Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Bottom Sediments of the Vistula River,Poland

The Vistula (Wisla) river, the biggest river in Poland, is 1038 km long and has a drainage area of 168 689 km². The river is strongly polluted by wastewaters. Big industrial plants are situated mainly in the upper part of the river, where it is slow‐flowing. This paper presents the results of the analysis of bottom sediment samples gathered from different locations along the Vistula river, from Kraków to Gdansk. The study was conducted in 2005. The following parameters were determined: chloroorganic pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorophenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), total organic carbon (TOC). The sum of chloroorganic pesticides was in the range of 2.0 to 77.5 ng/g d.w. (dry wet) with the highest values in the upper part of the river. p,p′‐DDT was found in the highest concentration. The sum of PCBs was in the range of 0.9 to 64.2 ng/g d.w. The sum of chlorophenols varied from 0.48 to 14.3 ng/g d.w. 2,4‐Dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol occurred in the highest concentration. The sum of PAHs was in the range of 1552 to 7832 ng/g d.w. Phenantren was found in the highest concentration and antracen in the lowest. TOC values varied from 4.3 to 43.9 g/kg d.w. The concentrations of pesticides and PCBs were the highest in the upper part of the river and decreased along the course of the river, but the other determined compounds did not show this trend. However, the highest values occurred always in the upper part of the river.     

Water column monitoring near oil installations in the North Sea 2001-2004

Fisheries have been vital to coastal communities around the North Sea for centuries, but this semi-enclosed sea also receives large amounts of waste. It is therefore important to monitor and control inputs of contaminants into the North Sea. Inputs of effluents from offshore oil and gas production platforms (produced water) in the Norwegian sector have been monitored through an integrated chemical and biological effects programme since 2001. The programme has used caged Atlantic cod and blue mussels. PAH tissue residues in blue mussels and PAH bile metabolites in cod have confirmed exposure to effluents, but there was variation between years. Results for a range of biological effects methods reflected exposure gradients and indicated that exposure levels were low and caused minor environmental impact at the deployment locations. There is a need to develop methods that are sufficiently sensitive to components in produced water at levels found in marine ecosystems.     

Wave Energy from the North Sea: Experiences from the Lysekil Research Site

This paper provides a status update on the development of the Swedish wave energy research area located close to Lysekil on the Swedish West coast. The Lysekil project is run by the Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Conversion at Uppsala University. The project was started in 2004 and currently has permission to run until the end of 2013. During this time period 10 grid-connected wave energy converters, 30 buoys for studies on environmental impact, and a surveillance tower for monitoring the interaction between waves and converters will be installed and studied. To date the research area holds one complete wave energy converter connected to a measuring station on shore via a sea cable, a Wave Rider? buoy for wave measurements, 25 buoys for studies on environmental impact, and a surveillance tower. The wave energy converter is based on a linear synchronous generator which is placed on the sea bed and driven by a heaving point absorber at the ocean surface. The converter is directly driven, i.e. it has no gearbox or other mechanical or hydraulic conversion system. This results in a simple and robust mechanical system, but also in a somewhat more complicated electrical system.     

Scaling soil water retention functions using particle-size distribution

The presented study explores the prediction of soil water retention and its variability from soil texture and bulk density measurements, using a physically-based scaling technique. Specifically, the Arya–Paris (AP) physico-empirical model is applied to two soil datasets that are collected from two catchments located in different areas of Southern Italy. Laboratory-measured soil water retention functions are scaled to characterize soil variability. The laboratory-measured and AP-predicted reference water retention functions are compared by evaluating the lognormal distribution of derived scaling factors, relative to the mean reference retention function. Since the scaling theory assumes geometric similitude for the investigated soils, successful application of using particle-size distribution to estimate soil water retention requires separation of soils with different textures, using variance analysis. We conclude that variability in soil water retention can be determined from limited soil water retention data using the scaling approach when combined with particle-size distribution measurements. This method can potentially be used as an effective tool for identifying soil hydrologic response at catchment scales.     

Differential calibration of seismometers for measurement of rotation and strain

A method of correcting the seismometers’ responses discrepancy for differential measurements of strains and rotations in the seismic far field is proposed. The method concerns differential calibration of the whole seismometers’ array by electric current. A model of corrective filtering of the obtained differential signals in the Z domain is given. Two methods of the filter parameters’ estimation are introduced; they are based on the seismometers response to the calibration. A practical test of the methods — an analysis of a recorded seismic event — is added. Significant reduction of differences between simultaneous seismic recordings was obtained, which is interpreted as cleaning of differential signal from spurious elements.     

Methodology for the Process Based Acquisition and Assessment of Non-Intended Outputs in the Mining Industry

For the activities of the mining industry land, equipment, material, and energy are used. During operation material and energy flows such as overburden, dead rock, tailings, wastewater, exhaust air, dust, energy, abrasion, coolant and lubricant losses, are released. These released material and energy flows are nearly always without value for the raw material supply chain as they are not production targets. Instead, they have negative effects on the economy and ecology and are, therefore, referred to as ‘non-intended’. The knowledge of the quantities and qualities of these non-intended outputs as a function of the processes and their parameters is the basis for technical and economical measures. A methodology for the acquisition and assessment of the material and energy flows in the mining industry was developed and tested at the Technical University Berlin, Germany. For that purpose and based on a system analysis in different mines, all relevant material and energy flows were assigned to individual processes. Causal relationships, possible interactions, quantities, and qualities were examined as functions of system parameters. Finally, a technical and economic evaluation was performed.     

Determination of first-order degradation rate constants from monitoring networks

In this article, different strategies for estimating first-order degradation rate constants from measured field data are compared by application to multiple, synthetic, contaminant plumes. The plumes were generated by numerical simulation of contaminant transport and degradation in virtual heterogeneous aquifers. These sites were then individually and independently investigated on the computer by installation of extensive networks of observation wells. From the data measured at the wells, that is, contaminant concentrations, hydraulic conductivities, and heads, first-order degradation rates were estimated by three 1D centerline methods, which use only measurements located on the plume axis, and a two-dimensional method, which uses all concentration measurements available downgradient from the contaminant source. Results for both strategies show that the true rate constant used for the numerical simulation of the plumes in general tends to be overestimated. Overestimation is stronger for narrow plumes from small source zones, with an average overestimation factor of about 5 and single values ranging from 0.5 to 20, decreasing for wider plumes, with an average overestimation factor of about 2 and similar spread. Reasons for this overestimation are identified in the velocity calculation, the dispersivity parameterization, and off-centerline measurements. For narrow plumes, the one- and the two-dimensional strategies show approximately the same amount of overestimation. For wider plumes, however, incorporation of all measurements in the two-dimensional approach reduces the estimation error. No significant relation between the number of observation wells in the monitoring network and the quality of the estimated rate constant is found for the two-dimensional approach.     

European summer temperature response to annually dated volcanic eruptions over the past nine centuries

The drop in temperature following large volcanic eruptions has been identified as an important component of natural climate variability. However, due to the limited number of large eruptions that occurred during the period of instrumental observations, the precise amplitude of post-volcanic cooling is not well constrained. Here we present new evidence on summer temperature cooling over Europe in years following volcanic eruptions. We compile and analyze an updated network of tree-ring maximum latewood density chronologies, spanning the past nine centuries, and compare cooling signatures in this network with exceptionally long instrumental station records and state-of-the-art general circulation models. Results indicate post-volcanic June–August cooling is strongest in Northern Europe 2 years after an eruption (?0.52?±?0.05 °C), whereas in Central Europe the temperature response is smaller and occurs 1 year after an eruption (?0.18?±?0.07 °C). We validate these estimates by comparison with the shorter instrumental network and evaluate the statistical significance of post-volcanic summer temperature cooling in the context of natural climate variability over the past nine centuries. Finding no significant post-volcanic temperature cooling lasting longer than 2 years, our results question the ability of large eruptions to initiate long-term temperature changes through feedback mechanisms in the climate system. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the response seen in general circulation models and emphasize the importance of considering well-documented, annually dated eruptions when assessing the significance of volcanic forcing on continental-scale temperature variations.