Controls on the nature and distribution of an alga in coal mine-waste environments and its potential impact on water quality

 A dominant non-bacterial microorganism that may strongly impact environmental conditions in acid mine drainage at several Indiana coal mine sites is a single-celled protozoan, Euglena mutabilis. Field data suggest E. mutabilis has high tolerance for elevated total dissolved solids (TDS), to 18 g/l, and acid conditions to pH 1.7. Distribution is restricted to unmixed effluent pH<4.6, with prolific growth between pH 3.0 and 3.5. Additional factors influencing E. mutabilis include preference for areas with lower mineral/colloidal precipitation rates and a stable substrate of iron-rich precipitates. Initial studies indicate that in areas of prolific growth it contributes to oversaturation of dissolved oxygen by up to 200%. The presence of small orange intracellular crystalline-like structures, similar in color to iron oxyhydroxides, suggests that E. mutabilis may be sequestering iron, and possibly other metals. Further work is needed to determine if E. mutabilis contributes to natural mitigation of poor water quality at these and other coal mine sites. Received: 13 January 2000 · Accepted: 2 May 2000     

Geochemistry of groundwater in the alluvial plain of Tucumán province, Argentina

The Salí River hydrogeological basin is one of the most productive artesian basins in Argentina. It is located in the southeastern part of the province of Tucumán, northwestern Argentina, and its groundwater resources are developed for water supply and irrigation. The chemical composition of the water is strongly influenced by the interaction with the basinal sediments and by hydrologic characteristics such as the flow pattern and time of residence. Three hydrochemical zones are defined in the study area and the processes that control the chemical composition of the water are manifestly different in each zone. The dissolution of halite, sodium sulphate, and gypsum explains part of the contained Na⁺, K⁺, Cl^–, SO₄ ^2–, and Ca²⁺, but other processes, such as cation exchange, calcite precipitation, weathering of aluminosilicates, and gas exchange with the atmosphere, also contribute to the water composition. The assessment of contamination indicators, such as pH, dissolved organic matter, dissolved oxygen, phosphate, and nitrate, indicates that the groundwater is suitable for human consumption. However, biological contamination has been detected in samples from some wells, especially those near the Salí River. Electronic Publication     

Results from the Big Spring basin water quality monitoring and demonstration projects,Iowa, USA

Agricultural practices, hydrology, and water quality of the 267-km² Big Spring groundwater drainage basin in Clayton County, Iowa, have been monitored since 1981. Land use is agricultural; nitrate-nitrogen (-N) and herbicides are the resulting contaminants in groundwater and surface water. Ordovician Galena Group carbonate rocks comprise the main aquifer in the basin. Recharge to this karstic aquifer is by infiltration, augmented by sinkhole-captured runoff. Groundwater is discharged at Big Spring, where quantity and quality of the discharge are monitored. Monitoring has shown a threefold increase in groundwater nitrate-N concentrations from the 1960s to the early 1980s. The nitrate-N discharged from the basin typically is equivalent to over one-third of the nitrogen fertilizer applied, with larger losses during wetter years. Atrazine is present in groundwater all year; however, contaminant concentrations in the groundwater respond directly to recharge events, and unique chemical signatures of infiltration versus runoff recharge are detectable in the discharge from Big Spring. Education and demonstration efforts have reduced nitrogen fertilizer application rates by one-third since 1981. Relating declines in nitrate and pesticide concentrations to inputs of nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides at Big Spring is problematic. Annual recharge has varied five-fold during monitoring, overshadowing any water-quality improvements resulting from incrementally decreased inputs. Electronic Publication     

Impacts of afforestation on groundwater resources and quality

Plans to double the proportion of land under forest cover in Ireland by the year 2035 have been initiated. The plan, primarily financially driven, ignores potential environmental impacts of forestry, particularly impacts on groundwater resources and quality. Since groundwater supplies almost 25% of Ireland's total potable water, these impacts are important. Field investigations indicate that afforestation leads to a reduction in runoff by as much as 20%, mainly due to interception of rainfall by forest canopies. Clearfelling has the opposite impact. Implications are that uncoordinated forestry practices can potentially exacerbate flooding. Groundwater recharge is affected by forestry, largely due to greater uptake of soil water by trees and to increased water-holding capacity of forest soils, arising from higher organic contents. Recharge rates under forests can be reduced to one tenth that under grass or heathland. Groundwater quality may be affected by enhanced acidification and nitrification under forests, due partly to scavenging of atmospheric pollutants by forest canopies, and partly to greater deposition of highly acid leaf litter. The slower recharge rates of groundwater under forests lead to significant delays in manifestation of deterioration in groundwater quality. Electronic Publication     

Geology, coal quality, and resources of the Antaramut–Kurtan–Dzoragukh coal field, north-central Armenia

The Antaramut–Kurtan–Dzoragukh (AKD) coal deposit is a previously unrecognized coal field in north-central Armenia. Coal has been known to exist in the general vicinity since the turn of the century, but coal was thought to be restricted to a small (1 km²) area only near the village of Antaramut. However, through detailed field work and exploratory drilling, this coal deposit has been expanded to at least 20 km², and thus renamed the Antaramut–Kurtan–Dzoragukh coal field, for the three villages that the coal field encompasses. The entire coal-bearing horizon, a series of tuffaceous sandstones, siltstones, and claystones, is approximately 50 m thick. The AKD coal field contains two coal beds, each greater than 1 m thick, and numerous small rider beds, with a total resource of approximately 31,000,000 metric tonnes. The coals are late Eocene in age, high volatile bituminous in rank, relatively high in ash yield (approximately 40%, as-determined basis) and moderate in sulfur content (approximately 3%, as-determined basis). The two coal beds (No. 1 and No. 2), on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis, have high calorific values of 32.6 MJ/kg (7796 cal/g) and 36.0 MJ/kg (8599 cal/g), respectively. Coal is one of the few indigenous fossil fuel resources occurring in Armenia and thus, the AKD coal field could potentially provide fuel for heating and possibly energy generation in the Armenian energy budget.     

监测网优化设计的必要性及内容

本文详细分析了监测网优化设计的必要性，并针对监测网的特点，叙述了监测网设计的有关问题。     

航空遥感在佛山城市空间环境质量评价中的应用

本文主要介绍利用佛山市航空遥感综合调查资料分析城市环境的空间结构，建立了空间结构分类系统，探讨了城市形态的变化，综合评价城市空间环境质量，并提出一些改善环境质量的建议．     

回归方程在岩矿分析质量监控方面的应用

依据在特定的地质环境及较为均一的地质体中,一些元素具有共生组合的现象,提出用回归分析的方法为质量监控方式,取得了满意的效果。