Initial floristic composition of rehabilitated gullies through bioengineering in the Mixteca Region, Sierra Madre del Sur, Mexico

Re-vegetation plays a fundamental role for erosion control and plant recovery in lands affected by gully erosion. Bioengineered practices facilitate the gullies rehabilitation. Objectives of the research were: 1) Identify taxonomically the pioneer vegetation on each gully section; 2) Characterize vegetation distribution preferences and 3) Assess structural/functional traits to recognize erosion control key species. Bioengineering was applied in a watershed belonging to Sierra Madre del Sur, at Oaxaca, Mexico, on eight gullies, with local support and minimal investment. "La Mixteca" is a poor ecological and socio-economic region, comparable to other regions of the world. The Initial Floristic Composition(IFC) inventory is the baseline of the successional process. The transect method was used to determine the colonization of species. Cover abundance of registered species was estimated using the semi-quantitative scale of Braun-Blanquet. This procedure was repeated in five different positions(floor, hillslopes and tops), in the cross section of the gully. Throughcorrespondence analysis and clustering, the distribution of species was analyzed. Adequate responses were obtained in soil retention(quantity) and plant cover(existence and diversity); as measurable indicators of the bioengeneering works efficiency. Occupation of soil by native species from the Tropical Deciduous Forest was favored using live barriers. We detected species guilds with spatial distribution preferences in the gullies cross section. Plant cover characterization includes: native colonizer species, herbaceous, shrubby and trees of the forest community bordering the gully area, with cover abundance and structural/functional traits, useful to protect degraded areas. This spatial occupation process of plants responds to a secondary succession in gullies, where the proposed IFC model is correctly represented through bioengineering. Natural establishment of plants was successful by traits of species such as extensive root system and sexual/vegetative reproduction.

Cokriging of Soil Cation Exchange Capacity Using the First Principal Component Derived from Soil Physico-Chemical Properties

As soil cation exchange capacity （CEC） is a vital indicator of soil quality and pollutant sequestration capacity,a study was conducted to evaluate cokriging of CEC with the principal components derived from soil physico-chemical properties.In Qingdao,China,107 soil samples were collected.Soil CEC was estimated by using 86 soil samples for prediction and 21 soil samples for test.The first two principal components （PC1 and PC2） together explained 60.2% of the total variance of soil physico-chemical properties.The PC1 was highly correlated with CEC （r=0.76,P0.01）,whereas there was no significant correlation between CEC and PC2 （r=0.03）.The PC1 was then used as an auxiliary variable for the prediction of soil CEC.Mean error （ME） and root mean square error （RMSE） of kriging for the test dataset were-1.76 and 3.67 cmolc kg-1,and ME and RMSE of cokriging for the test dataset were-1.47 and 2.95 cmolc kg-1,respectively.The cross-validation R2 for the prediction dataset was 0.24 for kriging and 0.39 for cokriging.The results show that cokriging with PC1 is more reliable than kriging for spatial interpolation.In addition,principal components have the highest potential for cokriging predictions when the principal components have good correlations with the primary variables.

Quantifying the impact of mineralogical heterogeneity on reactive transport modeling of CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching of uranium

CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching(ISL)of sandstonetype uranium ore represents the third generation of solution mining in China.In this study,reactive transport modeling of the interaction between hydrodynamic and geochemical reactions is performed to enable better prediction and regulation of the CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching process of uranium.Geochemical reactions between mining solutions and rock,and the kinetic uranium dissolution controlled by O_(2)(aq)and bicarbonate(HCO_(3)-)are considered in the CO_(2)+O_(2) ISL reactive transport model of a typical sandstone-hosted uranium ore deposit in northern China.The reactive leaching of uranium is most sensitive to the spatial distribution of the mineralogical properties of the uranium deposit.Stochastic geostatistical models are used to represent the uncertainty on the spatial distribution of mineral grades.A Monte Carlo analysis was also performed to simulate the uranium production variability over an entire set of geostatistical realizations.The ISL stochastic simulation performed with the selected geostatistical realizations approximates the uranium production variability well.The simulation results of the ISL reactive transport model show that the extent of the uranium plume is highly dependent on mineralogical heterogeneity.The uncertainty analysis suggests the effect of uranium grade heterogeneity was found to be important to improve the accurate capture of the uncertainty.This study provides guidance for the accurate simulation and dynamic regulation of the CO_(2)+O_(2) leaching process of uranium at the scale of large mining areas.

Application of ensemble H-infinity filter in aquifer characterization andcomparison to ensemble Kalman filter

Though the ensemble Kalman filter （EnKF） has been successfully applied in many areas, it requires explicit and accurate model and measurement error information, leading to difficulties in practice when only limited information on error mechanisms of observational in-struments for subsurface systems is accessible. To handle the uncertain errors, we applied a robust data assimilation algorithm, the ensemble H-infinity filter （EnHF）, to estimation of aquifer hydraulic heads and conductivities in a flow model with uncertain/correlated observational errors. The impacts of spatial and temporal correlations in measurements were analyzed, and the performance of EnHF was compared with that of the EnKF. The results show that both EnHF and EnKF are able to estimate hydraulic conductivities properly when observations are free of error; EnHF can provide robust estimates of hydraulic conductivities even when no observational error information is provided. In contrast, the estimates of EnKF seem noticeably undermined because of correlated errors and inaccurate error statistics, and filter divergence was observed. It is concluded that EnHF is an efficient assimilation algorithm when observational errors are unknown or error statistics are inaccurate.

Human impacts on runoff regime of middle and lower Yellow River

In this study, the 54-year （1950 to 2003） monthly runoff series from February, April, August, and November, as well as the annual runoff series, measured at both Huayuankou and Lijin hydrological stations were chosen as representative data, and the continuous wavelet transform （CWT） was applied to analyze the impacts of human activities on the runoff regime of the middle and lower Yellow River. A point of change in 1970 was first determined, and the observed series before 1970 were considered natural runoff while those after 1970 were restored according to linear trends. Then, the CWT was applied to both the observed and restored runoff series to reveal their variations at multi-temporal scales, including the five temporal ranges of 1-4, 6-8, 9-12, 16-22, and 22-30 years, and the trend at the temporal scale of 54 years. These analysis results are compared and discussed in detail. In conclusion, because of the impacts of human activities, there have been significant changes in the runoff regime in the middle and lower Yellow River since 1970. The decaying tendency of annual runoff has become more pronounced, and the inner-annual distribution of runoff has changed, but human activities have had little impact on the periodic characteristics of runoff.

Numerical modeling of water yield of mine in Yangzhuang Iron Mine, Anhui Province of China

This study develops a three-dimensional heterogeneous numerical model to simulate the water inrush process and predict the water yield for mineral exploration in Yangzhuang Iron Mine in Anhui Province. To identify the hydrogeological parameters of the aquifer in the study area, the model was calibrated and validated using the observed heads through the integrated trial-and-error and automated techniques. Also, the sensitivity analysis of the model was performed to evaluate the uncertainty associated with the calibrated model. According to the mine construction plan at different mining levels of-500 m,-600 m, and-700 m, the calibrated model was then applied to predict the water yields dependent on the different mining levels. As indicated by the prediction results, the numerical simulation model can systematically describe the groundwater system in the mining area and determine the source of water inrush in this iron mine. In conclusion, numerical analyses carried out in this study can provide guidance to decision-makers in balancing the iron ore mining and mine dewatering in the future.

Assessment of the Greenhouse Gas Footprint and Environmental Impact of CO_(2)and O_(2)in situ Uranium Leaching

Under the new development philosophy of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality,CO_(2)and O_(2)in situ leaching(ISL)has been identified as a promising technique for uranium mining in China,not only because it solves carbon dioxide utilization and sequestration,but it also alleviates the environmental burden.However,significant challenges exist in assessment of CO_(2)footprint and water-rock interactions,due to complex geochemical processes.Herein this study conducts a three-dimensional,multicomponent reactive transport model(RTM)of a field-scale CO_(2)and O_(2)ISL process at a typical sandstone-hosted uranium deposit in Songliao Basin,China.Numerical simulations are performed to provide new insight into quantitative interpretation of the greenhouse gas(CO_(2))footprint and environmental impact(SO_(4)^(2–))of the CO_(2)and O_(2)ISL,considering the potential chemical reaction network for uranium recovery at the field scale.RTM results demonstrate that the fate of the CO_(2)could be summarized as injected CO_(2)dissolution,dissolved CO_(2)mineralization and storage of CO_(2)as a gas phase during the CO_(2)and O_(2)ISL process.Furthermore,compared to acid ISL,CO_(2)and O_(2)ISL has a potentially smaller environmental footprint,with 20%of SO_(4)^(2–)concentration in the aquifer.The findings improve our fundamental understanding of carbon utilization in a long-term CO_(2)and O_(2)ISL system and provide important environmental implications when considering complex geochemical processes.

A Hybrid Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm for Optimal Groundwater Management under Variable Density Conditions

In this paper, a new hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm （MOEA）, the niched Pareto tabu search combined with a genetic algorithm （NPTSGA）, is proposed for the management of groundwater resources under variable density conditions. Relatively few MOEAs can possess global search ability contenting with intensified search in a local area. Moreover, the overall searching ability of tabu search （TS） based MOEAs is very sensitive to the neighborhood step size. The NPTSGA is developed on the thought of integrating the genetic algorithm （GA） with a TS based MOEA, the niched Pareto tabu search （NPTS）, which helps to alleviate both of the above difficulties. Here, the global search ability of the NPTS is improved by the diversification of candidate solutions arising from the evolving genetic algorithm population. Furthermore, the proposed methodology coupled with a density-dependent groundwater flow and solute transport simulator, SEAWAT, is developed and its performance is evaluated through a synthetic seawater intrusion management problem. Optimization results indicate that the NPTSGA offers a tradeoff between the two conflicting objectives. A key conclusion of this study is that the NPTSGA keeps the balance between the intensification of nondomination and the diversification of near Pareto-optimal solutions along the tradeoff curves and is a stable and robust method for implementing the multi-objective design of variable-density groundwater resources.

Modeling Residual Circulation and Stratification in Oujiang River Estuary

A 3D, time-dependent, baroclinic, hydrodynamic and salinity model was implemented and applied to the Oujiang River estuarine system in the East China Sea. The model was driven by the forcing of tidal elevations along the open boundaries and freshwater inflows from the Oujiang River. The bottom friction coefficient and vertical eddy viscosity were adjusted to complete model calibration and verification in simulations. It is demonstrated that the model is capable of reproducing observed temporal variability in the water surface elevation and longitudinal velocity, presenting skill coefficient higher than 0,82. This model was then used to investigate the influence of freshwater discharge on residual current and salinity intrusion under different freshwater inflow conditions in the Oujiang River estuary. The model results reveal that the river channel presents a two-layer structure with flood currents near the bottom and ebb currents at the top layer in the region of seawater influenced on north shore under high river flow condition. The river discharge is a major factor affecting the salinity stratification in the estuarine system, The water exchange is mainly driven by the tidal forcing at the estuary mouth, except under high river flow conditions when the freshwater extends its influence from the river＇s head to its mouth.

Managed aquifer recharge(MAR)applications in China–achievements and challenges

Groundwater is of fundamental significance for human society,especially in semi-arid areas in China.However,due to the fast social and economic development,China has been suffering from the shortage of water resource.In this situation,managed aquifer recharge(MAR)was considered to be an effective measure for the sustainable management of groundwater resources.Since 1960 s,China successfully implemented many MAR schemes for different purposes such as restoration of groundwater tables,prevention of seawater intrusion,increasing urban water supplies and controlling land subsidence.From those successful experiences China developed a scientific and applicable system to implement MAR project.However,there were still many challenges in this field,for example,treated waste water had been barely used for recharge.The present review summarized the achievements in MAR applications in China as well as the associated challenges within the past 55 years before the year 2016.

Review of the uncertainty analysis of groundwater numerical simulation

Groundwater system is a complex and open system, which is affected by natural conditions and human activities. Natural hydrological processes is conceptualized through relatively simple flow governing equations in groundwater models. Moreover, observation data is always limited in field hydrogeological conditions. Therefore, the predictive results of groundwater simulation often deviate from true values, which is attribute to the uncertainty of groundwater numerical simulation. According to the process of system simulation, the uncertainty sources of groundwater numerical simulation can be divided into model parameters, conceptual model and observation data uncertainties. In addition, the uncertainty stemmed from boundary conditions is sometimes refered as scenario uncertainty. In this paper, the origination and category of groundwater modeling uncertainty are analyzed. The recent progresses on the methods of groundwater modeling uncertainty analysis are reivewed. Furthermore, the researches on the comprehensive analysis of uncertainty sources, and the predictive uncertainty of model outputs are discussed. Finally, several prospects on the deveolpment of groundwater modeling uncetainty analysis are proposed.

Isolation,Identification,and Characterization of an Aluminum-Tolerant Bacterium Burkholderia sp.SB1 from an Acidic Red Soil

Aluminum(Al) toxicity usually occurs in acidic soils worldwide, which is detrimental to the growth of organisms. An Al-tolerant bacterium, SB1, was isolated from an acidic red soil of Chingkang Mountain, located in Jiangxi Province of China. Polyphasic analysis,including a 16 S rDNA phylogenetic tree as well as morphological and physicochemical properties, revealed that the isolate was a gramnegative, rod-shaped bacterium, which was recognized as Burkholderia sp. SB1 and had extreme acidity tolerance(pH 2.2) and excellent Al resistance(270 mg L^(-1) Al^(3+)). It could remove Al by up to 97.7% at a concentration of 54 mg L^(-1) Al^(3+). SB1 behavior under different temperatures and antibiotics was also examined. SB1 preferred moderate temperature conditions, ranging from 25 to37?C, and exhibited notable resistance to multiple antibiotics(including ampicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline), except for being sensitive to chloramphenicol. Therefore, as the first reported bacterium to possess favorable Al resistance and excellent Al removal,Burkholderia sp. SB1 can potentially be used as an agent for bioremediation of Al-contaminated acidic red soils.

A Comparative Study on Hydrodynamics and Hydrochemistry Coupled Simulations of Drainage Pipe Crystallization Blockage in Karst Tunnels

Drainage pipe system is the requisite component of the traffic tunnels in Karst area.To reveal the dynamic process of crystallization blockage in drainage pipes,a novel hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry coupled simulation model was developed for calculating the deposition rate of CaCO_(3) fouling in pipeline surface.Sediments adhering to the pipe walls involve a deformable domain with moving geometric boundaries,and moving mesh and level set methods are proposed for simulation of for tunnel turbulence and crystallization fouling process.The simulation results are compared with the experimental results showing similar trend.The effects of temperature,flow velocity,and solution concentration on crystallization blockage were analyzed by comparative simulation studies.The simulation results show that:(1)the moving mesh method simulated nozzle shrinkage caused by crystalline deposition,without accounting for geometric topology shape changes.However,the level set method tracked the moving topology and thus can simulate the process of complete blockage;(2)the flow velocity in the longitudinal pipe generally exceeded that in the transverse pipe,and the CaCO_(3) crystal concentration in the transverse pipe eclipsed that in the longitudinal pipe,which meant crystallization blockages primarily occurred in the transverse pipe;(3)the temperature and concentration correlated positively with the crystallization rate,while the crystal precipitation value decreases with the increasing of inlet flow velocity increases.This study advances a hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry coupled crystallization blockage model to provide technical support for the early identification of crystallizationinduced pipe blockage in the drainage system in karst tunnel sites.

Assessing Soil Water Retention Characteristics and Their Spatial Variability Using Pedotransfer Functions

A total of 107 soil samples were taken from the city of Qingdao,Shandong Province,China.Soil water retention data at 2.5,6,10,33,100,300,and 1 500 kPa matric potentials were measured using a pressure membrane apparatus.Multiple linear regression (MLR) was used to develop pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for single point estimation and van Genuchten parameter estimation based on readily measurable soil properties,i.e.,MLR-based point (MLRP) PTF and MLR-based parametric (MLRV) PTF.The double cross-validation method was used to evaluate the accuracy of PTF estimates and the stability of the PTFs developed in this study.The performance of MLRP and MLRV PTFs in estimating water contents at matric potentials of 10,33,and 1 500 kPa was compared with that of two existing PTFs,the Rawls PTF and the Vereecken PTF.In addition,geostatistical analyses were conducted to assess the capabilities of these PTFs in describing the spatial variability of soil water retention characteristics.Results showed that among all PTFs only the Vereecken PTF failed to accurately estimate water retention characteristics.Although the MLRP PTF can be used to predict retention characteristics through traditional statistical analyses,it failed to describe the spatial variability of soil water retention characteristics.Although the MLRV and Rawls PTFs failed to describe the spatial variability of water contents at a matric potential of 10 kPa,they can be used to quantify the spatial variability of water contents at matric potentials of 33 and 1 500 kPa.