Finite element approximations to one‐phase nonlinear free boundary problem in groundwater contamination flow

In this article, we consider a single‐phase coupled nonlinear Stefan problem of the water‐head and concentration equations with nonlinear source and permeance terms and a Dirichlet boundary condition depending on the free‐boundary function. The problem is very important in subsurface contaminant transport and remediation, seawater intrusion and control, and many other applications. While a Landau type transformation is introduced to immobilize the free boundary, a transformation for the water‐head and concentration functions is defined to deal with the nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition, which depends on the free boundary function. An H¹‐finite element method for the problem is then proposed and analyzed. The existence of the approximation solution is established, and error estimates are obtained for both the semi‐discrete schemes and the fully discrete schemes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

Degradation of the Herbicide Bromoxynil in Batch Cultures Under Groundwater Conditions

Abstract

The biological degradation of bromoxynil (3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxybenzonitrile) under simulated groundwater conditions was investigated. The influence of aerobic and anaerobic conditions on the degradation rate was examined in batch cultures at 8[ddot]C during 32 days. The cultures consisted of 400 ml groundwater plus 2000 ml salt basal medium. Final bromoxynil concentration was I mg/1. Incubation was carried out with and without 100 mg/1 acetate added as carbon source. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), oxygen, nitrate and sulphate, bacterial number (CFU), enzymatic hydrolysis of fluorescein-di-acetate (FDA), and bromoxynil concentration was estimated along the test. Only anaerobic, nitrate reducing conditions caused biodegradation of bromoxynil after 17-21 days. The addition of acetate delayed this process, although the complete degradation after 32 days in both tests amounted to 99%. In spite of a high bioactivity, no degradation of bromoxynil could be found under aerobic conditions within 32 days.     

Modeling Biogeochemical Processes in Leachate-Contaminated Soils: A Review

During subsurface transport, reactive solutes are subject to a variety of hydrological, physical and biochemical processes. The major hydrological and physical processes include advection, diffusion and hydrodynamic dispersion, and key biochemical processes are aqueous complexation, precipitation/dissolution, adsorption/desorption, microbial reactions, and redox transformations. The addition of strongly reduced landfill leachate to an aquifer may lead to the development of different redox environments depending on factors such as the redox capacities and reactivities of the reduced and oxidised compounds in the leachate and the aquifer. The prevailing redox environment is key to understanding the fate of pollutants in the aquifer. The local hydrogeologic conditions such as hydraulic conductivity, ion exchange capacity, and buffering capacity of the soil are also important in assessing the potential for groundwater pollution. Attenuating processes such as bacterial growth and metal precipitation, which alter soil characteristics, must be considered to correctly assess environmental impact. A multicomponent reactive solute transport model coupled to kinetic biodegradation and precipitation/dissolution model, and geochemical equilibrium model can be used to assess the impact of contaminants leaking from landfills on groundwater quality. The fluid flow model can also be coupled to the transport model to simulate the clogging of soils using a relationship between permeability and change in soil porosity. This paper discusses the different biogeochemical processes occurring in leachate-contaminated soils and the modeling of the transport and fate of organic and inorganic contaminants under such conditions.     

Calculation of the Accessibility Number and the Neighbor Integrity of a Graph

We calculate stability numbers of Butterfly and Omega networks used in computer science.We describe relations between the neighbor integrity and the accessibility number of these networks.     

A network efficiency measure with application to critical infrastructure networks

In this paper, we demonstrate how a new network performance/efficiency measure, which captures demands, flows, costs, and behavior on networks, can be used to assess the importance of network components and their rankings. We provide new results regarding the measure, which we refer to as the Nagurney–Qiang measure, or, simply, the N–Q measure, and a previously proposed one, which did not explicitly consider demands and flows. We apply both measures to such critical infrastructure networks as transportation networks and the Internet and further explore the new measure through an application to an electric power generation and distribution network in the form of a supply chain. The Nagurney and Qiang network performance/efficiency measure that captures flows and behavior can identify which network components, that is, nodes and links, have the greatest impact in terms of their removal and, hence, are important from both vulnerability as well as security standpoints.     

基于镭同位素示踪的青海湖金沙湾沿岸地下水排放研究

青海湖作为我国内陆最大的咸水湖,针对其水域的研究具有重要的环境意义。采集青海湖金沙湾沿岸9个间隙水样,2个井水样,1个湖水样以及2个降水样。调查研究了青海湖金沙湾间隙水溶解态镭同位素活度的空间分布情况,发现间隙水中²²³Ra和²²⁴Ra的平均活度为3.5 dpm/100 L和162.6 dpm/100 L,均高于井水和湖水。通过对沿湖岸线水平向和垂直向的间隙水镭同位素活度分布研究发现,金沙湾间隙水镭同位素活度随离岸距离的增大而增大、随深度的加深而减小,这与湖水镭同位素活度随离岸距离的变化规律相反。结合镭同位素活度随盐度的变化,发现湖水与间隙水在离岸30 m左右发生了交换,交换深度在1 m以下。最后,通过水平涡动扩散模型估算了金沙湾沿岸表层地下水的排放通量为0.20 m3·m^-2·d^-1。     

Determination of Small Dialkyl Organophosphonates at Microgram/L Concentrations in Contaminated Groundwaters Using Multiple Extraction Membrane Disks

Abstract

Di-isopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) and dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), which are manufacturing by-products of. and surrogate compounds for, the nerve agents Sarin (GB) and VX, respectively, are readily quantitated at microgram per liter concentrations in contaminated groundwaters. Aqueous samples (typically 1 L) are first fortified with triethylphosphate (TEP) as a surrogate, then passed through a “sandwiched” set of three preconditioned extraction disks consisting of the following (in filtration order): (a) glass fiber filter, to remove unwanted particulate matter; (b) C₁₈-based extraction disk, to collect DIMP; and (c) carbon-based extraction disk, to collect DMMP. The glass fiber filter is discarded; the two extraction disks are dried and extracted with a small volume of methanol. After the extract is fortified with diethyl ethylphosphonate (DEEP) internal standard, it is analyzed using a gas chromatograph equipped with a nitrogen-phosphorus detector (NPD). Quantitation of DMMP, DIMP, and TEP is performed using the method of internal standards.

The procedure was used to obtain statistically-unbiased reporting limits for a “regulatory” criterion of 0.39 μg/L and a “pump and treat” criterion of 2 μg/L for both analytes. Two standardized protocols were used to validate a detection limit of 0.20 μg/L for DMMP and 0.48 μg/L for DIMP when the regulatory criterion was used as the “target concentration.” When the “pump and treat” criterion was used as the “target concentration,” the detection limits for both DMMP and DIMP were both 2 μg/L using the same protocols as for the “regulatory” criterion. The method recovery is approximately 40–50%, based on synthetic groundwaters containing between 0.2–50 μg/L of each analyte. DIMP and DMMP are cleanly resolved from each other, the internal standard, the surrogate, and the potential interference trimethylphosphate (TMP).     

87Sr/86Sr-Untersuchungen an Grundwässern des Berliner Urstromtales

From a sector within an extended Tertiary basin 21 groundwater samples as well as 3 rock samples of a Zechslein diapir were analysed for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr-ralio. As a tendency the isotope ratio of the dissolved strontium is decreasing with increasing depth and strontium content. Furthermore, strontium content and salinity are correlated. With two exceptions the isotope data are in the range between about 0.7080 and 0.7100. Significant differences in the strontium isotope composition were found between the Zechstein salts and the typical groundwaters. This shows, that the Zechstein diapir can not be the source of the higher salinity in parts of the groundwater system. The results are discussed.     

The isotope altitude effect reflected in groundwater: a case study from Slovenia

This paper presents the stable isotope data of oxygen (δ¹⁸O) and hydrogen (δ²H) in groundwater from 83 sampling locations in Slovenia and their interpretation. The isotopic composition of water was monitored over 3 years (2009–2011), and each location was sampled twice. New findings on the isotopic composition of sampled groundwater are presented, and the data are also compared to past studies regarding the isotopic composition of precipitation, surface water, and groundwater in Slovenia. This study comprises: (1) the general characteristics of the isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen in groundwater in Slovenia, (2) the spatial distribution of oxygen isotope composition (δ¹⁸O) and d-excess in groundwater, (3) the groundwater isotope altitude effect, (4) the correlation between groundwater d-excess and the recharge area altitude of the sampling location, (5) the relation between hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in groundwater in comparison to the global precipitation isotope data, (6) the groundwater isotope effect of distance from the sea, and (7) the estimated relation between the mean temperature of recharge area and δ¹⁸O in groundwater.