Code of Practice For Ocean Mining: An International Effort to Develop a Code For Environmental Management of Marine Mining

A code of practice for ocean mining has been developed by the International Marine Minerals Society. The code provides general guiding Principles for development of marine mineral resources and delineates Operating Guidelines for application, as appropriate, at specific mining sites. In total 11 operating guidelines are provided to serve as benchmarks for industry and targets for regulatory agencies and other stakeholders. They include the following commitments: •To sustainable development, •To environmentally responsible corporate ethics, •To the development of effective community partnership, •To implementation of environmental risk management, •To the integration of environmental management into all phases of development, •To the establishment of corporate environmental performance targets, •To timely environmental improvements and upgrading, •To responsible rehabilitation of operations sites and decommissioning of facilities, and •To accurate and timely, reporting and documentation, archiving, and performance review.     

Spectrophotometric pH measurement in estuaries using thymol blue and m-cresol purple

The conditional acid dissociation constants (pK_a′) of two sulfonephthalein dyes, thymol blue (TB) and m-cresol purple (mCP), were assessed throughout the estuarine salinity range (0<S<40) using a tris/tris–HCl buffer and spectrophotometric measurement. The salinity dependence of the pK_a′ of both dyes was fitted to the equations (25 °C, total proton pH scale, mol kg soln⁻¹):

The estimated accuracy of pH measurements using these calculated pK_a′ values is considered to be comparable to that possible with careful use of a glass electrode (±0.01 pH unit) but spectrophotometric measurements in an estuary have the significant advantage that it is not necessary to calibrate an electrode at different salinities. pH was measured in an estuary over a tidal cycle with a precision of ±0.0005 pH unit at high (S>30) salinity, and ±0.002 pH unit at low (S<5) salinity. The pH increased rapidly in the lower salinity ranges (0<S<15) but less rapidly at higher salinities.     

Meiobenthic Organisms as Indicators of Mixing Processes in the Baltic Surface Sediments*

Abstract. Two sediment cores were collected in the southern Baltic Sea and sliced into 1.0cm-thick layers. Sediments of each layer were analysed for activities of ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³⁴Cs and for the density of meiobenthic organisms (meiofauna). Zones with the rapid mixing occur in the uppermost layers (0–3 cm) of the cores based on ^I34Cs profiles. The extent and density of meiofauna confirmed the rapid mixing and revealed layers with slow mixing (4–8 cm). Sedimentation rates were derived from ²¹⁰Pb profiles below the mixing zones (1.21 and 1.72 mm a-^I) and were confumed by ¹³⁷Cs distribution. Of twenty-one major meiofauna taxa commonly found in the Baltic sediments, three were present in the cores.     

中国西部环境与生态科学数据中心：面向西部环境与生态科学的数据集成与共享

国家自然科学基金委员会“中国西部环境与生态科学研究计划”自2001年启动以来,有力地推动了西部区域环境演化、陆地生态过程和人类活动对环境的影响等方面的研究,积累了丰富的基础数据。国家自然科学基金委员会“中国西部环境与生态科学数据中心”承担“西部计划”项目数据产出的收集、管理、集成,并面向西部环境与生态科学的各个领域提供科学数据服务。“西部数据中心”的总体框架是以“西部计划”和地球系统科学发展的科学需求为导向,建成以数据共享、知识积累、合作交流和数据科学为主要内容的集成平台,为“西部计划”多学科的交叉研究和成果的综合集成及地球科学发展的长远目标服务。以共建共享的指导思想集成针对西部环境与生态现状与变化的基础背景数据、环境与生态观测数据、模型数据集、数据工具及数据文档;并以完全与开放的数据共享原则为用户提供推送式数据服务。目前,“西部数据中心”已完成了数据共享平台、知识积累平台与合作交流平台的开发和集成,初步形成了科学数据平台,整理并发布了大量的西部环境生态科学所需的关键数据集。     

Hydrochemical and isotopical tracers in the lacustrine aquifer of the Cerro Prieto area, Baja California, México

A series of patterns in the chemical and isotopic composition of the groundwater of the Cerro Prieto area have been recognized. These patterns were used to define four hydrochemical and isotopical zones in the area. One of these areas located at the east side was found to be the source of recharge, while another in the central part is where an older aquifer exist in lacustrine deposits. The low permeability of the area causes the aquifer to act as an aquitard, which at least is partly surrounded by an interface zone where mixing of waters occurs. Tritium and radiocarbon method revealed that the aquitard is an isolate system whose residence time is of 32 ka.     

Developments in the characterisation of waste materials for environmental impact assessment purposes

The characterisation of waste is entering a new phase with the latest developments of characterisation leaching tests and associated modelling capabilities. The currently applied too simple testing approaches lead to poor choices in waste management. With the increased insight in release controlling processes chemical speciation aspects can be addressed even in the most complex and heterogeneous waste materials. From a composition perspective materials may be highly variable, but often materials are far more consistent in their leaching behaviour. This aspect should be exploited more extensively as it holds the key to treat waste materials in such a way that long term solutions are achieved rather than reaching temporary gains.