CARBON CONTENT OF SEDIMENTS OF SMALL RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: Carbon content was measured in sediments deposited in 58 small reservoirs across the United States. Reservoirs varied from 0.2 to 4000 km2 in surface area. The carbon content of sediment ranged from 0.3 to 5.6 percent, with a mean of 1.9 ± 1.1 percent. No significant differences between the soil and sediment carbon content were found using a paired t-test or ANOVA. The carbon content of sediments in reservoirs was similar to the carbon content of surface soils (0–10 cm) in the watershed, except in watersheds with shrub or steppe (desert) vegetation. Based on the sediment accumulation rates measured in each reservoir, the calculated organic carbon accumulation rates among reservoirs ranged from 26 to 3700 gC m^-2yr^-1, with a mean of 675 ± 739 gC m^-2yr^-1. The carbon content and accumulation rates were highest in sediments from grassland watersheds. High variability was found in carbon content, carbon accumulation, and sediment accumulation rates due to individual watershed and reservoir characteristics rather than to any broad physiographic patterns. The carbon accumulation rates in these reservoir sediments indicate that reservoir sediments could be a significant sink for organic carbon.     

Coalbed methane reservoir data and simulator parameter uncertainty modelling for CO2 storage performance assessment

Laboratory studies and a number of field pilots have demonstrated that CO₂ injection into coal seams has the potential to enhance coalbed methane (CBM) recovery with the added advantage that most of the injected CO₂ can be stored permanently in coal. The concept of storing CO₂ in geologic formations as a safe and effective greenhouse gas mitigation option requires public and regulatory acceptance. In this context it is important to develop a good understanding of the reservoir performance, uncertainties and the risks that are associated with geological storage. The paper presented refers to the sources of uncertainty involved in CO₂ storage performance assessment in coalbed methane reservoirs and demonstrates their significance using extensive digital well log data representing the Manville coals in Alberta, Canada. The spatial variability of the reservoir properties was captured through geostatistical analysis, and sequential Gaussian simulations of these provided multiple realisations for the reservoir simulator inputs. A number of CO₂ injection scenarios with variable matrix swelling coefficients were evaluated using a 2D reservoir model and spatially distributed realisations of total net thickness and permeability.     

Time-lapse carbon dioxide monitoring with pulsed neutron logging

Elevated levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere have been linked to the rise in land and sea temperature [Climate Change, 2001. In: Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D.J., Noguer, M., van der Linden, P.J., Xiaosu, D. (Eds.), The Scientific Basis Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, UK, p. 944]. To demonstrate geological carbon sequestration as a mitigation technique, a carbon dioxide injection experiment was conducted in East Texas. The target – Frio formation – is a highly porous, permeable and unconsolidated sandstone. The specific interval is the Frio C sand, which originally was saturated with saline formation water. At the injection location, the Frio C sand dips 18° to the south. To monitor the injected CO₂ spreading in the formation, an old well from 1956 drilled into the deeper Yegua formation was selected as the observation well. The injection well was drilled at a distance of 100 ft downdip from the monitoring well. Several borehole measurement methods were available to monitor the CO₂ injection, but the most suitable technology was thought to be the pulsed neutron logging. This logging is used widely in cased hole, and the measured macroscopic thermal absorption cross-section (Σ) is sensitive to CO₂ saturation in high porosity saline water environments. Several log examples are given demonstrating successful the monitoring of the CO₂ plume moving through the two boreholes and the resulting saturation changes.     

中国发展低碳经济的若干思考

全球气候变化是世界面临的最严峻的环境问题,中国作为发展中国家及温室气体排放大国。急需探索出适合中国发展的低碳之路。中国碳排放总量持续增加,且以工业碳排放为主,严重威胁中国的环境安全与能源安全。中国发展低碳经济主要面临低碳理论欠缺、能源利用效率低、经济发展粗放、以煤炭为主的能源结构等问题．可以从健全相关的政策体系、研发低碳技术和低碳产品、加强公众参与、加强国际合作及树立示范等方面去探索适合中国的低碳经济发展模式。     

Elevated CO2 reduces the response of Sitobion avenae (Homoptera: Aphididae) to alarm pheromone

The aphid alarm pheromone (E)-β-farnesene (EβF) is an efficient signal that warns aphids of attack by natural enemies. In this field study, eight open-top chambers (OTCs) located in Beijing, China (40°11′N, 116°24′E) with spring wheat Triticum aestivum were used to examine the response of the grain aphid Sitobion avenae to CO₂ (ambient vs. double ambient) and EβF (applied zero, two, or five times each day). We experimentally tested the hypotheses that, depending on frequency of EβF release, elevated CO₂ reduces the response (in terms of population density) of S. avenae to EβF, and that lower activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in S. avenae may be involved in its reduced sensitivity to EβF under elevated CO₂. Numbers of S. avenae declined with increased frequency of EβF application under ambient CO₂ but were unaffected by EβF application under elevated CO₂. Additionally, the mean relative growth rate (MRGR) and the dry material and amino acid content of S. avenae increased with elevated CO₂ but declined when with EβF application. Activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were higher in S. avenae under elevated vs. ambient CO₂. Under elevated CO₂, however, AChE activity remained low when S. avenae was exposed to the lower EβF frequency, while the highest AChE activity occurred in aphids exposed to the higher EβF frequency. These results indicate that aphids become insensitive to EβF under elevated CO₂, perhaps because of decreased AChE activity.     

Paleoenvironmental conditions in the Spanish Miocene–Pliocene boundary: isotopic analyses of Hipparion dental enamel

Expansion of C₄ grasses during Late Miocene and Early Pliocene constitutes one of the most remarkable biotic events of the Cenozoic era. The Teruel–Alfambra region (northeastern Spain) contains one of the most complete Miocene–Pliocene sequences of mammalian fossil sites in the world. In this study, stable isotope (δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁸O) analyses have been performed on the tooth enamel from the equid Hipparion from 19 localities spanning a time interval from approximately 10.9 to 2.7 Ma. This time range starts with the first appearance of this genus in Spain and ends at its extinction. An increase in δ ¹³C at about 4.2 Ma has been observed, indicative of a shift toward a more open habitat. This shift may be related to a large scale vegetation change which occurred across the Miocene–Pliocene boundary when C₄ grasses expanded. This expansion might in turn be linked to global tectonic events such as the uplift of the Himalaya and/or the closure of the Panama Isthmus. However, other more regional factors may have ultimately enhanced the trend toward more open habitats in the Western Mediterranean Basin. The Messinian Salinity Crisis was a major environmental event that may have been responsible for the isotopic changes seen in the equid Hipparion from the Iberian Peninsula along with an increase in the aridity detected ~4.6 Ma ago in the Sahara. Even though the exact factor triggering the isotopic change observed in the Hipparion enamel remains mostly unknown, this study demonstrates that the global environmental changes detected across the Miocene–Pliocene boundary are also recorded in the realm of the Iberian Peninsula. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

直读光谱仪碳元素检出限不确定度分析

依据JJG1059-1999对直读光谱仪碳元素检出限的不确定度进行了评估,分析了影响测量不确定度的各个因素,计算得出直读光谱仪碳元素检出限的扩展不确定度为:U=0.11%,k=2。     

Assessment of the nitrogen and carbon budget of two managed temperate grassland fields

Greenhouse gas budgets as well as the productivity of grassland systems are closely related to the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles. Within the framework of the CarboEurope and NitroEurope projects we have measured C and N exchange on the field scale at the grassland site Oensingen previously converted from arable rotation. The site is located on the Swiss Central Plateau and consists of two parallel fields of equal size. One field was subjected to intensive management with average nitrogen input of 230 kg-N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and 4–5 cuts per year, and the other to an extensive management with no fertilisation and less frequent cutting. The total C budget of the fields was assessed by measuring the CO₂ exchange by eddy covariance and analysing the carbon import by manure application and export by harvest. The N budget of the managed grassland is more complex. Besides the management related import and export, it includes gaseous exchange in many different forms (NO, NO₂, HNO₃, N₂O, NH₃, N₂) needing different analytical techniques, as well as input by rain and leaching of N-compounds with the soil water. The main (“level-3”) field sites in the NitroEurope project are supposed to measure 95% of the N fluxes at the field scale. For several of the N fluxes specific measurements have been performed for 1 year or longer at the site. Some of the remaining N budget components (dry and wet deposition) could be estimated from results of a national deposition network, while other components (NH₃ and N₂ emission) were estimated based on literature parameterisations. However, we found indications that the (systematic) uncertainties of these estimated N-fluxes are large and that it is important to make site-specific measurement for all relevant budget components. The suitability of corresponding experimental methods is discussed.Analysis of the C budget over a 6-year period (2002–2007) showed a significant mean difference between the two newly established grassland fields with a likely net carbon loss for the extensive management and a net sequestration for the intensive management. Since the C/N ratio of the soil organic matter of the grassland is constrained in a rather narrow range around 9.3, the change in the soil carbon pool is supposed to be accompanied by a corresponding change in the N storage. This approach provided an alternative method to check the N budget of the two grassland fields derived from the individual N fluxes.     

产业结构适应低碳经济要求调整研究——以大连市为例

发展低碳产业,符合经济发展的价值理念和趋势。通过低碳经济背景下大连产业结构调整的现状分析、针对大连市低碳产业的发展现实,构建了大连低碳经济产业体系的结构模型;随着大连市循环低碳的新型绿色产业体系的建立与完善,分别从制度、技术与文化3个层面提出大连产业结构调整适应低碳经济要求的应对策略。     

长三角地区低碳城市发展潜力分析

以分析城市低碳发展潜力为目标,确定了低碳潜力分析的指标。在分析了长江三角洲地区16个城市的社会经济特征和能量消耗特征的基础上,采用弹性系数的变化特征作为研究的重要工具,并用聚类方法对长三角地区16个城市的低碳经济发展潜力进行了聚类分析。从潜力特征发现各城市低碳发展过程中存在的问题,并对长三角地区低碳经济发展战略提出了建议。