Atmospheric lead deposition to Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, USA

Contamination of the environment from atmospheric deposition during the twentieth century is pervasive even in areas ostensibly considered pristine or remote from point sources. In this study, Pb concentrations in a 210Pb-dated peat core collected from the Okefenokee Swamp, GA were used to assess historical contaminant input via atmospheric deposition. Lead isotope ratios were determined by dynamic reaction cell ICP-MS (DRC-ICP-MS). Increases in Pb concentration occurred in the late nineteenth century and a marked rise in Pb concentrations pre-dated the widespread use of leaded gasoline within the US. The 206Pb/207Pb ratios of 1.19 during this period were consistent with coal combustion emissions. A later increase in Pb concentration, concurrent with a trend toward more radiogenic 206Pb/207Pb ratios in gasoline is consistent with an increased input of Pb from leaded gasoline emissions. However, it appears that coal combustion emissions remain a major source of Pb to the Okefenokee.     

Monoterpene emissions and carbonyl compound air concentrations during the blooming period of rape (Brassica napus)

An increasing percentage of agricultural land in Germany is used for oil seed plants. Hence, rape has become an important agricultural plant (in Saxony 1998: 12% of the farmland) in the recent years. During flowering of rape along with intensive radiation and high temperatures, a higher production and emission of biogenic VOC was observed. The emissions of terpenes were determined and more importantly, high concentrations of organic carbonyl compounds were observed during this field experiment. All measurements of interest have been carried out during two selected days with optimal weather conditions. It is found that the origin or the mechanism of formation of different group of compounds had strong influence on the day to day variation of their concentrations. The emission flux of terpenes from flowering rape plants was determined to be 16–32 μg h⁻¹ m⁻² (30–60 ng h⁻¹ per g dry plant––540–1080 ng h⁻¹ per plant), in total. Limonene, -thujene and sabinene were the most important compounds (about 60% of total terpenes). For limonene and sabinene reference emission rates (M_S) and temperature coefficients were determined: β_limonene=0.108 K⁻¹ and M_S=14.57 μg h⁻¹ m⁻²; β_sabinene=0.095 K⁻¹ and M_S=5.39 μg h⁻¹ m⁻².

The detected carbonyl compound concentrations were unexpectedly high (maximum formaldehyde concentration was 18.1 ppbv and 3.4 ppbv for butyraldehyde) for an open field. Possible reasons for these concentrations are the combination of primary emission from the plants induced by high temperature and high ozone stress, the secondary formation from biogenically and advected anthropogenically emitted VOC at high radiation intensities and furthered by the low wind speeds at this time.     

Monoterpene emissions and carbonyl compound air concentrations during the blooming period of rape (Brassica napus)

An increasing percentage of agricultural land in Germany is used for oil seed plants. Hence, rape has become an important agricultural plant (in Saxony 1998: 12% of the farmland) in the recent years. During flowering of rape along with intensive radiation and high temperatures, a higher production and emission of biogenic VOC was observed. The emissions of terpenes were determined and more importantly, high concentrations of organic carbonyl compounds were observed during this field experiment. All measurements of interest have been carried out during two selected days with optimal weather conditions. It is found that the origin or the mechanism of formation of different group of compounds had strong influence on the day to day variation of their concentrations. The emission flux of terpenes from flowering rape plants was determined to be 16–32 μg h⁻¹ m⁻² (30–60 ng h⁻¹ per g dry plant––540–1080 ng h⁻¹ per plant), in total. Limonene, α-thujene and sabinene were the most important compounds (about 60% of total terpenes). For limonene and sabinene reference emission rates (M_S) and temperature coefficients were determined: β_limonene=0.108 K⁻¹ and M_S=14.57 μg h⁻¹ m⁻²; β_sabinene=0.095 K⁻¹ and M_S=5.39 μg h⁻¹ m⁻².The detected carbonyl compound concentrations were unexpectedly high (maximum formaldehyde concentration was 18.1 ppbv and 3.4 ppbv for butyraldehyde) for an open field. Possible reasons for these concentrations are the combination of primary emission from the plants induced by high temperature and high ozone stress, the secondary formation from biogenically and advected anthropogenically emitted VOC at high radiation intensities and furthered by the low wind speeds at this time.     

有机物对SAD的影响及其数学模拟

通过血清瓶批式实验,研究了不同C/N下葡萄糖和乙酸钠对厌氧氨氧化耦合反硝化系统（SAD）污泥活性及脱氮性能的影响.耦合系统颗粒污泥为在亚硝态氮充足的UASB连续流反应器中培养得到,具有较高的厌氧氨氧化活性和反硝化活性.以葡萄糖为碳源,C/N分别为1,2,4时,厌氧氨氧化活性差异不大,反硝化活性逐渐增加,亚硝态氮最大降解速率分别为0.265,0.345,0.453kgN/（kgVSS·d）;以乙酸钠为碳源,C/N分别为1、2、4时,厌氧氨氧化活性和反硝化活性都无明显差别.相同C/N下,耦合系统以葡萄糖为碳源时的厌氧氨氧化活性较高,以乙酸钠为碳源时的反硝化活性较高.C/N分别为1,2,4时,以葡萄糖为有机物的氨氮最大降解速率分别为乙酸钠的1.15,1.19,1.58倍,以乙酸钠为有机物时反应的亚硝态氮最大降解速率分别为葡萄糖的1.89,1.48,1.15倍.实验的数学模拟结果表明,通过模型的模拟,能较为准确地预测实验过程中氮素的变化趋势,在C/N为1~4时耦合系统中颗粒污泥的厌氧氨氧化活性无较大变化.     

Does the African social spider Stegodyphus dumicola control the sex of individual offspring?

By scoring the chromosome number of developing embryos, we show that the sex ratio bias of the African social spider Stegodyphus dumicola Pocock is the result of an overproduction of female embryos. Only 17% of 585 embryos sexed from 14 egg sacs were male, a significant departure from a 1:1 sex ratio. We also explored the possibility of direct control of the sex of individual offspring in this species by examining the variance in the number of males per sac and the spatial distribution of male and female embryos within the sacs. We postulated that a variance in the number of males per sac lower than binomial (i.e., underdispersed or precise sex ratios) or a non-random distribution of male embryos within the sacs would suggest direct control of the sex of individual offspring. We found that the variance in the number of males per sac was indistinguishable from binomial and significantly larger than expected under exact ratios. Likewise, the spatial distribution of male embryos within three sacs examined was no more clustered than expected by chance. The sex ratio biasing mechanism in this species, therefore, apparently only allows control of the mean sex ratio but not of its variance. We present randomization and Monte Carlo methods that can be applied to test for departures from a random spatial arrangement of male and female embryos in an egg mass and for departures from binomial or exact ratios when not all members of a clutch have been sexed. Received: 21 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 23 March 1999 / Accepted: 26 April 1999     

Critical review for the quantification of leachate production: Evaluation example for the “Oum Azza” public landfill in Rabat city,Morocco

The estimation of leachate quantities produced in landfills is necessary to dimension the treatment plants allowing to reduce the polluting load of these effluents and consequently avoid their negative impacts on the environment. Different leachate quantification methods were used in this study to assess the leachate volume produced at the Oum Azza landfill. The water balance method give comparable estimations of leachate production to the Ouled Berjal landfill ratio. The first method showed average values between 487 and 495 m³/day for 2015, 2018, and 2019, and at the same time, the second method gave values between 470 and 477 m³/day for the same years. In contrast, the World Bank ratio showed high values that vary between 2260 and 2295 m³/day for 2015, 2018, and 2019. The on-site data and the statistical analysis showed us that the World Bank ratio is not adapted for the estimation of the leachates produced in Oum Azza landfill, while the water balance and the ratio of Ouled Berjal landfill allowed to give comparable results to reality.     

Aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the bottom sediments from Klaipėda Harbour,Lithuania (Baltic Sea)

A total of 22 bottom surface sediment samples were collected from Klaip?da Harbour, Lithuania (Baltic Sea). Sediment parameters, such as grain size and concentrations of total organic carbon, aliphatic hydrocarbons (ALHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were determined. Hydrocarbon contamination levels in the sediments were estimated based on classifications provided in the literature, and potential biological effects were assessed based on the effects range low–effects range median values of the Sediment Quality Guidelines and on the total toxic benzo(a)pyrene equivalent. The results demonstrated that concentrations of PAHs and total aliphatic hydrocarbons in the sediments varied between 1.6 and 5456?ng?g^?1 d.w. and 6.9 and 727?μg?g^?1 d.w., respectively. In most cases, the concentrations of ALHs and PAHs in the sediments indicated low to moderate levels of pollution and were not observed to have any significant adverse effects on living biota. To determine possible sources of hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon compositions were analysed, and ALHs’ and PAHs’ specific diagnostic ratios were calculated. According to the results, the Klaip?da Harbour bottom sediments were dominated by PAHs of pyrogenic origin, whereas the origin of ALHs was mixed, that is, anthropogenic with a biogenic (aquatic and terrestrial) input.     

长江流域主要干/支流水化学特征及外源酸的影响

为了探究人类活动对长江流域水化学特征的影响,本文以流域内主要干/支流代表断面的采样点为研究对象,分别于2016年丰水期和平水期采集地表水样各13组,通过离子比值法、主成分分析法和化学离子平衡计算法,综合分析水化学特征,并估算碳酸和外源酸参与碳酸盐岩的溶蚀比例.结果表明,水化学类型主要为HCO₃-Ca型,指示流域内水化学的主要影响因素为碳酸盐岩的溶解,在碳酸盐岩风化过程中,碳酸与碳酸盐岩的相对快速风化为主导反应.此外,丰水期和平水期各采样点碳酸溶蚀比例均值分别为60.33%和59.14%,不同采样点的溶蚀比例差值较大,指示外源酸对河流与岩石侵蚀风化过程的影响不容忽视,且阳离子交换对水化学有一定影响,但并不是主要的反应过程.与多年前水文监测初期的数据相比,硫酸和硝酸对岩石风化作用加强,人为因素对长江的水质影响增大.     

Integrating soil carbon cycling with that of nitrogen and phosphorus in the watershed model SWAT: Theory and model testing

In this paper we describe and test a sub-model that integrates the cycling of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed model. The core of the sub-model is a multi-layer, one-pool soil organic carbon (S_C) algorithm, in which the decomposition rate of S_C and input rate to S_C (through decomposition and humification of residues) depend on the current size of S_C. The organic N and P fluxes are coupled to that of C and depend on the available mineral N and P, and the C:N and N:P ratios of the decomposing pools. Tillage explicitly affects the soil organic matter turnover rate through tool-specific coefficients. Unlike most models, the turnover of soil organic matter does not follow first order kinetics. Each soil layer has a specific maximum capacity to accumulate C or C saturation (S_x) that depends on texture and controls the turnover rate. It is shown in an analytical solution that S_x is a parameter with major influence in the model C dynamics. Testing with a 65-yr data set from the dryland wheat growing region in Oregon shows that the model adequately simulates the S_C dynamics in the topsoil (top 0.3 m) for three different treatments. Three key model parameters, the optimal decomposition and humification rates and a factor controlling the effect of soil moisture and temperature on the decomposition rate, showed low uncertainty as determined by generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation. Nonetheless, the parameter set that provided accurate simulations in the topsoil tended to overestimate S_C in the subsoil, suggesting that a mechanism that expresses at depth might not be represented in the current sub-model structure. The explicit integration of C, N, and P fluxes allows for a more cohesive simulation of nutrient cycling in the SWAT model. The sub-model has to be tested in forestland and rangeland in addition to agricultural land, and in diverse soils with extreme properties such high or low pH, an organic horizon, or volcanic soils.     

不同粒径垃圾焚烧飞灰重金属分布和浸出性质

对烟气净化系统飞灰(以下简称飞灰)按粒径进行分级,研究了飞灰重金属含量、形态分布和浸出毒性随粒径的变化,讨论了不同粒径的飞灰对重金属总量和浸出总量的贡献率.结果表明:飞灰中粒径>154 μm和<30 μm的颗粒较少,粒径为38.5～74 μm的颗粒约占总量的50%.除Ni和Cr外,重金属含量随飞灰粒径的减小呈增加趋势,且主要表现在酸溶态Cd,Zn,Pb,Cu和有机结合态Pb以及晶形氧化铁态Pb,Zn含量的增加.随着飞灰粒径的减小,Cr,Ni,Zn,Hg和Pb的浸出量也呈逐渐增加趋势,其中Zn,Hg和Pb的表现尤为突出.尽管细颗粒上的重金属对飞灰的重金属总量贡献不大,但高浸出率使细颗粒飞灰对重金属浸出总量仍具有较大贡献,尤其是Pb,Zn和Hg,在占飞灰质量8%的粒径<30 μm的飞灰中,富集了约40%的水溶性Pb,Zn和Hg.