Assessing the impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami on households: a modified domestic assets index approach

This paper offers a potential measurement solution for assessing disaster impacts and subsequent recovery at the household level by using a modified domestic assets index (MDAI) approach. Assessment of the utility of the domestic assets index first proposed by Bates, Killian and Peacock (1984) has been confined to earthquake areas in the Americas and southern Europe. This paper modifies and extends the approach to the Indian sub‐continent and to coastal surge hazards utilizing data collected from 1,000 households impacted by the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004) in the Nagapattinam district of south‐eastern India. The analyses suggest that the MDAI scale is a reliable and valid measure of household living conditions and is useful in assessing disaster impacts and tracking recovery efforts over time. It can facilitate longitudinal studies, encourage cross‐cultural, cross‐national comparisons of disaster impacts and inform national and international donors of the itemized monetary losses from disasters at the household level.     

Detecting and quantifying reductive dechlorination under monitored natural attenuation conditions

Field sampling and testing were used to investigate the relationship between baseline geochemical and microbial community data and in situ reductive dechlorination rates at a site contaminated with trichloroethene (TCE) and carbon tetrachloride (CTET). Ten monitoring wells were selected to represent conditions along groundwater flow paths from the contaminant source zone to a wetlands groundwater discharge zone. Groundwater samples were analyzed for a suite of geochemical and microbial parameters; then push‐pull tests with fluorinated reactive tracers were conducted in each well to measure in situ reductive dechlorination rates. No exogenous electron donors were added in these tests, as the goal was to assess in situ reductive dechlorination rates under natural attenuation conditions. Geochemical data provided preliminary evidence that reductive dechlorination of TCE and CTET was occurring at the site, and microbial data confirmed the presence of known dechlorinating organisms in groundwater. Push‐pull tests were conducted using trichlorofluoroethene (TCFE) as a reactive tracer for TCE and, in one well, trichlorofluoromethane (TCFM) as a reactive tracer for CTET. Injected TCFE was transformed to cis‐ and trans‐dichlorofluoroethene and chlorofluoroethene, and, in one test, injected TCFE was completely dechlorinated to fluoroethene (FE). In situ TCFE transformation rates ranged from less than 0.005 to 0.004/day. In the single well tested, injected TCFM was transformed in situ to dichlorofluoromethane and chlorofluoromethane; the TCFM transformation rate was estimated as 0.001/day. The results indicate that it is possible to use push‐pull tests with reactive tracers to directly detect and quantify reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes and ethanes under monitored natural attenuation conditions, which has not previously been demonstrated. Transformation rate estimates obtained with these techniques should improve the accuracy of contaminant transport modeling. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Impact of windage on ocean surface Lagrangian coherent structures

Windage, the additional direct, wind-induced drift of material floating at the free surface of the ocean, plays a crucial role in the surface transport of biological and contaminant material. Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) uncover the hidden organizing structures that underlie material transport by fluid flows. Despite numerous studies in which LCS ideas have been applied to ocean surface transport scenarios, such as oil spills, debris fields and biological material, there has been no consideration of the influence of windage on LCS. Here we investigate and demonstrate the impact of windage on ocean surface LCS via a case study of the ocean surrounding the UNESCO World Heritage Ningaloo coral reef coast in Western Australia. We demonstrate that the inclusion of windage is necessary when applying LCS to the study of surface transport of any floating material in the ocean.     

Assessment of the impact of landfill on groundwater quality: A case study of the Pirana site in western India

In present study focus has been given on estimating quality and toxicity of waste with respect to heavy metals and its impact on groundwater quality, using statistical and empirical relationships between different hydrochemical data, so that easy monitoring may be possible which in turn help the sustainable management of landfill site and municipal solid waste. Samples of solid waste, leachate and groundwater were analyzed to evaluate the impact of leachates on groundwater through the comparison of their hydrochemical nature. Results suggest the existence of an empirical relationship between some specific indicator parameters like heavy metals of all three above mentioned sample type. Further, K/Mg ratio also indicates three groundwater samples heavily impacted from leachate contamination. A good number of samples are also showing higher values for and Pb than that of World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water regulation. Predominance of Fe and Zn in both groundwater and solid waste samples may be due to metal plating industries in the area. Factor analysis is used as a tool to explain observed relation between numerous variables in term of simpler relation, which may help to deduce the strength of relation. Positive loading of most of the factors for heavy metal clearly shows landfill impact on ground water quality especially along the hydraulic gradient. Cluster analysis, further substantiates the impact of landfill. Two major groups of samples obtained from cluster analysis suggest that one group comprises samples that are severely under the influence of landfill and contaminated leachates along the groundwater flow direction while other assorted with samples without having such influence.     

Field‐scale uranium (VI) bioimmobilization monitored by lipid biomarkers and 13C‐acetate incorporation

At the Old Rifle uranium mill‐tailing site in eastern Colorado, a test of subsurface amendment with acetate to stimulate the reductive immobilization of uranium was monitored by using lipid biomarker analysis and incorporation of ¹³C‐labeled acetate into lipid biomarkers. Both sediment and groundwater samples were analyzed. Within 7 days of acetate addition, groundwater microbial biomass increased by a factor of 5, and remained higher than control values in most samples for the 28 days sampled. At 29 days after the beginning of acetate amendment, 4 of 12 sediment samples had microbial biomass greater than the 95 percent confidence interval of controls. The mole percents of the phospholipid fatty acids 16:1ω7c and 16:1ω5c increased over control values upon acetate amendment, and incorporated high levels of ¹³C from labeled acetate in groundwater and sediment samples. 16:1ω7c is a biomarker for Geobacter, and evidence is provided that 16:1ω5c represents an unidentified iron‐reducing bacterium, probably a member of the Desulfobulbaceae. Biomarkers for organisms other than iron‐reducing bacteria, iso‐ and anteiso‐branched fatty acids and 18:1ω9c, decreased upon acetate amendment, and had their highest stable isotope incorporation at least 4 days after labeled acetate amendment ended, evidence for carbon‐sharing between iron‐reducers and other microorganisms. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

CSIA of TCE and Daughter Products With Multiple Sources,Multiple Attenuation Mechanisms,and Low Ethene

One of the most often asked questions from regulators considering monitored natural attenuation (MNA) for a site is if there are mechanisms in situ that can completely detoxify the contaminant of concern. This article describes a method that uses data derived from compound‐specific isotope analysis (CSIA) to investigate if complete in situ degradation of trichloroethene (TCE) has occurred. MNA was the selected remediation strategy at the former England Air Force Base (fEAFB) in Louisiana. Previously declining concentrations of TCE, 1,2‐cis‐dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride had increased in selected wells, and less ethene was observed than expected on the basis of mass balance. Reductive dechlorination, partial or otherwise, could not explain observed trends, so the question at fEAFB had become: Was there an in situ mechanism for complete TCE detoxification (i.e., complete degradation to innocuous end products) at the site? CSIA was used for investigating this question at fEAFB. A previously developed formalism was adapted to interpret the CSIA data to answer the question. Standard interpretation assuming only reductive dechlorination demonstrated detoxification in 9 of the 15 contaminated wells, whereas the interpretation developed here did so in 14. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Environmental biotechnology: A bioremediation perspective

The term environmental biotechnology has a certain air of modernity when in fact it has a long history of use, if one considers the underlying principles and not the appellation. However, as part of its complex meaning, there is a dynamic new definition and purpose in this discipline with regard to bioremediation. The ability to probe the environment at the molecular level with exquisite methods, to create a new awareness of fundamental biological processes therein, has created an important new paradigm in remediation engineering design and management. Further, biological lines of evidence made extremely robust through the merger of biotechnology and environmental science are poised to be incorporated into the very fabric of site evaluation and disposition at the regulatory level. At the operational level, the field of environmental biotechnology is driven by the “omics,” the common suffix for disciplines like genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. An introduction to these elements of the process is followed by a review of how they are being used right now in a commercial framework, with the understanding that the entire process is still in the formative stages of its vast potential. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The "cultural filter", human transport of mussel shell, and the applied potential of zooarchaeological data

Large assemblages of animal bones and/or shells from archaeological sites can provide data valuable for modern conservation efforts, e.g., by providing accurate historical baselines for species reintroductions or habitat restoration. Such data are underused by natural scientists, partly due to assumptions that archaeological materials are too biased by prehistoric human actions (the so-called "cultural filter") to accurately reflect past biotic communities. In order to address many paleobiological, archaeological, or applied research questions, data on past species, communities, and populations must first be demonstrated to be representative at the appropriate level. We discuss different ways in which one kind of cultural bias, human transport of specimens, can be tested at different scales, using freshwater mussel shells from prehistoric sites in the Tombigbee River basin of Mississippi and Alabama to show how representativeness of samples can be assessed.     

Persistence,variance and toxic levels of organochlorine pesticides in fluvial sediments and the role of black carbon in their retention

The present study assesses the persistence and variation of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their regulation by total organic carbon (TOC) and black carbon (BC) in freshwater sediment. Sediment samples from the Yamuna River, a major tributary of the Ganges (one of the most populated and intensively used rivers in Asia), had high levels of Σ₂₀OCPs (21.41 to 139.95 ng g^?1). β-Hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) was the most predominant component. ΣHCH and Σdichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) constituted ~86 % of Σ₂₀OCPs. Isomer ratios indicated fresh usage of lindane, DDT and technical-grade HCH. Toxicological comparison with freshwater sediment quality guidelines showed γ-HCH and DDT at high levels of concern. β-HCH, α-HCH, endrin, heptachlor epoxide, dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethane (DDD), dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethylene and chlordane were above some of the guideline levels. TOC and BC had mean concentrations of 1.37?±?0.51 % and 0.46?±?0.23 mg g^?1, respectively. BC constituted 1.25 to 10.56 % of TOC. We observed low to moderate correlations of BC with isomers of HCH, p,p′-DDT and methoxychlor while of TOC with Σ₂₀OCPs, γ-HCH, endosulfan sulfate and methoxychlor. Principal component analysis enabled correlating and clustering of various OCPs, BC and TOC. OCP distribution was related with pH, electrical conductivity, soil moisture and finer fractions of sediment. OCPs with similarity in properties that determine their interactions with carbonaceous components of sediment clustered together. A number of factors may, thus, be involved in the regulation of interactive forces between BC and OCPs. BC in this study may be more important than TOC in the retention of some OCPs into fluvial sediments, thereby reducing their bioavailability. The finding is probably the first of its kind to report and emphasises the role of BC in the persistence of OCPs in fluvial sediments.