The velocity of DNAPL fingering in water-saturated porous media: laboratory experiments and a mobile-immobile-zone model.

Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) are immiscible with water and can give rise to highly fingered fluid distributions when infiltrating through water-saturated porous media. In this paper, a conceptual mobile-immobile-zone (MIZ) model is presented to describe the structure of a DNAPL finger in water-saturated porous media and the velocity of finger propagation. A finger is composed of a finger body and a tip. The finger body has a mobile core and an immobile sheath. All the DNAPL within the tip of a finger is mobile. Lab experiments utilizing image analyses of a DNAPL (PCE) penetrating into water-saturated homogeneous glass beads were carried out in a two-dimensional transparent chamber. The results show that the fingers elongated almost linearly with time. The fingers did not grow laterally after the tip of the finger had passed. The average finger diameters were between 3.9 and 5.4 mm for PCE propagation in water-saturated glass bead porous media with mean particle diameters from 0.32 to 1.36 mm. The estimated mobile core diameters were 51-60% of the average finger diameters.     

A Coupled Land-Surface and Dry Deposition Model and Comparison to Field Measurements of Surface Heat,Moisture, and Ozone Fluxes

We have developed a coupled land-surface and drydeposition model for realistic treatment of surface fluxes ofheat, moisture, and chemical dry deposition within acomprehensive air quality modelling system. A new land-surfacemodel (LSM) with explicit treatment of soil moisture andevapotranspiration and an indirect soil moisture nudging schemehas been added to a mesoscale meteorology model. The new drydeposition model uses the same aerodynamic and bulk stomatalresistances computed for evapotranspiration in the LSM. Thisprovides consistent land-surface and boundary layer propertiesacross the meteorological and chemical components of the system. The coupled dry deposition model also has the advantage of beingable to respond to changing soil moisture and vegetationconditions. Modelled surface fluxes of sensible and latent heatas well as ozone dry deposition velocities were compared to twofield experiments: a soybean field in Kentucky during summer 1995and a mixed forest in the Adirondacks of New York in July 1998.(on assignment to the National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) (author for correspondence, e-mail(on assignment to the National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)     

Environmental behaviour of a construction made of a mixture of hydraulic binders and air pollution control residues from municipal solid waste incineration Part 1. Physico-chemical characterisation and modelling of the source term

The reuse of waste materials requires the development of assessment methods for the long-term release of pollutants (source term) from wastes (or materials containing wastes) in contact with water. These methods depend on the scenario conditions: characteristics of the materials (especially physical structure and composition), contact with water. The scenario studied here is a water storage reservoir for fire fighting. The reservoir construction is made of a mixture of hydraulic binders and air pollution control (APC) residues from a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI). The modelling of the source term is performed in 5 steps ranging from the physico-chemical characterisation of the material to the validation of the proposed model by means of field simulation devices. This article presents the first steps of the methodology: physico-chemical characterisation of the source term, identification of the main transfer mechanisms and laboratory scale modelling of the source term. During the physico-chemical characterisation, it has been shown that the solidified waste shows a high basic capacity and that a relative decrease in pH during leaching favours retention of the main pollutants. During the first leaching sequences, the dynamic leaching tests show that the release of pollutants such as cadmium, arsenic, zinc and lead is extremely low but that the release of alkaline species (sodium and potassium) and chloride is very high from the beginning, whereas the release of calcium remains very high even after 3600 h of leaching. Identification of the main transfer mechanisms concludes that the release of soluble pollutants is the combined result of diffusional transfer of pollutants in the solution and the physico-chemical specificity of the species. The modelling based on these features enables a good simulation of the release but reveals a deviation from the experimental results after 500 h for alkaline species and 1000 h for Ca and Cl leaching. However, this deviation only appears after release of the major part of these elements.     

Slope,aspect and climate: Spatially explicit and implicit models of topographic microclimate in chalk grassland

The slope and aspect of a vegetated surface strongly affects the amount of solar radiation intercepted by that surface. Solar radiation is the dominant component of the surface energy balance and influences ecologically critical factors of microclimate, including near-surface temperatures, evaporative demand and soil moisture content. It also determines the exposure of vegetation to photosynthetically active and ultra-violet wavelengths. Spatial variation in slope and aspect is therefore a key determinant of vegetation pattern, species distribution and ecosystem processes in many environments. Slope and aspect angle may vary considerably over distances of a few metres, and fine-scale species’ distribution patterns frequently follow these topographic patterns. The availability of suitable microclimate at such scales may be critical for the response of species distributions to climatic change at much larger spatial scales. However, quantifying the relevant microclimatic gradients is not straightforward, as the potential variation in solar radiation flux under clear-sky conditions is modified by local and regional variations in cloud cover, and interacts with long-wave radiation exchange, local meteorology and surface characteristics.     

Prediction of extinction in plants: interaction of extrinsic threats and life history traits

The global extinction of species proceeds through the erosion of local populations. Using a 60-year time series of annual sighting records of plant species, we studied the correlates of local extinction risk associated with a risk of species extinction in the Park Grass Experiment where plants received long-term exposure to nutrient enrichment, soil acidification, and reductions in habitat size. We used multivariate linear models to assess how extrinsic threats and life history traits influence extinction risk. We investigated effects of four extrinsic threats (nitrogen enrichment, productivity, acidification, and plot size) as well as 11 life history traits (month of earliest flowering, flowering duration, stress tolerance, ruderalness [plant species' ability to cope with habitat disturbance], plant height, diaspore mass, seed bank, life form, dispersal mode, apomixis [the ability for a species to reproduce asexuall through seeds], and mating system). Extinction risk was not influenced by plant family. All of the 11 life history traits except life form and all threat variables influenced extinction risk but always via interactions which typically involved one threat variable and one life history trait. We detected comparatively few significant interactions between life history traits, and the interacting traits compensated for each other. These results suggest that simple predictions about extinction risk based on species' traits alone will often fail. In contrast, understanding the interactions between extrinsic threats and life history traits will allow us to make more accurate predictions of extinctions.     

El Niño periods increase growth of juvenile white seabass (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Atractoscion nobilis</Emphasis>) in the Southern California Bight

Studies of the impact of El Niño periods on marine species have usually focused on negative, highly visible effects, e.g., decreasing growth rates or increasing mortality due to a decline in primary productivity in typically nutrient rich upwelling zones; but positive effects related to elevated water temperature are also known. This study examined how the growth rate of juvenile white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, responded to changes in ocean temperature in an El Niño period (1997–1998) in the northern portion of the Southern California Bight, USA. Growth rates of juvenile white seabass during their first 4 years of life were estimated as the slopes of linear relationships between body mass and age (from otoliths) of 800 fish collected at 11 stations throughout the bight. Growth rates differed significantly among cohorts hatched in 1996–2001. Specifically, white seabass that hatched in 1996 and 1997 grew significantly faster than those that hatched in 1998, 1999, and 2001. These differences in growth rates of cohorts appeared to be driven by variation in sea-surface temperature (SST). Growth rates averaged over the first three or 4 years of life were significantly positively correlated to average daily SST during the first 1–4 years of life. Increased growth of juvenile white seabass during the warm El Niño period likely provided a number of benefits to this warm-temperate species. This study demonstrated that some species will benefit from these warm-water periods despite reduced system-wide primary production.     

硬木地板材料和棉花秆的变氧浓度热解燃烧表观动力学的实验研究

本文采用TG-FTIR分析方法深入研究了火场中硬木地板材料和棉花秆变氧浓度燃烧过程,深入分析了氧浓度对纤维物质燃烧表观热失重影响;通过大量的动力学参数计算得出了可燃物的表观活化能与实际氧浓度成线性关系;分析了氧浓度对木材燃烧气体产物的影响,并探索了氧浓度影响热解和燃烧的机理。     

Occurrence of alternative flame retardants in indoor dust from New Zealand: indoor sources and human exposure assessment

Due to worldwide restrictions on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), the demand for alternative flame retardants (AFRs), such as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), novel brominated FRs (NBFRs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), has recently increased. Little is known about human exposure to NBFRs and OPFRs and that their levels in dust have been scarcely evaluated worldwide. To increase the knowledge regarding these chemicals, we measured concentrations of five major NBFRs, ten OPFRs and three HBCD isomers in indoor dust from New Zealand homes. Dust samples were taken from living room floors (n=34) and from mattresses of the same houses (n=16). Concentrations (ngg(-1)) of NBFRs were: 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE) (<2-175), decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) (<5-1430), 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (TBB) (<2-2285) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) (<2-640). For OPFRs, concentrations (ngg(-1)) ranged between: tri-ethyl-phosphate (TEP) (<10-235), tri-n-butyl-phosphate (TnBP) (<20-7545), tris-(2-chloroethyl)-phosphate (TCEP) (<20-7605), tris-(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) (20-7615), tri-(2-butoxyethyl)-phosphate (TBEP) (50-27325), tris-(2,3-dichloropropyl)-phosphate (TDCPP) (20-16560), tri-phenyl-phosphate (TPhP) (20-35190), and tri-cresyl-phosphate (TCP) (<50-3760). HBCD concentrations fell in the range <2-4100ngg(-1). BTBPE, DBDPE, TBPH, TBEP, and TnBP showed significant positive correlation (p<0.05) between their concentrations in mattresses and the corresponding floor dust (n=16). These data were used to derive a range of plausible exposure scenarios. Although the estimated exposure is well below the corresponding reference doses (RfDs), caution is needed given the likely future increase in use of these FRs and the currently unknown contribution to human exposure by other pathways such as inhalation and diet.     

Accumulation of lead, zinc, copper and cadmium by 12 wetland plant species thriving in metal-contaminated sites in China

The concentrations of lead, zinc, copper and cadmium accumulated by 12 emergent-rooted wetland plant species including different populations of Leersia hexandra, Juncus effusus and Equisetum ramosisti were investigated in field conditions of China. The results showed that metal accumulation by wetland plants differed among species, populations and tissues. Populations grown in substrata with elevated metals contained significantly higher metals in plants. Metals accumulated by wetland plants were mostly distributed in root tissues, suggesting that an exclusion strategy for metal tolerance widely exists in them. That some species/populations could accumulate relatively high metal concentrations (far above the toxic concentration to plants) in their shoots indicates that internal detoxification metal tolerance mechanism(s) are also included. The factors affecting metal accumulation by wetland plants include metal concentrations, pH, and nutrient status in substrata. Mostly concentrations of Pb and Cu in both aboveground and underground tissues of the plants were significantly positively related to their total and/or DTPA-extractable fractions in substrata while negatively to soil N and P, respectively. The potential use of these wetland plants in phytoremediation is also discussed.