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Vertical flow filters and vertical flow constructed wetlands are established wastewater treatment systems and have also been proposed for the treatment of contaminated groundwater. This study investigates the removal processes of volatile organic compounds in a pilot-scale vertical flow filter. The filter is intermittently irrigated with contaminated groundwater containing benzene, MTBE and ammonium as the main contaminants. The system is characterized by unsaturated conditions and high contaminant removal efficiency. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the contribution of biodegradation and volatilization to the overall removal of benzene and MTBE. Tracer tests and flow rate measurements showed a highly transient flow and heterogeneous transport regime. Radon-222, naturally occurring in the treated groundwater, was used as a gas tracer and indicated a high volatilization potential. Radon-222 behavior was reproduced by numerical simulations and extrapolated for benzene and MTBE, and indicated these compounds also have a high volatilization potential. In contrast, passive sampler measurements on top of the filter detected only low benzene and MTBE concentrations. Biodegradation potential was evaluated by the analysis of catabolic genes involved in organic compound degradation and a quantitative estimation of biodegradation was derived from stable isotope fractionation analysis. Results suggest that despite the high volatilization potential, biodegradation is the predominant mass removal process in the filter system, which indicates that the volatilized fraction of the contaminants is still subject to subsequent biodegradation. In particular, the upper filter layer located between the injection tubes and the surface of the system might also contribute to biodegradation, and might play a crucial role in avoiding the emission of volatilized contaminants into the atmosphere.
Glaciated high-alpine areas are fundamentally altered by climate change, with well-known implications for hydrology, e.g., due to glacier retreat, longer snow-free periods, and more frequent and intense summer rainstorms. While knowledge on how these hydrological changes will propagate to suspended sediment dynamics is still scarce, it is needed to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. To understand the processes and source areas most relevant to sediment dynamics, we analyzed discharge and sediment dynamics in high temporal resolution as well as their patterns on several spatial scales, which to date few studies have done.
We used a nested catchment setup in the Upper Ötztal in Tyrol, Austria, where high-resolution (15 min) time series of discharge and suspended sediment concentrations are available for up to 15 years (2006–2020). The catchments of the gauges in Vent, Sölden and Tumpen range from 100 to almost 800 km2 with 10 % to 30 % glacier cover and span an elevation range of 930 to 3772 m a.s.l. We analyzed discharge and suspended sediment yields (SSY), their distribution in space, their seasonality and spatial differences therein, and the relative importance of short-term events. We complemented our analysis by linking the observations to satellite-based snow cover maps, glacier inventories, mass balances and precipitation data.
Our results indicate that the areas above 2500 m a.s.l., characterized by glacier tongues and the most recently deglaciated areas, are crucial for sediment generation in all sub-catchments. This notion is supported by the synchronous spring onset of sediment export at the three gauges, which coincides with snowmelt above 2500 m but lags behind spring discharge onsets. This points at a limitation of suspended sediment supply as long as the areas above 2500 m are snow-covered. The positive correlation of annual SSY with glacier cover (among catchments) and glacier mass balances (within a catchment) further supports the importance of the glacier-dominated areas. The analysis of short-term events showed that summer precipitation events were associated with peak sediment concentrations and yields but on average accounted for only 21 % of the annual SSY in the headwaters. These results indicate that under current conditions, thermally induced sediment export (through snow and glacier melt) is dominant in the study area.
Our results extend the scientific knowledge on current hydro-sedimentological conditions in glaciated high-alpine areas and provide a baseline for studies on projected future changes in hydro-sedimentological system dynamics.
The Guarguaraz Complex in West Argentina formed during collision between the microplate Chilenia and South America. It is composed of neritic clastic metasediments with intercalations of metabasic and ultrabasic rocks of oceanic origin. Prograde garnet growth in metapelite and metabasite occurred between 1.2 GPa, 470 degrees C and 1.4 GPa, 530 degrees C, when the penetrative s(2)-foliation was formed. The average age of garnet crystallization of 390 +/- 2 Ma (2 sigma) was determined from three four-point Lu-Hf mineral isochrones from metapelite and metabasite samples and represents the time of collision. Peak pressure conditions are followed by a decompression path with slight heating at 0.5 GPa, 560 degrees C. Fluid release during decompression caused equilibration of mineral compositions at the rims and also aided Ar diffusion. An Ar-40/39 Ar plateau age of white mica at 353 +/- 1 Ma (1 sigma) indicates the time of cooling below 350-400 degrees C. These temperatures were attained at pressures of 0.2-0.3 GPa, indicative of an average exhumation rate of >= 1 mm/a for the period 390-353 Ma. Late hydrous influx at 0.1-0.3 GPa caused pervasive growth of sericite and chlorite and reset the Ar/Ar ages of earlier coarse-grained white mica. At 284-295 Ma, the entire basement cooled below 280 degrees C (fission track ages of zircon) after abundant post-collisional granitoid intrusion. The deeply buried epicontinental sedimentary rocks, the high peak pressure referring to a low metamorphic geotherm of 10-12 degrees C/km, and the decompression/heating path are characteristics of material buried and exhumed within a (micro) continent-continent collisional setting.