Fluoride and arsenic hydrogeochemistry of groundwater at Yuncheng basin,Northern China

High fluoride and arsenic concentrations in groundwater have led to serious health problems to local inhabitants at Yuncheng basin, Northern China. In this study, groundwater with high fluoride and arsenic concentration at Yuncheng basin was investigated. A majority of the samples (over 60%) belong to HCO₃ type water. The predominant water type for the shallow groundwater collected from southern and eastern mountain areas was Ca/Mg-Ca-HCO₃ types. For the shallow groundwater from flow through and discharge area it is Na-HCO₃/SO₄-Cl/SO₄/Cl type. The predominant water type for the intermediate and deep groundwater is of Na/Ca/Mg-Ca-HCO₃ type. According to our field investigation, fluoride concentration in groundwater ranges between 0.31 and 14.2 mg/L, and arsenic concentration ranges between 0.243 and 153.7 μg/L. Out of seventy collected groundwater samples, there are 31 samples that exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 1.5 mg/L for fluoride, and 15 samples exceeds the WHO standard of 10 μg/L for arsenic. Over 40% of high fluoride and arsenic groundwater are related to the Na-HCO₃ type water, and the other fifty percent associated with Na-SO₄-Cl/HCO₃-SO₄-Cl type water; little relation was found in calcium bicarbonate type water. A moderate positive correlation between fluoride and arsenic with pH were found in this study. It is due to the pH-dependent adsorption characteristics of F and As onto the oxide surfaces in the sediments. The observed negative correlation between fluoride and calcium could stem from the dissolution equilibrium of fluorite. The high concentration of bicarbonate in groundwater can serve as a powerful competitor and lead to the enrichment of fluoride and arsenic in groundwater. Most of the groundwater with high fluoride or arsenic content has nitrate content about or over 10 mg/L which, together with the observed positive correlations between nitrate and fluoride/arsenic, are indicative of common source of manmade pollution and of prevailing condition of leaching in the study area.     

Zero-valent iron/persulfate(Fe0/PS) oxidation acetaminophen in water

Zero-valent iron (Fe⁰), as an alternative iron source, was evaluated to activate persulfate (PS) to degrade acetaminophen (APAP), a representative pharmaceutically active compound in water. Effects of key factors in the so-called Fe⁰/PS process, including Fe⁰ dosage, initial pH, temperatures and chelating agents, were studied. Under all the conditions tested, the APAP degradation followed a pseudo-first-order kinetics pattern. The degradation efficiency of APAP was highest when the Fe⁰ to PS molar ratio increased to 1:1, and the degradation rate constant and removal were 23.19 × 10^?3 min^?1 and 93.19 %, respectively. Comparing with Fe²⁺, Fe⁰ served as an alternative iron source that can gradually release Fe²⁺ into water, thereby consistently activating PS to produce sulfate radicals. The Fe⁰/PS system was effective in a broader pH range from 3 to 8.5. Heat could facilitate production of sulfate radicals and enhance the APAP degradation in the Fe⁰/PS system. High reaction temperature also improved the Fe²⁺/PS oxidation of APAP. Finally, sodium citrate (a chelating agent) at an appropriate concentration could improve the APAP degradation rate in the Fe²⁺/PS and Fe⁰/PS system. The optimal molar ratio of Fe⁰ to citrate depended on solution pH. Our results demonstrated that Fe⁰ was an alternative iron source to activate PS to degrade APAP in water.     

Local responses in 2D assemblies of elliptical rods when subjected to biaxial shearing

Acta Geotechnica - This study explored the characteristics of local responses in 2D assemblies of elliptical particles when subjected to shearing. A biaxial shearing system was designed for this...     

高层建筑典型外墙保温材料火蔓延特性数值模拟研究

有机保温材料被广泛应用于高层建筑外墙保温体系的同时,也可能增加高层建筑的火灾风险。本文通过计算机模拟,着重研究了保温材料之一的聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料（EPS）的火蔓延速率、失重速率及温度场分布等特性。研究结果发现：发生火灾后,外墙保温材料可以在很短的时间内自下而上蔓延至整个材料表面,并有表皮着火的现象。在火焰到达材料顶部之前,向上火蔓延占主导地位,材料中部区域明显燃烧脱落,火焰在材料两端上部继续燃烧,有向下加速蔓延的趋势;之后,火焰沿着材料中部内侧向下剧烈燃烧,材料呈V字型燃烧直至熄灭。在高层建筑外墙外保温材料火蔓延中,不同着火点情况下的燃烧速率随时间变化的趋势相似,且会形成两个波峰。     

High‐accuracy practical spline‐based 3D and 2D integral transformations in potential‐field geophysics

Potential, potential field and potential‐field gradient data are supplemental to each other for resolving sources of interest in both exploration and solid Earth studies. We propose flexible high‐accuracy practical techniques to perform 3D and 2D integral transformations from potential field components to potential and from potential‐field gradient components to potential field components in the space domain using cubic B‐splines. The spline techniques are applicable to either uniform or non‐uniform rectangular grids for the 3D case, and applicable to either regular or irregular grids for the 2D case. The spline‐based indefinite integrations can be computed at any point in the computational domain. In our synthetic 3D gravity and magnetic transformation examples, we show that the spline techniques are substantially more accurate than the Fourier transform techniques, and demonstrate that harmonicity is confirmed substantially better for the spline method than the Fourier transform method and that spline‐based integration and differentiation are invertible. The cost of the increase in accuracy is an increase in computing time. Our real data examples of 3D transformations show that the spline‐based results agree substantially better or better with the observed data than do the Fourier‐based results. The spline techniques would therefore be very useful for data quality control through comparisons of the computed and observed components. If certain desired components of the potential field or gradient data are not measured, they can be obtained using the spline‐based transformations as alternatives to the Fourier transform techniques.     

High-resolution crustal structure of the Yinchuan basin revealed by deep seismic reflection profiling: implications for deep processes of basin

The Yinchuan basin, located on the western margin of the Ordos block, has the characteristics of an active continental rift. A NW-striking deep seismic reflection profile across the center of Yinchuan basin precisely revealed the fine structure of the crust. The images showed that the crust in the Yinchuan basin was characterized by vertical stratifications along a detachment located at a two-way travel time(TWT) of 8.0 s.The most outstanding feature of this seismic profile was the almost flat Mohorovicˇic′ discontinuity(Moho) and a high-reflection zone in the lower crust. This sub-horizontal Moho conflicts with the general assumption of an uplifted Moho under sedimentary basins and continental rifts, and may indicate the action of different processes at depth during the evolution of sedimentary basins or rifts.We present a possible interpretation of these deep processes and the sub-horizontal Moho. The high-reflection zone, which consists of sheets of high-density, mantlederived materials, may have compensated for crustal thinning in the Yinchuan basin, leading to the formation of a sub-horizontal Moho. These high-density materials may have been emplaced by underplating with mantlesourced magma.     

Optimum size and density of surface grid arrays for retrieving accurate shear-tensile fracturing of microearthquakes

Surface arrays became an important tool for monitoring the induced seismicity in hydraulic fracturing experiments and for assessing the impact of fluid injection on the fracturing process of microearthquakes. The layout of sensors plays a key role in this task because it controls the accuracy of event locations and retrieved seismic moment tensors. We simulate various configurations of grid sensor arrays characterized by a different number of sensors, array span, sensor spacing, depth of sources and various shear/tensile source mechanisms of events. The moment tensor inversion is carried out using synthetically calculated P-wave amplitudes with added random noise. A bias in the solutions is evaluated by errors in the double-couple percentage of inverted moment tensors because the double-couple errors inform us about the sensitivity of the network to detect the shear/tensile fracturing mode of induced microearthquakes. The results show that the accuracy of the double-couple percentage is mostly controlled by the offset-to-depth ratio R defined as the ratio of half of the network size to the event depth. The optimum value of R is in the range of 0.75–1.5 irrespective of the type of the focal mechanism. If 121 (11 × 11) sensors are distributed in a regular grid and recorded data are characterized by a 10% random noise, the double-couple error is less than 6%. This error increases, if R is not optimum or if the number of sensors is reduced. However, even sparse arrays with 49 (7 × 7) or 16 (4 × 4) sensors can yield a reasonable accuracy, provided the surface grid arrays are designed to have an optimum size.     

宾川地区的地壳厚度和泊松比分布特征研究

This paper presents the changes of crust thickness and Poissons ratios distribution in the Binchuan region,where the first air-gun transmitting station and its a small dense array were deployed.From September 2011 to January 2014,more than 239 teleseismic events of M≥6.0 were recorded in 16 stations in the Binchuan region.Their P-wave receiver functions were analyzed respectively.The high spatial resolution result shows that the average crust thickness of Binchuan region is 45.3km,it follows the rule of"deeper in the north and east part,shallower in the south and west part."The deepest region is in Xiaoyindian Station;the crust thickness is 47.9km;the shallowest region is in Paiying Station,it has the thickness of 42.1km.It shows that the deeper Moho surface nearby the Chenghai fault and shallower nearby the Honghe fault;the isoline distribution of thickness changes greatly nearby the Chenghai fault and slowly nearby the Honghe fault.From the distribution of Poissons ratios,it is unevenly in the study area with a great difference from the north part to the south part,which shows a characteristic of"lower in the north,higher in the south".The Poissons ratio nearby the Honghe fault is medium too high(0.26≤σ≤0.29);lower nearby the Chenghai fault(σ≤0.26).This paper concludes the possible reason of different characteristic between Poissons ratio and crust thickness is thicker in the upper crust in the Binchuan region.     

Distribution,potential sources and ecological risks of two persistent organic pollutants in the intertidal sediment at the Shuangtaizi Estuary,Bohai Sea of China

Spatial distribution, source apportionment, and potential ecological risks of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and seven endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in the intertidal sediment at the Shuangtaizi Estuary, Bohai Sea of China were analyzed. Results showed that the total PAH concentrations ranged from 28.79 ng g^? 1 dw to 281.97 ng g^? 1 dw (mean: 115.92 ng g^? 1 dw) and the total EDC concentrations from 0.52 ng g^? 1 dw to 126.73 ng g^? 1 dw (mean: 37.49 ng g^? 1 dw). The distribution pattern for the PAHs was generally different from that of the EDCs possibly due to their distinct sources and n-octanol-/water partition coefficients (K_OW). Qualitative and quantitative analytical results showed that PAH sources were mainly from a mixture of pyrogenic and petrogenic contributions. The higher levels at the southeast of Geligang indicated that the EDC pollutants may have mainly originated from the plastic industry and other chemical plants located along the Liao River. Ecological risk assessment revealed that PAHs exhibited low ecotoxicological effects, whereas EDCs, especially 4-tert-octylphenol and bisphenol A, had high ecological hazard to the estuarine biota.     

东昆仑南缘布青山地区哈尔郭勒玄武岩地球化学特征及其地质意义

哈尔郭勒玄武岩位于东昆仑南缘布青山地区。详细的地球化学研究表明哈尔郭勒玄武岩可以分为碱性玄武岩和亚碱性玄武岩,其中碱性玄武岩的∑LREE=63.8×10-6~175.36×10-6,∑HREE=14.46×10-6~28.56×10-6,∑LREE/∑HREE=4.41~6.14,(La/Yb)N=4.14~6.71,(Ce/Yb)N=3.31~5.12,δEu=1.03~1.17,具有与洋岛玄武岩(OIB)相似的稀土配分模式;亚碱性玄武岩的∑LREE=11.07×10-6~29.95×10-6,∑HREE=12.56×10-6~25.41×10-6,∑LREE/∑HREE=0.88~1.54,(La/Yb)N=0.29~0.74,(Ce/Yb)N=0.37~0.77,δEu=1.02~1.22,具有正常洋中脊玄武岩(N-MORB)的稀土元素地球化学特征。这表明哈尔郭勒玄武岩是OIB与N-MORB的共生组合。布青山地区哈尔郭勒玄武岩中的OIB形成于洋脊附近的海山或洋岛环境,岩浆源区可能为EMⅡ型富集地幔;N-MORB形成于洋脊环境,起源于亏损地幔。哈尔郭勒玄武岩为布青山地区晚古生代存在洋盆提供了更充分的证据。