Environmental management of the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon

Irreversible environmental changes are occurring along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon as a result of regulation of the river flow by the Glen Canyon Dam. The questions of primary importance in managing this great natural resource are 1) in what manner and how rapidly are the physical and ecological adjustments taking place, and 2) is the increased use of the river for recreational boating contributing to the degradation? Human use along the Colorado River is limited, for the most part, to the relic, pre-dam fluvial deposits colloquially called “beaches.” With the new river regime these deposits are positioned well above the present high-water stage, 27,000 cubic feet/second (cfs), or 765 cubic meters/second (cms), so they are not replenished periodically as they were prior to construction of the dam in 1963. The dominant natural processes now are aeolian sand transport and mass wasting. The float-trip passengers use the river beaches for hiking, camping, and. lunch stops. At the most desirable sites thirty to forty people camp on the beaches each night over a four to five month season. Human impact includes incorporation of campsite litter, burial of chemically treated waste, and the direct stress associated with people walking on the vegetation and unstable sedimentary deposits. Results of our investigations indicate that the rate of degradation at the most heavily used sites exceeds the capacity of aeolian processes to reestablish natural landscapes. Therefore, careful management of float trjps is needed if these environments are to be maintained in a natural state rather than a “sand-box” state.     

Fate and availability of glyphosate and AMPA in agricultural soil

The fate of glyphosate and its degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) was studied in soil. Labeled glyphosate was used to be able to distinguish the measured quantities of glyphosate and AMPA from the background values since the soil was sampled in a field where glyphosate had been used formerly. After addition of labeled glyphosate, the disappearance of glyphosate and the formation and disappearance of AMPA were monitored. The resulting curves were fitted according to a new EU guideline. The best fit of the glyphosate degradation data was obtained using a first-order multi compartment (FOMC) model. DT₅₀ values of 9 days (glyphosate) and 32 days (AMPA) indicated relatively rapid degradation. After an aging period of 6 months, the leaching risk of each residue was determined by treating the soil with pure water or a phosphate solution (pH 6), to simulate rain over a non-fertilized or fertilized field, respectively. Significantly larger (p < 0.05) amounts of aged glyphosate and AMPA were extracted from the soil when phosphate solution was used as an extraction agent, compared with pure water. This indicates that the risk of leaching of aged glyphosate and AMPA residues from soil is greater in fertilized soil. The blank soil, to which 252 g glyphosate/ha was applied 21 months before this study, contained 0.81 ng glyphosate/g dry soil and 10.46 ng AMPA/g dry soil at the start of the study. Blank soil samples were used as controls without glyphosate addition. After incubation of the blank soil samples for 6 months, a significantly larger amount of AMPA was extracted from the soil treated with phosphate solution than from that treated with pure water. To determine the degree of uptake of aged glyphosate residues by crops growing in the soil, ¹⁴C-labeled glyphosate was applied to soil 6.5 months prior to sowing rape and barley seeds. After 41 days, 0.006 ± 0.002% and 0.005 ± 0.001% of the applied radioactivity was measured in rape and barley, respectively.     

Carbonate-induced enhancement of phenols degradation in CuS/peroxymonosulfate system: A clear correlation between this enhancement and electronic effects of phenols substituents

This study investigated the enhancement effects of dissolved carbonates on the peroxymonosulfate-based advanced oxidation process with CuS as a catalyst. It was found that the added CO₃²⁻ increased both the catalytic activity and the stability of the catalyst. Under optimized reaction conditions in the presence of CO₃²⁻, the degradation removal of 4-methylphenol (4-MP) within 2 min reached 100%, and this was maintained in consecutive multi-cycle experiments. The degradation rate constant of 4-MP was 2.159 min⁻¹, being 685% greater than that in the absence of CO₃²⁻ (0.315 min⁻¹). The comparison of dominated active species and 4-MP degradation pathways in both CO₃²⁻-free and CO₃²⁻-containing systems suggested that more CO₃•⁻/¹O₂ was produced in the case of CO₃²⁻deducing an electron transfer medium, which tending to react with electron-rich moieties. Meanwhile, Characterization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic and cyclic voltammetry measurement verified CO₃²⁻ enabled the effective reduction of Cu²⁺ to Cu⁺. By investigating the degradation of 11 phenolics with different substituents, the dependence of degradation kinetic rate constant of the phenolics on their chemical structures indicated that there was a good linear relationship between the Hammett constants σ_p of the aromatic phenolics and the logarithm of k in the CO₃²⁻-containing system. This work provides a new strategy for efficient removal of electron-rich moieties under the driving of carbonate being widely present in actual water bodies.     

废水中α-氯代环己基苯基甲酮的电化学降解

采用石墨电极对含α-氯代环己基苯基甲酮的氯化清洗水进行电化学降解。结果表明,电化学降解对COD的去除效果非常明显,并且随着电流密度增加,COD的去除效率逐渐升高,电流密度由15 mA/cm2增加至100 mA/cm2, COD的去除率从39.7%升高到72.3%;电化学降解作用下,水样可生化性显著提高,降解2 h后,(BOD5)/(COD)由原水的0.22提高到0.46;电化学降解过程中,COD的降解遵循零级反应动力学方程;此外,还对电化学降解过程中α-氯代环己基苯基甲酮的降解途径进行了推测。     

Dynamic-risk-informed safety barrier management: An application to cost-effective barrier optimization based on data from multiple sources

An integrated approach for performance assessment and management of safety barriers in a systemic manner is needed concerning the prevention and mitigation of major accidents in chemical process industries. Particularly, the effects of safety barriers on system risk reduction should be assessed in a dynamic manner to support the decision-making on safety barrier establishments and improvements. A simulation approach, named Simulink-based Safety Barrier Modeling (SSBM), is proposed in this paper to conduct dynamic risk assessment of chemical facilities with the consideration of the degradation of safety barriers. The main functional features of the SSBM include i) the basic model structures of SSBM can be determined based on bow-tie diagrams, ii) multiple data (periodic proof test data, continuous condition-monitoring data, and accident precursor data) may be combined to update barrier failure probabilities and initiating event probabilities, iii) SSBM is able to handle uncertainty propagation in probabilistic risk assessment by using Monte Carlo simulations, and iv) cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and optimization algorithms are integrated to support the decision-making on safety barrier establishments and improvements. An illustrative case study is demonstrated to show the procedures of applying the SSBM on dynamic risk-informed safety barrier management and validate the feasibility of implementing the SSBM for cost-effective safety barrier optimization.     

Response to environmental flows in the lower Tarim River, Xinjiang, China: ground water

In China's west since the 1950s large-scale ecosystem degeneration has occurred through water diversions for agricultural purposes. Since 2000, 1038 x 10(6) m(3) of water have been released into the Tarim River with the result that water reached the terminal Taitema Lake for the first time in 30 years. This environmental flow raised water-table levels along 350 km of the river. To assess the response of the water-table, a comparison "pristine" site is compared with downstream monitored sites. The results show huge changes in water-table levels. The study verifies that the water-table is extremely responsive to environmental flows, that strong internal similarities exist along the length of the river, and that the effect on the water-table and hence likely riparian vegetation recovery can be tentatively predicted. The actual impacts of the restoration strategy are less than those originally expected politically, socially and within the scientific community. We make recommendations on more effective release strategies.     

电活性生物膜阳极构建及其对2，4，6-三氯酚同步降解和产电

为实现氯酚（CPs）的高效降解和资源化利用,探究微生物燃料电池（MFC）体系优势功能菌,揭示生物降解路径.接种、驯化长春市南郊污水处理厂的厌氧活性污泥,获得生物膜阳极以构筑MFC-2,4,6-TCP体系,基于扫描电子电镜（SEM）、16S rRNA分析测序方法,考察生物膜阳极微生物的附着情况和优势菌种,基于电化学阻抗（EIS）、循环伏安（CV）和线性扫描伏安（LSV）等电化学分析手段,表征生物阳极的电化学性能和氧化还原能力.结果表明,生物膜阳极微生物种类丰富,其中Geobacter和Acinetobacter分别为MFC-2,4,6-TCP体系产电和降解驯化期的优势功能菌,体系最大输出电压可达0.55 V,最大功率密度为428.65 mW·m-2,对2,4,6-TCP的降解和矿化率可达97.5%和85.4%.随着MFC循环次数的增加,微生物代谢途径多样化,产电菌逐渐演替为协同菌,且优势功能菌对2,4,6-TCP降解的中间产物（环己醇）,其毒性远低于氯酚或苯酚,更利于被微生物利用.该结果可为氯酚废水的实际处理提供新策略和技术参考.     

g-C3N4/TiO2纳米管阵列光阳极的制备及其光电催化降解邻氯硝基苯

采用阳极氧化-涂覆煅烧法成功制备了g-C₃N₄/TiO₂纳米管阵列（g-C₃N₄/TNAs）光阳极,并通过扫描电镜、X射线衍射仪、X射线光电子能谱仪、紫外可见漫反射光谱仪、光致发光光谱仪和电化学工作站等表征分析了g-C₃N₄/TNAs光阳极的形貌、晶形结构、光学特性和光电化学性能.表征结果证实,g-C₃N₄的引入通过缩小禁带宽度扩宽了TNAs的可见光响应范围,提高了光电流密度和光生电子寿命,促进了光生电子和空穴的分离.g-C₃N₄/TNAs光阳极在光电催化体系内对邻氯硝基苯（o-CNB）的降解效率高于其在光催化和电催化体系中对o-CNB的降解效率,且具有良好的稳定性和可重复性.活性物质捕获实验、电子自旋共振测试和能带结构分析表明,g-C₃N₄/TNAs光阳极中TNAs和g-C₃N₄之间存在Z型异质结相互作用机制.在光电催化体系内降解o-CNB的主要活性物质是^?O₂^-、^?OH和光生空穴,而光生电子是次要的活性物质.     

FeS对CW-MFC系统降解活性艳红X-3B效果及过程的影响

在自行构建的人工湿地-微生物燃料电池(CW-MFC)系统中,以砾石填料为对照,研究了FeS对活性艳红X-3B脱色效果及降解过程的影响.结果表明,加在底层区域的FeS能够显著提高CW-MFC对活性艳红X-3B的脱色效果和系统产电性能.FeS的投加使得系统脱色率在进水活性艳红X-3B浓度200mg/L、葡萄糖浓度100mg/L条件下达到99.83%.在进水活性艳红X-3B浓度100mg/L、葡萄糖浓度200mg/L条件下,FeS组最大功率密度达到0.849W/m³.活性艳红X-3B在系统中的脱色主要发生在底层和阳极区域,由紫外-可见全波长扫描图谱和GC-MS扫描图谱可知FeS在该区域促进了偶氮双键的断裂,并有利于脱色产物苯胺、三嗪结构、萘环结构的进一步降解.     

Tribal communities,the forests,the fisher folk and the river: whither water justice?

Excessive exploitation of and skewed access to dwindling water resources raise serious water justice concerns. Environmental justice movements and related literature have raised critical questions regarding the unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of a development paradigm that is founded on excessive exploitation and appropriation of natural resources. This paper explores the growing relevance of a water justice framework that addresses both the social and ecological aspects of water use and appropriation, with reference to a four-decade long water conflict over the Chaliyar River in Kerala, South India. It highlights how ecosystem degradation and denial of justice go hand in hand. The paper argues that the framing and articulation of the conflict in a partisan manner led to the glossing over of certain critical features, thus preventing a full view of water injustices. It also failed to inform subsequent policies and practices in this regard.