Uranium-238 and thorium-232 series concentrations in soil, radon-222 indoor and drinking water concentrations and dose assessment in the city of Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico

High-resolution gamma spectrometry was used to determine the concentration of 40K, 238U and 232Th series in soil samples taken from areas surrounding the city of Aldama, in Chihuahua. Results of indoor air short-time sampling, with diffusion barrier charcoal detectors, revealed relatively high indoor radon levels, ranging from 29 to 422 Bq/m3; the radon concentrations detected exceeded 148 Bq/m3 in 76% of the homes tested. Additionally, liquid scintillation counting showed concentrations of radon in drinking water ranging from 4.3 to 42 kBq/m3. The high activity of 238U in soil found in some places may be a result of the uranium milling process performed 20 years ago in the area. High radon concentrations indoor and in water may be explained by assuming the presence of uranium-bearing rocks underneath of the city, similar to a felsic dike located near Aldama. The estimated annual effective dose of gamma radiation from the soil and radon inhalation was 3.83 mSv.     

An Ecological Integrity Index for Littoral Wetlands in Agricultural Catchments of Semiarid Mediterranean Regions

The main goal of the present study was to develop an ecological integrity index for littoral wetland management and conservation in semiarid Mediterranean areas that have been highly impacted by agriculture, including the selection of pressure and state indicators at landscape and wetlands scales that reflect the status, condition, and trends of wetlands ecosystems. We used a causality framework based on the relationship between pressure of anthropogenic activities and the ecological state of wetlands and their catchments, integrating environmental, biologic, economic, and social issues. From the application of 51 indicators in 7 littoral wetlands in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, we selected 12 indicators (5 at catchment scale and 7 at wetland scale) to constitute the ecological integrity index proposed. The potential nitrogen export per area at catchment scale and the potential relative nitrogen export from the area surrounding the wetlands were the best pressure single predictors of state indicators with a causal relationship with environmental meaning. Wetlands in catchments with more agriculture had less ecological integrity than those in less impacted areas. A wide riparian zone in some wetlands acts as a buffer area, diminishing the effects of intensive agriculture. The index of ecological integrity developed here has a number of essential characteristics that make it a useful tool for ecosystem managers and decision-makers. The index can be used to (1) assess and control ecological integrity, (2) diagnose probable causes of ecological impairment, (3) establish criteria for protecting and restoring wetland ecosystems, and (4) integrate catchment management. Published online     

An optimization model for the economic control of reservoir eutrophication

An interdesciplinary attempt to formalize and numerically solve problems of the management of reservoir eutrophication is presented. A dynamic ecosystem model is treated by means of a generalized penalty optimization technique to calculate the combination of control actions that minimize cost under the condition that given water-quality indices are preserved.     

Study of the presence of fluorine in the recycled fractions during carbothermal treatment of EAF dust

Carbothermal treatment tests of electric arc furnace dusts (EAFD) using the Waelz kiln process were carried out in pilot-scale for the production of zinc oxide. The association of halides in the EAFD, and the recycled products, such as zinc oxide fumes and high-grade iron contents fractions were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis. XRD reveals the presence of chlorine and fluorine in the dusts in the form of KCl, NaCl and CaF2. An ultra-pure fraction of zinc was obtained after the Double Leaching Waelz Oxide (DLWO) process was performed on the zinc oxide fumes. The halide contents were reduced to approximately 100 ppm Cl and 700 ppm F. The rest of these elements are in the form of CaF2. About 65% F is volatilised as lead and zinc fluorides, 15% is expected in the magnetic fractions and 20% in non-magnetic fractions as CaF2 and MnF2, respectively.     

Sulfur Metabolism in Polluted Sphagnum Peat Bogs: A Combined 34S–35S–210Pb Study

The size and isotopic behavior of sulfur pools in²¹⁰Pb-dated peat cores were investigated to obtain aninsight into retention mechanisms of pollutant S in twomountain-top peatlands of the Northern Czech Republic, CentralEurope. The bogs were situated 40 km apart in an area whichbetween the years 1985 and 1995 received as much as 130 kg Sha^-1 yr^-1 from the atmosphere. Vertical peataccretion was faster at Pod Jelení horou (JH) than atVelký moál (VM). Organic carbon-bonded S was themost abundant sulfur pool, constituting 77 and 65 wt. % at JHand VM, respectively. At JH both the S concentration maximumand the highest annual S deposition rate were displaceddownward by more than 20 years (from 1987 to the 1960s)indicating that the buried S is vertically mobile. At VM the Sconcentration was the highest in the topmost 2-cm section eventhough atmospheric S deposition peaked in 1987. Differentmechanisms of S isotope redistribution prevailed in thetopmost peat layers at JH, where a negative ³⁴Sshift occurred, and at VM, where a positive ³⁴Sshift occurred. Bacterial sulfate reduction was responsiblefor the negative ³⁴S shift at JH. One possibleexplanation of the positive ³⁴S shift at VM isrelease of ³²S-enriched products of mineralization duringpeat diagenesis. There was a strong positive correlationbetween the abundance of total and pyrite S along the profiles.The presence of pyrite S at VM (526 ± 60 ppm) suggestedthat even at VM bacterial sulfate reduction occurred. Ananaerobic incubation of JH peat indicated sulfate reductionrate of 600 nmol g^-1 day^-1. The turnover times forinorganic S pools were shorter than for the organic S pools.Cumulative S contents in the Czech peat bogs were found to besignificantly lower than in similar sites in the NortheasternU.S., even though the atmospheric S inputs were more thanthree times higher at the Czech sites. Possible causes of suchdiscrepancy are discussed.     

Wildfire effects on hiking and biking demand in New Mexico: a travel cost study

We use a travel cost model to test the effects of wild and prescribed fire on visitation by hikers and mountain bikers in New Mexico. Our results indicate that net benefits for mountain bikers is $150 per trip and that they take an average of 6.2 trips per year. Hikers take 2.8 trips per year with individual net benefits per trip of $130. Both hikers' and mountain bikers' demand functions react adversely to prescribed burning. Net benefits for both groups fall as areas recover from prescribed burns. Because both visitation and annual recreation benefits decrease to these two types of visitors, this gives rise to multiple use costs associated with prescribed burning. With respect to wildfire, hikers and mountain bikers both exhibit decreased visitation as areas recover from wildfires, however, only hikers indicate an increase in per trip net benefits. Bikers' demand effectively drops to zero. These results differ from previous findings in the literature and have implications for efficient implementation of the National Fire Plan and whether prescribed burning is a cost effective tool for multiple use management of National Forests. Specifically, that fire and recreation managers cannot expect recreation users to react similarly to fire across recreation activities, or different geographic regions. What is cost effective in one region may not be so in another.     

Alteration in rhizosphere soil properties of afforested Rhamnus lycioides seedlings in short-term response to mycorrhizal inoculation with Glomus intraradices and organic amendment

The reestablishment of autochthonous plant species is an essential strategy for recovering degraded areas under semiarid conditions. A field experiment was carried out to assess the short-term effect of two reafforestation methods involving mycorrhizal inoculation and compost addition on soil quality parameters and Rhamnus lycioides seedling growth. The nutrient content (NPK) and enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, urease, protease-BAA, acid phosphatase and beta-glucosidase) increased and bulk density decreased in the rhizosphere soil with the organic amendment. Biomass C of rhizosphere soil increased by at least 240% with respect to the control soil after mycorrhizal inoculation and the combination of compost addition + mycorrhizal inoculation. Both mycorrhizal inoculation and composted organic residue addition increased R. lycioides seedling growth in the same proportion. In the short term, we conclude that the application of both reafforestation methods not only enhances the establishment of R. lycioides seedlings, but also improves soil quality.     

The role of grazing by the lysianassid amphipod<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Orchomenella aahu</Emphasis> in dieback of the kelp<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Ecklonia radiata</Emphasis> in north-eastern New Zealand

The lysianassid amphipod Orchomenella aahu was associated with small-scale mass mortality of Ecklonia radiata, the dominant laminarian alga in north-eastern New Zealand. O. aahu burrowed into and hollowed out stipes with severe bleaching, accelerating mortality by 12–14 months. Meristoderm tissue of bleached plants contained approximately one-third of the phlorotannin content (~4% dry mass) present in unbleached, apparently healthier, sporophytes (~12% dry mass). Unbleached stages consistently lacked amphipod damage. O. aahu also colonised plants when non-lethal storm damage afforded entry into the cortical layers of the primary lamina, and ultimately the stipe. O. aahu typically consumed both medullary and cortical tissue of the stipes, forming networked brood-chambers within them, with increasing populations often reducing the plant to the holdfast. There was synchronised mortality across sites and between depths over spatial scales of metres. Following loss of the mature canopy, recruitment of E. radiata was generally within 2 months at most study sites where mortality had occurred.Communicated by G.F. Humphrey, Sydney     

Assessment of spatial variation of cesium-137 in small catchments

Surface contamination by bomb-derived and Chernobyl-derived 137Cs has been subject to changes due to physical decay and lateral transport of contaminated soil particles, which have resulted in an on-going transfer of radionuclides from terrestrial ecosystems to surface water, river bed sediments, and flood plains. Knowledge of the different sources of spatial variation of 137Cs is particularly essential for estimating 137Cs transfer to fluvial systems and for successfully applying 137Cs as an environmental tracer in soil erosion studies. This study combined a straightforward sediment redistribution model and geostatistical interpolation of point samples of 137Cs activities in soil to distinguish the effects of sediment erosion and deposition from other sources of variation in 137Cs in the small Mochovce catchment in Slovakia. These other sources of variation could then be interpreted. Besides erosion and deposition processes, the initial pattern of 137Cs deposition, floodplain sedimentation, and short-range spatial variation were identified as the major sources of spatial variation of the 137Cs inventory.     

我国地震应急指挥技术体系初探

地震应急指挥技术系统是防震减灾建设的核心内容。”十五”期间,将建设中国地震应急指挥技术系统。目前我国在这方面的研究和建设尚处于初级阶段,其体系结构,关键构成、设计和实现还有许多问题值得进一步研究和探讨。根据所从事的项目建设过程,对地震应急指挥技术系统的体系结构进行了阐述,介绍了在此基础上开展的首都圈地震应急指挥系统建设工作,并就今后的发展进行了讨论。