Removal of Aromatic Volatile Organic Compounds in the Sequencing Batch Reactor of Petroleum Refinery Wastewater Treatment Plant

This paper presents a field investigation of aromatic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) emissions from a sequence batch reactor (SBR) with powdered activated carbon (PAC) to treat the wastewater in a large petroleum refinery plant. AVOC with high Henry's constant preferred to transfer from liquid‐phase into air‐phase so that might cause the emission and odor problem. During SBR operation, AVOC concentrations and distributions in wastewater, sludge and off‐gas were analyzed. The total AVOC removal from wastewater was >99% under the kinetic parameters of SBR operated. Batch experiments were carried out in the laboratory to obtain the adsorptive characteristic of AVOC onto PAC, but the results showed that bio‐degradation was the main removal mechanism (85%). Nevertheless, off‐gas emission (<1%) and AVOC in the sludge (<0.1%) remained a stable level. Oxidation/reduction potential (ORP) was correlated to the logarithm of the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in a linear relationship so that ORP profile could indirectly reflect the DO and biomass concentrations. Since the influent AVOC concentration was varied and difficultly to measure, ORP could be used as real‐time parameter for optimizing SBR operation. The results provided useful information for future evaluation of AVOC emissions from wastewater treatment plants.     

Future trends in transport and fate of diffuse contaminants in catchments,with special emphasis on stable isotope applications

A summary is provided of the first of a series of proposed Integrated Science Initiative workshops supported by the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme. The workshop brought together hydrologists, environmental chemists, microbiologists, stable isotope specialists and natural resource managers with the purpose of communicating new ideas on ways to assess microbial degradation processes and reactive transport at catchment scales. The focus was on diffuse contamination at catchment scales and the application of compound‐specific isotope analysis (CSIA) in the assessment of biological degradation processes of agrochemicals. Major outcomes were identifying the linkage between water residence time distribution and rates of contaminant degradation, identifying the need for better information on compound specific microbial degradation isotope fractionation factors and the potential of CSIA in identifying key degradative processes. In the natural resource management context, a framework was developed where CSIA techniques were identified as practically unique in their capacity to serve as distributed integrating indicators of process across a range of scales (micro to diffuse) of relevance to the problem of diffuse pollution assessment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SEFIDROOD RIVER SUB-WATERSHED-DAM-ESTUARY AND DEGRADATION MODEL： A HOLISTIC APPROACH IN IRAN

The major concern of this article is to address the shortcoming and outgoing effects of the human activities on the landscape patterns and their consequences in the Sefidrood River watershed in Iran. A flow of data includes three inputs; each of them belongs to one part of three zones of a fluvial system. The three parts of the Sefidrood River fluvial system include Zone 1, a sub-watershed as degradation modeling site, Zone 2, Sefidrood Dam asdam site, and Zone 3, 17kin away from the Sefidrood River path to the Caspian Sea as ending point site. The degra-dation model in the Zone 1 provides a suitable mean for decision support system to decrease the human impacts oneach small district. The maximum number for degradation coefficient belongs to the small district with the highest physiographic density, relatively cumulative activities, and a lower figure for the habitat vulnerability. The human degradation impact were not limited to the upstream. The investigation to the Sefidrood Dam and ending point of the Sefidrood River depicts that sedimentation continues as a significant visual impact in the Sefidrood Dam reservoir and the estuary.     

An integrated remote sensing and GIS approach for monitoring areas affected by selective logging: A case study in northern Mato Grosso,Brazilian Amazon

Forest cover disturbances due to processes such as logging and forest fires are a widespread issue especially in the tropics, and have heavily affected forest biomass and functioning in the Brazilian Amazon in the past decades. Satellite remote sensing has played a key role for assessing logging activities in this region; however, there are still remaining challenges regarding the quantification and monitoring of these processes affecting forested lands. In this study, we propose a new method for monitoring areas affected by selective logging in one of the hotspots of Mato Grosso state in the Brazilian Amazon, based on a combination of object-based and pixel-based classification approaches applied on remote sensing data. Logging intensity and changes over time are assessed within grid cells of 300 m × 300 m spatial resolution. Our method encompassed three main steps: (1) mapping forest/non-forest areas through an object-based classification approach applied to a temporal series of Landsat images during the period 2000–2015, (2) mapping yearly logging activities from soil fraction images on the same Landsat data series, and (3) integrating information from previous steps within a regular grid-cell of 300 m × 300 m in order to monitor disturbance intensities over this 15-years period. The overall accuracy of the baseline forest/non-forest mask (year 2000) and of the undisturbed vs disturbed forest (for selected years) were 93% and 84% respectively. Our results indicate that annual forest disturbance rates, mainly due to logging activities, were higher than annual deforestation rates during the whole period of study. The deforested areas correspond to circa 25% of the areas affected by forest disturbances. Deforestation rates were highest from 2001 to 2005 and then decreased considerably after 2006. In contrast, the annual forest disturbance rates show high temporal variability with a slow decrease over the 15-year period, resulting in a significant increase of the ratio between disturbed and deforested areas. Although the majority of the areas, which have been affected by selective logging during the period 2000–2014, were not deforested by 2015, more than 70% of the deforested areas in 2015 had been at least once identified as disturbed forest during that period.     

淤泥质海床相邻的岬湾沙滩剖面特征研究

通过对浙江沿海岬角海湾沙滩多处典型剖面的调查,结果表明沙滩与淤泥质海床存在较明显的沙泥分界线,滩面物质自北至南,粒径差别不大,中值粒径在0.15~0.25mm之间,滩面基本呈现单一坡度,坡度为1∶15~1∶30,沙滩坡度与波浪动力相关,沙滩前沿波浪动力强,滩面较缓,反之滩面较陡。沙滩退化表现为滩面的截断、粗化和泥化,滩面截断导致沙滩面积减少,中、细沙供给不足;细沙采挖或局部工程导致的沿岸输沙动力条件的改变会使滩面物质变粗;岬湾的水动力条件减弱,易使沙泥分界线抬升,局部泥化;过度挖沙会导致沙滩消失成为泥滩。     

Use of the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) for soil and nutrient loss estimation in long-used rainfed agricultural lands,North Ethiopia

This study was conducted to quantify agricultural land degradation in the Ruba Gered watershed, Ethiopia. The watershed was divided into 12 land mapping units (LMU) after superimposing maps of soil, slope, land use/cover, and elevation. Subsequently, cultivated land was delineated to assess degradation types and severity based on standard approaches. Sheet erosion was estimated using the revised universal soil loss equation. Composite soil samples were collected from each LMU to quantify key soil nutrients (OM, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium) lost by sheet erosion. The annual average soil loss due to sheet erosion was estimated to be 17.4 t ha^?1 yr^?1, with average annual nutrient losses estimated as 246.5 kg ha^?1 organic matter, 12.4 kg ha^?1 total nitrogen, 0.1 kg ha^?1 available phosphorus, and 1.6 kg ha^?1 available potassium. The study revealed that substantial quantities of soil and nutrients are lost every year in the study area due to severe sheet erosion. This amount of nutrient loss severely degrades soil and reduces soil fertility.     

全新世大暖气广西钦州湾红树林衰退的红树林源有机质贡献示踪及其对亚洲季风的响应

The response of mangrove ecosystems to the Asian monsoon in the future global warming can be understood by reconstructing the development of mangrove forests during the Holocene climatic optimum(HCO), using proxies preserved in coastal sediments. The total organic matter in sediments of a segmented core, with calibrated age ranges between 5.6 and 7.7 cal. ka BP and corresponding to the HCO, from the Qinzhou Bay in Guangxi, China, is quantitatively partitioned into three end-members according to their sources: mangrove-derived, terrigenous,and marine phytoplanktonic, using a three-end-member model depicted by organic carbon isotope(δ13Corg) and the molar ratio of total organic carbon to total nitrogen(C/N). The percentage of mangrove-derived organic matter(MOM) contribution is used as a proxy for mangrove development. Three visible drops in MOM contribution occurred at ca. 7.3, ca. 6.9, and ca. 6.2 cal. ka BP, respectively, are recognized against a relatively stable and higher MOM contribution level, indicating that three distinct mangrove forest degradations occurred in the Qinzhou Bay during the HCO. The three mangrove forest degradations approximately correspond to the time of the strengthened/weakened Asian winter/summer monsoon. This indicates that even during a period favorable for the mangrove development, such as the HCO, climatic extremes, such as cold and dry events driven by the strengthened/weakened Asian winter/summer monsoon, can trigger the degradation of mangrove forests.     

岩溶水体惰性有机碳含量及其存在机理

正通常认为全球超过1000 m的海洋深处稳定存在着不超过42μmol/L的溶解有机碳,并被认为是微生物难以利用的惰性溶解有机碳[1-2]。这为进一步评估水圈溶解有机碳的稳定性提供了研究依据[3]。河流不但是陆地水的主体、水圈的重要组成部分,而且还是海洋-陆地物质和能量交换的主要通道。近年来,河流的自然性质和作用过程不断受到人文活动的影响,特别是河流筑坝引发的"水库效应"[4-5]。然而"水库效应"下岩溶区筑坝河流中     

Nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics during runoff events over a transition from grassland to shrubland in the south‐western United States

During the last 150 years, land degradation across the semi‐arid grasslands of the south‐western United States has been associated with an increase in runoff and erosion. Concurrent with this increase in runoff and erosion is a loss of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), which are plant‐essential nutrients. This study investigates the runoff‐driven redistribution and loss of dissolved and particulate‐bound N and P that occurs during natural runoff events over a trajectory of degradation, from grassland to degraded shrubland, in central New Mexico. Runoff‐driven nutrient dynamics were monitored at four stages over a transition from grassland to shrubland, for naturally occurring rainfall events over 10 × 30 m bounded runoff plots. Results show that particulate‐bound forms of N and P are responsible for most of N and P lost from the plots due to erosion occurring during runoff events. Results suggest that for high‐magnitude rainfall events, the output of N and P from the plots may greatly exceed the amount input into the plots, particularly over shrub‐dominated plots where erosion rates are higher. As these results only become apparent when monitoring these processes over larger hillslope plots, it is important to recognize that processes of nutrient cycling related to the islands of fertility hypothesis may have previously been overstated when observed only at smaller spatial scales. Thus, the progressive degradation of semi‐arid grassland ecosystems across the south‐western United States and other semi‐arid ecosystems worldwide has the potential to affect N and P cycling significantly through an increase in nutrient redistribution and loss in runoff. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Canopy rainfall storage capacity as affected by sub‐alpine grassland degradation in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau,China

Grassland degradation resulting from global climate change, overgrazing, and rodent damage is expected to influence the magnitude of canopy hydrological fluxes because of reduced vegetation biomass and changed species composition. The objectives of this study were to estimate herbaceous canopy rainfall storage capacity (S) along three different stages of sub‐alpine grassland degradation (non‐degraded, lightly degraded and moderately degraded) in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China, and relate changes in S to canopy properties. An artificial wetting method and the water budget balance method, using rain simulations, were used for estimating S. Grassland degradation significantly reduced S. In non‐degraded, lightly degraded and moderately degraded grasslands, S estimated using the artificial wetting method were 0.612 ± 0.08 mm, 0.289 ± 0.04 mm, and 0.217 ± 0.01 mm, respectively; S estimated using the water budget balance method were 0.979 ± 0.32 mm, 0.493 ± 0.13 mm, and 0.419 ± 0.09 mm, respectively. These changes could be explained by accompanying changes in above‐ground biomass and leaf area index, as well as changes in species composition. Species‐specific rainfall storage capacity varied by a factor of 2.7 among the investigated species, with graminoids having the lowest values. Leaf area index was more correlated to S than was canopy coverage. Converting fresh weight of non‐leaf tissues into effective leaf area of the corresponding species and then introducing a coefficient of leaf area according to the specific storage capacity of leaves improved the linear relationship between S and leaf area index. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.