Hydrology of the coastal sabkhas of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Water fluxes were estimated and a water budget developed for the land surface and a surficial 10-m-deep section of the coastal sabkhas that extend from the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, west to the border with Saudi Arabia. The fluxes were estimated on the basis of water levels and hydraulic conductivities measured in wells and evaporation rates measured with a humidity chamber. In contrast with conceptual models proposed in earlier studies, groundwater inflow is estimated to be small, whereas the largest components of the water budget are recharge from rainfall and evaporation from the water table. Estimates within a rectilinear volume of sabkha, defined as 1 m wide by 10 km long by 10 m deep, indicate that about 1 m³/year of water enters and exits by lateral groundwater flow; 40–50 m³/year enters by upward leakage; and 640 m³/year enters by recharge from rainfall. Based on the water and solute fluxes estimated for the upward leakage into the sabkha, 7–8 pore volumes of brine have entered the sabkha from below since the time the sabkha became saturated (7,000 years ago) as a result of the last global sea-level rise.

Comparison of elemental composition of macerals determined by electron microprobe to whole-coal ultimate analysis data

The elemental composition of the individual macerals in a suite of Australian coals has been determined in polished sections using light-element electron microprobe techniques. The analyses of the individual macerals in each coal were combined with data on maceral abundance to produce an inferred chemical composition for the organic matter of the respective whole-coal samples, and this was compared, for each sample, to the respective whole-coal ultimate analysis data, corrected to a dry, ash-free (daf) basis. Except for slightly lower values in some lower-rank coals, the inferred percentages of whole-coal C estimated from the microprobe data were found to be very close to the respective whole-coal C percentages as determined by conventional ultimate analysis. The proportion of O in the coals indicated by the microprobe study, however, appears to be as much as 2% higher than that derived from the ultimate analysis data, especially in the lower-rank coal samples. The difference it may represent errors in calculating the O percentages in ultimate analysis, errors in the microprobe analysis due to difficulties in calibration or measurement, or increased proportions of O in the coals due to factors such as take-up with storage of the polished sections. The percentages of whole-coal N calculated from the microprobe data are up to 0.5% (absolute) below the proportion of N determined directly by whole-coal ultimate analysis. This may reflect the inherent difficulty of dealing with a light element at low concentrations by the microprobe technique, or it may indicate that some of the N occurs in the coals in mineral form. The percentages of whole-coal (organic) S calculated from the microprobe study are close to the percentages of organic S determined for each sample by more conventional techniques. With the exception of (organic) O, which may be affected by other factors, and also possibly of N, the electron microprobe technique appears from the study to provide results that are consistent with ultimate analysis over a wide rank range.     

Relationship between substrate concentration and oxidation of ammonium and methane in a stratified water column

Distributions and oxidation rates of methane and ammonium were investigated during two cruises in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia in late summer. Distributions of inorganic nutrients were related to oxygen distribution, exhibiting large gradients associated with the oxic-anoxic interface. The depth distributions of oxidation rates were also defined by the oxic-anoxic interface: ammonium oxidation occurred at variable rates (up to 120 nM day⁻¹) between the photic zone and the oxic-anoxic interface. Methane oxidation occurred throughout the oxic layer and increased near the interface. The possibility of interactions such as inhibition and competition between the two substrates, methane and ammonium, were investigated in kinetic experiments. Ammonium oxidation rate was independent of both ammonium and methane concentrations. Methane oxidation rates were linearly related to methane concentration, both in manipulation experiments, and in relation to ambient methane concentrations. There was no evidence of interaction between methane and ammonium as alternative substrates for methanotrophic and ammonium oxidizing populations, which were both present in the environment. In September, we observed a bolus-type mixing event, which introduced oxygenated deep water into the inlet beneath a wedge of anoxic, methane-rich water. This kind of event is probably important in determining the rate of methane loss, due to increased microbial oxidation at the boundaries of the anoxic wedge.     

Characterizing hyporheic transport processes — Interpretation of electrical geophysical data in coupled stream–hyporheic zone systems during solute tracer studies

Quantifying hyporheic solute dynamics has been limited by our ability to assess the magnitude and extent of stream interactions with multiple domains: mobile subsurface storage (MSS, e.g., freely flowing pore water) and immobile subsurface storage (ISS, e.g., poorly connected pore water). Stream-tracer experiments coupled with solute transport modeling are frequently used to characterize lumped MSS and ISS dynamics, but are limited by the ability to sample only “mobile” water and by window of detection issues. Here, we couple simulations of near-surface electrical resistivity (ER) methods with conservative solute transport to directly compare solute transport with ER interpretations, and to determine the ability of ER to predict spatial and temporal trends of solute distribution and transport in stream–hyporheic systems. Results show that temporal moments from both ER and solute transport data are well correlated for locations where advection is not the dominant solute transport process. Mean arrival time and variance are especially well-predicted by ER interpretation, providing the potential to estimate rate-limited mass transport (i.e. diffusive) parameters from these data in a distributed domain, substantially increasing our knowledge of the fate and transport of subsurface solutes.     

Contributions of phytoplankton and nitrifying bacteria to ammonium and nitrite dynamics in coastal waters

Ammonium and nitrite dynamics in coastal waters off Washington were examined using stable nitrogen isotope methods. Assimilation rates of ammonium into particulate nitrogen exhibited maxima (up to 500 nmol l⁻¹d⁻¹ at shallow depths and were negligible below the photic zone. Rates of ammonium oxidation by nitrifying bacteria showed surface minima and increased with depth (up to 35 nmol l⁻¹ d⁻¹). Both processes showed evidence of control by light intensity: light stimulated assimilation and inhibited oxidation. Ammonium turnover was dominated by phytoplankton assimilation at shallow depths and at inshore stations, while the relative contribution of bacterial oxidation of ammonium to turnover increased with increasing depth and increasing distance from shore. Nitrite turnover due to ammonium oxidation approached 60% per day in the primary nitrite maximum at the outer stations.     

Mineral matter and trace elements in coals of the Gunnedah Basin, New South Wales, Australia

The concentrations of major and trace inorganic elements in a succession of Permian coals from the Gunnedah Basin, New South Wales, have been determined by X-ray fluorescence techniques applied to both whole-coal and high-temperature ash samples. The results have been evaluated in the light of quantitative data on the minerals in the same coals, determined from X-ray diffraction study of whole-coal samples using a Rietveld-based interpretation program ( ™), to determine relationships of the trace elements in the coals to the mineral species present. Comparison of the chemical composition of the coal ash interpreted from the quantitative mineralogical study to the actual ash composition determined by XRF analysis shows a high degree of consistency, confirming the validity of the XRD interpretations for the Gunnedah Basin materials. Quartz, illite and other minerals of detrital origin dominate the coals in the upper part of the sequence, whereas authigenic kaolinite is abundant in coals from the lower part of the Permian succession. These minerals are all reduced in abundance, however, and pyrite is a dominant constituent, in coals formed under marine influence at several stratigraphic levels. Calcite and dolomite occur as cleat and fracture infillings, mostly in seams near the top and bottom of the sequence. The potassium-bearing minerals in the detrital fraction are associated with significant concentrations of rubidium, and the authigenic kaolinite with relatively high proportions of titanium. Zirconium is also abundant, with associated P and Hf, in the Gunnedah Basin coal seams. Relationships exhibited by Ti, Zr, Nd and Y are consistent with derivation of the original sediment admixed with the seams from an acid volcanic source. Pyrite in the coals is associated with high concentrations of arsenic and minor proportions of thallium; no other element commonly associated with sulphides in coals, however, appears to occur in significant proportions with the pyrite in the sample suite. Small concentrations of Cl present in the coal are inversely related to the pyrite content, and appear to represent ion-exchange components associated with the organic matter. Strontium and barium are strongly associated with the cleat-filling carbonate minerals. Ge and Ga appear to be related to each other and to the coal's organic matter. Cr and V are also related to each other, as are Ce, La, Nd and Pr, but none of these show any relationship to the organic matter or a particular mineral component.     

Soil water content in southern England derived from a cosmic‐ray soil moisture observing system – COSMOS‐UK

Cosmic‐ray soil moisture sensors have the advantage of a large measurement footprint (approximately 700 m in diameter) and are able to operate continuously to provide area‐averaged near‐surface (top 10–20 cm) volumetric soil moisture content at the field scale. This paper presents the application of this technique at four sites in southern England over almost 3 years. Results show the soil moisture response to contrasting climatic conditions during 2011–2014 and are the first such field‐scale measurements made in the UK. These four sites are prototype stations for a UK COsmic‐ray Soil Moisture Observing System, and particular consideration is given to sensor operating conditions in the UK. Comparison of these soil water content observations with the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator 10‐cm soil moisture layer shows that these data can be used to test and diagnose model performance and indicate the potential for assimilation of these data into hydro‐meteorological models. The application of these large‐area soil water content measurements to evaluate remotely sensed soil moisture products is also demonstrated. Numerous applications and the future development of a national COsmic‐ray Soil Moisture Observing System network are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantifying Turbulence Heterogeneity in a Vineyard Using Eddy-Covariance and Scintillometer Measurements

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - Scintillometry is a non-invasive measurement technique for acquiring spatially-averaged surface heat and moisture fluxes in areas where setting up arrays of instruments...