Lead contamination of the Seine River, France: geochemical implications of a historical perspective

Four sediment cores collected in the Seine River basin and dated between 1916 and 2003 were analyzed for lead concentrations and isotopic composition. In all four cores, the measured Pb concentration (up to 460 mg kg⁻¹) lies significantly above the natural background (27-40 mg kg⁻¹), although a significant decrease (down to 75 mg kg⁻¹) was observed during the second half of the 20th century which can be explained by the reduction of lead emissions. The ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratio measured in these samples indicates that the main source of Pb used in the Paris conurbation is characterized by a “Rio Tinto” signature (defined as ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb = 1.1634 ± 0.0001). A high contribution, up to 25%, from the leaded gasoline (characterized by ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb = 1.08 ± 0.02) is revealed in the Seine River downstream Paris, indicating that lead from the leaded gasoline is preferentially released to the river.The dominating Pb signature in the Paris conurbation that is currently sampled through incinerators fumes (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb = 1.1550 ± 0.0005) and waste water treatment plant (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb = 1.154 ± 0.002), represents a mixture of highly recycled lead from the Rio Tinto mine and lead from leaded gasoline (imprinted by the low ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb of the Broken Hill mine). This signature is called “urban” rather than “industrial”, because it is clearly distinct from the Pb that is found in areas contaminated by heavy industry, i.e. the heavy industries located on the Oise River which used lead from European ores characterized by high ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios (∼1.18-1.19) and possibly a minor amount of North American lead (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios > 1.20). The “urban” signature is also found in a rural area upstream of Paris in the 1970’s. At the Seine River mouth in 2003, Pb with an urban signature represents 70% of the total Pb sediment content, with the 30% remaining corresponding to natural Pb.     

长江上游水土流失主要成因与防治对策

长江上游水土流失面积广 ,侵蚀强度大 ,是其生态环境退化的重要标志。水土流失加剧是人类不合理活动 ,主要有陡坡种植、森林砍伐、草场退化、工程破坏等所使然。当前严重的水土流失状况是自然因素与人为因素综合作用的结果。防治长江上游水土流失关键是通过改变人类不合理的生产方式和开发方式 ,引导人类活动向与自然协调、与水土保持相一致的方向发展 ,并对退化生态系统进行恢复与重建。     

岷江上游干旱河谷地区生态环境需水量探讨

探讨了生态环境需水量的概念,将人类需水量纳入了生态环境需水量,进而初步探讨了岷江上游干旱河谷地区的生态环境需水量。分别估算了岷江上游干旱河谷地区河道内生态环境需水量、植被需水量及人类(生活和生产)需水量,得出当地生态环境需水总量为34.81×108m3,并提出在岷江上游干旱河谷地区应根据现在和将来有效供水量和生态环境年需水量综合考虑,确定适当的经济社会发展结构和规模,以维系和提高生态环境质量。     

RIO GRANDE VALLEY,COLORADO, NEW MEXICO,AND TEXAS1

ABSTRACT: The Rio Grande Valley National Water-Quality Assessment study unit encompasses about 45,700 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas upstream from the gaging station Rio Grande at El Paso, Texas, and includes surface-water closed basins east of the Continental Divide in New Mexico, and the San Luis Closed Basin in Colorado. The mean annual precipitation ranges from less than 6 to more than 50 inches; potential evapo-transpiration ranges from less than 35 to more than 80 inches per year. Land use is mainly rangeland, forest land, and cropland. Total irrigated acreage in 1990 was about 914,000 acres and water use was about 3,410,000 acre-feet. Two structural settings are found in the study unit: alluvial basins and bedrock basins. The alluvial basins can have through-flowing surface water or be closed basins. The discussion of streamflow and water quality for the surface-water system is based on four river reaches for the 750 miles of the main stem. The quality of the ground water is affected by both natural process and human activities and by nonpoint and point sources. Nonpoint sources for surface water include agriculture, hydromodification, and mining operations; point sources are mainly discharge from wastewater treatment plants. Nonpoint sources for ground water include agriculture and septic tanks and cesspools; point sources include leaking underground storage tanks, unlined or manure-lined holding ponds used for disposal of dairy wastes, landfills, and mining operations.     

Sustainability through system transformation: lessons from Finnish efforts

This special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production addresses system transformation by examining progress, stumbling blocks and opportunities for sustainable consumption and production in a specific country, Finland, set within a global context. The articles present and analyse top-down policy efforts, bottom-up efforts by municipalities, activities by companies and actions by consumers. They provide material for discussions on the shift from sustainability planning to enhancing system transformation, on the implications of globalisation for system boundaries, on the transformation of complex systems, on learning processes and on methods of assessing transitions. Without providing a singular solution, the articles show that issues of sustainability should be explored in different ways within different contexts, and experimented with. There is a continuous need for transformations and reflexive learning, since conditions are likely to become very different, not least due to climate change. The notion of change and transformation will be high on the agenda of the Rio+20 conference, as will similar efforts to promote large-scale transformations of consumption and production.     

黄河上游生态脆弱区城市增长边界划定——以临夏回族自治州为例

黄河流域是我国重要的生态屏障和经济区,其上游水源涵养区对黄河流域的生态可持续发展起着决定性的作用。因此,科学统筹城乡发展、合理划定城市增长边界（UGB）,对于黄河流域生态保护与城市高质量发展具有重要意义。以黄河上游典型城市临夏回族自治州为研究对象,基于土地利用及相关遥感数据,运用遥感生态指数（RSEI）、生态敏感性分析评估了临夏回族自治州的生态质量,并在此基础上,结合CA-Markov对比分析了有无生态环境质量评价条件下未来城市增长边界发展情况。结果表明：（1）2005—2015年,临夏回族自治州生态环境整体较差且逐年下降,2015年生态质量（RSEI）结果降至最低（0.38）。同时,生态敏感性也从中度敏感变为低度敏感。（2）2005—2015年,研究区城市扩张面积增长6.04 km²,通过CA-Markov模拟得到的2030年城市建设用地规模为95.88 km²,超出规划面积3.2 km²,城市扩张未得到有效约束。（3）RSEI-CA-Markov模拟2030年的城市建设用地为90.36 km²,小于政府规划面积2.32 km²,符合城市可持续发展要求。因此,基于RSEI-CA-Markov划定的黄河上游生态脆弱地区UGB具有更强的城市管理能力,有利于引导和实现城市可持续发展,也可对中国其他生态脆弱城市生态—经济协调发展提供参考依据。     

长江中下游、浙西地区的上石炭统

本文系统阐述了区内上石炭统地层的分布范围、岩性特征、厚度变化及所含生物群面貌。     

Environmental Impact on Coastal Waters off Rio De Janeiro Due to Sewage Discharge via Submarine Outfall

A survey was made in an area of 28 km² around the outlest of Ipanema's submarine outfall in order to evaluate the impact of the raw domestic sewage effluent on coastal waters. Nutrient concentrations, dissolved oxygen, particulate matter and other physico-chemical parameters were measured monthly for 15 months. Copper and lead concentrations were also determined for two of the samplings.

The outfall has been in operation for 18 years, and the parameters measured within the observation area appear to be in steady state. From the observed radial concentration gradients within the survey area, a real extension of the steady state distribution of particulate matter and of sewage-derived nitrogen was estimated. the stationary cloud of particulate organic matter was about 150 km². From its total inventory and the discharge rate, a mean residence time of the particles in the sea of 56 days is estimated, prior to their being decomposed by bacterial action or settling to the bottom. for sewage derived N (as ammonia or nitrate), the steady state amount (above background) covers an area of about 60 km² and leads to a mean residence time of 5 ± 1 days in the ocean. Phosphorus is readily absorbed by the phytoplankton.

The presence of temperature gradients established by cold upwelling waters controls the dispersion of the sewage material and the rising of the sewage plume to the surface waters.