Hydrochemical and Multivariate Statistical Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Shallow Alluvial Aquifers of North Brahmaputra Plain,India

The aim of this study was to display distribution and relationships of heavy elements in the unconfined, shallow alluvial aquifers of the lower Jia Bharali catchment and adjoining areas in central part of North Brahmaputra Plain (NBP), India using hydrochemical as well as multivariate statistical techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis. The original matrix was made up of 10 trace elements (As, Cd, Cu, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni and Zn) estimated from 50 shallow alluvial dug wells in both the wet and the dry season for a duration of 3 hydrological years (2008–2011). Except As, Cu and Zn all the other toxic metals in the shallow aquifers were found exceeding the WHO maximum permissible limits for drinking water. PCA extracted five varimax factors as geogenic, agricultural and anthropogenic explaining about 71.2% of the total variance in the wet season and 69.3% total variance in the dry season. Hierarchical cluster analysis classified the dug wells into two groups in the wet season and three groups in the dry season with respect to the heavy elements. The results emphasized the need for routine monitoring and management in order to avoid contamination of groundwater sources in the NBP with respect to the dissolved trace elements.     

On the circulation in the East Frisian Wadden Sea: numerical modeling and data analysis

 In this paper we use a combination of numerical modeling and data analysis to gain a better understanding of the major characteristics of the circulation in the East Frisian Wadden Sea. In particular, we concentrate on the asymmetry of the tidal wave and its modulation in the coastal area, which results in a complex pattern of responses to the sea-level forcing from the North Sea. The numerical simulations are based on the 3-D primitive equation General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM) with a horizontal resolution of 200 m and terrain-following vertical coordinates. The model is forced at its open boundaries with sea-level data from an operational model for the German Bight (German Hydrographic Office). The validation data for our model simulations include time series of tidal gauge data and surface currents measured at a pile in the back-barrier basin of the Island Langeoog, as well as several ADCP transects in the Accumer Ee tidal inlet. Circulation and turbulence characteristics are investigated for typical situations driven by spring and neap tides, and the analysis is focused on dominating temporal and spatial patterns. By investigating the response of five back-barrier basins with rather different morphologies to external forcing, an attempt is made to elucidate the dominating physical balances controlling the circulation in the individual sub-basins. It is demonstrated that the friction at the seabed tends to slow down the tidal signal in the shallow water. This leads to the establishment of flood dominance in the shallow sea north of the barrier islands. South of the islands, where the water volume of the channels at low tide is smaller than the tidal prism, the asymmetry of the tidal signal is shifted towards ebb dominance, a feature which is particularly pronounced at spring tide. At the northern open boundary, the tidal wave propagating from west to east generates a sea-level difference of ∼1 m along the boundary, and thereby triggers vigorous alongshore currents. The frictional control in the model is located in the inlets, as well as along the northern boundary. The correlation between velocity and turbulent kinetic energy tends to the establishment of a net southward transport, giving theoretical support to the observed accumulation of sediments on the intertidal flats. Weak turbulence along the northern shores of the barrier islands and the small magnitude of the residual currents there promote accumulation of suspended matter in these areas, although wave action will generally counteract this effect. Received: 29 May 2002 / Accepted: 26 September 2002 Responsible Editor: Jean-Marie Beckers Acknowledgements We are indebted to S. Dick for providing the data from the operational model of BSH and to B. Flemming for the useful discussions. The topography data and Fig. 1 have been prepared in cooperation with F. Meyer. Figure 2 has been prepared by G. Brink-Spalink. We also thank for the comments from an anonymous reviewer which helped to improve our paper.     

Characterization of beryl (aquamarine variety) from pegmatites of Minas Gerais,Brazil

Eight samples of the beryl variety aquamarine were selected from four pegmatites in the Governador Valadares and Araçuaí regions in northeastern Minas Gerais State, Brazil. These samples were fully characterized by chemical analysis, infrared and UV-visible spectroscopy, thermal analyses, and high-temperature X-ray diffraction (from room temperature up to 800 °C). Several physical and chemical properties of beryl were found to depend on the amount of water and ions residing in the structural channels. The thermal expansion coefficients from room temperature to about 800 °C are temperature-independent, with αa ? ?3.2 × 10^?6 ° C^?1 and αc ? ?8.7 × 10^?6 ° C^?1. The contraction of both a and c unit-cell parameters with increasing temperature and the shift of the infrared band centered at about 1200 cm^?1 were tentatively ascribed to interactions between channel water and the silicate rings.The color of beryl seems to be dictated by the relative proportions of Fe³⁺ in the octahedralsites and of fe²⁺ in the channels. Thus, deep-blue samples have little Fe³⁺, whereas greener samples have more Fe³⁺ or less channel Fe²⁺.     

Wind sedimentation in the Jafurah sand sea, Saudi Arabia

The Jafurah sand sea of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia extends along the Arabian Gulf coastline from Kuwait in the north to the Rub Al Khali in the south, a distance of about 800 km. Sand drifts southward to south-eastward from regions of high wind energy in the north to low wind energy in the south. The aeolian landscape is zoned, with areas of deflation, transport and deposition from north to south. Drift rates in the zone of transport, near Abqaiq, range from 2 m³ m-w^-1 yr^-1 on sabkhas, to 29 m³ m-w^-1 yr^-1 on the crests of dunes. Average drift rates of approximately 18 m³ m-w^-1 yr^-1 observed during the study can cause about 1 m of accumulation per 5500 yr in a 100 km zone of deposition downwind, not including the bulk transport represented by the forward advance of dunes. Dune advance ranged from 23 m (2.9 m high dune) to 3 m (23 m high dune) during April-October 1980. The study area consists of dune, interdune, sand sheet and siliciclastic sabkha terrains, each of which is characterized by differing drift rates, and differing rates of erosion or deposition. Sedimentation occurs by lateral movement of dunes and interdunes, and vertical accretion by sand sheets and sabkhas.     

A PARAMETRIC APPROACH TO THE COMPRESSION OF SEISMIC SIGNALS BY FREQUENCY TRANSFORMATION*

The compression of seismic signals which have propagated through a dispersive medium can be achieved by a frequency-domain transformation. This transformation is formally related to the dispersion characteristic of the medium and is independent of phase and group velocities. By defining a suitable cost-function to measure the degree of dispersion of a time- signal, an iterative technique can be employed to find that transformation which gives minimum dispersion. In this paper, we assume that the inverse of the dispersion characteristic can be adequately approximated by a finite polynomial in the region of maximum signal energy density. The coefficients of this polynomial are the parameters of dispersion of the medium. These parameters can be estimated both in the presence of noise and in the case of signals made up of multiple arrivals. The techniques developed in this paper are applied to seismic signals which have been recorded underground by a set of geophones designed to detect and map discontinuities in coal-seams. Results of dispersion estimation and signal compression are discussed for data collected in the Blackshale seam, Pye Hill Colliery, near Derby, in the United Kingdom.     

Integer aperture bootstrapping: a new GNSS ambiguity estimator with controllable fail-rate

In this contribution, we introduce a new bootstrap-based method for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) carrier-phase ambiguity resolution. Integer bootstrapping is known to be one of the simplest methods for integer ambiguity estimation with close-to-optimal performance. Its outcome is easy to compute due to the absence of an integer search, and its performance is close to optimal if the decorrelating Z-transformation of the LAMBDA method is used. Moreover, the bootstrapped estimator is presently the only integer estimator for which an exact and easy-to-compute expression of its fail-rate can be given. A possible disadvantage is, however, that the user has only a limited control over the fail-rate. Once the underlying mathematical model is given, the user has no freedom left in changing the value of the fail-rate. Here, we present an ambiguity estimator for which the user is given additional freedom. For this purpose, use is made of the class of integer aperture estimators as introduced in Teunissen (2003). This class is larger than the class of integer estimators. Integer aperture estimators are of a hybrid nature and can have integer outcomes as well as non-integer outcomes. The new estimator is referred to as integer aperture bootstrapping. This new estimator has all the advantages known from integer bootstrapping with the additional advantage that its fail-rate can be controlled by the user. This is made possible by giving the user the freedom over the aperture of the pull-in region. We also give an exact and easy-to-compute expression for its controllable fail-rate.     

Hydrothermale Lösungen

Zusammenfassung Das hydrothermale Auflösungsverhalten der vorwiegend als Gangarten auf-tretenden Mineralphasen Fluorit (CaF₂), Baryt (BaSO₄), Cölestin (SrSO₄) und Anglesit (PbSO₄) läßt sich übersichtlich in einem Temperatur-Löslichkeitsdiagramm darstellen und mit dem bekannten, qualitativ ähnlichen System SiO₂-H₂O vergleichen.Gegenüber dem molekulardispers gelösten SiO₂ ergeben sich aber für die in Ionen dissoziierten Lösungen der schwerlöslichen Sulfate und des Fluorits beträchtliche Verschiebungen der Sättigungsgleichgewichte, insbesondere bei Anwesenheit von Elektrolyten als Lösungsgenossen.Diese Beeinflussung, die für die genetischen Verhältnisse der Minerallagerstätten von entscheidender Bedeutung ist, wird für 0,1–2,0 normale NaCl-Lösungen im NaCl-Konzentrations-Löslichkeits-Diagramm der Minerale Fluorit, Baryt, Cölestin und Anglesit isotherm bis zum Siedepunkt der wäßrigen Mischphasen untersucht.Ferner wird das Löslichkeitsverhalten in den ternären Systemen BaSO₄-NaCl-H₂O und SrSO₄-NaCl-H₂O für Baryt und Cölestin gegen 2,0n NaCl-Lösungen entlang der Grenzkurve des Dreiphasengebietes und für die Isochoren 0,326 bis 0,6 bis 600° C und 2000 Bar dargestellt und mit den entsprechenden Verhältnissen der reinen wäßrigen Systeme verglichen.Ein abweichendes inkongruentes Auflösungsverhalten von Alumosilikaten mit Schichtgitterstruktur läßt sich am Beispiel des Muskovits durch die experimentelle Bestimmung der nichtstöchiometrischen Molekularverhältnisse SiO₂/K₂O und SiO₂/Al₂O₃ in den gesättigten Lösungen für den hydrothermalen Existenzbereich des Muskovits nachweisen.

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The behaviour of solubility for some minerals, which were for the most part found as vein minerals, was determined experimentally and is represented by summarizing diagrams.In the temperature-solubility diagram the hydrothermal solubility of fluorite, barite, celestine and anglesite is compared to the solubility of quartz and muskovite for the boundary curve of the three-phase region and for some isochores. As opposed to SiO₂, which is molecularly dispersed in solution, the ionic solutions of the systems CaF₂-H₂O, BaSO₄-H₂O, SrSO₄-H₂O and PbSO₄-H₂O show considerable displacement of the saturation equilibrium when other components are present in the solution.This influence on the solubility, significant for the genetic relations of mineral deposits, was quantitatively analyzed for 0.1–0.2 n-NaCl solutions. The results are isothermally shown in the NaCl-concentration solubility diagram within the boundaries of room temperature and the boiling point of the aqueous mixed phases.In the tenary systems BaSO₄-NaCl-H₂O and SrSO₄-NaCl-H₂O, the hydro-thermal solubility of barite and celestine in 2.0 n-NaCl solutions is also shown for the range of the boundary curve of the three-phase region and for the isochores 0.326–0.6 up to a temperature of 600° C and a pressure of 2000 bar. These solubilities are then compared with the diagrams of solubility for pure aqueous solutions.The irregular and incongruent behaviour of the solubility of aluminium-silicates of a layered-lattic structure is demonstrated for the system KAl₂(OH)₂-AlSi₂O₁₀-H₂O in the presence of muscovite by experimental determination of the non-stoechiometric molecular proportions of SiO₂K₂O and SiO₂ Al₂O₃. Such determination was conducted in saturated solutions for the hydrothermal range of the existence of muscovite.The geological importance of the knowledge of hydrothermal data of solubility and their application to the process of the hydrothermalmagmatic series and hydrothermalmetamorphosis is discussed.

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Résumé Le comportement de dissolution expérimentalement déterminé de certains minéraux trouvés surtout en filons est exposé en le résumant par diagrammes.La solubilité hydrothermique de fluorine, barytine, célestine et anglésite est comparée pour la courbe limitante (de la région triphasée) et pour les isochores 0,326–0,6 g.cm³ du diagramme température-solubilité avec le comportement de dissolution du quartz et de la muscovite. Les solutions ioniques des systèmes CaF₂H₂O, BaSO₄-H₂O, SrSO₄-H₂O et PbSO₄-H₂O montrent, comparées au SiO₂ dissous en dispersion moléculaire, de différences importantes d'équilibres de saturation en présence d'associés de solution.Cette influence sur la solubilité qui est d'une importance décisive pour les conditions génétiques des gisements de minéraux, a été examinée quantitativement pour les solutions 0,1–0,2—normales de NaCl. La présentation s'est faite isothermiquement dans le diagramme de concentration-solubilité de NaCl entre la température de chambre et le point d'ébullition des phases mixtes aqueuses.Dans les systèmes ternaires BaSO-NaCl-H₂O et SrSO₄-NaCl-H₂O la solubilité hydrothermique de barytine et de célestine en des solutions 2,0-normales de NaCl est présentée également pour l'espace des courbes limitantes de la région triphase et pour les isochores 0,326–0,6 jusqu'à 600° C et 2000 Bar. Elle est comparée avec les courbes de solubilité de systèmes purement aqueux. Le comportement de dissolution divergeant incongruent des silicates d'alumine à structure stratifiée en treillis est démontré pour le systême KAl₂(OH)₂-AlSi₃O₁₀-H₂O par exemple de la muscovite en déterminant expérimentalement les proportions moléculaires non-stochiométriques SiO₂ K₂O et SiO₂Al₂O₃ dans les solutions saturées pour la domaine d'existence hydrothermique de la muscovite.Importance géologique de la connaissance des dates de solubilité hydrothermique et leur application sur les événements des conséquences hydrothermiques-magmatiques et sur les événements de la métamorphose hydrothermique sont discutées.

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y 600° 2000 . (CaF₂), ( SO₄), . (SrSO₄) (PbSO₄) - Sio₂-₂.

     

Ice and climate modeling: An editorial essay

The growth and decay of ice sheets are driven by forces affecting the seasonal cycles of snowfall and snowmelt. The external forces are likely to be variations in the earth's orbit which cause differences in the solar radiation received. Radiational control of snowmelt is modulated by the seasonal cycles of snow albedo and cloud cover. The effects of orbital changes can be magnified by feedbacks involving atmospheric CO₂ content, ocean temperatures and desert areas. Climate modeling of the causes of the Pleistocene ice ages involves modeling the interactions of all components of the climate system; snow, sea ice, glacier ice, the ocean, the atmosphere, and the solid earth. Such modeling is also necessary for interpreting oxygen isotope records from ice and ocean as paleoclimatic evidence.