Preferential retention of POPs on the northern aspect of mountains

Soils are the main reservoirs of POPs in mountain ecosystems, but the great variability of the concentrations, also at small scale, leaves some uncertainties in the evaluation of environmental burdens and exposure. The role of the aspect of the mountain side and the seasonal variation in the contamination levels was analysed by means of several soil samples taken from central Italian Alps. A greater contamination content was present in northern soils with a mean ratio between the north vs. south normalised concentration of around a factor of 2 (North-South Enrichment Factor). Experimental factors agreed with theoretical calculations based on temperature-specific calculated K_sa values. From May to November consistent differences in normalised concentrations up to 5-fold were observed. A dynamic picture of the POP contamination in high altitudinal soils is derived from the data in this work, with spring-summer half-lives between 60 and 120 days for most of the compounds.     

鞍山市空气颗粒物中酞酸酯的季节变化与功能区差异

采用气相色谱-质谱仪(GC-MS)对辽宁省鞍山市空气颗粒物中15种酞酸酯夏季和冬季的浓度进行了分析测定,研究了酞酸酯污染水平的季节变化,不同功能区酞酸酯浓度的差异,以及DBP和DEHP在夏冬两季中的污染特点,将鞍山市夏冬两季酞酸酯的浓度与国内外部分城市进行了比较,分析了产生上述结果的原因,基本说明了鞍山市空气颗粒物中酞酸酯的污染状况。     

青岛近岸海域二甲基硫排放和大气中二甲基硫浓度变化

为研究我国受人为干扰严重的近岸海域DMS排放规律,利用固体吸附-解吸的富集采样方法和冷却预浓缩的分析方法,分别在2001年夏秋季和2002年春秋季,对青岛近岸海域海水和大气中的二甲基硫进行了采样和分析.结果表明,海水中DMS浓度和海气排放通量呈现明显的空间分布和季节变化.夏季,青岛近岸的海水DMS平均浓度最高,达1169.47 ng·L^-1;春季最低,只有226.99 ng·L^-1.河口区、风景旅游区和奥运赛场区在夏季有显著的从高到低的浓度梯度变化,而春秋季不明显.DMS海气排放通量主要由海水浓度决定,因此两者呈现一致的变化规律.海洋大气中的DMS也呈现夏季较高(256.44 ng·m^-3),秋季较低(195.64 ng·m^-3)的季节变化.文中还初步探讨了大气DMS的日变化情况.     

Seasonal Variability of Heavy Metals in Surface Sediment of Lake Sapanca, Turkey

Lake Sapanca is exposed to heavy urbanization and industrialization because of its natural beauty and its proximity to the metropolitan İstanbul, Turkey. In this study, it was aimed to investigate seasonal changes of some heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn and Cd) concentration of surface sediment. Nine different stations were chosen as sampling points. Samples were taken every three months and the seasonal and annual average concentration of the elements were determined. Seasonal highest values of heavy metals were observed as follows; Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn in Summer, Cd in Autumn. There was no seasonal difference for Pb, Cr and Cd. It seems that Lake Sapanca has not been polluted yet. However, it was found that Cu and Ni concentrations in surface sediment exceed lowest effect level.     

Hydrogeochemical and Geophysical Investigation of the Istanbul Tuzla–Icmeler Spring Area for Environmental and Land Use Planning Purposes

The spring waters of Tuzla–Icmeler are on the Marmara Sea coast in Tuzla town of Istanbul city. The springs discharge a natural sodium chloride mineral water that consumed for ages for therapeutic purposes attributed to their chemical properties. Development of springs commenced during the Ottoman times and a surface collection structure was built at the discharge point of the main spring. Two deep wells were drilled to tap mineral water within the past decades. The bottled water of these springs is also sold for a couple of years and its consumption as a beverage is increasing. The geochemical properties of these springs were investigated by several researchers in the past. This study comprises geochemical and geophysical measurements performed between July 2001 and July 2002 in order to construct a conceptual hydrogeological model for environmental and land use planning purposes. The seasonal evaluation of Tuzla–Icmeler (mineral spring) shows that the chemical properties fluctuate from the beginning of summer until the beginning of winter. This indicates that the overdraft of water during the summer season causes the movement and mix of normal groundwater with the mineralized groundwater. As a result, mixing of less mineralized groundwater decreases the salinity of mineralized groundwater. Using the site-specific hydrogeological, geochemical and geophysical data, zones of protection areas were delineated in order to prevent a possible pollution access to the springs and surroundings from nearby dockyards, dwellings and vehicle traffic. For this purpose, a new land use plan was proposed using the existing settlement sustainability plans.     

Seasonal Variations in Isoprene Emission from Tropical Deciduous Tree Species

Isoprene is a dominant constituent of the global biogenic volatile organic compounds budget. It plays an important role in regulating the atmospheric trace gas composition including tropospheric ozone concentrations. In this study, monthly measurements of isoprene emission rates were carried out over a 1-year period (December 2002–November 2003) from four Indian deciduous tree species, namely Ficus relegiosa, Ficus infectoria, Pongamia pinnata, and Morus alba, using branch enclosure method. Significantly high monthly variations in isoprene emission rates were observed in all four-plant species. Also, each plant species exhibited pronounced seasonal variation in isoprene emission. Maximum isoprene emissions were observed during summer and minimum during the winter or spring months.     

Surface ozone and carbon monoxide levels observed at Oki, Japan: regional air pollution trends in East Asia

Simultaneous ground-based measurements of ozone and carbon monoxide were performed at Oki, Japan, from January 2001 to September 2002 in order to investigate the O(3) and CO characteristics and their distributions. The observations revealed that O(3) and CO concentrations were maximum in springtime and minimum in the summer. The monthly averaged concentrations of O(3) and CO were 60 and 234 ppb in spring and 23 and 106 ppb in summer, respectively. Based on direction, 5-day isentropic backward trajectory analysis was carried out to determine the transport path of air masses, preceding their arrival at Oki. Comparison between classified results from present work and results from the year 1994-1996 was carried out. The O(3) and CO concentration results of classified air masses in our analysis show similar concentration trends to previous findings; highest in the WNW/W, lowest in N/NE and medium levels in NW. Moreover, O(3) levels are higher and CO levels are lower in the present study in all categories.     

Influence of seasonal temperature change on autotrophic nitrogen removal for mature landfill leachate treatment with high-ammonia by partial nitrification-Anammox process

In this study, a denitrification (DN)–partial nitritation (PN)–anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) system for the efficient nitrogen removal of mature landfill leachate was built with a zone-partitioning self-reflux biological reactor as the core device, and the effects of changes in seasonal temperature on the nitrogen removal in non-temperature-control environment were explored. The results showed that as the seasonal temperature decreased from 34°C to 11.3°C, the total nitrogen removal rate of the DN-PN-Anammox system gradually decreased from the peak value of 1.42 kg/(m³?day) to 0.49 kg/(m³?day). At low temperatures (<20°C), when the nitrogen load (NLR) of the system is not appropriate, the fluctuation of high NH₄⁺-N concentration in the landfill leachate greatly influenced the stability of the nitrogen removal. At temperatures of 11°C–15°C, the NLR of the system is controlled below 0.5 kg/(m³?day), which can achieve stable nitrogen removal and the nitrogen removal efficiency can reach above 96%. The abundance of Candidatus Brocadia gradually increased with the decrease of temperature. Nitrosomonas, Candidatus Brocadia and Candidatus Kuenenia as the main functional microorganisms in the low temperature.     

A study of the relationship between regional ferrous scrap prices in the USA, 1958–2004

This paper discusses univariate and mulitvariate methods used to deal with seasonal data with special emphasis on periodic models. These models are examined within the context of three regional U.S. ferrous scrap prices. All these variables can be described as being periodically integrated. The periodic models identified will be of use in assessing the future profitability of electric arc steel making. These scrap prices are shown to be periodically cointegrated in three of the four quarters with rapid speeds of adjustment to these long run equilibria. The cointegration relations have implications for the location of minimills.     

Radiological assessment of surface water quality around proposed uranium mining site in India

The gross alpha and gross beta activities were estimated for radiological assessment of surface water quality around the proposed uranium mining site Kylleng Pyndengsohiong Mawthabah (Domiasiat), West Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya situated in a high rainfall area (12,000 mm) in India. 189 Surface water samples were collected over different seasons of the year from nine different locations covering around 100 km². Gross beta activities were found to vary from 144 to 361 mBq/L which is much below the prescribed WHO limit of 1000 mBq/L for drinking water. Gross alpha activities varied from 61 to 127 mBq/L. These values are much below the reported gross alpha values by other countries. In about 7% of the samples the alpha activities remain exceeded the WHO guideline limit of 100 mBq/L. Surface water samples collected during the summer season of the year show higher activity whereas low activity was found from samples collected during monsoon season. Results show that all water sources are acceptable as drinking water for human consumption from the radiological point of view, the higher gross alpha concentrations in a few locations remains so only for short duration during the summer season.