The effect of surface-active solutes on water flow and contaminant transport in variably saturated porous media with capillary fringe effects

Organic contaminants that decrease the surface tension of water (surfactants) can have an effect on unsaturated flow through porous media due to the dependence of capillary pressure on surface tension. We used an intermediate-scale 2D flow cell (2.44 x 1.53 x 0.108 m) packed with a fine silica sand to investigate surfactant-induced flow perturbations. Surfactant solution (7% 1-butanol and dye tracer) was applied at a constant rate at a point source located on the soil surface above an unconfined synthetic aquifer with ambient groundwater flow and a capillary fringe of approximately 55 cm. A glass plate allowed for visual flow and transport observations. Thirty instrumentation stations consist of time domain reflectometry probes and tensiometers measured in-situ moisture content and pressure head, respectively. As surfactant solution was applied at the point source, a transient flow perturbation associated with the advance of the surfactant solution was observed. Above the top of the capillary fringe the advance of the surfactant solution caused a visible drainage front that radiated from the point source. Upon reaching the capillary fringe, the drainage front caused a localized depression of the capillary fringe below the point source because the air-entry pressure decreased in proportion to the decrease in surface tension caused by the surfactant. Eventually, a new capillary fringe height was established. The height of the depressed capillary fringe was proportional to height of the initial capillary fringe multiplied by the relative surface tension of the surfactant solution. The horizontal transport of surfactant in the depressed capillary fringe, driven primarily by the ambient groundwater flow, caused the propagation of a wedge-shaped drying front in the downgradient direction. Comparison of dye transport during the surfactant experiment to dye transport in an experiment without surfactant indicated that because surfactant-induced drainage decreased the storage capacity of the vadose zone, the dye breakthrough time to the water table was more than twice as fast when the contaminant solution contained surfactant. The extensive propagation of the drying front and the effect of vadose zone drainage on contaminant breakthrough time suggest the importance of considering surface tension effects on unsaturated flow and transport in systems containing surface-active organic contaminants or systems, where surfactants are used for remediation of the vadose zone or unconfined aquifers.     

Trace metals: Inputs, sedimentation and accumulation in San Vicente Bay, Chile

The present study deals with sediment dynamics affecting sediment-associated metal distributions in an embayment system experiencing pollution from coastal industries. Sedimentary metal content may originate from diagenetic processes of foundation rock on the bottom, allochthonous minerals from natural sources, and metals from industrial effluents along the coast. The study presents experimental estimations of quantities of metals entering the bay in industrial wastewater, measurements of metal content in particulate material captured in sediment traps, and metals distribution in surface sediments. Quantitative estimations of metals entering the system in industrial effluent showed the relation Pb Zn > Cu > Cr Ni > Cd. That of metals associated with particulate material from traps was Zn > Cr Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd and the abundance of metals in sediments was Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd. Finally, rates of bottom sediment accumulation are estimated in relation to the time of residence of water in the bay. The experimental data on sedimentation and sediment abundance were consistent with field observations on distribution and accumulation at sites of major sedimentation in this bay.     

Southern California's marine monitoring system ten years after the National Research Council evaluation

In 1990, the National Research Council (NRC) published two in-depth assessments of marine environmental monitoring effectiveness. The first of these, Managing Troubled Waters: The Role of Marine Environmental Monitoring, provided a national perspective and the second, Monitoring Southern California's Coastal Waters, examined the specifics of monitoring design and implementation in a densely populated, highly urbanized coastal region. The reports include explicit recommendations about the need for greater regionalization of monitoring efforts, supported by greater standardization of field, laboratory, and data analysis methods. They also identified the need for centralized data management and for greater flexibility in the language of standard discharge permits, flexibility that would permit discharge agencies to more readily participate in regional monitoring and research programs. Other recommendations identified a need for EPA and NOAA to focus on creating a national monitoring program structured as a network of coordinated local and regional efforts. Finally, the NRC emphasized the need for better reporting and for periodic review of monitoring's relevance to management concerns. In this paper, we use southern California as a test case to assess progress made in implementing the NRC's recommendations. We review progress made on each recommendation and discuss the features of the regulatory and management climate that contributed to or impeded this progress. We also consider whether, and to what extent, the NRC's recommendations remain relevant in the present context.     

Analytical model of solute transport by unsteady unsaturated gravitational infiltration

Penetration of reactive solute into a soil during a cycle of water infiltration and redistribution is investigated by deriving analytical closed form solutions for fluid flux, moisture content and contaminant concentration. The solution is developed for gravitational flow and advective transport and is applied to two scenarios of solute applications encountered in the applications: a finite pulse of solute dissolved in irrigation water and an instantaneous pulse broadcasted onto the soil surface. Through comparison to simulations of Richards' flow, capillary suction is shown to have contrasting effects on the upper and lower boundaries of the fluid pulse, speeding penetration of the wetting front and reducing the rate of drying. This leads to agreement between the analytical and numerical solutions for typical field and experimental conditions. The analytical solution is further incorporated into a stochastic column model of flow and transport to compute mean solute concentration in a heterogeneous field. An unusual phenomenon of plume contraction is observed at long times of solute propagation during the drying stage. The mean concentration profiles match those of the Monte-Carlo simulations for capillary length scales typical of sandy soils.     

煤粉再燃的半工业炉试验

从系统NOx还原效果，主燃区，再燃区和燃尽区内NOx的分解几方面对煤粉再燃效果进行半工业炉试验研究。虽然主燃区NOx生成量与主燃区过量空气系数成正比，系统NOx还原率却在主燃区过量空气系数一1．10时呈现最大值；再燃区还原性气氛有利于NOx的还原，但富氧氛围也可以实现一定NOx分解，燃尽区内煤粉异相还原占主要地位。以基础工况和再燃工况下的锅炉尾部NOx排放量的差值来计算系统NOx还原率可以更好地体现锅炉系统的再燃脱硝能力。     

Transforming the Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) Approach: Observations from the Ranomafana National Park Project, Madagascar

Preservation of the biological diversity and ecosystems in protected areas can be achieved through projects linking conservation of the protected areas with improved standards of living for resident peoples within surrounding buffer zones. This is the hypothetical claim of the integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) approach to protected area management. This paper, based on several years of experience with the Ranomafana National Park Project in Madagascar, questions the major assumptions of this approach from ethical and practical perspectives. The four basic strategies available to ICDPs – protected areas, buffer zones, compensation, and economic development – are analyzed and shown to be deficient or untested in the case of Ranomafana. Recommendations are made to explore conservation models other than the western conception of the national park, to modify the notion of a buffer zone outside the protected area, to redistribute money or other resources directly to the poor people living in and around the protected areas, and to eliminate the middle men in the development business. An appeal is made to focus on local education, organization and discipline in order to promote self-determination and self-reliance among resident peoples of protected areas. The paper argues that a public works program, similar to the Roosevelt administration's Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, funded through a hard-currency endowment or other innovative financing mechanism, should be tried as a replacement for the currently questionable ICDP approach at Ranomafana.     

海南省洋浦经济开发与海岸环境资源保护研究

本文在分析研究洋浦经济开发区海岸带具有独特的优良环境与资源条件的基础上,指出开发区的规划项目将造成的海岸环境资源问题,并提出了海岸环境资源利用与保护的对策和措施。     

山东及其沿海地区活动构造与地震危险区判定

在充分吸收和消化活动断裂、活动盆地、地球物理场、地震活动、现代构造应力场和地震前兆资料的基础上,归纳总结出它们与地震活动的关系,确定了地震活动的时、空、强判定标志和原则,综合判定了中期（３～５年）和中短期（１～３年）地震危险区,为地震的短临监测预报跟踪提供了依据。     

青海省巴硬格莉沟—哇沿河多金属矿化带稳定同位素地质与成矿物质来源

通过对青海省巴硬格莉沟—哇沿河多金属成矿带大量矿石及围岩的硫、氢、氧、碳、铅等稳定同位素测试及分析 ,指出该区成矿物质主要来源于幔源物质与壳源物质的混合 ,成矿与矿带外围印支期 (局部包括少量早燕山期 )二长花岗岩及下元古界达肯大坂群大理岩、二云斜长片麻岩关系密切 ,成矿热液具有混合热液性质 ,主要为岩浆水与变质水的混合 ,并有一定量的大气降水加入。因此构造 (哇洪山断裂带及其派生构造 )、岩体 (印支及早燕山期二长花岗岩 )、地层 (达肯大坂群二云斜长片麻岩、大理岩 )“三位一体”是本区多金属找矿工作的有利部位 ,在今后的找矿勘探中应予以重视。