Heavy metal distribution and contamination in soils of Thane–Belapur industrial development area,Mumbai, Western India

There is a growing public concern over the potential accumulation of heavy metals in soil, owing to rapid urban and industrial development in the last decade in India. Therefore, an attempt was made to investigate the pollution caused due to excessive accumulation of heavy metals in soils near Thane–Belapur industrial belt of Mumbai. Soil samples were collected from surrounding industrial areas and were analyzed for toxic/heavy metals by X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The analytical results indicate that the soils in the study area were enriched with Cu, Cr, Co, Ni and Zn. The concentration ranges were: Cu 3.10–271.2 mg/kg (average 104.6 mg/kg), Cr 177.9–1,039 mg/kg (average 521.3 mg/kg), Co 44.8–101.6 mg/kg (average 68.7 mg/kg), Ni 64.4–537.8 mg/kg (average 183.6 mg/kg) and Zn 96.6–763.2 mg/kg (average 191.3 mg/kg). The visualization of spatial data is made by preparing distribution maps of heavy metal concentration in soils and co-relation diagrams. These results highlight the need for instituting a systematic and continuous monitoring of the study area for heavy metals and other forms of pollution to ensure that pollution does not become a serious problem in future.     

Validation of an intrinsic groundwater pollution vulnerability methodology using a national nitrate database

The importance of groundwater for potable supply, and the many sources of anthropogenic contamination, has led to the development of intrinsic groundwater vulnerability mapping. An Analysis of Co-Variance and Analysis of Variance are used to validate the extensively applied UK methodology, based upon nitrate concentrations from 1,108 boreholes throughout England and Wales. These largely confirm the current aquifer and soil leaching potential classifications and demonstrate the benefits of combining soil and low permeability drift information. European legislation such as the Water Framework Directive will require more dynamic assessments of pollutant risk to groundwater. These results demonstrate that a number of improvements are required to future intrinsic groundwater vulnerability methodologies. The vertical succession of geological units must be included, so that non-aquifers can be zoned in the same way as aquifers for water supply purposes, while at the same time recognising their role in influencing the quality of groundwater in deeper aquifers. Classifications within intrinsic vulnerability methodologies should be based upon defined diagnostic properties rather than expert judgement. Finally the incorporation into groundwater vulnerability methodologies of preferential flow in relation to geological deposits, soil type and land management practices represents a significant, but important, future challenge.

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Resumen La importancia de las aguas subterráneas en el abastecimiento de agua potable, y las muchas fuentes de contaminación antropogénica, ha llevado al desarrollo del mapeo de vulnerabilidad a la contaminación intrínseca de aguas subterráneas. Se han utilizado un análisis de co-varianza y análisis de varianza para validar la metodología que se ha aplicado extensamente en UK basada en concentraciones de nitrato de 1108 pozos a través de Inglaterra y Gales. Se confirma ampliamente las clasificaciones actuales de acuíferos y potencial de lixiviación del suelo y se demuestra los beneficios de combinar la información de suelos y derrubios de baja permeabilidad. La legislación europea tal como el Marco Directivo del Agua requerirá evaluaciones más dinámicas del riesgo a la contaminación de agua subterránea. Estos resultados demuestran que se requieren varias mejoras en las metodologías futuras de vulnerabilidad intrínseca a la contaminación de agua subterránea. Tiene que incluirse la secuencia vertical de las unidades geológicas de modo que las unidades que no son acuíferos puedan zonificarse de la misma manera que los acuíferos con fines de abastecimiento de agua, mientras que al mismo tiempo se reconozca el papel que tienen en la influencia de la calidad de agua subterránea en acuíferos profundos. Las clasificaciones de las metodologías de vulnerabilidad intrínseca deberían basarse en las propiedades diagnósticas características más que en el juicio experto. Finalmente la incorporación de flujo preferencial en las metodologías de vulnerabilidad de agua subterránea en relación a las formaciones geológicas, tipo de suelo y prácticas de manejo de la tierra representa un desafío futuro no solo significativo sino que importante.

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Résumé Limportance des eaux-souterraines pour lalimentation en eau potable, et les multiples sources de contaminations anthropiques, ont conduit au développement de cartes de vulnérabilité intrinsèque des eaux souterraines aux pollutions. Une analyse de la co-variance et lanalyse de la variance sont utilisées pour valider la méthodologie extensive utilisée en UK, basée sur les concentration en nitrates de 1108 forages en Angleterre et en Ecosse. Ceci confirme les classifications courantes basées sur la nature des aquifères et le potentiel de lessivage des sols, et démontre le bénéfice que lon peut tirer à combiner linformation dérivant des sols et des faibles perméabilités. La législation européenne telle la Directive Cadre Européenne demandera des évaluations plus dynamiques des risques de pollution affectant les eaux souterraines. Ces résultats démontrent quun certain nombre daméliorations sont nécessaires aux futures méthodes de vulnérabilité intrinsèque des eaux souterraines. La succession verticale dunités géologiques doit être pris en compte, de telle manière que les parties non-aquifères puissent être zonées de la même manière que les aquifères pour lapprovisionnement en eaux potables, et reconnaître par la même occasion leur influence sur la qualité des eaux souterraines dans les aquifères profonds. Les classifications utilisées dans les méthodes de vulnérabilité intrinsèque devraient être basées sur les propriétés dun diagnostique défini plutôt que sur un jugement expert. Finalement lincorporation, dans les méthodes de vulnérabilité intrinsèque, des écoulements préférentiels en relation avec les formations géologiques, les types de sol et les pratiques daménagement du territoire représentent un challenge futur significatif et ortant.

     

Controls on soil pore water solutes: An approach for distinguishing between biogenic and lithogenic processes

Spatial and temporal variations in pore water compositions are characterized for a deep regolith profile developed on a marine terrace chronosequence near Santa Cruz California. Variations are resolved in terms of the dominance of either a lithogenic process, i.e. chemical weathering, or a biogenic process, i.e. plant nutrient cycling. The concept of elemental fractionation is introduced describing the extent that specific elements are mobilized and cycled as a result of these processes.     

Assessment of failure susceptibility of soil slopes using fuzzy logic

Generally, the process of land occupation in urban areas involves spaces that are not suitable for construction. In most cases these areas are subject to landslides. Therefore it is mister the development of models to evaluate the susceptibility of occurrence of landslides in these areas. For this, Fuzzy Logic is used herein for modeling such areas where landslides are susceptible to occur and, therefore, a direct evaluation is important. The possibility of capturing the judgment and the modeling of linguistic variables are the main advantages of using Fuzzy Logic. These models are capable to capture the factors directly affecting the slope stability and also the inter-relationship amongst them. These factors were chosen by experts to whom a questionnaire was sent. Fuzzy Logic was then used to transform the linguistic variables into fuzzy number, allowing thus, the calculation of failure potential index (FPI). Herein the MAX-MIN Mamdani strategy for the inference of the rule base was used. This methodology has been applied to identify the susceptibility of landslides in a chaotic occupied urban area of Itaperuna City in northeastern of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where some occurrences have been reported.     

Full-glacial paleosols in perennially frozen loess sequences, Klondike goldfields, Yukon Territory, Canada

Perennially frozen loess deposits in the Klondike goldfields include paleosols formed in full-glacial environments, correlated by Alaskan distal tephra with Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 2 and 4. Patterns of organic and inorganic carbon and clay distribution, microstructures, and profile morphologies indicate that soil formation occurred in a base-rich environment in which organic matter accreted predominantly as root detritus. At sites approximately 20 km apart, the expression of cryoturbation and ice wedge development decreases in strength upward in loess-paleosol sequences correlated with MIS 4, suggesting increasing aridity. Configurations of cryoturbation features and ice-wedge thaw unconformities, the presence of numerous ground squirrel burrows, and an absence of peat accumulation suggest that these substrates were predominantly well-drained, with active layers of equal or greater thickness than in modern soils on similar sites in the west-central Yukon. Some characteristics of these paleosols are similar to those of modern steppe and tundra soils, consistent with plant macrofossil evidence for local ecological diversity during full-glacial conditions in eastern Beringia.     

Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: I. An introduction to the project

We investigated paleolimnological records from a series of river deltas around the northeastern rim of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Tanzania and Burundi) in order to understand the history of anthropogenic activity in the lakes catchment over the last several centuries, and to determine the impact of these activities on the biodiversity of littoral and sublittoral lake communities. Sediment pollution caused by increased rates of soil erosion in deforested watersheds has caused significant changes in aquatic communities along much of the lakes shoreline. We analyzed the effects of sediment discharge on biodiversity around six deltas or delta complexes on the east coast of Lake Tanganyika: the Lubulungu River delta, Kabesi River delta, Nyasanga/Kahama River deltas, and Mwamgongo River delta in Tanzania; and the Nyamuseni River delta and Karonge/Kirasa River deltas in Burundi. Collectively, these deltas and their associated rivers were chosen to represent a spectrum of drainage-basin sizes and disturbance levels. By comparing deltas that are similar in watershed attributes (other than disturbance levels), our goal was to explore a series of historical experiments at the watershed scale, with which we could more clearly evaluate hypotheses of land use or other effects on nearshore ecosystems. Here we discuss these deltas, their geologic and physiographic characteristics, and the field procedures used for coring and sampling the deltas, and various indicators of anthropogenic impact.     

Determining the optimal soil temperature scheme for atmospheric modelling applications

The treatment of the land surface can have a significant impact on the performance of atmospheric models, influencing the surface energy balance and near surface atmospheric variables. In numerical weather prediction models it is especially important to reproduce the observed diurnal cycle in screen-level temperature, which requires an accurate representation of the surface temperature, and therefore an accurate and computationally efficient representation of soil heat storage and transfer. We present a technique for analysing the accuracy of numerical soil temperature schemes, and a methodology for choosing the optimal layer thicknesses for schemes with a given number of layers. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that first generation land surface schemes, which typically used a layer-average surface temperature, may be more accurate in this respect than the latest land surface schemes, which tend to use a skin surface temperature boundary condition.The British Crowns right to retain a non-exclusive royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

On Transpiration and Soil Moisture Content Sensitivity to Soil Hydrophysical Data

Sensitivity of evapotranspiration E and root zone soil moisture content θ to the parameterization of soil water retention Ψ(θ) and soil water conductivity K(Ψ), as well as to the definition of field capacity soil moisture content, is investigated by comparing Psi1-PMSURF and Theta-PMSURF models. The core of PMSURF (Penman–Monteith Surface Fluxes) consists of a 3-layer soil moisture prediction module based on Richard’s equation in combination with the Penman–Monteith concept for estimating turbulent heat fluxes. Psi1- PMSURF and Theta-PMSURF differ only in the parameterization of the moisture availability function F_ma. In Psi1,F_ma is parameterized by using Ψ(θ) and K(Ψ) hydrophysical functions; in Theta, F_ma is parameterized by using hydrophysical parameters: the field capacity θ_f and wilting point θ_w soil moisture contents. Both Psi1 and Theta are based on using soil hydrophysical data, that is, there is no conceptual difference between them in the parameterization of E even if in Psi1F_ma depends on 12 parameters, while in Theta only on two soil/vegetation parameters. Sensitivity tests are performed using the Cabauw dataset. Three soil datasets are used: the vG (van Genuchten), CH/vG (Clapp and Hornberger/van Genuchten) and CH/PILPS (Clapp and Hornberger/Project for Intercomparison of Land-surface Parameterization Schemes) datasets. The vG dataset is used in van Genuchten’s parameterization, while in Clapp and Hornberger’s the CH/vG and CH/PILPS datasets are used. It is found that the consistency of soil hydrophysical data in the simulation of transpiration is quite important. The annual sum of E obtained by Psi1E^Psi1, differs from the annual sum of E obtained by Theta, E^Theta, because of the inconsistency between the fitting parameters of Ψ(θ) and K(Ψ) and the θ_f, and not because of the differencies in the parameterization of F_ma. Further, θ_f can be estimated not only on the basis of using soil hydrophysical functions (the θ_f so obtained is θ^Soil_f) but also on the basis of analysing the transpiration process (the θ_fso obtained is θ^tr_f). θ^tr_f values estimated from the condition E^Theta ≈ E^Psi1 are in acceptable accordance with the θ^Soil_f values proposed by Wösten and co-workers. The results are useful in optimizing the parameterization of transpiration in land-surface schemes.     

STUDY ON THE DYNAMIC PROCESS OF RILL EROSION OF LOESS SLOPE SURFACE

1 mTRODUCTIONAs a woridwide concem, excessive water erosion induces land degradation, causes losses of plantnutrients, and Ieads to off site enVironmental problems such as sedimentahon streams and reservoirs. mllerosion, which results from concentraed flow in a lindted and confined space, plays imPortant roles inthe erosion systCm on uPland areas. Data listed in Table l show its contribution and imPoftance to thetOtal slope soil losses. In the last decades, stodies on the physical mecha…     

SEDIMENT DAMAGES AND RECENT TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES

lINTRODUCTIONWeoftenhavethepercepti0nthatsedimentisthebr0wnishoryell0wishcoloringinrunoffwater,thatlooksunpleasant,buteventually"g0esaway,"downstream,unseen.Butsedimentisn0tonlyaestheticallyunpleasant,itisalsoacarrierofpotentialchemicalc0ntaminants,fillsupwaterb0dies,andcausesphysicaldamaget0farmland,wildlife,andwatertreatmentsystemsandpowergenefat0rs.ThepurposeofthispaPeristoprovidean0verallperspectiveonthemagnitudeandtrendsofsedimelltasap0llutritintheUnitedStates.2CURRENTKNOWLEDG…