Estimation of source water to cedar elm in a central Texas riparian ecosystem

A riparian ecosystem downstream of a small dam in central Texas was instrumented for sap flow, soil moisture content, and stream level from 2001. Stable isotopes in water (D and ¹⁸O) were analysed from rainfall, stream, lake, and cored sapwood cellulose from cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia). The isotope signature of water source to cedar elm was identified by back calculation starting with the water isotopes in cellulose, and accounting for leaf‐water evaporation and biological fractionation during cellulose synthesis. The estimated mean isotope of the source water to cedar elm was enriched above rainfall in similarity to stream water during 2002. Flow paths that may have contributed to estimated variability from regional base flow and recharge water were identified using the variably saturated HYDRUS‐2D model. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Screening Procedure for Heavy Metals in Soil Extracts by Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Urease Inhibition Eine Screening-Methode für Schwermetalle in Extrakten aus Bodenproben,basierend auf der Inhibierung der Enzyme Alkoholdehydrogenase und Urease

A screening method for heavy metals in aqueous extracts of soil is presented which is based on inhibition of the enzymes urease and alcohol dehydrogenase. The method is suitable to detect cupric and mercury ions in concentrations below 0.01 mg/L and several other heavy metal ions in 1000 fold higher concentration. It is shown that the test may be used for screening of mercury ion concentrations exceeding 0.03 mg/L in aqueous solution when copper chelators are added to the test system. The usefulness of the presented tests to detect heavy metals eluted from soil was verified with samples from ore mining waste. The concentration of copper, lead, and zinc eluted from these samples to different amount was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and was in good agreement with the enzyme inhibition data obtained with these samples.     

Physical and chemical characteristics of a metal-contaminated overbank deposit,west-central South Dakota,U.S.A.

A metal-contaminated overbank deposit in west-central South Dakota resulted from the discharge of a large volume of mine tailings into a river system between the late 1800s and 1977. The deposit along the Belle Fourche River is typically up to 2 m thick and extends about 90 m away from the channel along the insides of meander bends. The sediments contain above-background levels of copper, iron, manganese, zinc, and particularly arsenic, which is commonly two orders of magnitude above background level in the contaminated sediments. Carbonate minerals in the deposit limit the desorption of arsenic by preventing acid formation. Arsenic concentrations provide a measure of the dilution of mine tailings by uncontaminated sediment. The arsenic appears to have been transported and deposited as arsenopyrite, but is now at least partially associated with iron oxides and hydroxides. Within individual samples, arsenic concentration has an inverse relation with grain size that results from the more efficient accumulation of arsenic on the greater surface area of the smaller particles. Arsenic concentration is inversely related to the sample weight percent finer than 16 μm, however, as a consequence of the dilution of the contaminated sediments by uncontaminated sediment with a finer grain-size distribution. Dilution by uncontaminated sediment from tributaries cause arsenic concentrations to decrease by a factor of 3 along 100 km of floodplain. An influx at high streamflow of uncontaminated sediment from terraces and the premining floodplain as well as from tributaries causes arsenic concentrations in parts of the contaminated deposit that are farthest away from the channel to be two to three times less than arsenic concentrations in overbank sediment that is immediately adjacent to the channel.     

Floodplain storage of mine tailings in the belle fourche river system: A sediment budget approach

Arsenic-contaminated mine tailings that were discharged into Whitewood Creek at Lead, South Dakota, from 1876 to 1978, were deposited along the floodplains of Whitewood Creek and the Belle Fourche River. The resulting arsenic-contaminated floodplain deposit consists mostly of overbank sediments and filled abandoned meanders along White-wood Creek, and overbank and point-bar sediments along the Belle Fourche River. Arsenic concentrations of the contaminated sediments indicate the degree of dilution of mine tailings by uncontaminated alluvium. About 13 per cent of the 110 × 10⁶ Mg of mine tailings that were discharged at Lead were deposited along the Whitewood Creek floodplain. Deposition of mine tailings near the mouth of Whitewood Creek was augmented by an engineered structure. About 29 per cent of the mine tailings delivered by Whitewood Creek were deposited along the Belle Fourche River floodplain. About 60 per cent of that sediment is contained in overbank deposits. Deposition along a segment of the Belle Fourche River was augmented by rapid channel migration. The proportions of contaminated sediment stored along Whitewood Creek and the Belle Fourche River are consistent with sediment storage along the floodplains of perennial streams in other, similar sized watersheds.     

Heavy Metal Load of Sediments of the River Gurk (Carinthia/Austria) — Merits and Limitations of Sequential Leaching Schwermetallbelastung des Sediments der Gurk in Kärnten — Vorzüge und Einschränkungen sequentieller Löseverfahren

By means of the analysis of sediments cored in the small river Gurk (Carinthia/Austria), the input of Ag, Cd, Ce, Cr, Hg, La, Mo, Ni, V, and W from a chemical industrial plant could be detected. To estimate the actual load, and to obtain data for comparison with other sites, both unsieved fine sediments and sediments sieved to 20 μm were investigated from the same cores. Environmental mobilities of toxic heavy metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn) have been shown by sequential leaching following Tessier/Förstner. In the last step, HNO₃ leaches a purely geogenic fraction, which is fairly constant along the investigated river. Whereas the additional Cr from the input of the chemical plant is mainly found in the oxalate-leachable fraction, short-time-load to unpolluted sediments in the laboratory is found mainly in hydroxylamine/acetic acid. Both is due to the high affinity of Cr to Fe- and Mn-oxides. Adsorption/desorption experiments reveal that the low carbonate content of the Gurk sediments increases the importance of Fe/Mn-oxides for the sorption of Cr compared to other samples containing carbonate. The Ni-load was primarily found in weak-acid-leachable and oxalate-leachable fractions. Similarly, the oxalate-leachable fraction is dominant for adsorption of other metals and phosphorus. Other interelement relationships among the amounts leached, which are attributable partly to carbonate-, silicate-, organic or coating phases, have been found by means of factor analyses together with marker fractions for each type.     

Physico-chemical seasonal variability of a tropical estuary: major and minor elements in water and air

The lower reaches of the Coatzacoalcos River in southeast Mexico is an area of intense industrial development. The physico-chemical characteristics of the area have exhibited differences over the years. Apparently from the associated outcroppings of limestone in the Uxpanapa River Basin, the major elements that are dissolved show higher concentrations of Ca, Mg and HCO₃^– in the waters supplied by this river. The water in the Calzadas River contains high concentrations of Ca, SO₄ and HCO₃^– that are associated with the saline domes crossed by this river. Due to industrial discharges, the sulfate concentration is very high in the water and air during April. Nitrate concentration diminishes with salinity. Higher nitrate as well as nitrite and ammonia levels are present during flood season. Phosphate concentration, associated with high oxygen levels, is higher in January. Zn, Cu and Cr are higher during the dry season (April) when dilution is minimal and low levels of TOC are present. The smaller concentrations of Zn and Cu observed in January are associated with high TOC values in water. The lower levels of Cr present in August are associated with high amounts of suspended matter. Pajaritos Lagoon and Teapa-L, with large industrial discharges, have the highest nutrient and dissolved metal concentrations in the area. Air particles smaller than 2.5 m contain Fe, V, Ti, Cu, Zn, and high amounts of S. These anomalous concentrations of sulfates and metals are attributed to anthropogenic sources.     

The use of transplanted cultured tropical oysters (Saccostrea commercialis) to monitor Cd levels in North Queensland coastal waters (Australia)

Bivalves are commonly used to detect metal pollution in the marine environment. Commercially cultured Milky oysters (Saccostrea commercialis) were transplanted in various sites along the North Queensland coast and analyzed for two metals of potentially anthropogenic origin (Cd, Zn). To provide additional information, naturally occurring Black Lip oysters (Saccostrea echinata) were also collected at the transplantation sites. The study demonstrated that the oysters species transplanted are good bioindicators of these metal concentrations in tropical waters, sensitive to variations in the environment at concentrations which are much smaller than pollution signals commonly reported for temperate waters. Three transplant experiments were carried out from May 1999 to February 2000. Milky oysters transplanted to offshore areas (Orpheus Is., Kelso Reef) accumulated Cd in the soft parts whereas oysters sampled from cages placed in Ross Creek and the Herbert River estuaries showed a decrease in Cd concentration, which resulted from an increase in dry weight. Dry weight appeared to be an important covariant affecting Cd concentration in the oysters whereas it does not unambiguously affect Zn concentrations. For the duration of the experiments, oysters sampled from the Magnetic Is. reference site showed effectively constant Cd concentrations and total Cd contents which indicates that any seasonal cycle affecting metal concentration is weak. It was found that Cd accumulation in oysters increased as ambient dissolved Cd concentration decreased, from which it was concluded that for these oysters, the predominant source of Cd was from the particulate phase rather than the dissolved phase.     

华北平原冬麦田土壤CH4的吸收特征研究

利用静态箱/气相色谱(GC)法,对华北平原冬小麦拔节-成熟期间麦田土壤CH₄气体通量进行了测定,得出华北平原典型冬麦田土壤是大气CH₄的弱吸收汇。试验期间土壤CH₄通量存在明显的季节变化和日变化,麦田拔节-成熟期间土壤CH₄通量日平均值为-18.3μg·m^-2·h^-1,波动范围为-4.3-24.4μg·m^-2·h^-1;在土壤CH₄通量的日变化中,观测到麦田土壤在午间和夜间都有一个吸收峰,峰值出现的时间因生育期不同而有所不同。试验期间CH₄通量日平均值与土壤温度关系不明显,而与土壤水分呈负相关(α=0.01);日变化中土壤CH₄通量与地表温度的相关性较差,而与5cm地温相关密切。麦田拔节-成熟期间土壤CH₄通量日平均值随NH4+-N施用量的增加呈递减规律,农田秸秆还田后不利于土壤对CH₄的吸收。     

On the interest and the limits of using combined ESR/U-series model in the case of very late uranium uptake

Before ESR/U-series models were applied to ungulate teeth, it is generally assumed that calculated ages are close to the “real” ages when they range between the values obtained with the EU and LU models. When the samples show signs of uranium-leaching, a realistic mathematical modelling of the age is not possible. On the other hand, some samples have undergone a very late U-uptake “affecting” directly the U-series ages and rendering the calculated ages younger.

We present results obtained on two open-air sites, which show the limits of such combined models in the case of late uranium incorporation. For the Middle Pleistocene site of Isernia la Pineta (Italy), the ESR dates are expected to fall within the limits imposed by the Ar–Ar results. The other site, the Lower Palaeolithic deposits of Ambrona (Spain), yielded two sets of samples: some at the top of the sequence with uranium uptake ranging between EU and LU limits and thus giving a good idea of the “real” age of the site; others at the base displaying a very late U-uptake, which render an age determination difficult.