Distribution, magnitude and characterization of the toxicity of Ukrainian estuarine sediments

During the Soviet era, Ukraine was an important industrial and agricultural region of the Soviet Union. This industrial and agricultural activity resulted in contamination of Ukraine’s estuaries with legacy anthropogenic pollutants. Investigations on the toxicological effects of this estuarine contamination have been limited. For this research, we measured the toxicity of contaminated sediments from four Ukrainian estuaries to several aquatic organisms over 3 years. Sediment chemical analyses and whole sediment toxicity identification evaluations (TIEs) were also performed to determine the classes of contaminants contributing to toxicity. Toxic sediments were observed in several of the Ukrainian estuaries and chemical analyses of the sediments demonstrated anthropogenic contaminants were widely distributed. Contaminants were also detected in macrobenthic organisms collected from the sediments. Several lines of evidence, including TIEs, indicated hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) were contributing substantially to observed toxicity. This information can guide environmental managers to prioritize portions of the estuaries requiring remediation.     

论地洼区的岩浆控矿作用

西伯利亚东部阿尔丹—斯坦诺夫地区一些前寒武纪Fe、Cu—Ni、Pb—Zn、REE矿群与远东滨海活化区达尔聂哥斯克中新生代Pb—Zn和B矿群的对此研究表明:原地洼矿群与中新生代矿群在其大地构造-岩浆环境方面有许多共同点,两者均受深断裂交汇的控制。这些深断裂在初生的富钾基性岩浆的多次上升过程中充当通道。     

广东白石嶂钼矿区花岗岩U-Pb年代学及其地球化学特征

广东白石嶂钼矿区地处南岭成矿带东缘,矿区出露多期侵入岩。本次研究对矿区复式岩体进行了LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测年以及地球化学研究,获得白岗岩的成岩年龄为(242.1±1.6)Ma,为印支期岩浆作用的产物,黑云钾长花岗岩成岩年龄为(150.3±1.1) Ma,是燕山期岩浆作用的产物。两期花岗岩均具有高硅、富钾的特征,但它们的其他地球化学特征存在显著差异。印支期白岗岩具有与高分异I型花岗岩相似的地球化学特征,即Y含量较低,亏损Ba、Sr、P、Ti和Eu,富集Nb元素, P₂O₅与SiO₂呈现出负相关的关系,并且表现出更明显的轻、重稀土分馏,相对亏损重稀土元素。相比之下,燕山期黑云钾长花岗岩则具有类似于A型花岗岩的地球化学组成特征,如10000×Ga/Al值为2.26～4.52,Eu负异常明显,富集Th、U、Ta、Nb、Zr和HREE等高场强元素,明显亏损Ba、Sr和Ti等元素,轻、重稀土分馏不明显。综合研究表明,印支期白岗岩形成于碰撞后拉张岛弧环境,而燕山期黑云钾长花岗岩形成于拉张的板内环境。     

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROGRAMS AND INVESTIGATIONS RELATED TO SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

1 BACKGROUNDThe U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) was established in l879 to inventory and develop anunderstanding of the Nation's mineral and water resoures. That mandate exPanded through the 20thcentury and now includes responsibility for critical geologic, cartograPhic, and hydrologic informationneeds. Today, about 400 field offices of the USGS provide maPs, databases, and reports coni8ininganalyses and interpretations of water, energy, mineral, and biological resources, lahd-surface…     

Peculiarities in the formation of populated places on the seaboard of the USSR

"A number of investigators have noted a movement of Soviet population toward the seacoasts, contrasting with the nation's traditional inland development. The pull of the coast has been linked to the increasing foreign trade of the USSR and to greater involvement in ocean affairs in general. The author analyzes the recent growth of maritime urban places in terms of the nation's major maritime regions: Azov-Black Sea, Baltic, Caspian, Pacific and Arctic, compares the rates of urban population growth and discusses some of the factors that account for differences in regional development."     

H2O-H2SO4 system in Venus' clouds and OCS, CO, and H2SO4 profiles in Venus' troposphere

A coupled problem of diffusion and condensation is solved for the H2SO4-H2O system in Venus' cloud layer. The position of the lower cloud boundary and profiles of the H2O and H2SO4 vapor mixing ratios and of the H2O/H2SO4 ratio of sulfuric acid aerosol and its flux are calculated as functions of the column photochemical production rate of sulfuric acid, phi H2SO4. Variations of the lower cloud boundary are considered. Our basic model, which is constrained to yield fH2O (30 km) = 30 ppm (Pollack et al. 1993), predicts the position of the lower cloud boundary at 48.4 km coinciding with the mean Pioneer Venus value, the peak H2SO4 mixing ratio of 5.4 ppm, and the H2SO4 production rate phi H2SO4 = 2.2 x 10(12) cm-2 sec-1. The sulfur to sulfuric acid mass flux ratio in the clouds is 1 : 27 in this model, and the mass loading ratio may be larger than this value if sulfur particles are smaller than those of sulfuric acid. The model suggests that the extinction coefficient of sulfuric acid particles with radius 3.7 micrometers (mode 3) is equal to 0.3 km-1 in the middle cloud layer. The downward flux of CO is equal to 1.7 x 10(12) cm-2 sec-1 in this model. Our second model, which is constrained to yield fH2SO4 = 10 ppm at the lower cloud boundary, close to the value measured by the Magellan radiooccultations, predicts the position of this boundary to be at 46.5 km, which agrees with the Magellan data; fH2O(30 km) = 90 ppm, close to the data of Moroz et al. (1983) at this altitude; phi H2SO4 = 6.4 x 10(12) cm-2 sec-1; and phi co = 4.2 x 10(12) cm-2 sec-1. The S/H2SO4 flux mass ratio is 1 : 18, and the extinction coefficient of the mode 3 sulfuric acid particles is equal to 0.9 km-1 in the middle cloud layer. A strong gradient of the H2SO4 vapor mixing ratio near the bottom of the cloud layer drives a large upward flux of H2SO4, which condenses and forms the excessive downward flux of liquid sulfuric acid, which is larger by a factor of 4-7 than the flux in the middle cloud layer. This is the mechanism of formation of the lower cloud layer. Variations of the lower cloud layer are discussed. Our modeling of the OCS and CO profiles in the lower atmosphere measured by Pollack et al. (1993) provides a reasonable explanation of these data and shows that the rate coefficient of the reaction SO3 + CO --> CO2 + SO2 is equal to 10(-11) exp(-(13,100 +/- 1000)/T) cm3/s. The main channel of the reaction between SO3 and OCS is CO2 + (SO)2, and its rate coefficient is equal to 10(-11) exp(-(8900 +/- 500)T)cm3/s. In the conditions of Venus' lower atmosphere, (SO)2 is removed by the reaction (SO)2 + OCS --> CO + S2 + SO2. The model predicts an OCS mixing ratio of 28 ppm near the surface.     

First Occurrence of M andarinoite in China

This report describes the first occurrence of the rare mineral mandarinoite (Fe3+2 Se3Og · 6H2O) in China. It occurs in the Lower Permian Maokou Formation carbonaceous shale in Yutangba Village east of Enshi City in southwestern Hubei Province. The shale is selenium-rich and contains native selenium, V-Mo-Cr-bearing iron oxide, clay and quartz. Weathering of the selenium in the bedrock under moderate to high redox conditions in the presence of ferric iron has formed mandarinoite.     

等效密度的概念—用重力确定沉积盆地深度的关键

在多层沉积盆地上观测得到的重力异常与对具有相同形状和深度的盆地计算所得到的结果密切相关。后者盆地由同一类沉积物充填!且其密度与前者的等效(加权平均)密度相等。因此,盆地至少有一个已知深度点的话,根据剩余重力异常就可算出其相对等效密度。假定密度是深度的函数,用无限大平板(布格)公式可推出重力与深度的关系式,该关系式结合重力数据可算出盆地深度或绘出其等厚线图。本文将分析密度与深度、重力与深度的指数及新型双曲线函数关系,并结合重力数据用来确定加利福尼亚州San Jacinto地堑、南部的亚利桑那州Tucson盆地的深度。双曲线函数比指数函数更可靠、更接近实际。根据Tucson盆地中最深的一个钻孔上的剩余重力异常,用无限大平板公式算出该盆地沉积物的相对等效密度以及密度与深度的关系。上述钻孔打到了深度为3.66km的前始新世基岩。Tucson盆地中密度与深度的双曲线关系,假定它对于南部的亚利桑那州和西南部的新墨西哥州的其它所有盆地和山脉地区也适用。用无限大平板公式很容易将密度与深度的函数关系转换成重力与深度的函数关系。利用重力与深度的双曲线函数关系,可将该地区的每个盆地的剩余重力异常图转换成盆地深度等值线图。用重力数据算出的盆地深度与搜集到的钻孔资料(19口井)比较可以看出,本文提出的这种简单快速方法,其计算结果与真实深度的误差范围大约为13％。     

Improving a regional model using reduced complexity and parameter estimation

The availability of powerful desktop computers and graphical user interfaces for ground water flow models makes possible the construction of ever more complex models. A proposed copper-zinc sulfide mine in northern Wisconsin offers a unique case in which the same hydrologic system has been modeled using a variety of techniques covering a wide range of sophistication and complexity. Early in the permitting process, simple numerical models were used to evaluate the necessary amount of water to be pumped from the mine, reductions in streamflow, and the drawdowns in the regional aquifer. More complex models have subsequently been used in an attempt to refine the predictions. Even after so much modeling effort, questions regarding the accuracy and reliability of the predictions remain. We have performed a new analysis of the proposed mine using the two-dimensional analytic element code GFLOW coupled with the nonlinear parameter estimation code UCODE. The new model is parsimonious, containing fewer than 10 parameters, and covers a region several times larger in areal extent than any of the previous models. The model demonstrates the suitability of analytic element codes for use with parameter estimation codes. The simplified model results are similar to the more complex models; predicted mine inflows and UCODE-derived 95% confidence intervals are consistent with the previous predictions. More important, the large areal extent of the model allowed us to examine hydrological features not included in the previous models, resulting in new insights about the effects that far-field boundary conditions can have on near-field model calibration and parameterization. In this case, the addition of surface water runoff into a lake in the headwaters of a stream while holding recharge constant moved a regional ground watershed divide and resulted in some of the added water being captured by the adjoining basin. Finally, a simple analytical solution was used to clarify the GFLOW model's prediction that, for a model that is properly calibrated for heads, regional drawdowns are relatively unaffected by the choice of aquifer properties, but that mine inflows are strongly affected. Paradoxically, by reducing model complexity, we have increased the understanding gained from the modeling effort.     

Asymmetric dipole-flow test in a fractured carbonate aquifer

In this study, a new method-the asymmetric dipole-flow test-is proposed and tested for characterization of conductive properties and structure of fractured aquifers. Analytical solutions were developed and then used for interpretation of a modification of the dipole-flow test with a single packer at the Bissen Quarry test site (Wisconsin, USA). The asymmetric dipole-flow tests were conducted by packing a well at various elevations, and fluids were pumped from the upper section (chamber) of the well to the lower section (chamber). The head was then monitored at 11 observation points and in both sections of the well, and the conductivities of the well segments were determined. The tests at seven packer elevations in the well were rapid (less than one hour to reach steady state). The asymmetric dipole-flow test demonstrates the potential to quantify heterogeneities of a fractured aquifer and delineate the applicability of the continuum and discrete approaches for conceptualization of ground water flow.