Mercury mobility and bioavailability in soil from contaminated area

The mobility and bioavailability of mercury in the soil from the area near a plant using elemental mercury for manufacturing thermometers, areometers, glass energy switches and other articles made of technical glass has been evaluated. Mercury has been determined by sequential extraction method and with additional thermo desorption stage to determine elemental mercury. The procedure of sequential extraction involves five subsequent stages performed with the solutions of chloroform, deionized water, 0.5 M HCl, 0.2 M NaOH and aqua regia. The mean concentration of total mercury in soil was 147 ± 107 μg g⁻¹ dry mass (range 62–393), and the fractionation revealed that mercury was mainly bound to sulfides 56 ± 8% (range 45–66), one of the most biounavailable and immobile species of mercury in the environment. The fractions that brought lower contribution to the total mercury content were semi-mobile humic matter 22 ± 9% (range 11–34) and elemental mercury 17 ± 5% (range 8–23). The contributions brought by the highly mobile and toxic organomercury compounds were still lower 2.3 ± 2.7% (range 0.01–6.5). The lowest contributions brought the acid-soluble mercury 1.5 ± 1.3% (range 0.1–3.5) and water-soluble mercury 1.0 ± 0.3% (range 0.6–1.7). The surface layer of soil (0–20 cm) was characterized by higher mercury concentrations than that of the subsurface soil (60–80 cm), but the fractional contributions were comparable. The comparison of mercury fractionation results obtained in this study for highly polluted soils with results of fractionation of uncontaminated or moderately contaminated samples of soil and sediments had not shown significant statistical differences; however, in the last samples elemental mercury is usually present at very low concentrations. On the basis of obtained correlation coefficients it seems that elemental mercury soils from “Areometer” plant are contaminated; the main transformation is its vaporization to atmosphere and oxidation to divalent mercury, probably mainly mediated by organic matter, and next bound to humic matter and sulfides.     

Characterization of AOX by Fractionation Analysis and Size‐exclusion Chromatography

A characterization method for AOX in surface water samples was developed and tested. The method involves fractionation using a hydrophobic C18 resin and a weak anionic exchange resin and allows the fractionation of the AOX pool of surface water samples into four fractions: (1) hydrophilic acidic, (2) hydrophilic non‐acidic, (3) hydrophobic acidic, and (4) hydrophobic non‐acidic. The adsorption analysis was verified with AOX‐relevant model compounds and was applied to characterize the AOX pool of a stream sample from the Moskva river (Russia). In addition to the fractionation analysis, size‐exclusion chromatography was used to characterize the AOX pool of the sample studied. Hydrophilic acids made up the major fraction of the AOX pool (55 %). Among this fraction chlorinated high‐molecular acids (humic substances) made up the main fraction (35 %).     

硼同位素分馏及其在环境研究中的应用

二十世纪八十年代以来 ,由于硼同位素的测量技术的创新和改进 ,硼同位素地球化学的研究领域不断拓宽。研究表明 ,自然界中δ11B值的变化范围为 -3 7‰～ +5 8‰ ,不同地质体中δ11B值明显不同 ,反之 ,硼同位素组成与生成环境密切相关 ,可以反映其地质成因环境或地质作用过程。近年来 ,硼同位素在研究海水入侵 ,示踪古海洋和古气候条件 ,和判断污染源区等方面取得初步成效。     

硼酸溶液蒸发时温度对硼的挥发和硼同位素分馏的影响

以NBSSRM 95 1硼标准溶液为研究对象 ,测定了不同温度以及是否加入甘露醇的情况下浓缩硼酸溶液后硼的回收率和11B 10 B比值。通过分析硼回收率和11B 10 B比值随温度和甘露醇变化的趋势 ,初步得出了浓缩硼酸样品的较佳条件为 :在被浓缩样品中加入甘露醇并在 85℃左右的温度下进行浓缩。     

Fractionation of dissolved organic matter affected by polyvalent metal cations

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of polyvalent cations known to form complexes with natural organic substances on the operational fractionation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) using XAD-8 adsorber resin. Dissolved organic matter solutions from a forest floor were treated with increasing concentrations of polyvalent metal cations (Ca²⁺, Al³⁺, Fe³⁺) at different pH levels. Then the concentrations of total dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the distribution between hydrophilic and hydrophobic DOC were determined. The concentrations of total DOC decreased slightly when the C/metal ratio was less than 10, especially for Al and Fe. Hydrophilic DOC increased and hydrophobic DOC decreased with increasing concentrations of metal cations. Effects increased in the order Ca<Al<Fe and were more pronounced at low DOC concentrations and high pH values. The reason for the reduction of the DOC concentrations seemed to be the formation of insoluble metal–DOM complexes, while soluble metal–DOM complexes may induce an alteration of the distribution between hydrophilic and hydrophobic DOC. Thus, the polyvalent cations and their concentration need to be considered when DOM fraction distributions, determined with XAD-8 resin, of different waters are compared, especially at low DOC contents and high pH.     

Differences in oxygen-18 content of throughfall and rainfall in hardwood and coniferous forests

The differences between δ¹⁸O in throughfall and open rainfall were studied for 16 selected spring and summer storms in deciduous, pine and spruce forests in central Pennsylvania, USA. Throughfall δ¹⁸O averaged 0.17, 0.32 and 0.24%_o greater than δ¹⁸O of open rainfall for all storms at the deciduous, pine and spruce sites, respectively. Throughfall ¹⁸O enrichment was greater in low intensity spring rainfall events than higher intensity growing season storms and greater in the coniferous stands than the deciduous hardwood stand. Maximum throughfall ¹⁸O enrichment of l.61%_o occurred in the spruce forest during one spring event. The differences between rainfall and throughfall ¹⁸O observed in this study for individual storm events may have important implications for isotope flow separation studies.     

Characterization of colloidal and particulate matter transported by the magela creek system,Northern Australia

The composition and amount of colloidal and suspended participate matter transported during a small flood event in Magela Creek in tropical northern Australia was investigated. The flood studied constituted approximately 3 % of the total annual flow, most (90%) of which occurred between mid-January and mid-February of the study year. Three fractions were separated from water samples using a sequential method involving a continuous flow centrifuge to separate suspended particulate matter (SPM; nominally > 1 μm) followed by hollow fibre filtration, first using a 0.1 μm filter to separate course colloidal matter (CCM; nominal size 1–0.1 μm) and then a 0–015 μm filter to separate fine colloidal matter (FCM; nominal size 0.1–0.015 μm). The SPM was predominantly inorganic (organic matter 21 %), whereas the colloidal fractions were dominantly organic matter (CCM 60%; FCM 83%). Analysis of individual particles using electron microprobe and automated image analysis indicated that the mineral fractions in both the SPM and CCM were dominated by iron-enriched aluminosilicates (including kaolinite) (72–82%) and quartz (9–10%), indicative of a highly weathered and extensively laterized catchment. Surprisingly there was very little difference in the composition of the SPM or CCM fractions during the flood event studied, which may indicate either that sediment availability was restricted following the major run-off events in January and February, or that all the sediment sources within the catchment are geochemically similar. Approximately the same amounts of particulate (20 tonne), colloidal (21 tonne) and dissolved material (17 tonne) were transported during the 25 hour period of the main flood peak; over 90% of the colloidal matter was 0.1–1.0 μm in size. These data suggest that previous estimates of the amounts of particulate (and colloidal) matter transported by Magela Creek, which were based on suspended solids measurements, may have underestimated the particulate matter load by as much as 50%. It is possible that the relatively high proportion of colloidal matter is unique to Magela Creek because coagulation and aggregation of colloidal matter to particulate matter is slow due to the very low concentations of calcium and magnesium in these waters. However, if the result is more widespread, there are important implications for the global estimates of fluvially transported particulate and dissolved materials as many of the previous studies may have underestimated the particulate load and overestimated the dissolved load.     

The effect of grain size on the Cu, Pb, Ni, Cd speciation and distribution in sediments: a case study of Dongping Lake, China

This paper examines the surface sediments collected from Dongping Lake in China for speciation and distribution of toxic heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Ni, Cd) in different grain size fractions, and for the factors that need to be considered in potential hazard of metals to the environment. Four grain size fractions (<63, 63–78, 78–163 and 163–280 μm), divided in wet condition, and bulk samples less than 280 μm in diameter were analyzed for their distribution, density and appearance. A three-stage extraction procedure following the BCR protocol was used to chemically fractionate metals into “acid soluble”, “reducible”, “oxidizable” and “residual” fractions. Correlation analysis was used to analyze the datasets. The results showed that <63 μm grain size part constitutes the major proportion of the sediments, but its density is the smallest among the four grain size fractions. In general, the metal content curve against grain size presents “S” distribution, and the highest concentrations do not exist in <63 μm grain size. Appearance observation indicates that the adsorbed substance increases gradually along with the decreasing grain size. The dominant speciation of elements and the extent of pollution are responsible for the metal distribution in different grain size sediments. While studying bioavailability and mobilization of metals, it is advisable to take metal speciation, grain size distribution and density into consideration.     

Si stable isotopes in the Earth's surface: A review

Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element on Earth after oxygen. Only few studies have attempted to use stable isotopes of Si as proxies for understanding the Si cycle and its variations in the past. By using three different methods (IRMS, MC–ICP–MS and SIMS), the overall measurements show that the isotopic composition (δ³⁰Si) of terrestrial samples ranges from − 5.7‰ to + 3.4‰. Dissolved Si in rivers and seawater is ³⁰Si-enriched (− 0.8‰ < δ³⁰Si < + 3.4‰) compared to Si in endogeneous rocks (− 1.1‰ < δ³⁰Si < + 0.7‰). This global enrichment is counterbalanced by the Si-bearing phases (biogenic silica, clays, quartz) where Si is, in average, ³⁰Si-depleted (− 5.7‰ < δ³⁰Si < + 2.6‰). These values are the result of fractionation which have been measured or estimated from − 0.3‰ to − 3.8‰. The fractionation is modeled by two types of approaches: the Rayleigh distillation model (closed system) and the steady-state model (open system). These models have been used in the most recent studies to explain the observed δ³⁰Si variations in continental environments and in the sub-Antarctic Ocean.     

中纬度地区混合云中稳定同位素分馏的数学模拟——以乌鲁木齐降水为例

文中介绍的数学模型考虑了混合云中液、固相共存时以及冰面过饱和环境下稳定同位素的动力分馏效应.利用该数学模型,模拟不同冷却条件下稳定同位素的温度效应.在相同的湿度条件下,湿绝热冷却过程中δ18O随温度的变化率小于等压冷却过程.冰面过饱和比S;的增大意味着动力分馏效应的增大.与平衡态过程相比,它的作用使得稳定同位素的综合分馏系数减小,从而使得降水中δ18O随温度的变化趋缓.模拟结果显示,湿绝热冷却过程中大气水线(MWLδD=bδ18O+d)的梯度项b和常数项d均大于等压冷却过程.不同的冰面过饱和比对大气水线的影响是不同的.与冰面过饱和比相比,b和d的大小对云中含水量的变化敏感性较低.模拟结果还显示,乌鲁木齐的降水不是来自海洋水汽的初始凝结.在经历了长途输送之后,乌鲁木齐降水中的稳定同位素成分在很大程度上被衰减.模拟的稳定同位素比率/温度、δD/δ18O曲线分别与乌鲁木齐实测的稳定同位素比率/温度回归线以及大气水线有非常好的一致性.