Effect of iron and carbonation on the diffusion of iodine and rhenium in waste encasement concrete and soil fill material under hydraulically unsaturated conditions

Assessing long-term performance of Category 3 cement wasteforms and accurate prediction for radionuclide encasement requires knowledge of the radionuclide–cement interactions and mechanisms of retention (i.e. sorption or precipitation). A set of sediment-concrete half-cell diffusion experiments was conducted under unsaturated conditions (4% and 7% by weight moisture content) using carbonated and non-carbonated concrete–soil half cells. Results indicate the behavior of Re and I release was comparable within a given half-cell test. Diffusivity in soil is a function of moisture content; a 3% increase in moisture content affords a one to two order of magnitude increase in diffusivity. Release of I and Re was 1–3 orders of magnitude less from non-carbonated, relative to carbonated, concrete monoliths. Inclusion of Fe in non-carbonate monoliths resulted in the lowest concrete diffusivity values for both I and Re. This suggests that in the presence of Fe, I and Re are converted to reduced species, which are less soluble and better retained within the concrete monolith. The release of I and Re was greatest from Fe-bearing, carbonated concrete monoliths, suggesting carbonation negates the effect of Fe on the retention of I and Re within concrete monoliths. This is likely due to enhanced formation of microcracks in the presence of Fe, which provide preferential paths for contaminant migration. Although the release of I and Re were greatest from carbonated concrete monoliths containing Fe, the migration of I and Re within a given half cell is dependent on the moisture content, soil diffusivity, and diffusing species.     

Preempting to nothing: neoliberalism and the fight to de/re-regulate agricultural biotechnology

On August 31th, 2006 the California Senate shelved SB1056, a bill which would have granted the State jurisdiction over the regulation of seed and nursery stock. Ostensibly proposed to ensure “a level playing field” for agricultural and food producers, SB1056 is one of a host of legislation drafted across the United States to preempt county and municipal bans on genetically engineered crops. In California, the heated struggle around “preemption” exemplifies the interweaving of neoliberal ideology with industry attempts to prevent an unfavorable regulatory environment, but more importantly the contingencies and vulnerabilities of this strategy. After reviewing SB1056’s history, this paper examines how a diverse opposition movement capitalized on the friction between the neoliberal arguments mobilized by supporters and dominant Californian political philosophies. The paper then highlights the ultimate effect of SB1056 through a critical exploration of current state and federal regulation and the entrenched interests of the California government. I argue that more than simply opening new spaces for accumulation, SB1056 would have muted opposition voices and transferred power to institutions financially committed to the technology’s commercialization.     

Preface to the Special Issue on Summer 2020: Record Rainfall in Asia — Mechanisms,Predictability and Impacts

Throughout vast areas of Asia, the summer of 2020 was extraordinarily wet. After an exceptionally wet May in North-east India and Bangladesh, excessive rainfall hit at least 10 provinces in central and southern China in June and July, caus-ing extensive flooding in many rural and urban locations. Long standing rainfall, lake and river level records were con-sequently broken in several parts of the region with the Yangtze-Huaihe river valleys, particularly badly impacted, with con-sequential economic losses. Floods and landslides also affected parts of Japan with at least one location in Kumamoto province even experiencing a record-breaking 1000 mm of rainfall in just 3 days in early July. The 2020 wet season in South Korea was also exceptionally long, lasting 54 days, compared to their more usual 32.     

A model for assessing iceberg hazard

Natural Hazards - With the polar regions opening up to more marine activities but iceberg numbers more likely to increase than decline as a result of global warming, the risk from icebergs to...     

Seismic‐stratigraphic record of a deglaciation sequence: from the marine Laflamme Gulf to Lake Saint‐Jean (late Quaternary,Québec,Canada)

The stratigraphy of the last deglaciation sequence is investigated in Lake Saint‐Jean (Québec Province, Canada) based on 300 km of echo‐sounder two dimensional seismic profiles. The sedimentary archive of this basin is documented from the Late Pleistocene Laurentidian ice‐front recession to the present‐day situation. Ten seismic units have been identified that reflect spatio‐temporal variations in depositional processes characterizing different periods of the Saint‐Jean basin evolution. During the postglacial marine flooding, a high deposition rate of mud settling, from proglacial glacimarine and then prodeltaic plumes in the Laflamme Gulf, produced an extensive, up to 50 m thick mud sheet draping the isostatically depressed marine basin floor. Subsequently, a closing of the water body due to glacio‐isostatic rebound occurred at 8.5 cal. ka BP, drastically modifying the hydrodynamics. Hyperpycnal flows appeared because fresh lake water replaced dense marine water. River sediments were transferred towards the deeper part of the lake into river‐related sediment drifts and confined lobes. The closing of the water body is also marked by the onset of a wind‐driven internal circulation associating coastal hydrodynamics and bottom currents with sedimentary features including shoreface deposits, sediment drifts and a prograding shelf‐type body. The fingerprints of a forced regression are well expressed by mouth‐bar systems and by the shoreface–shelf system, the latter unexpected in such a lacustrine setting. In both cases, a regressive surface of lacustrine erosion (RSLE) has been identified, separating sandy mouth‐bar from glaciomarine to prodeltaic muds, and sandy shoreface wedges from the heterolithic shelf‐type body, respectively. The Lake Saint‐Jean record is an example of a regressive succession driven by a glacio‐isostatic rebound and showing the transition from late‐glacial to post‐glacial depositional systems.     

Lower and Middle Pleistocene human settlements recorded in fluvial deposits of the middle Loire River Basin,Centre Region,France

This paper records the findings from c. 80 prehistoric sites that have been discovered in the alluvial deposits of the rivers Creuse, Cher, and Loir, tributaries of the middle Loire River, over the period since 1981. These deposits comprise river terrace aggradations formed during successive glacial–interglacial cycles which have recorded climate and environment during Quaternary time. The systematic dating of these river deposits by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) applied to optically bleached sedimentary quartz has resulted in the establishment of a chronological framework for the evolution of these rivers during Lower and Middle Pleistocene (between 1.7 Ma and 130 ka). Evidence for Early Palaeolithic (Mode 1) industries with an in situ context (workshops, soils) in the highest aggradations indicates that Hominins were present in the study area, near the geographical centre of France (47°N), around 1.1 Ma. Examination of the sites indicates that Human occupations were located along valley bottom sites during temperate episodes. Subsequently, after a gap of several hundred thousand years industries with handaxes appear in the Middle Loire Basin in the interval between 700 and 600 ka, and then continuously from 400 ka. These two phases of settlement produced industrial assemblages with clear differences in their responses to the supplies of raw materials and in the modes of making flakes.     

Plio-Pleistocene sequence stratigraphic architecture of the eastern Niger Delta: A record of eustasy and aridification of Africa

This study synthesizes the stratigraphic behavior of the whole eastern Niger Delta during the Plio-Pleistocene and discusses controls on deposition by eustasy, subsidence and sediment supply at various scales. The sequence stratigraphic architecture is determined by integrating the whole sedimentary system from the coastal plain down to the abyssal plain. We combined structural geology, sedimentology biostratigraphy, and seismic stratigraphy. Data included 2D regional sections connected by 3D seismic surveys and 45 well-logs for lithologic calibration and well-cuttings for biostratigraphic calibration.We identified three sequence orders in the stratigraphic architecture of the eastern Niger Delta and calibrated their biostratigraphic ages into absolute ages using two end-member models to estimate uncertainties. We discuss their causes and propose that the major influence was climate-driven eustasy for both the (i) short-duration (around 0.1–0.4 Myr in duration) and (ii) long-duration progradation/retrogradation sequences (around x1 Myr in duration). Two different modes of climatic control are suggested for the (iii) long-term stratigraphic trend over the Plio-Pleistocene: global climate-driven eustatic variations for the initial progradation until 2.5 Myr ago and a regional climate change (e.g. the warming of the East Atlantic and the aridification of western Africa) for the following aggradation/retrogradation period, controlled by a decrease in the sedimentary supply to the eastern delta counteracting the ongoing eustatic fall.     

The use of chemical dispersants to combat oil spills at sea: A review of practice and research needs in Europe

In order to better understand the practice of dispersant use, a review has been undertaken of marine oil spills over a 10 year period (1995-2005), looking in particular at variations between different regions and oil-types. This viewpoint presents and analyses the review data and examines a range of dispersant use policies. The paper also discusses the need for a reasoned approach to dispersant use and introduces past cases and studies to highlight lessons learned over the past ten years, focussing on dispersant effectiveness and monitoring; toxicity and environmental effects; the use of dispersants in low salinity waters; response planning and future research needs.     

Lithic assemblage from the Jingshuiwan Paleolithic site of the early Late Pleistocene in the Three Gorges,China

The Jingshuiwan Paleolithic site lies in the second terrace of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and has a complete geomorphological section. Archaeological materials from early Late Pleistocene fluvial deposits of silt and sand are dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to ca. 70 ka. The stone assemblage from layer 7 includes retouched tools (118), cores (304), flakes (281), flake fragments (101), stone hammers (four) and chunks (102). Artifacts were made from lithic sources locally available from the former riverbed. The main type used was silicarenite; quartzite, hypabyssal intrusive rock, extrusive rock and volcanic breccia were also used. The principal flaking technique was direct hammer percussion without prepared striking platforms. Major blanks for tool fabrication were complete flakes (67.0%), followed by cores and incomplete flakes. Most tools were large. Chopper-chopping tools and scrapers were the dominant tool types, followed by points and notches. Modified tools were mostly retouched unifacially on the surface of blanks by direct hammer percussion. Jingshuiwan provides evidence that South China was occupied during MIS 4. Because of the similarity of the stone tool assemblage with earlier ones associated with Homo erectus, it may also provide indirect evidence that H. erectus persisted into the early Late Pleistocene.     

Trace elements and cathodoluminescence of quartz in stockwork veins of Mongolian porphyry-style deposits

The combination of scanning electron microscope–cathodoluminescence (CL), fluid inclusion analysis and high-resolution electron probe microanalysis of Al, Ti, K and Fe in vein quartz has yielded results permitting a greater understanding of the complex mineralisation of the Central Oyu Tolgoi and Zesen Uul porphyry-style deposits, southern Mongolia. These data demonstrate the relationship between quartz precipitation, dissolution and ore deposition as the mineralising fluid chemistry changed through time. Four major quartz generations are identified in the A-type veins from the stockworks of both the Central Oyu Tolgoi (OTi to OTiv) and Zesen Uul deposits (ZUi to ZUiv). Despite differences in the associated alteration and mineralisation style, the observed CL textures and trace element signatures of the quartz generations are comparable between deposits. The OTi and ZUi stage formed both the primary network of A-type veins and pervasive silicification of the host rock. Using the Ti-in-quartz geothermometer, crystallisation temperatures for OTi and ZUi of between 598°C and 880°C are indicated. The main stage of sulphide mineralisation was accompanied by the dissolution of pre-existing quartz (OTi and ZUi) and precipitation of a weakly luminescent generation of quartz (OTii and ZUii) with a low Ti content, reflected in a calculated temperature drop from approximately 700°C to 340°C in Central Oyu Tolgoi and 445°C in Zesen Uul. OTii and ZUii stage quartzes show high and variable Al concentrations. The next stage of quartz in both deposits (OTiii and ZUiii) forms a fine network of veins in cracks formed in pre-existing quartz. OTiii and ZUiii quartz contain measurable fluid inclusions of moderate salinity (3–17.1 wt.% NaCl eq.), entrapped in the temperature range 256°C to 385°C. OTiii and ZUiii are not related to any sulphide mineralisation. The final OTiv and ZUiv stages are characterised by quartz–calcite micro-breccias that penetrate the A-type veins. Based on the calculated entrapment temperatures, the OTiv/ZUiv stage crystallised between 212°C and 335°C, and the quartz is characterised by elevated but variable Al and Fe contents. The CL and trace element signatures of the OTi to OTiii and ZUi to ZUiii stages of the two Mongolian porphyries show similar features to those observed in porphyry-style deposits from other regions. This suggests that a common sequence of quartz crystallisation occurs during the formation of early veins in many porphyry copper systems.