobalt could stimulate the maximum SMA of mixed culture. No benefits were found when cobalt was added to the digester sludge at sodium concentrations higher than 20 g/L. Nickel was observed to increase the initial SMA of digester sludge at all salt concentrations, and the maximum SMA of mixed culture at salt concentrations of 30–50 g/L.     

A REVIEW OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY IN SOUTH ASIA

The development of physical geography in South Asia has generally followed the British and European trends. Diverse themes from denudational chronology to palaeoflood geomorphology have attracted the attention of geomorphologists, particularly in the last 25 years. In addition, geographers’ interest in climatology and biogeography became pronounced during the 1980s. Major methodological shifts in the late 1960s in the west have affected geographical studies in South Asia. These shifts include the use of methods of quantification, remote sensing data, and the increased importance of field and laboratory studies. The second notable aspect in recent times is the accelerating interest amongst physical geographers in environmental studies and the applied aspects of the discipline as well as an increased interaction with scientists in cognate fields. An attempt is also made to identify the key research themes that will interest physical geographers in the near future.     

Estimation of contaminant transport parameters for a tropical sand in a sand tank model

This research describes the goals, design and implementation of a quasi natural gradient, laboratory scale, sand tank (aquifer) model experiment. The model was used to study the transport of an inorganic tracer (Chloride) in groundwater, within a tropical aquifer (porous medium) material. Three-dimensional sand tank (1.8 m × 0.3 m × 0.8 m) experiments were conducted to investigate contaminant transport and natural attenuation within the sand tank. In all, 360 samples were collected during 24 sampling sessions, for the three days of the tracer experiments in the Sand Tank. The Owena sand is a poorly graded sand with 88.1 % sand and 11.9 % gravel. Geotechnical properties including; coefficient of uniformity C_u = 2.53, coefficient of gradation C_z = 0.181, hydraulic conductivity K = 5.76 × 10^?4 m/s, bulk density p = 1.9 Mg/m³, effective porosity n_e = 0.215 and median grain diameter D₅₀ = 0.55 mm, were determined. Other relevant hydraulic and solute transport parameters, such as dispersion coefficients and dispersivities were also established for the tropical soil.     

Cross inoculation studies: Response of Vigna mungo to inoculation with rhizobia from tree legumes growing under arid Environment

Cross-inoculation experiments were conducted in the greenhouse to test the rhizobia isolated from nodules of seven tree legumes for their effectiveness in Vigna mungo plants. The tree legumes included Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia sissoo, Leucaena leucocephala, Pithecellobium dulce, Prosopis cineraria, Prosopis glandulosa and Prosopis juliflora, all growing under arid environment. Rhizobia from these legumes formed nodules on the roots of Vigna mungo except isolates from Albizia lebbeck. Dry weight and nitrogen contents of Vigna mungo plants increased significantly (P<0.05) in response to cross inoculation as compared to uninoculated control. Rhizobia from Leucaena leucocephala and Prosopis glandulosa showed significant increase in dry weight (P<0.05) and nitrogen contents (P<0.05) than other inoculated treatments. The natural rhizobia of wild tree legumes growing under arid environment show higher tolerance to prevailing adverse conditions like salt stress, elevated temperatures and drought. These rhizobia may be used to inoculate wild as well as crop legumes cultivated in reclaimed desert lands. These rhizobia may have specific traits that can be transferred to other rhizobia through genetic engineering tools. The cross infection of agriculturally important legumes with isolates from wild legumes may prove a useful means of increasing nitrogen contents within these plants.     

Effect of aluminum and chromium on the germination and growth of two Vigna species

The study deals with the effect of metal toxicity (aluminum, chromium and combination of both the metals) on seed germination, root length, shoot length, seedling length and dry biomass of Vigna radiata and V. sinensis. Chromium adversely affected the seedling by significantly reducing the growth whereas aluminum did not show such effect in both the species. Percentage of germination was good in both the species at different concentration of treatment (aluminum, chromium and combined treatment). Shoot length was also not much affected in V. sinensis as it was greatly inhibited in V. radiata. Both the species showed the purpling of stem. Dry biomass of V. radiata showed positive effect than V. sinensis. However, dry biomass decreased to a lesser extent when treated with aluminum, chromium and combined treatment as compared to control.     

Finite volume method on unstructured grids in 3D with applications to the simulation of gravity waves

Summary ?A code for the simulation of atmospheric flows in 3D is presented. The underlying mathematical model is fully compressible, it takes gravity into account but Coriolis forces, turbulence and viscosity are neglected. The general numerical code consists of a finite volume discretization on unstructured hexahedral grids in 3D. The code is presently being investigated on applications to the calculation of atmospheric gravity waves on a mesh which has a structured type and is locally refined near the orography. We develop two schemes, the main difference between them lies in the different discretizations for the mass fluxes. We show that both schemes resolve typical structures of gravity waves in potential flow, linear hydrostatic motion and nonlinear non-hydrostatic regime. We compare advantages and disadvantages of the developed schemes. Received April 20, 2001; revised September 10, 2001     

A combined mathematical geophysical model for prediction of pyrite oxidation and pollutant leaching associated with a coal washing waste dump

The waste produced by coal washing process produces many environmental problems. In this study, the pollution problems associated with the waste produced by Alborz Sharghi Coal Washing Plant was investigated by mathematical modeling. The study area is located at 11 km. to Razmjah coal region and 45 km. to Tehran-Mashhad road in the north part od Iran. To achieve the goal, a few samples were taken from different depths at three points on the waste dump in order to investigate pyrite oxidation and pollution generation. The samples were then analysed, using an AA-670 Shimadzu atomic absorption to determine the fraction of pyrite remained within the waste particles. A numerical finite volume model using Phoenics package has been developed to simulate pyrite oxidation and pollution generation from the Alborz Sharghi coal washing waste dump. The pyrite oxidation reaction is described by the shrinking-core model. Gaseous diffusion is the main mechanism for the transport of oxygen through the waste. The results of numerical modelling were compared with the field observations and close agreement was achieved. A simple mathematical model incorporating advection and hydrodynamic dispersion processes was also presented in order to verify the results of geophysical time-laps method showing transportation of the pollutants through the downstream of the waste dump. Both mathematical model and geophysical time-laps method are agreed in the identification of pollutant transport emanated from the waste dump. The results of such investigations can be used for designing an effective environmental management program.     

Hydrogen peroxide interference in chemical oxygen demand during ozone based advanced oxidation of anaerobically digested livestock wastewater

It is known that hydrogen peroxide interferes with chemical oxygen demand analysis by consuming oxidation agents such as potassium dichromate, thus leading to overestimation of the chemical oxygen demand measurements. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of hydrogen peroxide interference and to determine true chemical oxygen demand values on interpreting treatment performance during ozone-based advanced oxidation of livestock wastewater in which hydrogen peroxide concentration and chemical oxygen demand values are dynamically changing. According to the chemical oxygen demand monitoring data, chemical oxygen demand values were always higher than the initial chemical oxygen demand load when hydrogen peroxide was involved and the treatment performance with ozone alone or ozone/ultraviolet was better than with coupled hydrogen peroxide. The extent of overestimation was proportional to the remaining hydrogen peroxide concentration and the average overestimation ratio in livestock wastewater was in the range of 0.50～0.58 mg per 1 mg of hydrogen peroxide, depending upon the quality of the wastewater treated. True chemical oxygen demand values were estimated by correlating the extent of overestimation with the remaining hydrogen peroxide concentration during treatment. The extent of overestimation decreased to zero gradually as the amount of hydrogen peroxide also approached zero as oxidation proceeded. The corrected chemical oxygen demand values indicated underlying tendency of oxidation, which could not be seen in the original chemical oxygen demand monitoring data. Application of ozone/hydrogen peroxide was more efficient for reducing chemical oxygen demand than ozone alone, as was ozone/hydrogen peroxide/ultraviolet compared to ozone/ultraviolet. When coupled with ozone, ultraviolet irradiation was more efficient than hydrogen peroxide for decreasing chemical oxygen demand during treatment of livestock wastewater.     

小气候、雪盖及土壤湿度对高山生态系统功能的影响

1 Introduction High mountain landscapes above the tree-line are often regarded as close to nature, although human impact has obviously changed the environment, partly exceeding its carrying capac- ity (L?ffler, 2000). Due to their fragility regarding expected environmental changes and an increasing land use pressure in many regions, high mountain landscapes recently became a major focus within the discussion on a sustainable development in a worldwide (Messerli and Ives, 1997), and regional p…