There is no 1954 in that core! Interpreting sedimentation rates and contaminant trends in marine sediment cores

Marine sediment preserves a useful archive for contaminants and other properties that associate with particles. However, biomixing of sediments can smear the record on a scale of years to thousands of years, depending on sedimentation rate and on the depth and vigour of mixing within a particular sediment. Where such mixing occurs, dates can no longer be associated with discrete sediment depths. Nevertheless, much can still be learned from biomixed profiles, provided that mixing is accounted for. With no modelling at all, it is possible to calculate an inventory of a contaminant at a site and a maximum possible sedimentation rate, and to determine whether the contaminant has increased or decreased over time. Radiodating the core with (210)Pb permits the estimation of sedimentation and mixing rates, which can be combined with the surface contaminant concentration to estimate an approximate flux of the contaminant. Numerical models that incorporate sedimentation and mixing rates (determined using (210)Pb and other transient signals with known deposition histories) can provide the basis to propose plausible histories for contaminant fluxes.     

Conservative models: parametric entropy vs. temporal entropy in outcomes

The geologic architecture in aquifer systems affects the behavior of fluid flow and the dispersion of mass. The spatial distribution and connectivity of higher-permeability facies play an important role. Models that represent this geologic structure have reduced entropy in the spatial distribution of permeability relative to models without structure. The literature shows that the stochastic model with the greatest variance in the distribution of predictions (i.e., the most conservative model) will not simply be the model representing maximum disorder in the permeability field. This principle is further explored using the Shannon entropy as a single metric to quantify and compare model parametric spatial disorder to the temporal distribution of mass residence times in model predictions. The principle is most pronounced when geologic structure manifests as preferential-flow pathways through the system via connected high-permeability sediments. As per percolation theory, at certain volume fractions the full connectivity of the high-permeability sediments will not be represented unless the model is three-dimensional. At these volume fractions, two-dimensional models can profoundly underrepresent the entropy in the real, three-dimensional, aquifer system. Thus to be conservative, stochastic models must be three-dimensional and include geologic structure.     

Bacterial transport experiments in fractured crystalline bedrock

The efficiency of contaminant biodegradation in ground water depends, in part, on the transport properties of the degrading bacteria. Few data exist concerning the transport of bacteria in saturated bedrock, particularly at the field scale. Bacteria and microsphere tracer experiments were conducted in a fractured crystalline bedrock under forced-gradient conditions over a distance of 36 m. Bacteria isolated from the local ground water were chosen on the basis of physicochemical and physiological differences (shape, cell-wall type, motility), and were differentially stained so that their transport behavior could be compared. No two bacterial strains transported in an identical manner, and microspheres produced distinctly different breakthrough curves than bacteria. Although there was insufficient control in this field experiment to completely separate the effects of bacteria shape, reaction to Gram staining, cell size, and motility on transport efficiency, it was observed that (1) the nonmotile, mutant strain exhibited better fractional recovery than the motile parent strain; (2) Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria exhibited higher fractional recovery relative to the Gram-positive rod-shaped strain of similar size; and (3) coccoidal (spherical-shaped) bacteria transported better than all but one strain of the rod-shaped bacteria. The field experiment must be interpreted in the context of the specific bacterial strains and ground water environment in which they were conducted, but experimental results suggest that minor differences in the physical properties of bacteria can lead to major differences in transport behavior at the field scale.     

Long-term performance of permeable reactive barriers using zero-valent iron: geochemical and microbiological effects

Geochemical and microbiological factors that control long-term performance of subsurface permeable reactive barriers were evaluated at the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and the Denver Federal Center, Colorado, sites. These ground water treatment systems use zero-valent iron filings (Peerless Metal Powders Inc.) to intercept and remediate chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds at the Denver Federal Center (funnel-and-gate system) and overlapping plumes of hexavalent chromium and chlorinated hydrocarbons at Elizabeth City (continuous wall system). Zero-valent iron at both sites is a long-term sink for carbon, sulfur, calcium, silicon, nitrogen, and magnesium. After about four years of operation, the average rates of inorganic carbon (IC) and sulfur (S) accumulation are 0.09 and 0.02 kg/m2/year, respectively, at Elizabeth City where upgradient waters contain <400 mg/L of total dissolved solids (TDS). At the Denver Federal Center site, upgradient ground water contains 1000 to 1200 mg/L TDS and rates of IC and S accumulation are as high as 2.16 and 0.80 kg/m2/year, respectively. At both sites, consistent patterns of spatially variable mineral precipitation and microbial activity are observed. Mineral precipitates and microbial biomass accumulate the fastest near the upgradient aquifer-Fe0 interface. Maximum net reductions in porosity due to the accumulation of sulfur and inorganic carbon precipitates range from 0.032 at Elizabeth City to 0.062 at the Denver Federal Center (gate 2) after about four years. Although pore space has been lost due the accumulation of authigenic components, neither site shows evidence of pervasive pore clogging after four years of operation.     

Explaining the thinness of the fresh water lens in the Pleistocene carbonate aquifer on Andros Island, Bahamas

Two hypotheses are explored to explain the thinness of the fresh water lens on Andros Island, Bahamas. The lens is an order of magnitude thinner than predicted by the Ghyben-Herzberg theory. One hypothesis previously posed in the literature is that the base of the lens is governed by the contact between the Lucayan Formation and the pre-Lucayan limestones. An alternate hypothesis, posed here, is that thinning is caused by the hydraulic influence of low-permeability paleosols in the Lucayan Formation. These hypotheses were explored, along with the influence of recharge and other factors, using a numerical model for variable-density flow and salt transport. In the layered system of grainstones/packstones and paleosols within the Lucayan Formation itself, the velocity vectors are nearly horizontal in the grainstones/packstones, and they are nearly vertical in the paleosols. These strata above the pre-Lucayan, all lower than it in permeability, draw the base of the lens upward to a position well above the contact by significantly reducing pressure within and below the strata relative to hydrostatic pressure. It is the loss of pressure across the paleosols that dramatically thins the fresh water lens, and thus the predominant hydraulic control on lens thickness arises from the existence of paleosols.     

压实粘土斜坡的软化与蠕变

本文基于南加里弗尼亚地价昂贵且土地逐渐减少，大部分建筑开始修建填土斜坡上这一事实，对压实粘土斜坡进行地下勘探和现场测试，并对压实粘土做了室内试验。从而探讨了压实粘土软化和蠕变的规律及其影响因素。     

Deeply Penetrating Banded Zonal Flows in the Solar Convection Zone

We discuss the spectrum arising from synchrotron emission by fast cooling (FC) electrons, when fresh electrons are continually accelerated by a strong blast wave, into a power-law distribution of energies. The FC spectrum has so far been described by four power-law segments divided by three break frequencies nusa相似文献   

通过自由振荡了解地幔

大地震辐射的地震波穿过整个地球。因为这些波仅在地球内部传播,所以经历了多次反射,并且沿相反方向传播的波之间的相互干涉形成了一种驻波形态:地球的简正振型(图1)。这些“体”波也受到传播它的介质的影响。因此它也就带有关于地球弹性分布和间断位置的有价值信息。     

Effects of sonication and advanced chemical oxidants on the unicellular green alga Dunaliella tertiolecta and cysts, larvae and adults of the brine shrimp Artemia salina: a prospective treatment to eradicate invasive organisms from ballast water

Uptake and release of ship-borne ballast water is a major factor contributing to introductions of aquatic phytoplankton and invasive macroinvertebrates. Some invasive unicellular algae can cause harmful algal blooms and produce toxins that build up in food chains. Moreover, to date, few studies have compared the efficacy of ballast water treatments against different life history phases of aquatic macroinvertebrates. In the present study, the unicellular green alga Dunaliella tertiolecta, and three discrete life history phases of the brine shrimp Artemia salina, were independently used as model organisms to study the efficacy of sonication as well as the advanced oxidants, hydrogen peroxide and ozone, as potential ballast water treatments. Algal cells and brine shrimp cysts, nauplii, and adults were subjected to individual and combined treatments of sonication and advanced oxidants. Combined rather than individual treatments consistently yielded the highest levels of mortality in algal cells (100% over a 2 min exposure) and in brine shrimp (100% and 95% for larvae and adults, respectively, over a 2 min exposure). In contrast, mortality levels in brine shrimp cysts (66% over 2 min; increased to 92% over a 20 min exposure) were moderately high but consistently lower than that detected for larval or adult shrimp. Our results indicate that a combination of sonication and advanced chemical oxidants may be a promising method to eradicate aquatic unicellular algae and macroinvertebrates in ballast water.     

Forest carbon stocks and fluxes in physiographic zones of India

Background  

Reducing carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is of central importance to combat climate change. Foremost among the challenges is quantifying nation's carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation, which requires information on forest carbon storage. Here we estimated carbon storage in India's forest biomass for the years 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the net flux caused by deforestation and degradation, between two assessment periods i.e., Assessment Period first (ASP I), 2003-2005 and Assessment Period second (ASP II), 2005-2007.