Kinematic wave approximation to solute transport along preferred flow paths in soils

A routing procedure is introduced which accounts for the loss of a conservative solute tracer from preferred paths during macropore flow. Water flow is treated as a series of kinematic waves from which the tracer is lost due to mixing previously stored soil water, and an expression for solute loss is added to a previously developed model. The model parameters are estimated through experiments at three different input rates applied to a column of a macroporous forest soil.The results of seven experimental runs indicate that solute losses are consistently highest at the early stages of infiltration and drainage flow. An empirical relationship is proposed which links the frequency distribution of the flow parameter with that for solute loss from the preferred path during transient water flow and solute transport.     

Assessing the recovery of lakes in southeastern Canada from the effects of acidic deposition

Reductions in North American sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions promoted expectations that aquatic ecosystems in southeastern Canada would soon recover from acidification. Only lakes located near smelters that have dramatically reduced emissions approach this expectation. Lakes in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario affected only by long-range sources show a general decline in sulfate (SO4(2-)) concentrations, but with a relatively smaller compensating increase in pH or alkalinity. Several factors may contribute to the constrained (or most likely delayed) acidity response: declining base cation concentrations, drought-induced mobilization of SO4(2-), damaged internal alkalinity generation mechanisms, and perhaps increasing nitrate or organic anion levels. Monitoring to detect biological recovery in southeastern Canada is extremely limited, but where it occurs, there is little evidence of recovery outside of the Sudbury/Killarney area. Both the occurrence of Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia rivers and the breeding success of Common Loons in Ontario lakes are in fact declining although factors beyond acidification also play a role. Chemical and biological models predict that much greater SO2 emission reductions than those presently required by legislation will be needed to promote widespread chemical and latterly, biological recovery. It may be unrealistic to expect that pre-industrial chemical and biological conditions can ever be reestablished in many lakes of southeastern Canada.     

The Johannesburg summit and the difficulty with the term ‘sustainability’

Many different events occurred at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). In fact, WSSD was a ‘container” of high politics, social issues, ethics and science, a display of their purposes and wishes, with little or no connection between them.     

Decreased blood level of β2-microglobulin in the employees of a factory which produced polychlorinated biphenyls

Under the project of evaluating the health status of the employees of CHEMKO factory (East Slovakia) which produced PCBs between 1955 and 1985, the level of β₂-microglobulin (β₂-m) was measured in the serum of 242 subjects from CHEMKO (Group A) and two control groups from much less polluted areas: 1. 277 females from a small mountainous village (Group B), 2. 179 adults from the area of a large city of Ko ice (Group C). The level of thymidine kinase (TK) was measured in the groups A and B only. In addition, age-matched groups of 155 women each from all areas were evaluated. In both the whole group and the age-matched group from CHEMKO the level of β₂-m was significantly lower (P<0.001) than that in the respective control groups, while no difference was found in the level of TK. In conclusion, it is suggested that the decrease of β₂-m in CHEMKO employees might be related to the immunotoxic effects of organochlorines.     

Analytical solutions for reactive transport under an infiltration-redistribution cycle

Transport of reactive solute in unsaturated soils under an infiltration-redistribution cycle is investigated. The study is based on the model of vertical flow and transport in the unsaturated zone proposed by Indelman et al. [J. Contam. Hydrol. 32 (1998) 77], and generalizes it by accounting for linear nonequilibrium kinetics. An exact analytical solution is derived for an irreversible desorption reaction. The transport of solute obeying linear kinetics is modeled by assuming equilibrium during the redistribution stage. The model which accounts for nonequilibrium during the infiltration and assumes equilibrium at the redistribution stage is termed partial equilibrium infiltration-redistribution model (PEIRM). It allows to derive approximate closed form solutions for transport in one-dimensional homogeneous soils. These solutions are further applied to computing the field-scale concentration by adopting the Dagan and Bresler [Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 43 (1979) 461] column model. The effect of soil heterogeneity on the solute spread is investigated by modeling the hydraulic saturated conductivity as a random function of horizontal coordinates. The quality of the PEIRM is illustrated by calculating the critical values of the Damk?hler number which provide the achievable accuracy in estimating the solute mass in the mobile phase. The distinguishing feature of transport during the infiltration-redistribution cycle as compared to that of infiltration only is the finite depth of solute penetration. For irreversible desorption, the maximum solute penetration W/theta(r) is determined by the amount of applied water W and the residual water content theta(r). For sorption-desorption kinetics, the maximum depth of penetration z(r)(e, infinity ) also depends on the ratio between the rate of application and the column-saturated conductivity. It is shown that z(r)(e, infinity ) is bounded between the depths W/(theta(r)+K(d)) and W/theta(r) corresponding to the maximum solute penetration for equilibrium transport and for irreversible desorption, respectively. This feature of solute penetration explains the unusual phenomena of plume contraction after an initial period of spreading [Lessoff, S.C., Indelman, P., Dagan, G., 2002. Solute transport in infiltration-redistribution cycles in heterogeneous soils. In Raats, P.A.C., Smiles, D.,Warrick, A.W. (Eds), Environmental Mechanics: Water, Mass and Energy Transport in the Biosphere. American Geophysical Union, pp. 133-144]. Unlike transport under equilibrium conditions, when the solute is completely concentrated at the front, the solute under nonequilibrium conditions is spread out behind the front. Heterogeneity leads to additional spreading of the plume.     

Characteristics of biotic and abiotic removals of dissolved organic carbon in wastewater effluents using soil batch reactors.

Biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) analyses and abiotic adsorption of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from different wastewater effluent were conducted to evaluate biotic and abiotic removal mechanisms as a function of the initial DOC concentration and source of DOC using soil batch reactors. To obtain high DOC concentrations, a laboratory-scale reverse osmosis unit was used. It was found that BDOC fraction was independent of the initial DOC concentration and was dependent on the source of wastewater and/or the types of wastewater treatment. The BDOC fractions varied from 9 to 73%. Trickling filter effluent (Tucson, Arizona) showed the highest BDOC, ranging from 65 to 73% biodegradable, while wastewater treated by the soil aquifer treatment (SAT) (NW-4) was found to be most refractory, with DOC removals of 9 to 14%. For nitrified/denitrified tertiary effluent (Mesa, Arizona) and secondary effluent (Scottsdale, Arizona), 36 to 42% removal of DOC was observed during the BDOC test. The amount of BDOC in the wastewater depended not on the concentration of DOC, but on the effectiveness of pretreatment. Abiotic adsorption capacity of wastewater effluent varied from 6 to 18%. Molecular weight distribution analyses showed that more than 50% of DOC in the Scottsdale concentrate had a molecular weight of less than 1000 Da, and no significant change in distribution profiles occurred after approximately 12% abiotic adsorption with both soils with acclimated microorganisms (SAT soil) and soils without acclimated microorganisms (non-SAT soils). Hence, preferential adsorption was not observed and the presence of acclimated microbes did not influence adsorption.     

Assessing the efficacy of dredged materials from lake panasoffkee,Florida: Implication to environment and agriculture

BACKGROUND, AIMS AND SCOPE: Current dredged material disposal alternatives have several limitations. Options for dealing with dredged materials include leaving them alone, capping them with clean sediments, placing them in confined facilities, disposing of them at upland sites, treating them chemically, or using them for wetlands creation or other beneficial uses The ability to reuse lake-dredge materials (LDM) for agricultural purposes is important because it reduces the need for offshore disposal and provides an alternative to disposal of the materials in landfills. Often these materials can be obtained at little or no cost to the farmers or landowners. Thus, forage production offers an alternative to waste management since nutrients in the LDM are recycled into crops that are not directly consumed by humans. The objective of this study (Part 2) were to: (1) assess dredge materials from Lake Panasoffkee, Florida as a soil amendment to establish bahiagrass (BG) in a subtropical beef cattle pasture in Sumter County, Florida; and (2) determine the effect of LDM application on the crude protein (CP) and nutrient uptake of BG. This series of two papers aims at providing assessment of the efficacy of lake-dredged materials especially its implication to environment (soil quality, Part 1) and agriculture (forage quality and pasture establishment, Part 2). METHODS: The experimental treatments that were evaluated consisted of different ratios of natural soil (NS) to LDM: LDM0 (100% NS:0% LDM); LDM25 (75% NS:25% LDM); LDM50 (50% NS:50% LDM); LDM75 (25% NS:75% LDM); and LDM100 (0% NS:100% LDM). Bahiagrass plots at its early establishment were cut to a 5-cm stubble height on Julian days 112 and harvested to the same stubble height on Julian days 238 and on Julian days 546 following the double-ring method. Field layout was based on the principle of a completely randomized block design with four replications. Plant samples harvested at 546 Julian days were ground to pass through a 1-mm mesh screen in a Wiley mill. Ground forage was analyzed for crude protein. Ground forage samples were also analyzed for tissue P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu, Fe, Al, and Mo concentrations using an ICP spectroscopy. The effects of dredged materials addition on forage yield and on crude protein and nutrient uptake that were taken at 546 Julian days were analyzed statistically following the PROC ANOVA procedures. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Part 1 of this study demonstrated that the heavy and trace metal contents of LDM were below the probable effect levels and threshold effect levels. As such, the agricultural or livestock industry could utilize these LDM to produce forages. Resuits showed consistently and significantly (p < 0.001) higher BG biomass production and CP from plots amended with LDM than those of BG planted on plots with 0% LDM. Forage yield of BG during its establishment increased linearly (Forage Yield = 1724.3 + 25.64*LDM; R2 = 0.83; p < or = 0.0001) with increasing rates of LDM application. The CP of BG also varied significantly with varying levels of LDM applications. The tissues of BG with 100% LDM had the greatest CP content while the lowest CP content was from the control plots (LDM0). The CP of BG increased linearly with increasing rates of LDM application. The crude protein response to BG application can be described by a linear equation: Crude Protein = 10.38 + 0.052*LDM; R2 = 0.85 p < or = 0.0001. Addition of LDM had increased the levels of Ca by about 1811% when compared with the level of soil Ca among plots with no LDM application. Liming the field could have some direct and indirect effects on the chemical status of the soils. The physiological functions performed by Ca in plants are not clearly defined, but it has been suggested that Ca favors the formation of and increases the protein content of mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS: Beneficial uses of dredged materials from LP, Florida are both economical and environmental. Often these materials can be obtained at little or no cost to the farmers or landowners. Results showed that dredged materials can be used as soil amendments (lime and fertilizer) for early establishment of BG in beef cattle pastures. Environmentally, dredging of sediments that are rich in CaCO3 should restore the 19.4-sq km LP by removing natural sediments from the lake bottom to improve the fishery, water quality, and navigation of the lake. The nutritional uptake of BG grown in unfertile sandy soils of Sumter County was enhanced significantly (p < or = 0.001) by LDM addition. Uptake of TKN, TP, K, Ca, and Mg were remarkably increased as a result of LDM. RECOMMENDATION AND OUTLOOK: Land application of LDM from LP may not only provide substantial benefits that will enhance the environment, community, and society in south Florida, but also in other parts of the world especially those areas with forage-based beef cattle pastures and similar climatic conditions. The heavy and trace metal contents of these materials were below the PEL and TEL (see Part 1). As such, the agricultural or livestock industry could utilize these LDM to produce forages. LDM should be regarded as a beneficial resource, as a part of the ecological system. Although our results have demonstrated the favorable and beneficial effects of added LDM on the early establishment of BG in pasture fields., further studies are still needed not only in pastures of south Florida, but also in other areas with subtropical or tropical climatic conditions to determine whether the environmental and ecological implications of LDM application are satisfied over the longer term.     

Effects of heavy metals and nitroaromatic compounds on horseradish glutathione S-transferase and peroxidase

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) and peroxidase (POX) activities have a direct relation to the effect of stress on plant metabolism. Changes in the activities of the enzymes were therefore studied. Horseradish hairy roots were treated by selected bivalent ions of heavy metals (HMs) and nitroaromatic compounds (NACs). We have shown differences in GST activity when assayed with substrates 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and 1,2-dichloro-4-nitrobenzene (DCNB). The conjugation of DCNB catalysed by GST was inhibited in all roots treated with HMs as compared to non-treated roots, whereas NACs caused induction of the activity in dependence on the exposition time and concentration of compounds. The conjugation of CDNB by GST was not affected to the same extent. The increase of GST activity was determined in cultures treated by nickel (0.1 mM) and diaminonitrotoluenes (DANTs, 0.1 mM) for 6 h, whereas the roots treated by 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (ADNT) and dinitrotoluene (DNT, 1.0 mM) needed 27 h treatment to induce the activity. The POX activity of cultures treated by HMs was inhibited to 17-35% in comparison to non-treated cultures. The POX activity of roots treated by TNT (0.1 and 1.0 mM) for 6 and 27 h and by ADNT (0.1 and 1.0 mM) for 6 h was inhibited. A partial increase of POX activity was measured in roots treated by all NACs for 27 h. The content of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in the roots differed significantly. It was followed as a symptom of the stress reaction of the plant metabolism to the effect of NACs and HMs.