Search results for "ground"
showing 10 items of 2432 documents
Some Considerations on 3-D and 2-D Numerical Models for the Assessment of the Stability of Underground Caves
2014
The application of numerical modeling to the analysis of the stability of both natural and man-made underground caves is rapidly increasing due to the availability of powerful numerical codes, that can account for either continuum or discontinuum behavior of the rock masses. Numerical methods allow to overcome traditional methods for cave stability analysis that assume too simplified geometrical, geological and geomechanical conditions. Further, they are also able to assess the potential failure mechanisms of underground systems. On the other hand, the application of numerical methods requires availability of a detailed geo-structural survey of the cave, as well as a proper geomechanical ch…
Shallow urban aquifers under hyper-recharge equatorial conditions and strong anthropogenic constrains. Implications in terms of groundwater resources…
2021
Abstract Humid equatorial regions are recognized as the least documented in term of hydrogeological functioning of aquifers despite the fact that they house a lot of developing countries and that groundwater is often the main water resource. Regarding this aspect, a study was conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the Mio-Pliocene aquifer in Douala megacity (Cameroon) which is the rainiest city in West-Africa (about 4000 mm/year) with one of the greatest demographic growth rate of the African continent. Firstly, groundwater recharge rate has been calculated through water balance and Water Table Fluctuation methods. Results show that the aquifer is characterized by a high recharge of 6…
Behavior of rare earth elements in an aquifer perturbed by CO2 injection: Environmental implications
2019
International audience; Three cubic-meters of CO2-saturated water was injected into a subsurface fractured aquifer in a post-mined area, using a push-pull test protocol. Groundwater samples were collected before and after CO2-injection to quantify geochemical changes. CO2-injection initially reduced the pH of water from 7.3 to 5.7, led to the enrichment of major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, and alkalinity), and dissolved trace metals (including Fe, Mn, As, and Zn) in the groundwater. Rare earth elements (REE) and yttrium concentrations were also measured in these samples before and after CO2 perturbation, to evaluate their behavior. An enrichment of total Y plus REE (REY) occurred. REY fractionation w…
The Santa Ninfa Cave (Belice Valley): hydrogeochemical features and relationships with neotectonics
2020
The Santa Ninfa Cave (SNC) develops in an outcrop of Messinian gypsum, located in the heart of the zone struck by the 1968 seismic sequence of the Belice valley. It is composed of different levels of sub-horizontal galleries, the lowest of which is characterized by perennial flowing water, running along the water table. From the hydrogeological point of view, it configures as an open circuit, both inflowing and outflowing from/to neighboring aquifers. The geochemical facies of groundwater collected in the SNC is compatible with a meteoric recharge chemically interacting with evaporitic deposits. The most relevant geochemical feature is the mixing between a small tributary of sulfur water wi…
Integrated geophysical survey for 3D modelling of a coastal aquifer polluted by seawater
2013
Geophysical surveys are carried out in the coastal area of Petrosino (south-western Sicily) to study the time evolution of seawater contamination of the coastal aquifer, probably increased due to human impact. The overexploitation of the aquifer, due to an intensive agricultural use has affected significantly the natural hydro-geochemical state of the basin. The study is based on a processing and integrated analysis of hydrogeological, geochemical and geophysical data. In particular in the last two years seasonal time-lapse electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT), new TDEM soundings and Multi-Analysis Surface Wave soundings (MASW) have been carried out. The interpretation of the total set…
Toxicity of waste dump leachates and sugar factory effluents and their impact on groundwater and surface water quality in the Opole Province in Poland
2000
A battery of Toxkit microbiotests with 4 aquatic species from different trophic levels has been used to evaluate the toxicity of 2 types of point source pollution in the Voivoidship of Opole in Poland: percolating waters from drainage systems of 4 municipal waste dumps and the effluents of a sugar factory. In addition, the toxicity of groundwaters from 2 wells near 2 waste dumps was also assessed. All the drainage waters of the waste dumps and the groundwaters near one dump (an unprotected landfill) showed toxic effects on all the test species, for samples taken in spring as well as in autumn. The well water of the (more recent) waste dump of the City of Opole in turn did not show any toxic…
Using 81Kr and Noble Gases to Characterize and Date Groundwater and Brines in the Baltic Artesian Basin on the One-Million-Year Timescale
2017
Analyses for $^{81}$Kr and noble gases on groundwater from the deepest aquifer system of the Baltic Artesian Basin (BAB) were performed to determine groundwater ages and uncover the flow dynamics of the system on a timescale of several hundred thousand years. We find that the system is controlled by mixing of three distinct water masses: Interglacial or recent meteoric water $(\delta^{18}\text{O} \approx -10.4\unicode{x2030})$ with a poorly evolved chemical and noble gas signature, glacial meltwater $(\delta^{18}\text{O} \leq -18\unicode{x2030})$ with elevated noble gas concentrations, and an old, high-salinity brine component $(\delta^{18}\text{O} \geq -4.5\unicode{x2030}, \geq 90 \text{g …
Could tsunami risk be underestimated using core‐based reconstructions? Lessons from ground penetrating radar
2017
Where should we take cores for palaeotsunami research? It is generally considered that local depressions with low energy environments such as wetlands are one of the best places. However, it is also recognized that the presence or absence of palaeotsunami deposits (and their relative thickness) is highly dependent upon subsoil microtopography. In the beach ridge system of Ishinomaki Plain, Japan, several palaeotsunami deposits linked to past Japan Trench earthquakes have been reported. However, the number of palaeotsunami deposits reported at individual sites varies considerably. This study used ground penetrating radar (GPR) combined with geological evidence to better understand the relati…
Pathways and fate of REE in the shallow hydrothermal aquifer of Vulcano island (Italy)
2019
Abstract We investigated the geochemical behaviour of major and Rare Earth Elements (REE), together with oxygen and deuterium isotopic composition in the aquifer of Vulcano, the southernmost island of the Aeolian archipelago (Italy). Studied wells, located at different distances from the crater, are characterised by different contributions of the rising volcanic fluids. In particular, those located in the proximity of La Fossa crater are affected by a strong interaction with volcanic-hydrothermal fluids and show REE behaviour similar to that of fresh rocks, suggesting a congruent dissolution of the solid matrix. Samples from the other wells, located in an area where the volcanic deposits ar…
Temporal loudness weights in background noise: Data and models
2019
Previous studies consistently showed that human listeners primarily consider the beginning of a time-varying sound when judging its overall loudness, and place less weight on subsequent temporal portions. However, all experiments studying this primacy effect in temporal loudness weights presented the target sound in quiet. Here, we compared temporal weights when the target sound was either presented in quiet or in a continuous background noise, and for a variation in the level of the target sound across a range of 60 dB. The target sound was a time-varying narrowband noise, the background noise was a continuous bandpass-filtered noise. In all conditions, we observed the expected primacy eff…