Mobility of heavy metals from tailings to stream waters in local zinc smelting activities contaminated site

It has been found that stream waters were severely contaminated with wastes from a long-time smelting factory in Hezhang, Guizhou, China. The main sources of contamination are the smelting wastes stored in the open air and abandoned in the vicinity of stream. A method of lead isotope was adopted in order to identify relations between tailings and water contamination. Representative samples of tailings and stream sediments were collected. Mineralogical characterizations were conducted using XRD and TEM/SEM, while acid digestion was carried out for determining metal contents. BCR sequential leaching tests were performed in order to assess metal mobility. The tremendous ‘actual＇ and ‘potential＇ mobility of heavy metals indicates that the smelting waste and stream sediments present a considerable threat to the environment. Besides the chemical remobilization of heavy metals from the sediments and the reworking of riverbed sediments act as a secondary source of pollution. Also groundwater and stream water were sampled in specific locations and were measured.     

The effects of carbon dioxide leakage on fractures, and water quality of potable aquifers during geological sequestration of CO2

Since industrial revolution, the ＂greenhouse effect＂ is one of the most important global environmental issues. Of all the greenhouse gases, CO2 is responsible for about 64% of the enhanced ＂greenhouse effect＂, making it the target for mitigation, so reducing anthropogenic discharge of carbon dioxide attracts more and more attention. Geological sequestration of CO2 in deep saline aquifers is one of the most promising options. But because unknown fractures and faults may exist in the caprock layers which can prevent the leakage of CO2, CO2 will leak upward into upper potable aquifers, and lead to adverse impacts on the shallow potable aquifers. In order to assess the potential effect of CO2 leakage from underground storage reservoirs on fractures and water quality of potable aquifers, this study used the non-isothermal reactive geochemical transport code TOUGHREACT developed by Xu et al to establish a simplified 2-D model of CO2 underground sequestration system, which includes deep saline aquifers, caprock layers, and shallow potable aquifers, and study and analyze the changes of mineral and aqueous components. The simulation results indicated that the minerals of deep saline aquifers and fractures should be mainly composed of aluminosilicate and silicate minerals, which not only enhance the mass of CO2 sequestrated by mineral trapping, but also decrease the porosity and permeability of caprock layers and fractures to prevent and reduce CO2 leakage. The results from deep saline aquifers showed that the mass of carbon dioxide trapped by minerals and solution phases is limited, the rest remained as a supercritical phase, and so once the caprock aquifers have some unknown fractures, the free carbon dioxide phase may leak from CO2 geologic sequestration reservoirs by buoyancy.     

Geochemistry of soils derived from black shale, central Hunan, China

The black shale formed under anoxic conditions usually contains high concentrations of many metals. Weathering of such black shale might cause the emission of many metals. Moreover, soils derived from black shale （SBS） are believed to be affected by black shale weathering. In recent years, many studies such as Lee et al. （2002）, Woo et al. （2002）, Fang et al. （2002）, Pasava et al. （2003）, and Peng et al. （2004） have approached the heavy metal contaminations of SBS, but systematical geochemical study is rare. Presently, the SBS and its corresponding black shales （CBS） were both sampled from central Hunan （China）, and analyzed for a large number of elements, using an Elan6000 ICP-MS/AES machine at Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS. In this paper, some preliminary results are reported. The analytical results show that the SBS in central Hunan contains very high concentrations of heavy metals such as Co, Cu, Hg, Mo, Pb, Zn, U, Th, Sb, T1, Cd, Cr, Sc, V, Sn, As, Se, and Ni.     

A novel strategy using biodegradable EDDS for the chemically enhanced phytoextraction of soils contaminated with heavy metals

For the sake of cost and potential environmental risk, it is necessary to minimize the amount of chelates used in chemically-enhanced phytoextraction. In the present study, a biodegradable chelating agent, EDDS was added in a hot solution at 90℃ to the soil in which garland chrysanthemum （Chrysanthemum coronarium L.） and beans （Phaseolus vulgaris L., white bean） were growing. The application of hot chelate solutions was much more efficient than the application of normal chelate solutions （25℃） in improving the uptake of heavy metals by plants. When 1 mmol kg1 of EDDS as a hot solution was applied to soil, the concentrations ofCu, Zn and Cd and the total phytoextraction by the shoots of the two plant species exceeded or approximated those in the shoots of plants treated with 5 mmol kg^-1 of normal EDTA solution. The concentrations of metals in the shoots of beans were significantly correlated with the relative electrolyte leakage rate of root cells, indicating that the root damage resulting from the hot solution might play an important role in the process of chelate-enhanced metal uptake. The soil leaching study demonstrated that decreasing the dosage of chelate resulted in decreased concentrations of soluble metals in soils. On the 28th day following the application of chelate, the concentrations of soluble metals in the EDDS treated soil were not significantly different from the concentrations in the control soil to which chelates had not been applied.     

Heavy metal contamination in the sediment of the Second Songhua River

The Second Songhua River was subjected to a large amount of untreated effluent from petrochemical industries in Jilin City in the 1960s to the 1970s. The objectives of this study were to investigate the mercury and other heavy metal contamination in the sediment of the river. The river bottom sediment was sampled from the river segment between Jilin City to Haerbin City in 2005. Total concentrations of Hg, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Sc, and major cations （A1, Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Na） in the sediment were measured by atomic fluorescence spectrometer, ICP-MS, and ICP-OES, respectively, following digestion with various acids. We found the concentrations of most elements in the uncontaminated sediment were significantly correlated to those of Sc.     

中国能源安全与南海开发

二十一世纪是海洋经济时代。随着我国经济的发展,能源问题日益突出。由于我国陆上石油资源日益枯竭,海上石油开发成为我国能源的战略重点。南海陆架新生代地层厚约2000～3000m。第三纪沉积有海相、陆相及海陆交互相,具有良好的生油和储油岩系。南海扼海上要冲-马六甲海峡,南海航线是我国能源的海上生命线,具有不可替代的战略地位。我国南海资源和海域主权遭受到极大的侵犯。发展深海油气的勘探和开发技术,开发我国的南海深水石油资源,维护我国海域主权已经刻不容缓。优先进行南海石油开发是破解我国石油能源困局的必选战略。