The persistence of lead from past gasoline emissions and mining drainage in a large riparian system: Evidence from lead isotopes in the Sacramento River, California

Lead concentrations and isotope ratios measured in river water colloids and streambed sediment samples along 426 km of the Sacramento River, California reveal that the influence of lead from the historical mining of massive sulfide deposits in the West Shasta Cu-mining district (at the headwaters of the Sacramento River) is confined to a 60 km stretch of river immediately downstream of that mining region, whereas inputs from past leaded gasoline emissions and historical hydraulic Au-mining in the Sierra Nevadan foothills are the dominant lead sources in the remaining 370 km of the river. Binary mixing calculations suggest that more than 50% of the lead in the Sacramento River outside of the region of influence of the West Shasta Cu-mining district is derived from past depositions of leaded gasoline emissions. This predominance is the first direct documentation of the geographic extent of gasoline lead persistence throughout a large riparian system (>160,000 km²) and corroborates previous observations based on samples taken at the mouth of the Sacramento River. In addition, new analyses of sediment samples from the hydraulic gold mines of the Sierra Nevada foothills confirm the present-day fluxes into the Sacramento River of contaminant metals derived from historical hydraulic Au-mining that occurred during the latter half of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. These fluxes occur predominantly during periods of elevated river discharge associated with heavy winter precipitation in northern California. In the broadest context, the study demonstrates the potential for altered precipitation patterns resulting from climate change to affect the mobility and transport of soil-bound contaminants in the surface environment.     

Ecological Worldview as the Central Component of Environmental Concern: Clarifying the Role of the NEP

This study examines whether an ecological worldview—operationalized by the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale--serves as the source of coherence of Environmental Concern (EC). Using data on four samples from the 1992 Gallup “Health of the Planet” Survey and the 2003 and 2010 Chinese General Social Surveys, we found that in all samples not only is the NEP the most powerful predictor of EC, but it also mediates the effects of socio-demographic variables on EC as hypothesized. The results confirm that the NEP is the source of coherence of EC, making it a meaningful construct.     

Phase transitions in ilvaite,a mixed-valence iron silicate I. A 57Fe Mössbauer study of magnetic order and spin frustration

Ilvaite, Ca(Fe²⁺,Fe³⁺)Fe²⁺Si₂O₈(OH) shows two magnetic phase transitions, which have been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy within the temperature range 120–4 K. The continued charge localization between Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions in octahedral A-sites causes the Fe²⁺-Fe³⁺ interaction to be ferromagnetic, although the overall magnetic order is antiferromagnetic. The thermal evolution of the hyperfine fields at the Fe²⁺ (A) and Fe³⁺ (A) sites indicates B _hf: 328 and 523 kOe respectively at 0 K and T _N1= 116K. The corresponding values for Fe²⁺ (B) site are: B _hf 186 kOe and T _N2=36K. An additional hyperfine field exists at the Fe²⁺(B) site within the temperature range 116–36K due to short-range order induced by the spin ordering in A sites. The considerable difference between the two magnetic transition temperatures is due to spin frustration, because the Fe²⁺ (B) site occurs on a corner common between two triangles with respect to two sets of Fe²⁺ (A) and Fe³⁺ (A) sites with opposite spin directions.     

Initial results and progress of the Mississippi delta sediment pore water pressure experiment

Abstract

This report describes the instrumentation, initial results, and progress of an experiment designed to measure and monitor submarine sediment pore water and hydrostatic pressures in a selected area of the Mississippi Delta. The experiment also is intended to monitor significant pressure perturbations during active storm periods. Initial analysis of the data revealed excess pore water pressures in the silty clay sediment at selected depths below the mudline. Continuous monitoring of the pore water and hydrostatic pressures was expected to reveal important information regarding sediment pore water pressure variations as a function of the geological processes active in the Mississippi Delta.     

Assimilation of sea surface temperature into CECOM by flux correction

Sea surface temperature (SST) from a near real-time data set produced from satellites data has been assimilated into a coupled ice–ocean forecasting model (Canadian East Coast Ocean Model) using an efficient data assimilation method. The method is based on an optimal interpolation scheme by which SST is melded into the model through the adjustment of surface heat flux. The magnitude and space–time variation of the adjustment depend on the depth of heat diffusion into the water column in response to changes in surface flux, the correlation time scale of the data, and model and data errors. The diffusion depth is scaled by the eddy diffusivity for temperature. The ratio of the model and data errors is treated as an adjustable parameter. To evaluate the quality of the assimilation, the results from the model with and without assimilation are compared to independent ship data from the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment. It is shown that the assimilation has a significant impact on the modeled SST, reducing the root mean square difference (RMSD) between the model SST and the ship SST by 0.63°C or 37%. The RMSD of the assimilated SST is smaller than that of the satellite SST by 0.23°C. This suggests that model simulations or predictions with data assimilation can provide the best estimate of the true SST. A sensitivity study is performed to examine the change of the model RMSD with the adjustable parameter in the assimilation equation. The results show that there is an optimal value of the parameter and the model SST is not very sensitive to the parameter.     

Geochronological constraints on the polymetamorphic evolution of the granulite‐hosted Challenger gold deposit: Implications for assembly of the northwest Gawler Craton

A temperature‐time history for the granulite‐hosted Challenger gold deposit in the Christie Domain of the Gawler Craton, South Australia, has been derived using a range of isotopic decay systems including U–Pb, Sm–Nd, Rb–Sr and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar. Nd model ages and detrital zircon ages suggest a protolith age of ca 2900 Ma for the Challenger Gneiss. Gold mineralisation was probably introduced under greenschist/amphibolite‐facies conditions towards the end of the Archaean, between 2800 and 2550 Ma. However, evidence for the exact age and P‐T conditions of this event was almost completely removed by granulite‐facies metamorphism during the Sleafordian Orogeny, which peaked around ca 2447 Ma. Cooling to 350°C occurred before 2060 Ma. It is possible that the Christie Domain was then subject to further sedimentation and volcanism in the period ca 2000–1800 Ma before reburial and a second period of orogeny around ca 1710–1615 Ma. During this second orogeny, the eastern Christie Domain experienced heterogeneous fluid‐induced retrograde metamorphism at lower greenschist‐ to amphibolite‐facies conditions, with metamorphic grade varying between structural blocks. At this time, the Challenger deposit was subject to greenschist‐facies conditions (not significantly hotter than 350°C), while at Mt Christie (50 km to the south) lower amphibolite‐facies conditions prevailed and to the west the Ifould Block experienced extensive plutonism. A third very low‐temperature thermal pulse around ca 1531 Ma, which reached ～ 150–200°C, is recorded at the Challenger deposit. It is likely that the global Grenvillian Orogeny (1300–1000 Ma) was a major period of domain exhumation and juxtaposition.     

郯庐断裂带张八岭隆起北段的左旋走滑挤压变形及其40Ar/39Ar定年

郯庐断裂带张八岭隆起北段,自西向东分别出露北北东向的韧性滑脱变形带、脆-韧性过渡带和脆性的前陆褶断带。韧性滑脱变形带内的张八岭群片岩,广泛发生了低绿片相背景下的糜棱岩化。其中呈现为平缓的糜棱面理和近南北向的矿物拉伸线理。显微构造及石英C轴组构分析显示,该韧性滑脱带一致为上盘向南的运动。该带以东依次变为上盘向南南东→南东的逆冲活动,总体上为左旋走滑挤压变形带。张八岭群所在的韧性变形带为深部陡立走滑构造与浅部脆性构造之间的滑脱变形带,其间的差异走滑变形,造成了该滑脱层在总体向北运动中出现上盘向南的剪切变形。对6处张八岭群片岩中15个不同粒级白云母的40Ar/39Ar定年指示,变形发生在(236.2±0.5)~(238.0±0.4)Ma的中三叠世晚期。这表明郯庐断裂带的左行平移发生在华北与华南板块碰撞的深俯冲阶段,起源于陆内转换断层。     

Determination of pteridines and flavins in seawater by reverse-phase,high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection

Methods are described for routine analyses of individual pteridines and flavins from marine waters at picomolar concentrations. Samples were concentrated by adsorption on bonded-phase, C₁₈ silica and Florisil Sep-Pak extraction columns connected in series. Sample extracts derived from Sep-Pak eluates were analysed by reverse-phase liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection. These methods proved sensitive for the quantitative identification of pterin, xanthopterin, isoxanthopterin, 6-biopterin, pterin-6-carboxylic acid, 6-hydroxymethylpterin, riboflavin, riboflavin-5′-phosphate, lumiflavin and lumichrome in reef waters at Davies Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.Preliminary experiments were conducted to test the application of these methods to the measurement of pterin and flavin excretion from several reef-dwelling, benthic organisms. Results from these experiments suggest that the benthic community contributes these compounds to the coral reef environment.     

Earth system curator: metadata infrastructure for climate modeling

The Earth System Curator is a National Science Foundation sponsored project developing a metadata formalism for describing the digital resources used in climate simulations. The primary motivating observation of the project is that a simulation/model’s source code plus the configuration parameters required for a model run are a compact representation of the dataset generated when the model is executed. The end goal of the project is a convergence of models and data where both resources are accessed uniformly from a single registry. In this paper we review the current metadata landscape of the climate modeling community, present our work on developing a metadata formalism for describing climate models, and reflect on technical challenges we have faced that require new research in the area of Earth Science Informatics.