Sedimentation rates and sediment age of the high-altitude cold desert Ramsar Wetland,the Chandratal,inferred from radionuclide (210Pb and 137Cs) technique

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment - The increased usage of antibiotics over the recent years has been of great concern all over the world. It is estimated that about 100,000 tons to 200,000...     

Community-scale analysis of the farmland abandonment occurrence process in the mountain region of Ladakh,India

Farmland abandonment has been a significant issue in mountain regions. Thus, many studies have attempted to uncover its driving factors. Most existing studies take a large- or meso-scale view of mountain regions, and there are a few studies that provide community-level analysis. Therefore, it is unclear how ecological and sociopolitical factors are actually combined to influence farmland abandonment at a community level. Thus, we conducted a field survey in the mountain village of Ladakh, northern India, beginning in 2009 and tried to understand the farmland abandonment occurrence process from the viewpoint of traditional altitudinal models of land use. Using data collected during the survey, a relationship between altitude and farmland abandonment was established. However, this relationship was complex, combining traditional forms of land use system in the village. The altitudinal model of land use was very common in mountain regions; thus, discussions of current land use issues should be based on an understanding of such traditional altitudinal systems.     

雅鲁藏布江中游地表湿润状况的趋势分析

利用1961-2000年雅鲁藏布江中游4个站月平均最高气温、最低气温、降水量、风速、相对湿度、日照时数资料,应用Penman-Monteith模型计算得出最大潜在蒸散,进而得到地表湿润指数,分析了地表湿润指数的年际变化趋势、年代际变化特征及季节性差异,并讨论了它与降水、气温的联系。研究表明:雅鲁藏布江中游季、年平均气温呈显著的升高趋势;年降水量前20年呈减少趋势,后20年则表现为显著的增加趋势。20世纪60至80年代初,地表为变干趋势;80年代中后期到90年代,降水量增加,最大潜在蒸散显著减小,地表呈变湿趋势。60年代为冷湿型,90年代为暖湿型。     

Silver Nanoparticle Incorporated Flaxseed Protein-Alginate Composite Films: Effect on Physicochemical,Mechanical, and Thermal Properties

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - In the present study, flaxseed protein-alginate films were prepared with different concentrations of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and were evaluated for...     

Solar oxidation and removal of arsenic from water: An experimental study

Arsenic poses a significant threat to both human health and the environment. Arsenic removal through solar oxidation has been investigated in a batch process. Arsenic was artificially added to both deionized and tap water to conduct the experiments. Clean, colorless, transparent, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles were used for Solar Oxidation and Removal of Arsenic (SORAS) experiments. Various parameters including concentration of arsenic, iron, and photo-catalyst were varied during the experiments. The maximum arsenic removal efficiency obtained was 94% and 88% for deionized water and tap water respectively when ferrous ammonium sulphate and lemon juice were used. Maximum efficiency of 88% and 82% was obtained for deionized and tap water respectively when locally available ferrous alum and glacial acetic acid were used. The change in volume of the photo-catalyst (lemon juice and glacial acetic acid) also did not affect the SORAS process significantly. Therefore, the recommended volume for the photo-catalyst was 1–2 ml/L. SORAS can very well be used for areas contaminated with arsenic having concentrations less than 100 μg/L.     

Implications for long-range atmospheric transport of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Lhasa, China

The Tibetan Plateau is suggested to be an important indicator region to study the global long-range atmospheric transport of persistent organic pollutants. In this study, atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in Lhasa City in the Tibetan Plateau, China. Air samples in gas and particle phases were concurrently collected by a modified high-volume air sampler from 5 August 2008 to 13 July 2009. The concentration of ∑₁₆PAHs ranged from 18 to 160 ng?m^?3 (with a geometric mean of 68 ng?m^?3). The most abundant PAHs were phenanthrene and benzo(b)fluoranthene in gas and particle phases, respectively. Compared with other two similar studies in Beijing and Harbin, different temporal trends were found between gas and particle phases PAHs in Lhasa. The influences of meteorological parameters (ambient temperature and relative humidity) and air masses from China, India, Southeast Asia, and West Asia were the two important reasons for explaining the difference, which was confirmed by the 5-day backward trajectories. This is the first comprehensive study to provide the evidence for the different influences of long-range atmospheric transport on gas and particle phases PAHs pollution in the Tibetan Plateau.