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.     

Distribution of dissolved species and suspended particulate copper in an intertidal ecosystem affected by copper mine tailings in Northern Chile

The coastline near Chañaral in Northern Chile is one of the most highly Cu-contaminated zones in the world due to discharges from mining activities for more than 60 years. The speciation of Cu has been studied to determine the importance of organic complexation in highly contaminated areas, and to assess the likely physiological impacts of Cu on marine organisms. Dissolved Cu concentrations of up to 500 nM were measured, completely saturating organic ligands and leading to free Cu²⁺ concentrations in excess of 10^− 8 M. These values are higher than those reported in any other marine environment, and because they occur over an extensive area, provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of Cu on marine ecosystems and to see how Cu behaves when its speciation is predominantly inorganic. We found strong gradients in free Cu²⁺ between Chañaral and adjacent areas with lower Cu, where speciation is dominated by organic complexation. There is also a significant increase in the partitioning of Cu onto suspended particles in the contaminated areas, consistent with previous studies that showed that organic ligands stabilize Cu in the dissolved phase, whilst “excess” Cu is rapidly scavenged. Those high dissolved Cu concentrations persist in spite of solid phase partitioning and advective processes along this open-ocean coastline, suggesting that Cu inputs into the system are still very large. Measurements were made using anodic stripping voltammetry with a thin mercury film coated with Nafion, which previous workers have shown can mitigate ambiguity in the data arising from inadvertent reduction of organic complexes. Our findings suggest that this is a useful methodology for contaminated systems.     

青藏高原中部湖泊沉积物中Zr/Rb值及其环境意义

由于青藏高原及其周边地区构造复杂,湖泊沉积物中的粒级差别很大,单一的测量方法往往难以奏效。Rb、Zr是表生地球化学过程中的稳定元素,但它们之间也存在显著差别,Rb一般富集在细颗粒中,Zr则在粗颗粒中含量较高。研究发现,湖泊沉积物中Zr/Rb比值与粘土(<2μm)含量存在显著相关,Zr/Rb值反映了湖泊沉积物的粒度大小。Zr/Rb比值所揭示的青藏高原中部280万年来经历的3次大的环境演化过程与岩性变化、孢粉指标反映的环境特征是一致的。     

运城盆地11 kaBP以来气候环境变迁与湖面波动

通过黄土区湖泊沉积研究来恢复古气候、古环境，是对黄土区古气候、古环境研究的补充和检验。通过山西运城盆地硝地湖泊沉积物的多环境代用指标分析，结合史料记载，探讨了该地区11kaBP以来古气候演化和湖面波动的历史。结果表明，该地区存在YD（Younger Dryas）事件，进入全新世后气候有显著的趋势，最高湿润度发生在7．88－5．15和5kaBP后，气候逐渐变干，湖面波动与气候波动相关，全新世早期湖面开始上升，湖泊扩张，5kaBP后湖泊萎缩，盐类结晶析出。     

南四湖,东平湖资源综合开发问题探讨

南四湖，东平湖是华北重要的淡水湖，湖区自然条件优越，资源丰富，有巨大开发潜力。本文分析湖区资源特征，开发利用现状和存在问题，提出合理开发利用途径与对策。     

Stratigraphy of total metals in PIRLA sediment cores

Sediment cores from 30 low-alkalinity lakes in northern New England (NE), New York (NY), the northern Great Lakes States (NGLS) of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and Florida (FL) have been dated by ²¹⁰Pb and analyzed for water and organic content, eight major elements (Al, Ti, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, Na, K) plus four trace metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, and V). Variations in the percentages of major elements through time are dominated by long-term independent variations in the abundance of SiO₂, FeO, and to a lesser extent Ca and Al. Additional variations are caused by varying proportions of inorganic matter. Major variations in chemistry are generally unrelated to documented distrubances in the watersheds; most disturbances are minor fires or selective logging.Accelerated accumulation of Pb from atmospheric sources into sediment first occurs in sediment dated between 1800 and 1850 in NY and NE, slightly later in the NGLS region, and about 1900 in FL. Modern accumulation rates in all areas are comparable (ca. 1 to 4 g cm^–2 yr^–1). Accumulation rates of Pb in some lakes have declined significantly from 1975 to 1985. Atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic Zn and Cu is also indicated by generally increasing accumulation rates in sediment cores, but the record is not as clear nor are chemical profiles in all lakes parallel to the trends in atmospheric emissions inferred on the basis of fossil fuel consumption, smelting, and other industrial activities. Inter-lake variations in profiles of Cu and Zn are large. Vanadium accumulation rates increase by the 1940s in NY and NE, but not until the 1950s in the NGLS region. This timing correlates with regional trends in the combustion of fuel oil, a major source of atmospheric V.Acidification of some of the lakes is suggested by decreases in the concentration and accumulation rates of Mn, Ca, and Zn in recent sediment, relative to other elements of catchment origin. The decreases generally occur slightly before the onset of acidification as indicated by diatoms. Increased sediment accumulation rates for Fe may indicate the acidification of watershed soils. The use of the accumulation rate of TiO₂ as an indicator of rates of erosion and for normalization of trace metal accumulation rates is in question for lakes where the flux of TiO₂ from the atmosphere varies and is a significant fraction of the total flux of TiO₂ to the sediment.This is the thirteenth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D. F. Charles and D. R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.     

基于空间信息技术的堰塞湖库容分析方法研究

快速准确计算堰塞湖库容,对了解地震堰塞湖险情具有重要的意义.利用遥感和地理信息系统等空间信息技术,提出了一种基于像素的三维水面的计算动库容的方法,能准确计算水面为曲面,包括动库容在内的总库容.该方法利用遥感影像提取水体边界线,与DEM求交后可得到带高程的边界点,利用空间插值技术获得三维水面,然后利用库容计算模型求解.同时,在分析该算法计算效率的基础上,提出了基于河流分段的库容计算优化算法,最后通过实验对比分析了该方法的合理性和优越性.     

Numerical Modelling of Dissolving and Driving Exploitation of Potash Salt in the Qarhan Playa——A Coupled Model of Reactive olute Transport and Chemical Equilibrium in a Multi-component Underground Brine System

Firstly, the macroscopic chemical equilibrium state of a series of chemical reactions between intercrystal brine and its media salt layer (salt deposit) in Qarhan Salt Lake was studied by using the Pitzer theory. The concept of macroscopic solubility product and its relation with accumulated ore dissolving ratio were presented, which are used in the numerical model of dissolving and driving exploitation of potassium salt in Qarhan Salt Lake. And secondly, with a model forming idea oftransport model for reacting solutes in the multi-component fresh groundwater system in porous media being a reference, a two-dimensional transport model coupled with a series of chemical reactions in a multi-component brine porous system (salt deposits) was developed by using the Pitzer theory.Meanwhile, the model was applied to model potassium/magnesium transport in Qarhan Salt Lake in order to study the transfer law of solid and liquid phases in the dissolving and driving process and to design the optimal injection/abstraction strategy for dissolving and capturing maximum Potassium/Magnesium in the mining of salt deposits in Qarhan Salt Lake.     

Numerical Modelling of Dissolving and Driving Exploitation of Potash Salt in the Qarhan Piaya——A Coupled Model of Reactive Solute Transport and Chemical Equilibrium in a Multi-component Underground Brine System

Firstly,the macroscopic chemical equilibrium state of a series of chemical reactions between intercrystal brine and its media salt layer (salt deposit) in Qarhan Salt Lake was studied by using the Pitzer theory.The concept of macroscopic solubility product and its relation with accumulated ore dissolving ratio were presented,which are used in the numerical model of dissolving and driving exploitation of potassium salt in Qarhan Salt Lake.And secondly,with a model forming idea of transport model for reacting solutes in the multi-component fresh groundwater system in porous media being a reference,a two-dimensional transport model coupled with a series of chemical reactions in a multi-component brine porous system (salt deposits) was developed by using the Pitzer theory. Meanwhile,the model was applied to model potassium/magnesium transport in Qarban Salt Lake in order to study the transfer law of solid and liquid phases in the dissolving and driving process and to design the optimal injection/abstraction strategy for dissolving and capturing maximum Potassium/ Magnesium in the mining of salt deposits in Qarban Salt Lake.     

松辽盆地白垩纪湖泊水体温度与古气候温度估算

湖泊沉积物沉积的第一场所是湖底,湖底温度的高低影响沉积有机质的保存,也影响湖底下部地层的温度。了解古水体温度尤其是古水底温度情况成为评估松辽盆地白垩系生物气勘探前景的必要研究内容之一。根据已有的古气候研究成果与现今气候对比,得出白垩纪松辽盆地年平均气温约为14~24℃。再根据水库温度的计算方法和利用已有的古纬度及古水深的研究成果计算得出,白垩纪松辽盆地古湖盆水体表面温度为17~25℃;水深大于20 m的深湖区,水底温度为6.2~12.5℃;湖底最深处温度为4.0~11.3℃;青山口组和嫩江组沉积时期,湖水分层明显,湖底温度季节性变化很小且温度较低,约为8℃。湖底的低温对松辽盆地白垩纪生物气勘探是有利的。