Environmental pollution impact on water and sediments of Kumaun lakes, Lesser Himalaya, India: a comparative study

A study of the water and sediment chemistry of the Nainital, Bhimtal, Naukuchiyatal and Sattal Lakes of Kumaun, has shown that the water of these lakes are alkaline and that electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid and bicarbonate HCO ₃ ⁻ are much higher in Nainital than in the other three lakes. The weathering of limestone lithology and anthropogenic pollution, the latter due to the very high density of population in the Nainital valley, are the primary sources of enhanced parameters. The low pH of Nainital Lake water is due to low photosynthesis and enhanced respiration, increasing CO₂ in the water and the consequent enhancement of Ca²⁺ and HCO ₃ ⁻ . The dissolved oxygen in Nainital Lake is less compared to other lakes, indicating anoxic conditions developing at the mud–water interface at depth. The PO ₄ ³⁻ content in Nainital is higher (124 μg/l), showing an increasing trend over time leading to eutrophic conditions. The trace metals (Cu, Co, Zn, Ni, Mn, and Sr) are present in greater amounts in the water of Nainital Lake than in the other three lakes, though Fe and Cr are high in Bhimtal and Fe in Naukuchiyatal. The higher abundance is derived from the leaching of Fe–Mg from metavolcanic and metabasic rocks. Most of the heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Fe, Sr, and Zn) significantly enrich the suspended sediments of the lakes compared to the bed sediments which due to their adsorption on finer particles and owing to multiple hydroxide coating and organic content, except for Fe, which is enriched in the bed sediments. The high rate of sedimentation, 11.5 mm/year in Nainital, compared to Bhimtal with 4.70 mm/year, Naukuchiyatal with 3.72 mm/year, and Sattal with 2.99 mm/year, has resulted in shorter residence time, poor sorting of grains, and lesser adsorption of heavy metals, leading consequently, their depletion in the bed sediments of Nainital Lake.     

Water pollution in gold mining industry: a case study in Roşia Montană district, Romania

The preliminary study of streams and rivers from the Roşia Montană area revealed that the concntration of heavy metals— Cd, Mn, Cu, Pb, and Zn—are above accepted limits. The gold extraction method is based on flotation. The most important pollution sources are mine tailings. The determinations were performed for samples collected in: April 2004, July 2004, September 2004, November 2004, February 2005 and May 2005. The highest concentrations were found for cadmium in September 2004: 0.17 mg/L; for copper in September 2004: 1.38 mg/L; for manganese in July 2004: 239.4 mg/L; for lead in May 2005: 0.54 mg/L; and for zinc in September 2004: 35.37 mg/L;. This study involved three small rivers (streams) that flow into the Mureş River and finally into the Danube River, having a great impact on human health and environmental stability in the area. In May 2005, a sample of drinking water from the mining district was also collected.     

松花江上游地区汞污染的化学生态效应

采样分析了吉林省东部松花江上游金矿开采区及其附近水、土壤、动植物及河流沉积物样品中汞的含量，发现河流沉积物中汞的污染相当严重；受其影响当地的植物和两栖类动物——中国林蛙体内总汞和甲基汞含量也明显高于对照组。实验表明，林蛙内脏对汞的富集能力大于肌肉；秋季对汞的富集大于春季；河流沉积物中甲基汞的含量与林蛙体内甲基汞的含量有较好的正相关。汞污染的来源与区域内个体金矿的滥采滥排有直接关系，表明人类活动所产生的有毒重金属在地表过程中出现了化学生态效应。     

Development of a soil moisture‐based distributed hydrologic model for determining hydrologically based critical source areas

A simple grid cell‐based distributed hydrologic model was developed to provide spatial information on hydrologic components for determining hydrologically based critical source areas. The model represents the critical process (soil moisture variation) to run‐off generation accounting for both local and global water balance. In this way, it simulates both infiltration excess run‐off and saturation excess run‐off. The model was tested by multisite and multivariable evaluation on the 50‐km² Little River Experimental Watershed I in Georgia, U.S. and 2 smaller nested subwatersheds. Water balance, hydrograph, and soil moisture were simulated and compared to observed data. For streamflow calibration, the daily Nash‐Sutcliffe coefficient was 0.78 at the watershed outlet and 0.56 and 0.75 at the 2 nested subwatersheds. For the validation period, the Nash‐Sutcliffe coefficients were 0.79 at the watershed outlet and 0.85 and 0.83 at the 2 subwatersheds. The per cent bias was less than 15% for all sites. For soil moisture, the model also predicted the rising and declining trends at 4 of the 5 measurement sites. The spatial distribution of surface run‐off simulated by the model was mainly controlled by local characteristics (precipitation, soil properties, and land cover) on dry days and by global watershed characteristics (relative position within the watershed and hydrologic connectivity) on wet days when saturation excess run‐off was simulated. The spatial details of run‐off generation and travel time along flow paths provided by the model are helpful for watershed managers to further identify critical source areas of non‐point source pollution and develop best management practices.     

The Fluxes and Behaviour of Plumes Inferred from Measurements of Coherent Structures within Images of the Bulk Flow

This paper describes how measurements of the movement of identifiable features at the edge of a turbulent plume can be interpreted to determine the properties of the mean flow and consequently, using plume theory, can be used to make estimates of the fluxes of volume (mass), momentum, and buoyancy in a plume. This means that video recordings of smoke rising from a chimney or buoyant material from a source on the sea bed can be used to make accurate estimates of the source conditions for the plume. At best we can estimate the volume flux and buoyancy flux to within about 5% and 15% of the actual values, respectively. Although this is restricted to the case of a plume rising in a stationary and unstratified environment, we show that the results may be of practical use in other more complex situations. In addition, we demonstrate that large-scale (turbulent) coherent structures at the plume edge form on a scale approximately 40% of the local (mean) plume half-width and travel at almost 60% of the average local (mean) velocity in the plume.     

固体聚合膜电解浓集法测量天然水中低含量氚的化学淬灭效应研究

固体聚合膜电解浓集法是浓缩氚含量较低(1 Bq/m~3)的天然水样的常用方法,但因水样自身含有杂质离子或电解装置聚合膜带入杂质进入浓集液,使浓集液偏酸性,在测量过程中易产生化学淬灭效应,导致氚的测量值偏低。本文研究了水样自身存在的杂质离子和聚合膜上残留的杂质离子、样品溶液的pH值及其电导率所产生的化学淬灭效应的影响,实验表明,为减少化学淬灭效应,提高测量低含量氚的准确性,需保证水样溶液呈中性,电导率≤1μS/cm,同时避免杂质沉积在聚合膜上。如果水样溶液的pH值偏酸性、电导率大于1μS/cm,可采用酸碱混合型离子交换树脂去除水样中自身的杂质;对于聚合膜引入的杂质,可在电解后的水样中加入微量氨水将其pH值调节至中性。     

我国尾矿综合利用研究现状及建议

尾矿资源综合利用问题已受到世界各国的重视,其对策已由消极的废物处理转向物质再回收,尾矿资源化的发展趋势越来越清晰。但是,我国尾矿综合利用率和发达国家相比还存在较大的差距。大量的尾矿积存,对矿山周边地区环境、土地利用造成了严重的影响。开展典型尾矿资源综合利用技术研究和推广尾矿资源产业化利用技术研究与推广,不但可使原来资源枯竭或资源不足的矿山焕发青春,而且还能够重新成为新的资源基地,以开辟新的材料科技领域,推动科技进步,同时也可以解决环境污染、改善生态环境和整治国土,具有巨大社会、经济和环境效益。因此尾矿的综合利用要做到国家重視、立法保障、评价先行、技术支撑、全部利用,才能真正解决尾矿污染等问题。     

A microscale model for air pollutant dispersion simulation in urban areas: Presentation of the model and performance over a single building

A microscale air pollutant dispersion model system is developed for emergency response purposes. The model includes a diagnostic wind field model to simulate the wind field and a random-walk air pollutant dispersion model to simulate the pollutant concentration through consideration of the influence of urban buildings. Numerical experiments are designed to evaluate the model's performance, using CEDVAL(Compilation of Experimental Data for Validation of Microscale Dispersion Models) wind tunnel experiment data, including wind fields and air pollutant dispersion around a single building. The results show that the wind model can reproduce the vortexes triggered by urban buildings and the dispersion model simulates the pollutant concentration around buildings well. Typically, the simulation errors come from the determination of the key zones around a building or building cluster. This model has the potential for multiple applications; for example, the prediction of air pollutant dispersion and the evaluation of environmental impacts in emergency situations; urban planning scenarios;and the assessment of microscale air quality in urban areas.     

天津城区春节期间大气气溶胶污染特征 和数浓度分布

利用天津城区2009-2014年春节期间大气气溶胶观测资料和相关气象资料,重点分析2013和2014年春节期间气溶胶污染特征,探求燃放烟花爆竹以及气象条件对春节期间大气气溶胶的影响。结果表明,受燃放烟花爆竹影响,春节期间PM_(2.5)质量浓度最高值均发生在除夕夜间;持续雾霾天气条件下燃放烟花爆竹,造成2013年除夕夜间PM_(2.5)质量浓度峰值达到1240μg·m～(-3),是近年来最严重的一次;2014年春节期间烟花爆竹燃放量有所减少,加之空气扩散条件较为有利,PM_(2.5)质量浓度显著低于2013年;不同天气条件下,气溶胶数浓度谱分布特征存在明显差异,燃放烟花爆竹期间气溶胶数浓度水平与严重雾-霾天气相当。     

面向蓝藻的洱海气象监测站布局方法

针对洱海流域蓝藻预警研究所需的气象数据不足的问题,提出洱海气象监测站优化布局方法,采用环境影响统计概念模型分析了对环境产生影响的主要经济因素,根据水体污染指标将洱海各个行政区分为高污染区和低污染区,再考虑汇入洱海支流是否流经高污染区,认为在高污染区支流汇入口是蓝藻发生概率较高的区域。依据2个主要参数:区域污染程度和支流入口,部署气象监测站,该监测站能为洱海蓝藻预警研究提供必要、准确和可靠的水面气温、降雨量以及日照长度等气象参数,将对水环境的监测和研究具有重大意义和广泛应用前景。