Mercury in Eastern Kentucky coals: Geologic aspects and possible reduction strategies     

James C. Hower  Cortland F. Eble  Jeffrey C. Quick 《International Journal of Coal Geology》2005,62(4):223-236

Mercury emissions from US coal-fired power plants will be regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) before the end of the decade. Because of this, the control of Hg in coal is important. Control is fundamentally based on the knowledge of the amounts of Hg in mined, beneficiated, and as-fired coal. Eastern Kentucky coals, on a reserve district level, have Hg contents similar to the USA average for coal at mines. Individual coals show greater variation at the bench scale, with Hg enrichment common in the top bench, often associated with enhanced levels of pyritic sulfur. Some of the variation between parts of eastern Kentucky is also based on the position relative to major faults. The Pine Mountain thrust fault appears to be responsible for elemental enrichment, including Hg, in coals on the footwall side of the thrust.Eastern Kentucky coals shipped to power plants in 1999, the year the USEPA requested coal quality information on coal deliveries, indicate that coals shipped from the region have 0.09 ppm Hg, compared to 0.10 ppm for all delivered coals in the USA. On an equal energy basis, and given equal concentrations of Hg, the high volatile bituminous coals from eastern Kentucky would emit less Hg than lower rank coals from other USA regions.  相似文献   

The future of applied tracers in hydrogeology     

Craig E. Divine  Jeffrey J. McDonnell 《Hydrogeology Journal》2005,13(1):255-258

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Effects of pressure on aqueous chemical equilibria at subzero temperatures with applications to Europa     

Giles M. Marion  Jeffrey S. Kargel  Scott D. Jakubowski 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2005,69(2):259-274

Pressure plays a critical role in controlling aqueous geochemical processes in deep oceans and deep ice. The putative ocean of Europa could have pressures of 1200 bars or higher on the seafloor, a pressure not dissimilar to the deepest ocean basin on Earth (the Mariana Trench at 1100 bars of pressure). At such high pressures, chemical thermodynamic relations need to explicitly consider pressure. A number of papers have addressed the role of pressure on equilibrium constants, activity coefficients, and the activity of water. None of these models deal, however, with processes at subzero temperatures, which may be important in cold environments on Earth and other planetary bodies. The objectives of this work were to (1) incorporate a pressure dependence into an existing geochemical model parameterized for subzero temperatures (FREZCHEM), (2) validate the model, and (3) simulate pressure-dependent processes on Europa. As part of objective 1, we examined two models for quantifying the volumetric properties of liquid water at subzero temperatures: one model is based on the measured properties of supercooled water, and the other model is based on the properties of liquid water in equilibrium with ice.The relative effect of pressure on solution properties falls in the order: equilibrium constants(K) > activity coefficients (γ) > activity of water (a_w). The errors (%) in our model associated with these properties, however, fall in the order: γ > K > a_w. The transposition between K and γ is due to a more accurate model for estimating K than for estimating γ. Only activity coefficients are likely to be significantly in error. However, even in this case, the errors are likely to be only in the range of 2 to 5% up to 1000 bars of pressure. Evidence based on the pressure/temperature melting of ice and salt solution densities argue in favor of the equilibrium water model, which depends on extrapolations, for characterizing the properties of liquid water in electrolyte solutions at subzero temperatures, rather than the supercooled water model. Model-derived estimates of mixed salt solution densities and chemical equilibria as a function of pressure are in reasonably good agreement with experimental measurements.To demonstrate the usefulness of this low-temperature, high-pressure model, we examined two hypothetical cases for Europa. Case 1 dealt with the ice cover of Europa, where we asked the question: How far above the putative ocean in the ice layer could we expect to find thermodynamically stable brine pockets that could serve as habitats for life? For a hypothetical nonconvecting 20 km icy shell, this potential life zone only extends 2.8 km into the icy shell before the eutectic is reached. For the case of a nonconvecting icy shell, the cold surface of Europa precludes stable aqueous phases (habitats for life) anywhere near the surface. Case 2 compared chemical equilibria at 1 bar (based on previous work) with a more realistic 1460 bars of pressure at the base of a 100 km Europan ocean. A pressure of 1460 bars, compared to 1 bar, caused a 12 K decrease in the temperature at which ice first formed and a 11 K increase in the temperature at which MgSO₄·12H₂O first formed. Remarkably, there was only a 1.2 K decrease in the eutectic temperatures between 1 and 1460 bars of pressure. Chemical systems and their response to pressure depend, ultimately, on the volumetric properties of individual constituents, which makes every system response highly individualistic.  相似文献   

Uranyl adsorption onto montmorillonite: Evaluation of binding sites and carbonate complexation   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Jeffrey G. Catalano  Gordon E. Brown Jr. 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2005,69(12):2995-3005

The fate and transport of uranium in contaminated soils and sediments may be affected by adsorption onto the surface of minerals such as montmorillonite. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy has been used to investigate the adsorption of uranyl (UO₂²⁺) onto Wyoming montmorillonite. At low pH (∼4) and low ionic strength (10⁻³ M), uranyl has an EXAFS spectrum indistinguishable from the aqueous uranyl cation, indicating binding via cation exchange. At near-neutral pH (∼7) and high ionic strength (1 M), the equatorial oxygen shell of uranyl is split, indicating inner-sphere binding to edge sites. Linear-combination fitting of the spectra of samples reacted under conditions where both types of binding are possible reveals that cation exchange at low ionic strengths on SWy-2 may be more important than predicted by past surface complexation models of U(VI) adsorption on related montmorillonites. Analysis of the binding site on the edges of montmorillonite suggests that U(VI) sorbs preferentially to [Fe(O,OH)₆] octahedral sites over [Al(O,OH)₆] sites. When bound to edge sites, U(VI) occurs as uranyl-carbonato ternary surface complexes in systems equilibrated with atmospheric CO₂. Polymeric surface complexes were not observed under any of the conditions studied. Current surface complexation models of uranyl sorption on clay minerals may need to be reevaluated to account for the possible increased importance of cation exchange reactions at low ionic strengths, the presence of reactive octahedral iron surface sites, and the formation of uranyl-carbonato ternary surface complexes. Considering the adsorption mechanisms observed in this study, future studies of U(VI) transport in the environment should consider how uranium retardation will be affected by changes in key solution parameters, such as pH, ionic strength, exchangeable cation composition, and the presence or absence of CO₂.  相似文献   

Isotopic variability in the aragonite shells of freshwater gastropods living in springs with nearly constant temperature and isotopic composition     

Timothy M. Shanahan  Jeffrey S. Pigati  David L. Dettman  Jay Quade 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2005,69(16):3949-3966

We conducted a year-long, intensive monitoring program of live aquatic gastropods (Helisoma duryi, Melanoides tuberculata, Physa virgata, Pyrgulopsis sp., and Tyronia sp.) and their host springs in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge of southern Nevada. Our purpose was to constrain the degree of natural variation in the isotopic values of shell aragonite for gastropods living in near-constant conditions. Inter- and intraspecies variations, as well as within-shell variations, of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values for all taxa were larger than predicted based on variations in environmental conditions alone. This result suggests that different organisms growing in identical or nearly identical environmental conditions may not produce shells with equilibrium isotopic compositions and that these offsets from equilibrium may differ by small, but statistically significant amounts. For the gill-breathing, fully aquatic gastropods M. tuberculata, Pyrgulopsis sp., and Tyronia sp., the deviation of measured isotopic values compared to predicted values based on average environmental conditions were consistent with differences between taxa in the seasonal timing of shell growth. Measured values for the lung-breathing gastropods H. duryi and P. virgata were higher for δ¹⁸O and lower for δ¹³C than predicted at isotopic equilibrium, even when accounting for seasonality effects. We suggest that explaining the differences between the shell isotopic composition of lung- and gill-breathing snails requires a combination of both behavioral and physiologic factors. Our results illustrate the potential complexities of interpreting stable isotopic data from fossil gastropod shells even when environmental conditions are nearly constant, and place limitations on the paleoenvironmental deductions that can be made from the isotopic measurements on fossil gastropods.  相似文献   

Assessing regional‐scale spatio‐temporal patterns of groundwater–surface water interactions using a coupled SWAT‐MODFLOW model          下载免费PDF全文

Ryan T. Bailey  Tyler C. Wible  Mazdak Arabi  Rosemary M. Records  Jeffrey Ditty 《水文研究》2016,30(23):4420-4433

Interaction between groundwater and surface water in watersheds has significant impacts on water management and water rights, nutrient loading from aquifers to streams, and in‐stream flow requirements for aquatic species. Of particular importance are the spatial patterns of these interactions. This study explores the spatio‐temporal patterns of groundwater discharge to a river system in a semi‐arid region, with methods applied to the Sprague River Watershed (4100 km²) within the Upper Klamath Basin in Oregon, USA. Patterns of groundwater–surface water interaction are explored throughout the watershed during the 1970–2003 time period using a coupled SWAT‐MODFLOW model tested against streamflow, groundwater level and field‐estimated reach‐specific groundwater discharge rates. Daily time steps and coupling are used, with groundwater discharge rates calculated for each model computational point along the stream. Model results also are averaged by month and by year to determine seasonal and decadal trends in groundwater discharge rates. Results show high spatial variability in groundwater discharge, with several locations showing no groundwater/surface water interaction. Average annual groundwater discharge is 20.5 m³/s, with maximum and minimum rates occurring in September–October and March–April, respectively. Annual average rates increase by approximately 0.02 m³/s per year over the 34‐year period, negligible compared with the average annual rate, although 70% of the stream network experiences an increase in groundwater discharge rate between 1970 and 2003. Results can assist with water management, identifying potential locations of heavy nutrient mass loading from the aquifer to streams and ecological assessment and planning focused on locations of high groundwater discharge. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Stratigraphy of Pleistocene glaciations in the St Elias Mountains,southwest Yukon,Canada          下载免费PDF全文

Derek G. Turner  Brent C. Ward  Duane G. Froese  Michel Lamothe  Jeffrey D. Bond  Nancy H. Bigelow 《Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research》2016,45(3):521-536

At least five Middle to Late Pleistocene advances of the northern Cordilleran Ice Sheet are preserved at Silver Creek, on the northeastern edge of the St Elias Mountains in southwest Yukon, Canada. Silver Creek is located 100 km up‐ice of the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 McConnell glacial limit of the St Elias lobe. This site contains ~3 km of nearly continuous lateral exposure of glacial and non‐glacial sediments, including multiple tills separated by thick gravel, loess and tilted lake beds. Infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and AMS radiocarbon dating constrain the glacial deposits to MIS 2, 4, either MIS 6 or mid‐MIS 7, and two older Middle Pleistocene advances. This chronology and the tilt of the lake beds suggest Pleistocene uplift rates of up to 1.9 mm a^?1 along the Denali Fault since MIS 7. The non‐glacial sediment consists of sand, gravel, loess and organic beds from MIS 7, MIS 3 and the early Holocene. The MIS 3 deposits date to between 30–36 ¹⁴C ka BP, making Silver Creek one of the few well‐constrained MIS 3‐aged sites in Yukon. This confirms that ice receded close to modern limits in MIS 3. Pollen and macrofossil analyses show that a meadow‐tundra to steppe‐tundra mosaic with abundant herbs and forbs and few shrubs or trees, dominated the environment at this time. The stratigraphy at Silver Creek provides a palaeoclimatic record since at least MIS 8 and comprises the oldest direct record of Pleistocene glaciation in southwest Yukon.  相似文献   

Segmentation and kinematics of the North America‐Caribbean plate boundary offshore Hispaniola          下载免费PDF全文

Sylvie Leroy  Nadine Ellouz‐Zimmermann  Jordane Corbeau  Frédérique Rolandone  Bernard Mercier de Lépinay  Bertrand Meyer  Roberte Momplaisir  José‐Luis Granja Bruña  Anne Battani  Céline Baurion  Evgueni Burov  Valérie Clouard  Rémy Deschamps  Christian Gorini  Youri Hamon  Manfred Lafosse  Jottin Leonel  Laetitia Le Pourhiet  Pilar Llanes Estrada  Nicolas Loget  Francis Lucazeau  Daniel Pillot  Jeffrey Poort  Kevin R. Tankoo  José‐Luis Cuevas  José‐Fernando Alcaide  Claude Jean Poix  Alfonso Muñoz‐Martin  Serge Mitton  Yamil Rodriguez  Julien Schmitz  Leonardo Seeber  Andres Carbo‐Gorosabel  Santiago Muñoz 《地学学报》2015,27(6):467-478

We explored the submarine portions of the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden Fault zone (EPGFZ) and the Septentrional–Oriente Fault zone (SOFZ) along the Northern Caribbean plate boundary using high‐resolution multibeam echo‐sounding and shallow seismic reflection. The bathymetric data shed light on poorly documented or previously unknown submarine fault zones running over 200 km between Haiti and Jamaica (EPGFZ) and 300 km between the Dominican Republic and Cuba (SOFZ). The primary plate‐boundary structures are a series of strike‐slip fault segments associated with pressure ridges, restraining bends, step overs and dogleg offsets indicating very active tectonics. Several distinct segments 50–100 km long cut across pre‐existing structures inherited from former tectonic regimes or bypass recent morphologies formed under the current strike‐slip regime. Along the most recent trace of the SOFZ, we measured a strike‐slip offset of 16.5 km, which indicates steady activity for the past ~1.8 Ma if its current GPS‐derived motion of 9.8 ± 2 mm a^?1 has remained stable during the entire Quaternary.  相似文献   

Organic Carbon in the Surface Sediments from the Intensive Mariculture Zone of Sanggou Bay: Distribution,Seasonal Variations and Sources     

SUI Juanjuan  ZHANG Jihong  REN S.Jeffrey  LIN Fan 《中国海洋大学学报(英文版)》2019,(4)

Mariculture has rapidly grown worldwide, which might greatly influence the biogeochemical cycle of organic carbon in coastal seas. In this study, several geochemical parameters, including grain size composition, sedimentary total organic carbon(TOC), total nitrogen(TN), stable carbon(δ13 C) and nitrogen(δ15 N) isotopic compositions, were analyzed for surface sediments collected from different mariculture zones of Sanggou Bay and in different seasons. We investigated the composition and distribution of organic matter in surface sediments and further evaluated the contribution of mariculture activities to TOC sources. The TOC and TN contents(mass percentage) in the bay were in the range of 0.14% to 1.45% and 0.03% to 0.20%, respectively. The spatial distribution indicated that sedimentary TOC and TN contents in shellfish monoculture and shellfish-kelp polyculture zones were higher than in other mariculture zones, which might be related to grain size composition and mariculture organisms. Seasonal variations of TOC contents were observed in different mariculture zones. The TOC/TN atomic ratio(C/N), δ13 C and δ15 N were in the ranges of 5.97 to 10.97,-21.76‰ to-13.14‰ and 2.13‰ to 8.08‰, respectively, implying that sedimentary organic matter in Sanggou Bay was the mixture of marine phytoplankton, terrestrial and maricultural sources. A simple mixing model based on δ13 C was applied and the results indicated that the relative contributions of organic carbon sources in Sanggou Bay followed the order kelp(36.6%) ? marine phytoplankton(28.7%) ? shellfish bio-deposition(23.8%) ? terrestrial input(10.9%). Surface sediments in Sanggou Bay were dominated by mariculture-derived organic carbon, which on average accounted for 60.4% of TOC.  相似文献   

A hydropedological approach to simulate streamflow and soil water contents with SWAT+     

Johan van Tol  Katrin Bieger  Jeffrey G. Arnold 《水文研究》2021,35(6):e14242

Reflecting internal catchment hydrological processes in hydrological models is important for accurate predictions of the impact of climate and land-use change on water resources. Characterizing these processes is however difficult and expensive due to their dynamic nature and spatio-temporal variability. Hydropedology is a relatively new discipline focusing on the synergistic integration of hydrology, soil physics and pedology. Hydropedological interpretations of soils and soil distribution can be used to characterize key hydrological processes, especially in areas with no or limited hydrometric measurements. Here we applied a hydropedological approach to reflect flowpaths through detailed routing in SWAT+ for a 157 ha catchment (Weatherley) in South Africa. We compared the hydropedological approach and a standard (no routing) approach against measured streamflow (two weirs) and soil water contents (13 locations). The catchment was treated as ‘ungauged’ and the model was not calibrated against hydrometric measurements in order to determine the direct contribution of hydropedology on modelling efficiency. Streamflow was predicted well without calibration (NSE > 0.8; R² > 0.82) for both approaches at both weirs. The standard approach yielded slightly better streamflow predictions. The hydropedological approach resulted in considerable improvements in the simulation of soil water contents (R² increased from 0.40 to 0.49 and PBIAS decreased from 40% to 20%). The routing capacity of SWAT+ as employed in the hydropedological approach reduced the underestimation of wetland water regimes drastically and resulted in a more accurate representation of the dominant hydrological processes in this catchment. We concluded that hydropedology can be a valuable source of ‘soft data’ to reflect internal catchment structure and processes and, potentially, for realistic calibrations in other studies, especially those conducted in areas with limited hydrometric measurements.  相似文献