Early-indicator signals of groundwater contamination: the case of seawater encroachment

 An early indication of groundwater contamination occurs when pollutant concentrations start to fluctuate and exceed background values of ambient fresh groundwater. An analysis of a characteristic situation of this type uses data from Israel's coastal phreatic granular aquifer. The pollutant is generally seawater, and the contamination process involves replacement of freshwater by encroaching sea- or other saltwater, a process augmented by human activity. The contamination process involves three stages: (1) groundwater composition remains relatively stable with small salinity content; (2) small salinity changes are perceptible with reversible fluctuations; and (3) salinity concentration increases at a sharply higher rate. The second stage is a useful early-indicator signal of contamination. Early-indicator signals of groundwater pollutant concentrations involve "minor" fluctuations in water chemistry at the advent of the contamination process. The intensity and magnitude of such a salinization/pollution process at any given location depends upon lithologic matrix, aquifer heterogeneity, and resultant flow domain characteristics, as well as contaminant properties. If such "signs" are detected at a sufficiently early stage, appropriate management steps may be taken to rectify further seawater and/or saltwater encroachment. Received: 23 July 1996 · Accepted: 25 June 1997     

矿物法--环境污染治理的第四类方法

总结介绍了近10年开展环境矿物材料研究所取得的较为系统的研究成果。新提出环境矿物材料基本性能,包括矿物表面效应、孔道效应、结构效应、离子交换效应、结晶效应、溶解效应、水合效应、氧化还原效应、半导体效应、纳米效应及矿物生物交互效应等。展示环境矿物材料开发应用方面的崭新成就,包括利用天然铁的硫化物矿物强还原性,发明一步法还原Cr(Ⅵ)与沉淀Cr(Ⅲ)废水处理新工艺;利用天然锰的氧化物矿物强氧化性,发明处理高浓度与强污染的印染和酚类废水新方法;利用天然钛的氧化物矿物日光催化性,发明光催化降解卤代有机污染物新方法;利用天然蛭石高温脱水膨胀热效应,发明能大幅度提高型煤固硫率与除尘新方法;利用天然钙基蒙脱石低成本制备出同时防止水体与无机和有机污染物渗漏的自愈性强的填埋场衬层建造用新型防渗材料,发明生活垃圾尤其是危险废物填埋场衬层建造新工艺;发现凝灰岩与花岗岩中长石类矿物发育有良好的孔道结构,核素进入可发生固定化作用,成为有效阻滞核素迁移的天然屏障;利用天然纳米管状纤蛇纹石成功制备二氧化硅纳米管,接枝有机物可由亲水性变为疏水性;利用黄钾铁矾的胶体特征作为多金属矿山废石堆隔离防渗层,防止金属硫化物矿物氧化分解与矿山酸性废水污染等。着重指出今后环境矿物?     

矿产资源开发与泥石流灾害及其防治对策

由于掠夺式开采以及环境保护滞后于经济发展,我国矿产资源开发利用产生了比较严重的环境问题。本文在分析我国矿山人为泥石流灾害状况的基础上,提出了改善生态环境保护与重建的法治建设环境,加大矿山生态环境保护的监督管理力度,并具体提出了矿山人为泥石流灾害预防和工程治理的措施。     

Contamination of shallow aquifers by arsenic in upper reaches of Tista river at Siliguri–Jalpaiguri area of West Bengal, India

Arsenic is present in groundwater at Siliguri–Jalpaiguri area, West Bengal, India. This is the place where Tista river descending from the Himalayas meets the alluvial plain. The area represents alluvial fan and floodplains of Tista, Mahananda-Balasan, Jaladhaka and its tributaries. In the river sediment samples, para- and ferro-magnetic minerals within 0.3–0.05 mm fraction contain 9–80 ppm of arsenic. The study indicates that iron bearing minerals viz. biotite, hornblende as well as iron coated grains of the sediment are major contributors towards arsenic budget. Though magnetite as a mineral shows maximum arsenic content (22 ppm), it is volumetrically not of much significance. Measurement of groundwater collected from tube wells shows up to 0.05 ppm of arsenic. These arsenic contaminated tube wells occur in a linear fashion along the course of the rivers. Moreover, localization of contaminated tube wells coincides with the change of channel gradient as observed in longitudinal section. The study enumerates a cause–effect relationship of arsenic occurrence with river gradient and fluvial sedimentation.     

土壤污染评价中几种不同评价标准的比较——以合肥地区为例

利用不同的评价标准对合肥地区土壤重金属污染状况进行评价。发现以区域土壤环境背景值上限值作为评价标准,土壤污染问题十分普遍,相当多的城镇区和工业区污染程度很严重,据此统计出的污染面积一般较大;而采用GB15618土壤环境质量标准并根据土壤的应用功能不同进行评价,土壤中污染元素含量多属于相对洁净水平,以此统计的污染面积要小得多。     

洋山深水港区海域秋、冬季沉积物中重金属来源分析及生态风险评价(英文)

通过测定洋山深水港区海域2010~2013年6个航次秋、冬季沉积物中重金属含量,分析其时空差异,结果表明该海域沉积物重金属总体含量较低,空间分布较为均匀,Hg、Zn、Pb、Cd含量秋季明显高于冬季,As、Cu含量的季节性波动较小,用因子分析法研究该海域重金属来源,发现陆源工业、船舶航运排污以及有机质降解是研究海域Pb、Cd、Zn的主要来源;农业污染、码头货物装卸残留及建筑垃圾支配着Cu、As、Hg的来源。SQG-Q生态风险评价表明研究海域沉积物中重金属均存在中、低度的生态风险,秋季的生态风险高于冬季,Hg和Cu是主要生态风险因子;地累积指数法评价结果显示研究海域基本不受Hg、As、Zn、Pb的污染;Cd、Cu以轻度污染为主,部分站位属于偏中度污染,6种重金属污染程度依次为:CdCuPbZnHgAs。因子综合得分评价表明,重金属污染相对严重的站位依次为5号、4号及3号站位。但总体看来洋山深水港区附近海域沉积物中重金属污染状况属于轻度污染。     

Anthropogenic factors and habitat complexity influence biodiversity but wave exposure drives species turnover of a subtropical rocky inter‐tidal metacommunity

Coastal ecosystems are complex and species rich, but are vulnerable to degradation from a variety of anthropogenic activities. Nevertheless, information on inter‐tidal community composition in the Caribbean Basin and at other oceanic sites is lacking. Such information is essential to developing a more comprehensive understanding of rocky inter‐tidal systems and their responses to global change. The goals of this study were to determine the relative importance of environmental (wave power density, wave height), habitat (e.g. algal cover, slope, complexity of rock surfaces) and anthropogenic (distance to roads, population density) factors associated with the structure of local assemblages at multiple shore heights and the regional metacommunity of mobile invertebrates on oceanic rocky inter‐tidal habitats. Environmental characteristics associated with habitat complexity (algal cover, rock surface complexity) and human population density were most strongly associated with abundance and biodiversity of invertebrates. Species richness was positively correlated with surface complexity, but abundance was negatively correlated with both surface complexity and per cent algal cover. By contrast, abundance of invertebrates was positively correlated with human population density, and diversity was negatively correlated with human population density. Abundance of invertebrates was greatest in the mid inter‐tidal zone, whereas diversity was greatest in the lower inter‐tidal zone. Metacommunity structure was Gleasonian, but the gradient along which species turnover occurred was correlated with measures of wave exposure, rather than anthropogenic activity. Unlike in previous studies, mostly at mainland sites, human activity primarily altered dominance patterns of communities, while having relatively little effect on species richness or composition.     

Large 14C age offsets between the fine fraction and coexisting planktonic foraminifera in shallow Caribbean sediments

Absolute chronologies in paleoceanographic records are often constructed using the ¹⁴C dating of coarse fraction foraminifera (>150 μm). However, due to processes such as changes in sediment sources or abundances, sedimentation rates, bioturbation, reworking, the adsorption of modern carbon, etc., several studies conducted in different environmental settings have shown time-lags between records obtained from various granulometric fractions. In this study, we examined temporal phasing between the coarse foraminifera and fine fractions by studying changes in the abundances of δ¹⁸O, the ¹⁴C ages of the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (G. ruber, 250–350 μm), and the sediment fine fraction (<63 μm) over the last 45 ka in a core obtained from the northern Caribbean Sea. All of the records were found to be in phase during part of the Holocene (at least for the last ≈6 ka). As determined from δ¹⁸O records and ¹⁴C ages, the fine fraction was younger than G. ruber during the Last Deglaciation (of 1.89 ka). The coupling between bioturbation and changes in the fine fraction, and G. ruber abundances, as tested using a numerical model of the bioturbation record within a mixed-layer depth of 8 cm, was sufficient to explain the results. ¹⁴C age discrepancies increased from 5.64 to 8.5 ka during Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) 2 and 3, respectively. These chronological discrepancies could not be explained by only one process and seemed to result from the interplay between mechanisms: size-differentiated bioturbation (for 1.5 to 2.5 ka), the adsorption of modern atmospheric CO₂ (for 3.04 to 5.92 ka), and variations in sedimentological processes that influenced the fine carbonate fraction. However, even if variations in the mineralogical composition of the fine carbonate fraction were identified using scanning-electron microscopy observations, X-ray diffraction measurements, and geochemical analyses (the mol % MgCO₃ of magnesian calcite and the Sr/Ca ratio of the bulk fine fraction), they can not account for the observed age differences. The results presented for core MD03-2628 extend beyond this case study because they illustrate the need for a detailed characterization of the various size fractions prior to paleoclimate signal interpretations, especially for chronological studies.     

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Dust‐Bound Trace Metal Elements around Kuhdasht Watershed Area in Iran

Dust, as a source of trace metal elements, affects the health of society. The spatial and temporal concentrations of dust‐bound trace metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, Cu, and Mn) in Kuhdasht watershed (456 km²), Lorestan Province, Iran, is investigated. Dust is collected using glass traps placed in ten research stations in the region. The spatial and temporal distribution of dust trace metals are plotted using ARC‐GIS. The highest and the lowest concentrations of Zn (9751150 mg kg^?1), Pb (46.352.9 mg kg^?1), and Cd (2.443.30 mg kg^?1) are obtained in winter, of Ni (98110 mg kg^?1) and Cu in autumn (16.053.5 mg kg^?1), and of Mn in summer (385505 mg kg^?1). The spatial concentrations of dust‐bound trace metals indicate all, except Cu, show a decreasing trend from the mountains toward the plains, similar to that of soil and of dust, except for Zn, which shows higher concentrations in dust than in soil. The potential sources of dust‐bound trace metals and their rate of contamination are also investigated using the enrichment and contamination factors. The major sources of Cd and Zn in the dust of watershed are due to anthropogenic activities or from activities outside the borders.