Contamination,risk, and heterogeneity: on the effectiveness of aquifer remediation

The effectiveness of aquifer remediation is typically expressed in terms of a reduction in contaminant concentrations relative to a regulated maximum contaminant level (MCL), and is usually confirmed by sparse monitoring data and/or simple model calculations. Here, the effectiveness of remediation is re-examined from a more thorough risk-based perspective that goes beyond the traditional MCL concept. A methodology is employed to evaluate the health risk to individuals exposed to contaminated household water that is produced from groundwater. This approach explicitly accounts for differences in risk arising from variability in individual physiology and water use, the uncertainty in estimating chemical carcinogenesis for different individuals, and the uncertainties and variability in contaminant concentrations within groundwater as affected by transport through heterogeneous geologic media. A hypothetical contamination scenario is developed as a case study in a saturated, alluvial aquifer underlying an actual Superfund site. A baseline (unremediated) human exposure and health risk scenario, as induced by contaminated groundwater pumped from this site, is predicted and compared with a similar estimate based upon pump-and-treat exposure intervention. The predicted reduction in risk in the remediation scenario is not an equitable one—that is, it is not uniform to all individuals within a population and varies according to the level of uncertainty in prediction. The importance of understanding the detailed hydrogeologic connections that are established in the heterogeneous geologic regime between the contaminated source, municipal receptors, and remediation wells, and its relationship to this uncertainty is demonstrated. Using two alternative pumping rates, we develop cost-benefit curves based upon reduced exposure and risk to different individuals within the population, under the presence of uncertainty.     

Identification of steranes and tritepanes in geolipid extracts by high-resolution gas chromatography and mass spectrometry

One method for the analysis of complex organic mixtures from geological sources is the use of high-resolution gas chromatographic data together with mass spectra obtained by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (gc-ms). The present study involved examination of a variety of authentic triterpenoid alkanes (triterpanes) and steroid alkanes (steranes) for reference purposes, by measurement of their Kovats indices on OV-101 and Dexsil 300 liquid phases, and by the recording of their low-resolution mass spectra by gc-ms. These measurements provide reference data for analysis of the triterpenoid alkanes in geological samples and show that mass spectrometry is a valuable technique for triterpane analysis, permitting in many cases gross structural assignments which may be refined by a comparison of Kovats indices with those of authentic standards.     

Reviews

F. L. Stillwell Anniversary Volume. Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Melbourne, 302 pages, many plates and figures. 1958.

Our Mineral Resources, by Charles M. Riley; x + 338 pages; 102 figures; John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York and London. $6.95.

Researches in Geochemistry, edited by P. H. Abelson; John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 1959. $11.00.

Basic Geology for Science and Engineering, by Edward C. Dapples; vii + 609 pages; 231 figures. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 1959. $9.50.

Historical Geology, by Carl O. Dunbar; xi + 500 pages; 406 figures. Second Edition, publication date August, 1960; John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York. $7.95.

Time, Life and Man, by R. A. Stirton; xi + 558 pages; 291 figures. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 1958.

Vector Space, by Martin J. Buerger; xiv + 347 pages; numerous line drawings; John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York and London. $12.00.

Geology of the Country Around Polonnaruwa, by Piyadasa W. Vtkanage. 1959. Memoir No. 1, Department of Mineralogy, Geological Survey of Ceylon; ix + 75 pages; 11 figures; 12 plates.     

Ordovician system

Rocks in the Brungle‐Darbalara area of the Tumut Trough form two distinct domains: basement (mainly Bullawyarra Schist), of Cambrian‐Ordovician age, and an Ordovician ‐ Early Silurian sedimentary and volcanic cover sequence. These two domains are separated by a sharp discontinuity that marks an abrupt change in rock type, structure, metamorphic grade and deformation style. Cover sequences have undergone only one major penetrative deformation during the Late Silurian, involving sub‐greenschist facies metamorphism and upright folding. In contrast, the basement also underwent at least two older deformations at greenschist facies and contains distinct high‐strain zones subconcordant with the basement‐cover contact. The high‐strain zones, characterized by a ubiquitous south‐southeast trending mineral lineation, record a discontinuous history of ductile followed by brittle behaviour, consistent with an extensional origin.

The structural and metamorphic discontinuity separating basement from Silurian cover is characterized by widespread cataclasis and alteration and is interpreted as a major detachment fault associated with lithospheric extension and the development of the Tumut Trough in the Early Silurian. During the main period of movement on the detachment, which took place prior to intrusion of the Blacks Flat Diorite into the Bullawyarra Schist, mafic and serpentinized ultramafic rocks either were tectonically emplaced or intruded into the high strain zones. This preceded and accompanied extensional faulting of the cover and deposition of Silurian trough sediments and volcanics which unconformably overlie and onlap older units.

The development of the Tumut Trough, in the Brungle‐Darbalara area, bears many similarities with that of Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes. Such a model is consistent with environments suggested for the trough by previous workers. The south‐southeast extension direction parallels the trough‐bounding faults and implies an overall strike‐slip tectonic setting.     

A molecular stratigraphic approach to palaeoenvironmental assessment and the recognition of changes in source inputs in marls of the Mulhouse Basin (Alsace, France)

Principal components analysis (PCA) has been used to investigate changes in concentrations of the components of the hydrocarbon fractions extracted from 71 marl samples, selected to cover two total organic carbon (TOC) maxima in the lower part of the Salt IV formation, a Lower Oligocene evaporitic sequence from the Mulhouse Basin, France. The analysis indicates that the fractions can be ascribed as lying between two end member distributions. The changes in these distributions are gradual, suggesting that they resulted from fairly gradual changes in the depositional palaeoenvironment. These changes are related to increased algal productivity associated with the evolution of a restricted lacustrine environment through to one with a greater marine influence. Systematic variations in the concentrations of selected components relative to the TOC profile point to a repeated sequential evolution in the biological assemblage during deposition of the sequence.