Forgot your password?
New user?
New Window Opens on the Secret Life of Microbes: Scientists Develop First Microbial Profiles of Ecosystems
CAS announces the release of SciFinder Scholar for Mac OS X
Press Releases
Press Releases
| Check out our New Publishers' Select for Free Articles |
Aquatic Geochemistry (v.12, #4)
Formation of iron-containing colloids by the weathering of phyllite by Harald Zänker; Gudrun Hüttig; Thuro Arnold; Heino Nitsche (pp. 299-325).
The formation of colloids during the weathering of phyllite was investigated by exposing ground phyllite to Milli-Q water. Secondary mineral colloids of 101–102 nm were detected in significant concentrations. At pH of about 8.5, the solution concentration of these colloids reached up to 10 mg/L (however, acidification to pH 4.0 prevented the formation of the colloids). The mineralogical composition of the secondary mineral colloids is assumed to be a mixture of ferrihydrite, manganese oxyhydroxides, aluminosilicates, amorphous Al(OH)3 and gibbsite with possible additions of iron silicates and␣iron-alumino silicates. The colloids were stable over longer periods of time (at least several weeks), even in the presence of suspended ground rock. Direct formation of iron-containing secondary mineral colloids at the rock–water interface by the weathering of rock material is an alternative to the well-known mechanism of iron colloid formation in the bulk of water bodies by mixing of different waters or by aeration of anoxic waters. This direct mechanism is of relevance for colloid production during the weathering of freshly crushed rock in the unsaturated zone as for instance crushed rock in mine waste rock piles. Colloids produced by this mechanism, too, can influence the transport of contaminants such as actinides because these colloids have a large specific surface area and a high sorption affinity.
Keywords: Weathering; Colloids; Centrifugation; Ferrihydrite; Aluminosilicates; Aluminum hydroxide; Unsaturated zone
A revised dynamic model for suspended particulate matter (SPM) in coastal areas by Lars Håkanson (pp. 327-364).
This paper presents a general, process-based model for suspended particulate matter (SPM) in defined coastal areas (the ecosystem scale). The model is based on ordinary differential equations and the calculation time (dt) is 1 month to reflect seasonal variations. The model has been tested using data from 17 Baltic coastal areas of different character and shown to predict mean monthly SPM-concentrations in water and Secchi depth (a measure of water clarity) very well (generally within the uncertainty bands given by the empirical data). The model is based on processes regulating inflow, outflow and internal fluxes. The separation between the surface-water layer and the deep-water layer is not done in the traditional manner from water temperature data but from sedimentological criteria (from the wave base which regulates where wind/wave-induced resuspension occurs). The model calculates the primary production of SPM (within the coastal areas), resuspension, sedimentation, mixing, mineralization and retention of SPM. The SPM-model is simple to apply in practice since all driving variables may be readily accessed from maps or regular monitoring programs. The model has also been extensively tested by means of sensitivity and uncertainty tests and the most important factor regulating model predictions of SPM-concentrations in coastal water is generally the value used for the SPM-concentration in the sea outside the given coastal area. The obligatory driving variables include four morphometric parameters (coastal area, section area, mean and maximum depth), latitude (to predict surface water and deep water temperatures, stratification and mixing), salinity, chlorophyll and the Secchi depth or SPM-concentration in the sea outside the given coastal area. Many of the structures in the model are general and could potentially be used for coastal areas other than those included in this study, e.g., for open coasts, estuaries or areas influenced by tidal variations.
Keywords: Suspended particulate matter; SPM; Coastal areas; Dynamic model; Validation; Predictive power
Membrane effects during filtering investigation of membrane effects during filtering of natural surface waters in Missouri by Rosanna Saindon; T. M. Whitworth (pp. 365-374).
Previous work has demonstrated that suspended clay accumulating on filter paper can act as a membrane and affect chemical concentrations in the filtered water. For this reason, we looked at the possibility of membrane effects altering water chemistry during filtering for Missouri Rivers. Membrane effects during filtering could cause an initial decrease in sample concentrations as the filter cake began acting as a membrane, with a corresponding increase of concentration as the concentration polarization layer was formed behind the filter cake. Samples from five Missouri rivers were tested: the Mississippi River at St. Louis, the Missouri River at Kansas City, the Gasconade River at Jerome, the Osage River at the junction of Highway 63 and 50, and the Meramec River one mile downstream from springs. Three 1-l samples were filtered from each river using a 0.45 $$mu$$ m filter. An unfiltered sample from each river underwent dialysis to determine the actual ion concentrations of the overall sample. None of the filtered samples demonstrated a statistically significant alteration of water chemistry using current filtering techniques in this preliminary study, suggesting that membrane effects due to accumulation of clay particles on filter paper may not be a common problem in Missouri and similar regions.
Keywords: Filter; Clay; Surface water; Membrane; Reverse osmosis
Effects of pH and Ca competition on complexation of cadmium by fulvic acids and by natural organic ligands from a river and a lake by Jun Cao; Hanbin Xue; Laura Sigg (pp. 375-387).
The technique of competitive ligand-exchange/anodic stripping voltammetry (CLE-SV) was used to investigate effects of pH and Ca concentration on cadmium complexation by fulvic acid (FA), as well as Cd speciation in two different freshwaters, a hardwater Lake Greifen and a softwater River Wyre. Binding of Cd to Suwannee river FA (10 mg/l) was determined at different pH (7–8.5) and in the presence of various concentration of Ca2+ (0–2 mmol/l). The results from one-ligand discrete models were compared to simulations by the WHAM VI model. In Lake Greifen, the determined dissolved [Cd2+] ranged from 10−13 to 10−12 mol/l, and the conditional stability constant with natural ligands was log K CdL about 9.5–10.5 (pH 8.6–8.8) with ligand concentrations of 1.2–7.8 × 10−6 mol/g C. In the softwater River Wyre, dissolved [Cd2+] ranged from 4 × 10−12 to 1 × 10−11 mol/l, and the ligands were weaker (log K CdL 8.9–9.8, pH 8.0) with lower ligand concentrations (0.9–2.3 × 10−6 mol/g C). The titration curves of FA samples were close to the simulated curves by the WHAM VI model at pH 8.0–8.5, but deviated more from the model at lower pH, indicating that the results determined with CLE-SV for Cd-FA complexation are relevant to the data base in the model. Calculation of the Ca competition for Cd binding by FA showed a competition effect of similar strength as the measured one, but indicated a systematic difference between measured and modeled data at pH 7.5. Using the WHAM model for comparison with FA, the complexation of Cd by the River Wyre ligands was close to that of FA, whereas stronger complexation was observed in the Lake Greifen water. These differences may originate from different ligand composition in the lake and the river.
Keywords: FA complexation; pH; Calcium; Cd speciation
CO2 air–sea exchange due to calcium carbonate and organic matter storage, and its implications for the global carbon cycle
by Abraham Lerman; Fred T. Mackenzie (pp. 389-390).