Remediation and restoration of metal-contaminated sites： Concepts and appfications to mining areas

Metals, including heavy metals and metalloids, are a common group of environmental contaminants. Their sources in the environment are geogenic or anthropogenic. The growing trend in global industrialization ensures that more metals could be dispersed even in pristine ecosystems. To fuel industrialization, more metal ore mines have to be discovered and explored. These explorations often result in landscape disturbance, soil degradation and environmental contamination by unwanted mining constituents. Mine tailings brought up to the ground surface often serve as the main source of contaminants when these pyrite-rich materials oxidize. The oxidation of mine tailings results in proton generation, coupled with the dissolution of metals and other cations Unwanted anionic constituents are also produced. The so-called ＂acid mine drainage＂ may affect the productivity of farmlands and stability of receiving streams and other bodies of water-acidifying the waters and enriching the ecosystem with metals, i.e., high total dissolved solids. The acidified overburden materials become inhospitable to plant and microbial life as they are typically low in organic matter content and infertile. This exposes the landscape to runoff and erosion.     

Associations and mobility of uranium in soils near a depleted uranium （DU） weapons testing site, SW Scotland

Natural uranium has three isotopes, ^238U, ^235U and ^234U, with natural abundances of 99.27 atom %, 0.72% and 0.0055%, respectively. Only ^235U is fissile and the production of nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons involves enrichment of uranium in ^235U. This process also results in separation of ^234U from ^238U, leaving depleted uranium （DU）, with typical ^234U/^238U and ^235U/^238U activity ratios of about 0.19 and 0.013, respectively, as a waste product. The high density, high melting and boiling points and chemical stability of uranium and the availability of DU in relatively pure form mean that DU has many uses, including armour-piercing munitions. Such munitions have been developed in the UK since the 1960s and testing has been carried out by the Ministry of Defence （MoD） at firing ranges such as Dundrennan, SW Scotland and Eskmeals, NW England. The firing of DU munitions can result in the dispersion of DU and its combustion products （oxides） as aerosols or as larger fragments, with the potential for human exposure either directly at the site of detonation or via post-depositional migration in the environment. The aim of this work was to investigate the potential environmental mobility of DU by characterizing the associations of U in soil porewaters with increasing distance from a firing site. To this end, several soil cores located down-wind of the firing site at Dundrennan, near Kirkcudbright, SW Scotland, were collected in May 2006. These were sectioned on-site into 1- or 2-cm depth intervals and porewaters were isolated by centfifugation （10 minutes; 8873 g） on return to the laboratory. Following filtration through 0.2-micron cellulose nitrate filters, the porewaters were analyzed by ICP-QMS （U concentration） and ICP-OES （Fe, Al, Ca, Mg, Mn concentrations）. Sub-samples were also subjected to centrifugal ultrafiltration （100, 30, and 3 kD） and to gel electrophoretic fractionation （agarose; 0.045 M Tris-borate; 20 mA, 30 minutes）. Results showed that U was present at up to 4 μg/L in the soil porewater and that the associations of U varied with sample location and soil depth.     

Overcoming flood and desiccation made by implementing artificial recharge toward absorption reservoir

Flood and desiccation are perceived as two most critical and influential disasters which contradict between causes and consequences. Flood occurs when the water surface could no longer flow the whole water flow, thus, the water flooded. Contradicted to that, desiccation occurs when the water flow contains a low volume of water deposit, thus, the water requirement exceeds the available potential. That condition was caused by land utilization as the consequences due to the increased land requirement for housing or industrial needs. An attempt to overcome the flood, nowadays, is implemented mostly in a structural way, through building canals, implementing rivers normalization, building gateways or building flood control pump which are more directed toward the flood direction in order to increase the surface flow in an immediate maner to the sea. However, the effort to overcome the flood its self, could be more effective if followed by an effort to increase the soil ability to absorb natural recharge or artificial recharge or by refilling the water into the earth surface. Absorption reservoir used as one of technology alternatives （artificial recharge） could also be used to support the attempt to overcome flood and desiccation. Absorption reservoir is a dam which was designed according to the basic principles, such as the bottom surface of the reservoir that has a high permeability surface; the surface of the reservoir water is higher （higher aquifer） along with a high permeability, considering the availability of water source that has been absorbed and its quality; considering the aquifer category on the water absorption dam;     

Attenuation of aqueous metal transport at two natural acid rock drainage occurrences in the Yukon Territory, Canada

Naturally acidic drainage associated with pyritic black shale has been observed in many locations in the Yukon Territory. While not necessarily linked to known mineral deposits, most of these natural acid rock drainage occurrences show elevated dissolved concentrations of trace elements, especially zinc, nickel, copper, cadmium and arsenic. Based on field observations, microbial investigation, chemical analyses and geochemical modeling, the fate and transport of potentially deleterious elements at two natural acid drainage occurrences with slightly different settings are examined. The Macintosh Creek is a small, acidic stream （pH 2.98-3.40）, 2 km long, located in the Macmillan Pass area of east-central Yukon amidst known sedimentary exhalative massive sulfide mineralization but remains undisturbed by exploration activities. Its trace metal content is apparently derived from groundwater discharges, which gave as much as 5.0, 2.5, 0.7, 0.13 and 0.03 mg/L ofZn, Ni, Cu and As, respectively. Interaction and sorption reactions with algal mats, biofilms and iron oxyhydroxides appear to be the dominant mechanisms attenuating aqueous contaminant transport along the stream. Cryogenic precipitation further consolidates the ferricrete formation and reduces the mobility of the sorbed metals. The tributaries of the Engineering Creek along the Dempster Highway in northern Yukon drain through a series of dolomite, phyllite, argillite, limestone, black shale, sandstone and conglomerate with no known concentration of mineralization. In this area, the water chemistry fully reflects the local geology with acidic streams invariably associated with black shale occurrences. Groundwater seeps in the headwaters area of the km-180 Creek completely enclosed in black shale gave pH 3.0 and as much as 148, 39, 2.9 and 9.1 mg/L of Zn, Ni, Cu and As, respectively. Sorption with iron oxyhydroxide and organic matter appear to dominate the attenuation of contaminant transport along the stream. However, once entered into carbonate-dominated terrains, secondary carbonate minerals exercise additional geochemical control on the local water chemistry as a result of neutralization.     

Quantification of the risk associated with high levels of mercury pollution at Temirtau, Kazakhstan

This research aims to establish the risks of hurnan exposure to modeling approach. The study site was located on the River Nura 1990s, an acetaldehyde production plant located in the industrial high environmental mercury levels, based on a quantitative risk in central Kazakhstan. From the 1950s until its closure in the mid city of Temirtau released mercury-containing wastewater into the river. River sediments are highly contaminated with mercury up to a distance of 25 km and beyond. In addition, a local power station released an estimated 6 million tonnes of fly-ash into the water and the mercury has become quite tightly associated with the ash deposits. River water, fish and agricultural land in the floodplain are also contaminated with mercury, yet the risks posed to the local population have not been evaluated to date. In June and July 2005, we took samples of soil, interior and exterior dust, drinking water, and food from individual households, communal areas and markets. Additionally, water and sediment samples and fish were taken from the river. Interviews were conducted with householders to establish their age and body weight, general living conditions and sources of irrigation and drinking water. A food frequency questionnaire （FFQ） was designed to investigate the frequencies of consumption of several common regional food items, including fish from the fiver and/or local market. Human hair samples were also collected to estimate the mercury bioburden and to enable the validity of the modeling approach to be established. The paper expands on the main pathways of contamination and looks at linkages between exposure pathways and mercury concentrations found in human hair. Uncertainties inherent in risk analysis as well as their influence on the relative importance of different exposure routes are also discussed.     

地下圆形衬砌隧道对沿线地震动的影响(II):数值结果

利用地下圆形衬砌隧道对入射平面P波和SV波散射级数解答，定量分析了入射波长、入射角度、隧道直径、衬砌刚度等因素对沿线地表位移放大作用的影响。计算结果表明，当入射频率较低时，地下隧道的存在对地表位移幅值影响不大；而当入射频率较高时，地表位移幅值可以达到无隧道情况的4．5倍以上；衬砌情况下地表位移幅值可以高出非衬砌情况的87．8％。建议在地铁的规划设计中考虑地下隧道的建设对隧道沿线设计地震动的影响。     

初夏一次特大暴雨的诊断分析

对新疆1996年5月28－30日一次特大暴雨过程的诊断分析，给出了暴雨产生的原因。     

人工影响天气在防御气象灾害中的重要作用

１概述加强对天气、气候和水相关的极端事件的预测和预报，并通过实施完备的防灾、减灾、救灾战略，最大限度地降低气象灾害极端事件带来的负面影响，保证国家经济建设顺利进行和广大人民群众的生命财产安全是我们面临的重要任务。人工影响天气作为防灾减灾手段之一，在抵御气象灾害方面发挥着越来越重要的作用，为人类未雨绸缪，趋利避害，营造美好的生存环境，做出了越来越大的贡献。人工影响天气技术问世已有半个多世纪了，并从起初的人工增水逐步扩展到人工防雹、人工消云（雾）、人工防霜、人工抑制闪电等方面。同时，人工影响天气的理…     

海底天然气渗漏形成水合物量的线性动力学模型:以墨西哥湾GC185区块Bush高地为例

世界许多地区如墨西哥湾，存在着大量天然气渗漏并形成水合物的现象，出于科学，生态，气候和安全的需要。人类有必要弄清存在于海底以水合成形式存在的天然气的比例。因此，构建了水合物形成量的线性动力学模型，以分析墨西哥湾GC185块区Bush高地海底渗漏天然气的地质过程和行为。Bush高地渗漏的天然气来源于附近的Jolliet气藏，结果表明，渗漏天然气中约有9％的海底形成了水合物。     

韩国关注里海陆架石油开发

6月21日,韩国驻哈萨克斯坦大使在会见了哈萨克斯坦政府总理后对斯闻界宣布,韩国财团计划参加里海哈萨克斯坦所属陆架的石油开采工作。最近成立的韩国财团由5大公司组成,这些能源公司在国外投资、经营等方面具有丰富的经验。计划参加哈石油、天然气开发的韩国财团虽然成立不久,但已经开始了投资项目的研究工作。大使先生说,哈国总理欢迎韩国参与共和国油气