A Practical Approach to the Design, Monitoring, and Optimization of In Situ MTBE Aerobic Biobarriers

A paradigm for the design, monitoring, and optimization of in situ methyl tert -butyl ether (MTBE) aerobic biobarriers is presented. In this technology, an oxygen-rich biologically reactive treatment zone (the "biobarrier") is established in situ and downgradient of the source of dissolved MTBE contamination in groundwater, typically gasoline-impacted soils resulting from leaks and spills at service station sites or other fuel storage and distribution facilities. The system is designed so that groundwater containing dissolved MTBE flows to, and through, the biobarrier treatment zone, ideally under natural gradient conditions so that no pumping is necessary. As the groundwater passes through the biobarrier, the MTBE is converted by microorganisms to innocuous by-products. The system also reduces concentrations of other aerobically degradable chemicals dissolved in the groundwater, such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, and tert -butyl alcohol. This design paradigm is based on experience gained while designing, monitoring, and optimizing pilot-scale and full-scale MTBE biobarrier systems. It is largely empirically based, although the design approach does rely on simple engineering calculations. The paradigm emphasizes gas injection–based oxygen delivery schemes, although many of the steps would be common to other methods of delivering oxygen to aquifers.     

Relativistic Fe line emission and highly photoionized absorption in GROJ1655‐40

We report on two XMM‐Newton and simultaneous INTEGRAL observations of the microquasar GRO J1655‐40 during its 2005 outburst. The source was most probably in its high‐soft state during both observations. There is evidence for the presence of both a relativistically broadened Fe line providing strong support for the existence of a spinning black hole, and a highly photo‐ionized absorber. The photo‐ionized absorber is responsible for strong K absorption lines of Fe XXV and Fe XXVI in the EPIC pn spectra. The parameters of the highly‐ionized absorber were different during the two observations. A less ionized absorber is present in the second observation, where the 0.5–200 keV luminosity of GRO J1655‐40 decreased by around a half. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A short review of relativistic iron lines from stellar‐mass black holes

In this contribution, I briefly review recent progress in detecting and measuring the properties of relativistic iron lines observed in stellar‐mass black hole systems, and the aspects of these lines that are most relevant to studies of similar lines in Seyfert‐1 AGN. In particular, the lines observed in stellar‐mass black holes are not complicated by complex low‐energy absorption or partial‐covering of the central engine, and strong lines are largely independent of the model used to fit the underlying broad‐band continuum flux. Indeed, relativistic iron lines are the most robust diagnostic of black hole spin that is presently available to observers, with specific advantages over the systematics–plagued disk continuum. If accretion onto stellar‐mass black holes simply scales with mass, then the widespread nature of lines in stellar‐mass black holes may indicate that lines should be common in Seyfert‐1 AGN, though perhaps harder to detect. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Comparison of Extrapolation and Interpolation Methods for Estimating Daily Photosynthetically Active Radiation(PAR)——A Case Study of the Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve,China

Measurements of photosynthetically active radiation(PAR),which are indispensable for simulating plant growth and productivity,are generally very scarce.This study aimed to compare two extrapolation and one interpolation methods for estimating daily PAR reaching the earth surface within the Poyang Lake national nature reserve,China.The daily global solar radiation records at Nanchang meteorological station and daily sunshine duration measurements at nine meteorological stations around Poyang Lake were obtain...     

Geochemistry and metamorphic evolution of the Pohorje Mountain eclogites from the easternmost Austroalpine basement of the Eastern Alps (Northern Slovenia)

Kyanite-rich and quartz-rich eclogites occur as lenses within amphibolite-facies quartzo-feldspathic gneisses in the Pohorje Mountains, Northern Slovenia, that form the easternmost Austroalpine basement. Major and trace elements indicate that the kyanite-rich eclogites were derived from plagioclase-rich gabbroic cumulates, whereas the quartz-rich eclogites represent more fractionated basaltic compositions. Both varieties are characterized by a LREE-depleted N-MORB type REE signature. Geothermobarometry and P-T pseudosections indicate that eclogites equilibrated at 1.8-2.5 GPa and 630-700 °C, consistently with the lack of coesite and with equilibration conditions of the chemically similar eclogites from the adjacent basement units at Koralpe and Saualpe type localities. Decompression reaction textures include (i) clinopyroxene-plagioclase intergrowths after omphacite, (ii) replacement of kyanite by corundum-plagioclase-spinel±sapphirine symplectites, (iii) breakdown of phengite to biotite-plagioclase sapphirine symplectites. The results of this study indicate that Koralpe, Saualpe and Pohorje high-pressure rocks represent former MORB-type oceanic crust that was subducted in the course of the late Cretaceous (approximately 100 Ma ago) collision between the European and the Apulian plates.     

Ungaged inflow and loss patterns in urban and agricultural sub-reaches of the Logan River Observatory

Streams in semi-arid urban and agricultural environments are often heavily diverted for anthropogenic purposes. However, they simultaneously receive substantial inflows from a variety of ungaged sources including stormwater returns, tile drainage, and irrigation runoff that help sustain flow during dry periods. Due to the inability to identify sources or directly gage many of these inflows, there is a clear need for methods to understand source origination while quantifying potential gains and losses over highly impacted reaches. In the context of the Logan River Observatory, historical gage data illustrate the importance of ungaged and unidentified inflows on maintaining or enhancing flows in both urban and agricultural reaches containing large diversions. To understand the inflows in this portion of the Logan River, we first analysed water samples for ions collected from a subset of representative inflow sources and applied clustering analyses to establish inflow source classifications and associated ion concentration ranges. These representative concentration ranges, combined with mainstem flow and river ion samples taken at sub-reach scales, allow for the application of flow and mass balances to quantify inflow rates from different sources as well as any losses. These calculations demonstrate significant gains and losses occurring in many sub-reaches during three sampling events. The dominant land use (urban or agriculture) and flow regime at the time of sampling were the primary drivers of gains and losses. These exchanges were found to be most important below large diversions during low flow conditions. This highlights the need to classify inflow sources (urban or agriculture, surface or groundwater) and estimate their contributions to anticipate instream consequences of land use and water management decisions. As irrigation and water conveyance practices become more efficient, a portion of these ungaged inflows could be diminished or eliminated, thus further depleting streamflow during dry periods.     

Modelling the vegetation response to the 8.2 ka bp cooling event in Europe and Northern Africa

The 8.2 ka bp cooling event is assumed to be the most clearly marked abrupt climate event in the Holocene at northern mid‐ to high latitudes. In this study, we simulate the vegetation responses to the 8.2 ka bp climate change event over Europe and Northern Africa. Our results show that all dominant plant functional types (PFTs) over Europe and North Africa respond to these climate changes, but the magnitude, timing and impact factor of their responses are different. Compared with pollen‐based vegetation reconstructions, our simulation generally captures the main features of vegetation responses to the 8.2 ka bp event. Interestingly, in Western Europe, the simulated vegetation after perturbation is different from its initial state, which is consistent with two high‐resolution pollen records. This different vegetation composition indicates the long‐lasting impact of abrupt climate change on vegetation through eco‐physiological and ecosystem demographic processes, such as plant competition. Moreover, our simulations suggest a latitudinal gradient in the magnitude of the event, with more pronounced vegetation responses to the severe cooling in the north and weaker responses to less severe cooling in the south. This effect is not seen in pollen records. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Quaternary Science Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterizing hydrological processes in a semiarid rangeland watershed: A hydrogeophysical approach

The complex ecohydrological processes of rangelands can be studied through the framework of ecological sites (ESs) or hillslope‐scale soil–vegetation complexes. High‐quality hydrologic field investigations are needed to quantitatively link ES characteristics to hydrologic function. Geophysical tools are useful in this context because they provide valuable information about the subsurface at appropriate spatial scales. We conducted 20 field experiments in which we deployed time‐lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), variable intensity rainfall simulation, ground‐penetrating radar (GPR), and seismic refraction, on hillslope plots at five different ESs within the Upper Crow Creek Watershed in south‐east Wyoming. Surface runoff was measured using a precalibrated flume. Infiltration data from the rainfall simulations, coupled with site‐specific resistivity–water content relationships and ERT datasets, were used to spatially and temporally track the progression of the wetting front. First‐order constraints on subsurface structure were made at each ES using the geophysical methods. Sites ranged from infiltrating 100% of applied rainfall to infiltrating less than 60%. Analysis of covariance results indicated significant differences in the rate of wetting front progression, ranging from 0.346 m min^?1/2 for sites with a subsurface dominated by saprolitic material to 0.156 m min^?1/2 for sites with a well‐developed soil profile. There was broad agreement in subsurface structure between the geophysical methods with GPR typically providing the most detail. Joint interpretation of the geophysics showed that subsurface features such as soil layer thickness and the location of subsurface obstructions such as granite corestones and material boundaries had a large effect on the rate of infiltration and subsurface flow processes. These features identified through the geophysics varied significantly by ES. By linking surface hydrologic information from the rainfall simulations with subsurface information provided by the geophysics, we can characterize the ES‐specific hydrologic response. Both surface and subsurface flow processes differed among sites and are directly linked to measured characteristics.     

Systematic variation in the apparent burning area of thermonuclear bursts and its implication for neutron star radius measurement

Precision measurements of neutron star radii can provide a powerful probe of the properties of cold matter beyond nuclear density. Beginning in the late 1970s, it was proposed that the radius could be obtained from the apparent or inferred emitting area during the decay portions of thermonuclear (type I) X-ray bursts. However, this apparent area is generally not constant, preventing a reliable measurement of the source radius. Here, we report for the first time a correlation between the variation of the inferred area and the burst properties, measured in a sample of almost 900 bursts from 43 sources. We found that the rate of change of the inferred area during decay is anticorrelated with the burst decay duration. A Spearman rank correlation test shows that this relation is significant at the  <10⁻⁴⁵  level for our entire sample, and at the  7 × 10⁻³⁷  level for the 625 bursts without photospheric radius expansion. This anticorrelation is also highly significant for individual sources exhibiting a wide range of burst durations, such as 4U 1636–536 and Aql X-1. We suggest that variations in the colour factor, which relates the colour temperature resulted from the scattering in the neutron star atmosphere to the effective temperature of the burning layer, may explain the correlation. This in turn implies significant variations in the composition of the atmosphere between bursts with long and short durations.     

The XMM Cluster Survey: forecasting cosmological and cluster scaling-relation parameter constraints

We forecast the constraints on the values of  σ₈, Ω_m  and cluster scaling-relation parameters which we expect to obtain from the XMM Cluster Survey (XCS). We assume a flat Λ cold dark matter Universe and perform a Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis of the evolution of the number density of galaxy clusters that takes into account a detailed simulated selection function. Comparing our current observed number of clusters shows good agreement with predictions. We determine the expected degradation of the constraints as a result of self-calibrating the luminosity–temperature relation (with scatter), including temperature measurement errors, and relying on photometric methods for the estimation of galaxy cluster redshifts. We examine the effects of systematic errors in scaling relation and measurement error assumptions. Using only  ( T , z )  self-calibration, we expect to measure Ω_m to ±0.03 (and  Ω_Λ  to the same accuracy assuming flatness), and σ₈ to ±0.05, also constraining the normalization and slope of the luminosity–temperature relation to ±6 and ±13 per cent (at 1σ), respectively, in the process. Self-calibration fails to jointly constrain the scatter and redshift evolution of the luminosity–temperature relation significantly. Additional archival and/or follow-up data will improve on this. We do not expect measurement errors or imperfect knowledge of their distribution to degrade constraints significantly. Scaling-relation systematics can easily lead to cosmological constraints 2σ or more away from the fiducial model. Our treatment is the first exact treatment to this level of detail, and introduces a new 'smoothed ML' (Maximum Likelihood) estimate of expected constraints.