Uranium pollution of South African streams – An overview of the situation in gold mining areas of the Witwatersrand

During more than a century of gold mining in South Africa large amounts of tailings were produced, which now cover vast areas in densely populated regions. These dumps contain elevated levels of uranium and other toxic heavy metals associated with gold in the mined ore. Large-scale extraction of uranium from auriferous ore only took place during the cold war, leaving tailings with high uranium concentrations that were deposited before and after this period. Recent studies found elevated levels of the radioactive heavy metal in groundwater and streams, mainly attributed to the discharge of contaminated water from mines. In this paper the contribution of seepage from slimes dams to the uranium pollution of adjacent streams is analysed. Based on geochemical analyses of samples, field observations and long-term in situ measurements of hydraulic and hydrochemical parameters at selected mining sites across the Witwatersrand goldfields, the extent, mechanisms and dynamics of diffuse stream contamination by tailings seepage is characterised. Temporal and spatial variations of the process and the associated hazard potential are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

北京市污染气溶胶散射特征实验及其数值模拟

用地基遥感方法对北京市主要大气污染类型的气溶胶散射进行多角度观测实验，对比分析不同污染类型，及在不同观测角度下污染气溶胶的散射特征；并建立对各类型污染气溶胶散射率进行了数值模拟的数学模型。在此基础上求出观测时污染气溶胶的混浊度。为污染气溶胶的卫星遥感打下基础。     

Regional Sources of Methyl Chloride, Chloroform and Dichloromethane Identified from AGAGE Observations at Cape Grim, Tasmania, 1998–2000

There are large uncertainties in identifying and quantifying the natural and anthropogenic sources of chloromethanes – methyl chloride (CH₃Cl), chloroform (CHCl₃) and dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂), which are responsible for about 15% of the total chlorine in the stratosphere. We report two years of in situ observations of these species from the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gas Experiment) program at Cape Grim, Tasmania (41° S, 145° E). The average background levels of CH₃Cl, CHCl₃ and CH₂Cl₂ during 1998–2000 were 551± 8, 6.3± 0.2 and 8.9± 0.2 ppt (dry air mole fractions expressed in parts per 10¹²) respectively, with a two-year average amplitude of the seasonal cycles in background air of 25, 1.1 and 1.5 ppt respectively. The CH₃Cl and CHCl₃ records at Cape Grim show clear episodes of elevated mixing ratios up to 1300 ppt and 55 ppt respectively, which are highly correlated, suggesting common source(s). Trajectory analyses show that the sources of CH₃Cl and CHCl₃ that are responsible for these elevated observations are located in coastal-terrestrial and/or coastal-seawater regions in Tasmania and the south-eastern Australian mainland. Elevated levels of CH₂Cl₂ (up to 70 ppt above background) are associated mainly with emissions from the Melbourne/Port Phillip region, a large urban/industrial complex (population 3.5 million) 300 km north of Cape Grim.Now at the Centre for Atmospheric ChemistryNow at School of Environmental Sciences     

Dispersion modelling of air pollution caused by road traffic using a Markov Chain–Monte Carlo model

 Although the strict legislation regarding vehicle emissions in Europe (EURO 4, EURO 5) will lead to a remarkable reduction of emissions in the near future, traffic related air pollution still can be problematic due to a large increase of traffic in certain areas. Many dispersion models for line-sources have been developed to assess the impact of traffic on the air pollution levels near roads, which are in most cases based on the Gaussian equation. Previous studies gave evidence, that such kind of models tend to overestimate concentrations in low wind speed conditions or when the wind direction is almost parallel to the street orientation. This is of particular interest, since such conditions lead generally to the highest observed concentrations in the vicinity of streets. As many air quality directives impose limits on high percentiles of concentrations, it is important to have good estimates of these quantities in environmental assessment studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate a methodology for the computation of especially those high percentiles required by e.g. the EU daughter directive 99/30/EC (for instance the 99.8 percentile for NO₂). The model used in this investigation is a Markov Chain – Monte Carlo model to predict pollutant concentrations, which performs well in low wind conditions as is shown here. While usual Lagrangian models use deterministic time steps for the calculation of the turbulent velocities, the model presented here, uses random time steps from a Monte Carlo simulation and a Markov Chain simulation for the sequence of the turbulent velocities. This results in a physically better approach when modelling the dispersion in low wind speed conditions. When Lagrangian dispersion models are used for regulatory purposes, a meteorological pre-processor is necessary to obtain required input quantities like Monin-Obukhov length and friction velocity from routinely observed data. The model and the meteorological pre-processor applied here, were tested against field data taken near a major motorway south of Vienna. The methodology used is based on input parameters, which are also available in usual environmental assessment studies. Results reveal that the approach examined is useful and leads to reasonable concentration levels near motorways compared to observations. We wish to thank Andreas Schopper (Styrian Government) for providing air quality values, M. Kalina for providing the raw data of the air quality stations near the motorway and J. Kukkonen for providing the road site data set from the Finish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The study was partly funded by the Austrian science fund under the project P14075-TEC.     

聊城市水质现状及对策

本文根据聊城市水量、水质、水污染的现状及2000年的水质监测资料中，主要污染的浓度、数量进行了分析，对如何解决这方面的问题提出解决的措施。     

地下水硝酸盐中氧同位素研究进展

硝酸盐中氧同位素在某些情况下能弥补氮同位素组成无显著差别的不足以及更有效地识别反硝化作用。文中综述了氧同位素检测技术、NO-3 源的氧同位素组成特征和氧同位素的应用等方面的研究进展。检测技术经历了 5个发展过程。大气和土壤环境形成的NO-3 具明显的氧同位素组成差异 ,由此可识别地下水NO-3 是来自含NO-3 化肥或大气沉降NO-3 还是来自土壤环境中的NH+ 4 经微生物硝化作用形成的NO-3 。反硝化作用使δ15N和δ18O成比例线性增加。今后的研究方向是完善检测技术、研究NO-3 中氧来自水和大气比例的影响因素及氮、氧同位素与地球化学和水文模型的结合等。     

拉萨市拉鲁湿地多环芳烃污染及其来源

通过分析采集的土壤、沉积物和大气样品,对拉萨郊区的拉鲁湿地多环芳烃污染及其来源进行了初步研究.湿地表层土壤中16种多环芳烃的平均含量的总含量为82.45×10^-9,既存在低环数的多环芳烃,又含有高环数的多环芳烃;湿地土壤中的多环芳烃主要来自于大气.     

重庆市环境污染地球化学调查

1：20万重庆幅区域化探显示Hg、Pb、Cd,Cu,Zn,Sb,Bi,F,P等元素在重庆市主城区异常发育，除Hg,Zn外重庆市均高于成都市。重庆市的污染更严重，Hg,Pb,Cr等元素在制药、造纸、化工、炼油和农药等工厂排污污染严重，河流污染长江，嘉陵江支流重于主流，主河流经过城区污染明显，长江污染重于嘉陵江，重庆市是长江的重要工业污染源，主要风景区和饮水源地球化学背景良。区域化探在生态环境调查中取得了重要成果。     

C/B法城镇污水处理技术简介

目前我国城市污水处理普遍采用的工艺为普通活性污泥法、氧法沟法、SBR法及AB法等。这些工艺虽然运行稳定，达到可靠，但投资大、运行费用高。鉴于我国的经济发展水平与发达国家有较大的差距，污染治理的资金投入有限，提出必须研究适合我国国情的高效、低耗、低成本的城市污水处理技术。阐述了C/B法的C段和B段污水处理技术，指出由于该技术是化学强化处理技术与生物滤池技术的有机结合，综合了化学处理与生物处理技术的优点，具有可分阶段实施、投资省、运行费用低、占地少、有效去除磷、氨、氮等优点。     

石家庄市地下水盐污染时空演化规律

石家庄市地下水盐污染研究具有典型示范性。在对石家庄市地下水污染特征分析的基础上，对盐污染随时空演化的规律进行了研究。结果表明，石家庄市盐污染随时间呈加重之势；在空间上形成从北向南逐渐加重的趋势。