Trace elements in sediments and bioaccumulation in European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) from a Mediterranean lagoon (SE Italy)

Samples of surface sediments and tissues (liver and muscle) of commercially available European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) collected from Varano lagoon (Italy) were analysed to determine trace element contents. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to highlight both the differences between sampling sites and the influence of channel discharges. Atomic ratios indices for sediment data and biological enrichment factors (BEF) for eel tissues were calculated in order to evaluate the enrichment factor due to human activities. The highest levels of As (11.9?µg?g^?1) and Zn (14.1?µg?g^?1) were observed in the south-eastern zone of the lagoon, which is influenced by urban and agricultural discharges. The low levels of Hg observed in this study (0.04?µg?g^?1) led us to exclude both natural and human local sources of this element. Trace element concentrations of all elements were lower in muscle than in liver tissue. Significant enrichment of Cu and Zn was found in livers.     

The comparison of different mathematical methods to determine the BOD parameters,a new developed method and impacts of these parameters variations on the design of WWTPs

One of the most common tests for the determination of strength and organic content of wastewater is the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). This test is widely applied to define organic water pollution and to control the performance of wastewater treatment plants. Generally, BOD is standardized by the measurement of oxygen consumption in 5 days (BOD₅). But, determination of the ultimate biochemical oxygen demand (BOD_u), which is taken 28 days and the reaction rate constant (k) are necessary to understand the organic strength of the wastewater. In this study, the different mathematical methods in order to determine the BOD parameters (BOD_u, k) and two different BOD test method (respirometer and dilution method) are investigated comparatively. Also, a new method based on cubic spline method to estimate ultimate BOD values is developed. Moreover, the impacts of BOD parameters on the design of an activated sludge and aerated lagoon systems are analyzed by using a written user-friend program, which is developed for designing WWTPs by the mean of C++ programming language.     

N-way modelling of sediment monitoring data from Mar Menor lagoon, Spain

The present paper deals with the application of Tucker3 modelling to a sediment monitoring data set from the area of Mar Menor coastal lagoon (Spain). The aim of the study is to model and interpret the fractionation of heavy metals in the suspended particulate matter and sediment fractions resulting by sedimentation processes. Since the lagoon is seriously influenced by anthropogenic activities the modelling aims an assessment of the environmental hazard, too. After application of various scaling and centering procedures and estimation of the model dimensionality, an optimal (3, 3, 3) Tucker3 model was chosen for data interpretation. Using the model output (factor loadings connected to the four main core elements) it could be concluded that the heavy metal concentrations in the suspended particulate matter and sediment fractions increase in order Cu > Mn > Zn ≈ Pb > Cd and could be examined as estimation of basic levels for all heavy metals caused by different sedimentation processes. The second important core element summarizes the anthropogenic influence of the mining activity in the region. The third important core element shows the different mobility of the heavy metals. The fourth important core element should be related to the specific sediment formation at one of the sampling location.     

Characterization of Sediments in Aerated Lagoons and Waste Stabilization Ponds

Abstract

Sediments affect the performance of aerated lagoons and waste stabilization ponds in many ways. This paper presents the results of a three years study conducted on real-size facilities and implementing numerous analytical procedures. Sediment accumulation rates and physico-chemical characteristics are described as well as their activity in terms of oxygen consumption and exchange rates with overlying waters.

The deposits had a mean accumulation rate of 4.7 cm per year, their main characteristics being low viscosity and high organic content (>30%). They also accumulated numerous organic and mineral compounds, such as nutrients and heavy metals. Vertical concentration profiles, measured in the sediment and interstitial liquid phases, are presented and discussed. These results emphasize the importance of surface activity.

Sediment oxygen demand, which can be divided into biological and chemical components, ranged from 1 to 3 gO₂/m²·d. Finally, the exchange rates of COD, nitrates, ammonia and orthophosphates existing at sediment-water interface were quantified under several redox conditions and substrate additions.     

An unstructured finite‐volume method for coupled models of suspended sediment and bed load transport in shallow‐water flows

The aim of this work is to develop a well‐balanced finite‐volume method for the accurate numerical solution of the equations governing suspended sediment and bed load transport in two‐dimensional shallow‐water flows. The modelling system consists of three coupled model components: (i) the shallow‐water equations for the hydrodynamical model; (ii) a transport equation for the dispersion of suspended sediments; and (iii) an Exner equation for the morphodynamics. These coupled models form a hyperbolic system of conservation laws with source terms. The proposed finite‐volume method consists of a predictor stage for the discretization of gradient terms and a corrector stage for the treatment of source terms. The gradient fluxes are discretized using a modified Roe's scheme using the sign of the Jacobian matrix in the coupled system. A well‐balanced discretization is used for the treatment of source terms. In this paper, we also employ an adaptive procedure in the finite‐volume method by monitoring the concentration of suspended sediments in the computational domain during its transport process. The method uses unstructured meshes and incorporates upwinded numerical fluxes and slope limiters to provide sharp resolution of steep sediment concentrations and bed load gradients that may form in the approximate solutions. Details are given on the implementation of the method, and numerical results are presented for two idealized test cases, which demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method and its applicability in predicting dam‐break flows over erodible sediment beds. The method is also applied to a sediment transport problem in the Nador lagoon.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship between heavy metal distribution in sediment samples and their ecotoxicity by the use of the Hasse diagram technique

Many studies assessing the quality of sediments and their pollution impact use monitoring data consisting predominantly of chemical indicators. Recently, ecotoxicity estimates have been used as very important parameters of the ecological state of sediment samples. Thus, a more complete sediment risk assessment is achieved and more reliable information on the sediment pollution history is extracted. The data interpretation could be improved if multivariate statistical techniques were applied to data classification, modelling and interpretation. The starting classification of the data was performed using self-organizing maps (SOM) approach in order to reveal specific relationship patterns for objects and for variables. The original element of the present study is the use of the Hasse diagram technique (HDT) for partial ordering in order to explain some specific relations between the chemical indicators analysed (heavy metal content in different sediment compartments) and the ecotoxicity tests for acute and chronic toxicity. In principle, a reliable estimate of the pollution impact of a large environmental object (the Mar Menor lagoon in Spain) is achieved. The specific role of each one of the five heavy metals involved (Zn, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Cd) is interpreted in the context of the additional ecotoxicity tests.     

海南岛清澜-八门湾潟湖潮汐水动力的模拟研究

基于DELFT3D模型研究了清澜-八门湾潟湖的水位分布和潮汐波内部结构，以及由于人类开垦引起的海岸线变化（以1962年、1985年和2008年为例）对潟湖水动力特性的影响。结果表明，清澜-八门湾潟湖潮汐是由多种分潮耦合而成的复杂驻波，其中K₁，O₁，M₂，S₂和M₄分潮的影响最大。由湾外向湾内传输，由于湾内红树林和浅滩引起的底部损耗增加，M₂，S₂，K₁和O₁分潮幅值减弱；M₄分潮幅值增强，表现出明显的浅水增幅效应；M₂和S₂分潮相位在文教河和文昌江领域表现出明显的干湿效应。不同年代海岸线的研究表明，1985年和2008年间，人类复垦导致潟湖及其潮汐汊道附近的红树林和滩涂区域严重破坏，海岸线缩减，引发了水位降低、纳潮量减少和潟湖潮汐汊道底摩擦弱化，从而削弱了干湿、潮呛和浅水效应。后果提示持续的人类复垦活动将会引发清澜-八门湾潮汐水动力环境的进一步恶化，可能导致未来发生更大的自然灾害。     

Effect of salinity on the concentrations of radioisotopes in the aquatic environment of a hypersaline coastal lagoon

Research of the effect of salinity on the fate of radionuclides has been focused on seas or estuarine systems while there is almost no information on marine environments with a salinity higher than that of sea water. The hypersaline Bardawil lagoon is a concentration basin, with evaporation exceeding precipitation. This study presents the characteristics of some environmental factors including salinity and their influence on the distribution of natural and artificial radionuclides in different compartments of the lagoon. The concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³⁴Th, ²²⁸Ra and ¹³⁷Cs in sediments show some degree of dependency on the water's salinity. Migration of these radionuclides in the lagoon's sediments must take place from high salinity to low-salinity regions. Cluster analysis revealed the data structure for sediment by separating ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K from ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³⁴Th and for sand by separating ⁴⁰K from the other radioisotopes.     

Nanoelectrode ensembles for the direct voltammetric determination of trace iodide in water

Procedures for the preparation and characterisation of ensembles of gold nanodisk electrodes (NEE) of 30 nm diameter are presented, in particular focusing on improvements in the signal/background current ratios and detection limits with respect to the electrochemical oxidation of iodide and its analytical determination in water samples. At NEEs iodide undergoes a quasi-reversible diffusion controlled oxidation with a slight shift in E _1/2 values and slightly higher peak to peak separation with respect to conventional gold disk electrodes. The double layer charging current at the NEE is significantly lower than at conventional electrodes so that the detection limit (DL) by cyclic voltammetry with NEEs in tap water is significantly lower than DL at the Au-disk millimetre-sized electrode (DL 0.3 µM at NEE vs. 4 µM for Au-disk). Finally, it is shown that NEEs in combination with square wave voltammetry can be applied for the direct determination of iodide in water samples from the lagoon of Venice, with a detection limit of 0.10 µM.     

Determination of natural and synthetic estrogenic compounds in coastal lagoon waters by HPLC-electrospray-mass spectrometry

A new analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of estrogenic compounds of natural (estradiol, estriol, estrone) and synthetic origin, both steroidal (ethinylestradiol, mestranol) and non-steroidal (benzophenone, bisphenol-A, diethylstilbestrol, octylphenol, nonylphenol, nonylphenol monoethoxylate carboxylate), in environmental aqueous samples by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap-mass spectrometry via electrospray interface (HPLC-ESI-IT-MS). Quantitative MS detection was performed in the negative mode for all compounds except mestranol and benzophenone, which were detected under positive ion conditions. Very low method detection limits (MDLs), between 0.1 and 2.6?ng/L, were achieved in coastal lagoon water samples, while the developed solid-phase-extraction (SPE) procedure permitted simultaneous recovery of all analytes from spiked water samples with yields >70% (7–11 RSD%), except estriol and benzophenone, which were recovered with 60% (9 RSD%) and 50% (11 RSD%) yields, respectively. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of Venice (Italy) lagoon waters, where average concentrations of selected compounds in the 2.8–33?ng/L concentration range were found.