Landscape pattern dynamics of water body in Kaifeng city in the 20th century

Landscape spatial pattern mainly refers to the distribution of patches, which are different in size and shape in space owing to the interaction of various ecological activities. In landscape ecology study, landscape pattern has been one of the key study areas. Water body landscape plays an important role in the development history of a city, but at present city water body landscape in many cities has been destroyed, hence protecting water body in the city is becoming more and more important. In order to protect city water body landscape reasonably, the precondition is to probe the dynamics of water body landscape. Based on historical data and remote sensing data, six indexes including patch number, patch area, landscape dominance index, fractal dimension, patch density and connectivity index etc. were used to analyze landscape pattern dynamics of water body in Kaifeng city since the end of the Qing Dynasty (in the 20th century). The results showed: (1) Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, landscape area of water body in Kaifeng city increased first and then decreased from 1898 to 2002AD; the landscape dominant degree had the same changing tendency with the area. (2) Patch number of water body landscape in Kaifeng city had an increase from 1898 to 2002, but maximum area of patch, minimum area of patch and average area of patch decreased, which resulted in an increase in landscape fragment degree. (3) Connectivity index decreased and fractal dimension increased from 1898 to 2002. The reasons for these changes were the repeated overflows and flooding of the Yellow River and the influence of human activities.     

Distribution and behavior of heavy metals in a river polluted by acid mine drainage in the Dabaoshan mine area, China

Acid mine drainage （AMD） has been recognized as a major environmental pollution problem over past decades. This pollutant effluent is complex and is characterized by elevated concentrations of iron and sulfate, low pH, and high concentrations of a wide variety of metals depending on the host rock geology. Massive inadvertent discharges from acid mines have given rise to dramatic cases of ecological damage. These events indicate an improved understanding of the mechanism controlling metal transport to the river is important, since the aquatic ecology will be affected, to some degree, dependent on the phase （dissolved or particulate） in which the metal is transported. In this study, polluted water samples were collected along the Hengshi River near the Dabaoshan mine, Guangdong, China, in April 2005. The concentrations of dissolved Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb have been determined using ICP-MS and the chemical speciation of those metals in suspended particles was examined using BCR methods and SEM/EDX mineralogical analysis. Combining these two sets of data, the intention was to develop geochemical concepts, which explain the behavior of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in particle-water interactions of heavy metals in AMD. The results show that the dissolved heavy metals exhibited non-conservative behavior in the Hengshi River. The dissolved and particulate Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb have the similar spatial distribution, which decreased gradually along the river except in the lower reaches because of the absorption-desorption between dissolved and particulate phases. Although the metal concentrations in both phases were elevated, dissolved metals were dominant and had the maximum concentrations in the low pH region.     

Arsenic pollution of groundwater and its release mechanism in the central part of the Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia, China

Arsenic pollution of groundwater has become a serious health problem in several regions of the world. Wuyuan County located in the central part of the Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia, is one of the most severely arsenic polluted areas. Peoples of the county have used groundwater of shallow （12-25 m） tube-well as drinking water. The groundwater is Na-HCO3 and Na-Cl type on the piper plots and aligns with steady Ca ： Mg ratio on cation diagram. The arsenic content in the water is more than 0.2 mg/L and the highest value reaches up to 0.52 mg/L. Drilling data show that Holocene sediments are divided into three zones on the basis of their color appearances; brown, grey and dark gray zones. The strata from 2m to 9-14m under the surface are mainly composed of clay and silt which are impermeable layers. The grey and dark grey zones composed of sand underlie the impermeable bed and the condition of their zones is reductive. At the depth of 30 m near the bottom of drilling, ORP of the groundwater is -300- -400 mV. The dark grey sand changes to yellow in color under the atmosphere. Under reducing environment, the color returns to its original dark grey. The characteristic color is due to amorphous or low-crystalline Fe sulfide coating sand grains. The sediments are of fluvial origin by the Yellow River. The arsenic content in the sediments is rich in fine-grained part and its values are more than 20 mg/kg in clay layer. The highest is 38 mg/kg. X-ray diffraction and macroscopic observation show that the clay layer is made of minerals such as chlorite and illite and contains high quantities of organic matter.     

Groundwater pollution by arsenic concentration in sedimentary aquifers in the Indo-Gangetic Basin of Nepal

Naturally occurring arsenic （As） in groundwater of sedimentary aquifers has emerged as a global problem, and the Indo-Gangetic Basin of Nepal is no exception. In the sedimentary aquifers of the Indo-Gangetic Basin, arsenic enrichment and mobilization in groundwater by natural processes is considered an issue of major environmental health concern. About 11 million people, 47% of Nepali＇s total population living in the region and approximately 90% of them are relying on groundwater as their major source of drinking water. Moreover, 205555 ha of agricultural land in the basin are irrigated by groundwater through large numbers of deep and shallow irrigation tubewells for extensive cultivation of crops which has lead to creation of other pathways for arsenic ingestion among the people living in the region. It is estimated that around 0.5 million people in the basin are living at risk of arsenic poisoning In addition, some recent research shows the prevalence of dermatosis related to arsenicosis from 1.3% to 5.2 % and the accumulation of arsenic in biological samples like hair and nails much higher than the acceptance level. In these circumstances, the source of the natural arsenic concentration in groundwater of the Indo-Gangetic Basin is quite essential to explore. Therefore, to investigate the source of arsenic and management of arseniferious groundwater used for human consumption and irrigation, along with treatment or avoidance, is clearly an issue of research concern. Present research is carried out to understand the source of natural arsenic and its mobilization in groundwater of the Indo-Gangetic Basin. For this, we have collected bedrock, aquifer sediments and water samples from the study area. Sediment samples were taken from different lithofacies viz. clay, silt, sand and sandy gravels from groundwater aquifer where arsenic concentration is high. Water samples were taken from domestic shallow and deep tubewells in grid pattern. Bedrock samples were collected from source of the aquifer sediment, northern part of the Indo-Gangetic Basin, especially from the Siwalik and Lesser Himalaya. This paper particularly focuses on geology, mineralogy, hydro-geochemistry and sedimentary analysis of the high arsenic affected districts; Rautahat, Sarlahi, Parsa, and Kailali of Nepal.     

Sediment records of persistent organic pollutants （POPs） in relation to regional economic development： A comparison study in both Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, China

Persistent organic pollutants （POPs） are semi-volatile chemicals that are toxic to wildlife and human. Typical POPs include most organochlorine pesticides （OCPs）, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, polychlorobiphenyls （PCBs）, polybrominated biphenyl ethers （PBDEs）, etc. Most POPs are hydrophobic, capable of accumulating and existing for a long time in the sediments. Well preserved, laminated sediment layers hence can serve as archives for POP pollution history in the sediment pool. Rapid economic growth has taken place since the early 1980s in most parts of China, of which the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Pan-Bohai Bay took the lead. Along with the brilliant regional economic development, the environmental quality has been severely deteriorated. For a more sustainable economic and social development, it is of vital need to understand the relationship between regional economic development and environmental pollution.     

Assessment of cadmium contamination in the sediments of Changjiang （Yangtze） River by reflectance spectroscopy

The Takab area in NW of Iran is an important gold mineralized region with a long history of gold mining. In this study ASTER data is used to evaluate environmental effects of gold mining. The results show that mining activities have resulted in release of potentially toxic metals （PTMs） in the area. Principal component analysis （PCA） of ASTER data is used to map sources of PTMs and their secondary hosts （iron oxides） through alteration mapping. The results show that selective PCA is a robust yet time consuming technique for alteration mapping. A color composite is created for finding common hydrothermally altered rocks. The created color composite successfully mapped the known deposits and anomalous areas identified by geological survey of Iran. Because of the low spatial resolution of ASTER sensor, the iron oxide mapping is restricted to the wider portions of the streams. Spectral analyses confirm the presence of hematite and goethite in stream sediments. This is in accordance with measured pH values.     

青岛高新区人工水系污染成因及其影响因素

景观水体中经常存在水体变色、散发异味等环境恶化现象。本研究以青岛高新区人工水系的污染问题为例,通过卫星图片解析、现场调查、模拟计算等手段,探讨了此类湖库型景观水体的污染成因及其影响因素。结果表明,水体中N、P营养盐负荷超标,是该水系主要污染因子;由于营养盐比例失衡,耐受性强的浮游藻类大规模增殖,在人工水系中,主要优势种绿藻小球藻的优势度高达0.984,藻细胞密度最高达9.83×109cells/L,导致水体出现黑臭现象。通过模型估算人工水系主要污染因子的环境容量与陆源污染通量,结果表明来自陆源的TN载荷为环境容量的5.22倍,TP载荷为环境容量的2.55倍,陆源输入是此类景观水体污染形成的主要原因;对人工水系典型水体主要环境因子浓度梯度的垂直变化分析表明,此类水体存在可能的内源污染。     

东湖水体中多氯联苯的研究

于1994年6月,采用高分子多孔聚合树脂对武汉东湖水进行富集采样,样品经净化后利用毛细管柱色谱进行多氯联苯（PCBs）总量及同类物（congeners）的分离测定。结果表明,东湖水样中PCBs总含量为2．7ng／L,检出的20多个PCBs同类物其含量分别在0．002－1．12ng／L范围内。其同类物中低氯取代的PCBs相对含量明显高于工业用商品PCBs中的相应含量。     

大型海藻吸附水体中重金属离子的机理及影响因素

随着现代工业的发展,人类的生存环境日益恶化,水体污染已经成为影响人类健康的重要因素。工业生产过程中往往会产生大量含铬、铜、汞、镍、铅、硒、锌等重金属离子的废水或固体废弃物,如果这些有害离子得不到及时有效的处理,就会对生态环境和人类健康产生不良影响,而且还会给国民经济造成重大损失。