Sedimentary organic matter and bacterial community in microtidal mixed beaches of the Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean)

The quantity and quality of organic matter, and bacterial density and frequency of dividing cells were investigated in six microtidal mixed beaches of the Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean) to evaluate their main trophodynamic features. Concentrations of biopolymeric carbon (average 88.5?±?89.0 µgC/g) and the protein:carbohydrate ratio (on average lower than 1) were very low and classified these beaches as highly oligotrophic. The study of biochemical composition highlighted the nature of organic matter as being mainly refractory; furthermore, the quantitative differences observed along the across-beach gradient together with the unchanged pattern in qualitative features suggest that the organic matter in Ligurian beaches is prevalently of marine origin. This implies a negligible contribution of allochtonous and anthropogenic terrestrial input or in situ autochthonous production. Bacterial density displayed values ranging from 0.1–9.0 cell?×?10⁸/g DW in the top 2?cm layer and showed a significant correlation with the quantity of organic matter. In addition, the frequency of dividing cells showed a positive correlation with the protein:carbohydrate ratio, suggesting that the biochemical composition of organic matter also has an influence on the active bacterial fraction. Because of the exposed nature, a strong coupling was found between the beach and the marine systems, and this seems to be of fundamental importance in terms of material and energy supply for the beach ecosystem. A shortage within this linkage was observed in summer owing to the strong environmental constrains leading to a sort of “beach desertification” and to a marked oligotrophy. Summer also has an effect of smoothing for spatial variability occurring within the biochemical and microbiological variables among the different beaches. The linkage observed between the sea and the land is the main factor controlling the origin and nature of sediment organic matter in these beaches also regulating bacterial abundances and the frequency of dividing cells.     

A physically based statistical model of sand abrasion effects on periphyton biomass

The magnitude and frequency of discharge and fine sediment delivery to rivers can influence riverine food webs through the frequency of scour of algae from the streambed. Models that simulate changes in algal biomass are not very accurate for long periods with frequent low-magnitude flow events. During these periods, sand is mobilized over a stable gravel bed and periphyton losses are patchy at the reach scale. At the patch scale, we examine if an established threshold for rapid sand transport is also a periphyton perturbation threshold. We also develop and validate a statistical rock scale periphyton saltation abrasion model (PSAM) to simulate the abrasive effects of sand, transported by a hopping motion called saltation, on post-flow event biomass. Data were collected from 15 riffles of a Canadian Atlantic salmon river. The threshold clearly divided bed patches with high biomass and low transport rates, from those patches with low biomass and high transport rates. A dimensionally balanced PSAM regression model including explained 57% of the variance in post-flow event biomass. The validated model indicates that periphyton biomass decreases with increasing sand transport rates . Biomass was higher if the microscopic algae were protected from abrasion by growing either above the near-bed layer of saltating sand or within a mat containing more resistant macroalgae (e.g. Nostoc). The use of in our models facilitates testing of our findings in other hydro-sedimentary environments because W^* is a dimensionless scaling parameter that is well established in sediment transport literature. New insight is provided regarding modelling local heterogeneity in post-flow event biomass. These developments are essential to enable more accurate assessments of how periphyton biomass will change with the increase in the recurrence frequency of small flow events (and sand supply) associated with urbanization and climate change.     

Impacts of backwashing on micropollutant removal and associated microbial assembly processes in sand filters

● Backwashing in sand filters with 2-h and 4-h EBCTs was simulated. ● Removal efficiency of five micropollutants recovered within 2 d at 2-h EBCT. ● Active biomass of sand filters recovered within 2 d under two EBCTs. ● Microbial composition gradually recovered to pre-backwashing level at 2-h EBCT. ● Recovered microbes only accounted for 15.55 %–25.69 % in the sand filters at 4-h EBCT. Backwashing is crucial for preventing clogging of sand filters. However, few studies have investigated the effect of backwashing on micropollutant removal and the dynamic changes in the microbial community in sand filters. Here, we used a series of manganese and quartz sand filters under empty bed contact times (EBCTs) of 2 h and 4 h to explore variations in micropollutant degradation and temporal dynamics of the microbial community after backwashing. The results showed that the removal efficiencies of caffeine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazine, trimethoprim, atrazine, and active biomass recovered within 2 d after backwashing in both types of sand filters at 2-h EBCT, but the recovery of sulfadiazine and trimethoprim was not observed at 4-h EBCT. Moreover, the removal efficiency of atenolol increased after backwashing in the manganese sand filters, whereas maintained almost complete removal efficiency in the quartz sand filters at both EBCTs. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that microbial community composition gradually recovered to the pre-backwashing level (R increased from 0.53 to 0.97) at 2-h EBCT, but shifted at 4-h EBCT (R < 0.25) after backwashing. Furthermore, the compositions of the recovered, depleted, and improved groups of microbes were distinguished by applying hierarchical clustering to the differentially abundant amplicon sequence variants. The cumulative relative abundance of recovered microbes at 2-h EBCT was 82.76 % ± 0.43 % and 46.82 % ± 4.34 % in the manganese and quartz sand filters, respectively. In contrast, at 4-h EBCT, the recovered microbes dropped to 15.55 %–25.69 % in both types of sand filters.     

The coupling of sand with ZVI/oxidants achieved proportional and highly efficient removal of arsenic

• Simply doping sands with ZVI achieved an even activation of ZVI by oxidants. • Sand doping facilitated proportional As trapping along the ZVI/oxidants column. • ZVI/sand/oxidants are highly efficient for arsenic removal. • ZVI/sand/oxidants reduced significantly the Fe²⁺ leaching and effluent turbidity. • More than 54% of arsenic was reduced to As(III) in ZVI/sand/oxidants system. The coupling of zero-valent iron (ZVI) with common oxidants has recently achieved very rapid and highly efficient removal of Heavy metals from wastewater. However, the uniform activation of ZVI throughout the column and the proportional removal of target contaminants are urgently required for the prevention of premature filter clogging and the extension of the effective column operational time. In this study, we successfully achieved this objective by simply doping granular sand with ZVI at appropriate weight ratios. When pure ZVI packed column was spiked with oxidants, the majority of As trapping occurred between the column inlet and the first sampling point. In a packed column with a 1:20 mixture of ZVI and sand, the average As removal efficiency was 36 (1st), 13.1 (2nd), 18.5 (3rd), 19.2 (4th) and 5.9% (5th outlet). The overall arsenic removal performance of the composite filling system of ZVI/sand was equally as efficient as that of the previous pure ZVI-packed system. Moreover, the leaching of Fe was significantly reduced with an increased sand ratio, resulting in clearer water with less turbidity. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that more than 54% of the arsenic was reduced to As(III). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the extensive corrosion of the ZVI surface, which resulted in various species of iron oxyhydroxides responsible for the highly efficient sequester of arsenic through reduction, adsorption, and coprecipitation.     

Nitrogen mediates above-ground effects of ozone but not below-ground effects in a rhizomatous sedge

Ozone and atmospheric nitrogen are co-occurring pollutants with adverse effects on natural grassland vegetation. Plants of the rhizomatous sedge Carex arenaria were exposed to four ozone regimes representing increasing background concentrations (background-peak): 10-30, 35-55, 60-80 and 85-105 ppb ozone at two nitrogen levels: 12 and 100 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Ozone increased the number and proportion of senesced leaves, but not overall leaf number. There was a clear nitrogen × ozone interaction with high nitrogen reducing proportional senescence in each treatment and increasing the ozone dose (AOT40) at which enhanced senescence occurred. Ozone reduced total biomass due to significant effects on root biomass. There were no interactive effects on shoot:root ratio. Rhizome tissue N content was increased by both nitrogen and ozone. Results suggest that nitrogen mediates above-ground impacts of ozone but not impacts on below-ground resource translocation. This may lead to complex interactive effects between the two pollutants on natural vegetation.     

阿拉善盟黑风暴发生规律及防治对策

本文通过1993年“5．5黑风暴”及1998年“4．15黑风暴”为线索,从生态环境角度就黑风暴的起因进行初步剖析。然后就如何恢复阿拉善生态平衡,减少黑风暴危害提出一些对策。     

科尔沁沙地沙丘恢复过程中典型灌丛下结皮发育特征及表层土壤特性

通过野外取样和室内分析相结合,对科尔沁沙地不同沙丘典型灌丛下结皮发育及结皮下表层土壤特性进行了初步研究.结果表明,半流动沙丘的差巴嘎蒿、半固定沙丘的小叶锦鸡儿、固定沙丘的冷蒿以及固定沙丘丘底的小红柳灌丛下分别发育了物理结皮、藻、地衣及苔藓结皮,结皮的厚度、硬度、水分、＜0.05 mm粘粉粒含量、有机质、全N、全P、速效N和速效P等指标在沙丘生境中为半流动沙丘＜半固定沙丘＜固定沙丘＜固定沙丘丘底,在结皮类型中为物理结皮＜藻结皮＜地衣结皮＜苔藓结皮,各结皮间养分含量和粒径分布差异极显著(P＜0.01).结皮下层土壤的养分及细颗粒含量随结皮发育进展呈增长趋势.同一沙丘结皮下0～5 cm范围内土壤容重、粘粉粒、养分含量由表及里呈递减趋势,且均高于同层流动风沙土.在4种灌丛的7类结皮中,固定沙丘丘底的小红柳灌丛下发育的苔藓结皮及其表土的养分、细颗粒含量明显高于其它沙丘灌丛下的结皮.     

青海湖湖东克土沙区固定沙丘土壤水分动态变化的初步研究

本文通过土壤水分观测,结合降水记录及地表沉积物粒度分析,对青海湖湖东克土沙区 固定沙丘不同地貌部位土壤水分的时空变化规律进行了初步研究。结果表明：0~100 cm 深度内, 丘间地的土壤含水量最高,丘顶与背风坡次之,迎风坡最低。迎风坡丘间地与迎风坡脚受地下水 的影响,分别以40 cm 和100 cm 为界,土壤含水量在界限以上变化不大,界限以下随着深度增 加而迅速增大。其它地貌部位土壤水分来源主要是大气降水,0~20 cm 土壤含水量都随土壤深度 增加而增加,20 cm 以下则表现出不同的变化规律。     

餐饮废水治理方法的研究

对餐饮废水进行了实验研究。综合国内外对餐饮废水处理的工艺及原理。研究了一种经济实用的处理方法。结果表明 ,采用复合新型混凝剂 ,将废水经过混凝沉淀、砂滤及活性炭吸附深度处理后 ,达到国家正常排放标准 ,经过消毒处理后的水可用于生活杂用水。     

Remediation of NAPL below the water table by steam-induced heat conduction

Previous experimental studies have shown that NAPL will be removed when it is contacted by steam. However, in full-scale operations, steam may not contact the NAPL directly and this is the situation addressed in this study. A two-dimensional intermediate scale sand box experiment was performed where an organic contaminant was emplaced below the water table at the interface between a coarse and a fine sand layer. Steam was injected above the water table and after an initial heating period the contaminant was recovered at the outlet. The experiment was successfully modeled using the numerical code T2VOC and the dominant removal mechanism was identified to be heat conduction induced boiling of the separate phase contaminant. Subsequent numerical modeling showed that this mechanism was insensitive to the porous medium properties and that it could be evaluated by considering only one-dimensional heat conduction.