Soil erosion assessment and its verification using the Universal Soil Loss Equation and Geographic Information System: a case study at Boun,Korea

This study is aimed at the evaluation of the hazard of soil erosion and its verification at Boun, Korea, using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing. Precipitation, topographic, soil, and land use data were collected, processed, and constructed into a spatial database using GIS and remote sensing data. Areas that had suffered soil erosion were analysed and mapped using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The factors that influence soil erosion are rainfall erosivitiy (R) from the precipitation database, soil erodibility (K) from the soil database, slope length and steepness (LS) from the topographic database, and crop and management (C) and conservation supporting practices (P) from the land use database. Land use was classified from Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images. The soil erosion map verified use of the landslide location data. Landslide locations were identified in the Boun area from interpretation of aerial photographs and field surveys.     

Environmental impact of drainage of Dianzi Iron Mine on the groundwater system of the Dawu Water Supply Base

Due to growing water extraction for industry and agriculture, the Dawu Water Supply Base, in the east of Zibo, China, has been in a state of serious over-extraction. It will also be affected by the deep drainage of the Dianzi Iron Mine, which will be exploited in 2005. As to the environmental impact on the groundwater system of the Dawu Water Supply Base is concerned, this paper makes a systematic study about the influence of the mine draining on the water-supply environment of the Dawu Water Supply Base by using the numerical model of groundwater system. The result shows that the groundwater level will have an additional drawdown of 1.2–1.8 m/yr by the mine draining alone. The numerical analysis results indicate that the optimal model for determining the best extraction plan is the solution for the contradiction between water supply and water drainage.     

The extent of desertification on Saudi Arabia

Desertification is the process that turns productive deserts into non-productive deserts as a result of poor land-management. Desertification reduces the ability of land to support life, affecting wild species, domestic animals, agricultural crops and humans. The reduction in plant cover that accompanies desertification leads to accelerated soil erosion by wind and water. South Africa is losing approximately 300–400 million tons of topsoil every year. As vegetation cover and soil layer are reduced, rain fall impact and run-off increases. This paper discusses the extent of desertification, its potential threat to sustained irrigated agriculture and possible measures adopted to control ongoing desertification processes to minimize the loss of agricultural productivity in an arid country such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.     

Composition and exhalation flux of gases from mud volcanoes in Taiwan

Many mud volcanoes are distributed along the tectonic sutures in southern Taiwan and can be divided into five zones based on their relative positions in different tectonic domains. Most active mud volcanoes are exhaling methane-dominated gases. Nevertheless, some gases show unusual carbon dioxide-dominated and/or nitrogen-excess compositions. This implies that there are multiple sources for the gas compositions of mud volcanoes in Taiwan.For better understanding the total amount of exhalation gases and its flux, the gas flow and compositions were continuously measured in the interval of two minutes at Chung-lun (CL) bubbling mud pool for a few months. The major compositions of gases exhaling from this site were 75~90% of CO₂ and 5~12% of CH₄. The amount of gases exhaling from the mud pool can be estimated to be about 1.4 ton/year for CH₄ and 28 ton/year for CO₂, respectively. The preliminary results of exhaling gas flux from the major vents of representative active mud volcanoes, yielded an estimated total CH₄ output of the mud volcanoes in Taiwan of ca. 29 ton/year during quiescent period.     

A new estimate of global methane flux from onshore and shallow submarine mud volcanoes to the atmosphere

A new estimate of global methane emission into the atmosphere from mud volcanoes (MVs) on land and shallow seafloor is presented. The estimate, considered a lower limit, is based on 1) new direct measurements of flux, including both venting of methane and diffuse microseepage around craters and vents, and 2) a classification of MV sizes in terms of area (km²) based on a compilation of data from 120 MVs. The methane flux to the atmosphere is conservatively estimated between 6 and 9 Mt y^–1. This emission from MVs is 3–6% of the natural methane sources and is comparable with ocean and hydrate sources, officially considered in the atmospheric methane budget. The total geologic source, including MVs, seepage from seafloor, microseepage in hydrocarbon-prone areas and geothermal sources, would amount to 35–45 Mt y^–1. The authors believe it is time to add this parameter in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change official tables of atmospheric methane sources.GEM     

A field evaluation of enhanced reductive dechlorination of chlorinated solvents in groundwater,New York Metropolitan Area

An initial assessment of an old manufacturing site with groundwater impacted by trichloroethene (TCE) contamination in the metropolitan New York area showed that the TCE was being removed naturally by reductive dechlorination. However, complete dechlorination was not expected at the site because the process was progressing too slowly under transitional to aerobic conditions at a degradation constant of –0.0013 and a TCE half life of 533 days. A pilot test was conducted at the site in which a carbohydrate substrate (molasses) was injected into the groundwater to create an In-Situ Reactive Zone (IRZ). Post-pilot test groundwater sampling and analysis indicated that an IRZ was created successfully as the total organic carbon (TOC) content and conductivity increased significantly while oxidation-reduction (REDOX) potential and dissolved oxygen (DO) decreased. The created IRZ caused enhanced reductive dechlorination of TCE at the site, found to proceed with a degradation constant of –0.0158 and a TCE half life of 44 days.     

Trace elements in medium-temperature (40–80 °C) thermal waters from the Mura basin (North-Eastern Slovenia)

Medium-temperature thermal waters in the Mura basin occur in hydrogeological systems different in age, burial depth, temperature, porosity and permeability, and the presence of free carbon dioxide which penetrates through the fractures from pre-Tertiary basement. The waters commonly belong to sodium-bicarbonate hydrogeochemical facies, but may have significantly different amounts of total dissolved solids, including trace elements. Thermal waters occurring in low-permeable, well-compacted and moderately fractured Tertiary sediments older than Upper Pliocene are the richest in trace elements, although their abundance may be very variable from one aquifer to another. The ratios of major alkaline and alkaline earth elements (Na, K, Ca) and trace elements (Li, Rb, Cs, Ba, Sr) commonly show relative enrichment in highly mineralised waters with respect to the waters with lower mineralisation. Rare earth elements (REEs) and Y show only minor fractionation in the highly mineralised waters, whereas in the waters with lower mineralisation strong fractionation of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) over light rare earth elements (LREEs) occurs, along with a pronounced positive europium anomaly. Positive Th/U ratios are commonly observed, although both actinide elements occur in the range of some hundredths of ppb to some ppb. Trace elements were particularly useful in the study of well cycling in two hydraulically interconnected geothermal wells in the town of Murska Sobota, which produce a mixture of low- and high-mineralised waters.     

A comparison of the GIS based landslide susceptibility assessment methods: multivariate versus bivariate

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and to compare the results of multivariate (logical regression) and bivariate (landslide susceptibility) methods in Geographical Information System (GIS) based landslide susceptibility assessment procedures. In order to achieve this goal the Asarsuyu catchment in NW Turkey was selected as a test zone because of its well-known landslide occurrences interfering with the E-5 highway mountain pass.Two methods were applied to the test zone and two separate susceptibility maps were produced. Following this a two-fold comparison scheme was implemented. Both methods were compared by the Seed Cell Area Indexes (SCAI) and by the spatial locations of the resultant susceptibility pixels.It was found that both of the methods converge in 80% of the area; however, the weighting algorithm in the bivariate technique (landslide susceptibility method) had some severe deficiencies, as the resultant hazard classes in overweighed areas did not converge with the factual landslide inventory map. The result of the multivariate technique (logical regression) was more sensitive to the different local features of the test zone and it resulted in more accurate and homogeneous susceptibility maps.     

Seasonal variations and mechanisms of groundwater nitrate pollution in the Gaza Strip

Nitrate represents one of the major pollutants of groundwater in the Gaza Strip. Several cases of blue babies disease were reported in the last couple of years. The present study is an investigation of the seasonal variations in nitrate concentration to better understand the mechanisms and parameters controlling this perilous pollutant. Nitrate was analysed in 100 wells (47 agricultural and 53 domestic) in five governorates. The results showed that 90% of the tested wells have nitrate far beyond the allowed values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The average concentration of nitrate in domestic wells is 128 mg/L in June-July and 118 mg/L in Jan-Feb, and for the agricultural wells, the average is 100 mg/L in June-July, and 96 mg/L for Jan-Feb. The results suggest that the seasonal differences in nitrate concentrations of the domestic wells are slightly more observable than those of the agricultural wells. The environmental factors that control nitrate in groundwater are: a partially-confined aquifer, lack of a sewage system, population density, the presence of refugee camps, the presence of fertilizers and the annual rain. The variations in nitrate concentration of the domestic wells are not of considerable values. It is suggested that concrete policies in pollution control and/or prevention measures could be formulated upon better understanding of the environmental factors.     

Therapeutic waters in the Polish geological and mining law

The Polish legislation gives groundwaters declared as curative ones a high rank of basic minerals or, in well-defined cases, of common minerals. Both kinds of minerals are subject of mining law regulations. This explains the use of the word deposit which, in the case of groundwaters, often does not reflect reality.