Floodwater recharge processes in the Chowilla Anabranch system, South Australia

Soil Research ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 417 ◽  
Author(s):  
ID Jolly ◽  
GR Walker ◽  
KA Narayan
Keyword(s):  
Unsaturated Zone ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Alluvial Aquifer ◽  
Analytical Modelling ◽  
Infiltration Capacity ◽  
Saline Groundwater ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Clay Surface

We report the results of a study into the interaction between floodwaters and an unconfined alluvial aquifer in the Chowilla anabranch system of the River Murray during a large flood. Data on watertable elevation, groundwater chemistry and unsaturated zone salt storage were collected before, during and after a flood in 1990 which inundated all but the very highest points of the floodplain. These data, combined with analytical modelling of the watertable behaviour throughout the flood, led us to conclude that diffuse vertical recharge of floodwater to the unsaturated zone is of little importance. As a consequence, only limited teaching of salt from this zone to the groundwater occurs. This appears to be due to a reduction in the infiltration capacity of the sodic clay surface soils of the floodplain which disperse and swell when wetted with the low salinity floodwater. This suggests that the unsaturated zone is not the major source of salt which enters the River Murray following floods. However, from previous studies it is clear that the floodplain is an important source of saline groundwater which is added to the river following floods. An alternative hypothesis to explain the observed salt accessions is that areas of the floodplain where the Coonambidgal Clay is thin or absent are zones of localized recharge which cause displacement of in situ groundwater into the floodplain streams. This hypothesis should be tested in further work.

scholarly journals Partitioning Effects during Terminal Carbon and Electron Flow in Sediments of a Low-Salinity Meltwater Pond near Bratina Island, McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 5493-5499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas O. Mountfort ◽  
Heinrich F. Kaspar ◽  
Malcolm Downes ◽  
Rodney A. Asher
Keyword(s):  
Sulfate Reduction ◽  
Methane Production ◽  
Electron Flow ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Cyanobacterial Mats ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Physiological Conditions ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Methane Production Rate

ABSTRACT A study of anaerobic sediments below cyanobacterial mats of a low-salinity meltwater pond called Orange Pond on the McMurdo Ice Shelf at temperatures simulating those in the summer season (<5°C) revealed that both sulfate reduction and methane production were important terminal anaerobic processes. Addition of [2-14C]acetate to sediment samples resulted in the passage of label mainly to CO2. Acetate addition (0 to 27 mM) had little effect on methanogenesis (a 1.1-fold increase), and while the rate of acetate dissimilation was greater than the rate of methane production (6.4 nmol cm−3 h−1compared to 2.5 to 6 nmol cm−3 h−1), the portion of methane production attributed to acetate cleavage was <2%. Substantial increases in the methane production rate were observed with H2 (2.4-fold), and H2 uptake was totally accounted for by methane production under physiological conditions. Formate also stimulated methane production (twofold), presumably through H2 release mediated through hydrogen lyase. Addition of sulfate up to 50-fold the natural levels in the sediment (interstitial concentration, ∼0.3 mM) did not substantially inhibit methanogenesis, but the process was inhibited by 50-fold chloride (36 mM). No net rate of methane oxidation was observed when sediments were incubated anaerobically, and denitrification rates were substantially lower than rates for sulfate reduction and methanogenesis. The results indicate that carbon flow from acetate is coupled mainly to sulfate reduction and that methane is largely generated from H2 and CO2 where chloride, but not sulfate, has a modulating role. Rates of methanogenesis at in situ temperatures were four- to fivefold less than maximal rates found at 20°C.

Testing the potential for supplementary water to support the recovery and reintroduction of the black-footed rock-wallaby

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca West ◽  
Matthew J. Ward ◽  
Wendy K. Foster ◽  
David A. Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Population Growth Rates ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Predation Effects

Context Supplementary resource provision is increasingly used by conservation managers to manipulate habitat conditions that limit population growth of threatened species. These methods are popular in reintroduction programs because they can assist released individuals to adapt to novel environments. In situ management and reintroductions are being used to recover warru (black-footed rock-wallaby, Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race) on the arid Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. Direct predation by introduced predators is thought to be the main cause of population decline, but indirect predation effects reducing access to water resources has also been proposed as a limiting factor. Aims To determine whether warru would use supplementary water and so provide a tool to alleviate resource pressure for in situ (wild) and reintroduced warru populations. Methods We provided supplementary water to a wild and reintroduced warru population across 12 months. Drinking rates were calculated by monitoring water points with camera traps and modelled against plant moisture content and total rainfall. We also examined whether number of visits to water points by warru predators and competitors was significantly different to control points (no water present). Key results Wild and reintroduced warru used water points within 0–10 days of installation. No significant increase in visits by predators or competitors was observed at water points. Drinking rates were significantly higher during dry winter months (March–October) for both wild and re-introduced populations. Conclusions Supplementary water is readily utilised by warru. Water could be provided in this manner to warru populations where predators are present, particularly during drier months (generally March–October on the APY Lands), periods of drought or after fire, when food resources will have a lower water content and/or be less abundant. This may increase breeding rates and recruitment of young, and improve the probability of persistence for populations of this threatened species, and should be further investigated. Implications Supplementary water provision may be a useful tool to increase population growth rates for threatened mammalian herbivores in arid habitats. Experimental trials of the uptake of supplementary water and effects on population dynamics will provide important data for implementing adaptive management frameworks for conservation.

SALT ACCUMULATION IN A GLACIAL TILL SOIL IN THE PRESENCE OF SALINE GROUNDWATER AT SHALLOW DEPTHS

1963 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. van Schaik ◽  
R. A. Milne
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Glacial Till ◽  
Salt Accumulation ◽  
Saline Groundwater ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Saturation Extract ◽  
Tile Drains ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Water Tables ◽  
Fallow Soil

Considerable salt accumulation occurred in a grass-covered soil in southern Alberta where the saline groundwater was maintained at a depth of 3 feet. The SAR values of the saturation extract increased significantly under grass, and indications are that this increase was mainly due to precipitation of calcium. A fallow soil did not show a significant salt accumulation above the water table.It is suggested that a leaching program is necessary to maintain low salinity where shallow water tables are present and shallow tile drains are used.

scholarly journals Mineralogy of Zirconium in Iron-Oxides: A Micron- to Nanoscale Study of Hematite Ore from Peculiar Knob, South Australia

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyser ◽  
Ciobanu ◽  
Cook ◽  
Feltus ◽  
Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Iron Deposit ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Microscopy Imaging ◽  
Grade Metamorphism ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
High Grade Metamorphism ◽  
Hematite Ore

Zirconium is an element of considerable petrogenetic significance but is rarely found in hematite at concentrations higher than a few parts-per-million (ppm). Coarse-grained hematite ore from the metamorphosed Peculiar Knob iron deposit, South Australia, contains anomalous concentrations of Zr and has been investigated using microanalytical techniques that can bridge the micron- to nanoscales to understand the distribution of Zr in the ore. Hematite displays textures attributable to annealing under conditions of high-grade metamorphism, deformation twins (r~85˚ to hematite elongation), relict magnetite and fields of sub-micron-wide inclusions of baddeleyite as conjugate needles with orientation at ~110˚/70˚. Skeletal and granoblastic zircon, containing only a few ppm U, are both present interstitial to hematite. Using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) spot analysis and mapping, the concentration of Zr in hematite is determined to be ~260 ppm on average (up to 680 ppm). The Zr content is, however, directly attributable to nm-scale inclusions of baddeleyite pervasively distributed throughout the hematite rather than Zr in solid solution. Distinction between nm-scale inclusions and lattice-bound trace element substitutions cannot be made from LA-ICP-MS data alone and requires nanoscale characterization. Scandium-rich (up to 0.18 wt. % Sc2O3) cores in zircon are documented by microprobe analysis and mapping. Using high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging (HAADF-STEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometry STEM mapping of foils prepared in-situ by focused ion beam methods, we identify [011]baddeleyite epitaxially intergrown with [22.1]hematite. Lattice vectors at 84–86˚ underpinning the epitaxial intergrowth orientation correspond to directions of r-twins but not to the orientation of the needles, which display a ~15˚ misfit. This is attributable to directions of trellis exsolutions in a precursor titanomagnetite. U–Pb dating of zircon gives a 206Pb/238U weighted mean age of 1741 ± 49 Ma (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U–Pb method). Based on the findings presented here, detrital titanomagnetite from erosion of mafic rocks is considered the most likely source for Zr, Ti, Cr and Sc. Whether such detrital horizons accumulated in a basin with chemical precipitation of Fe-minerals (banded iron formation) is debatable, but such Fe-rich sediments clearly included detrital horizons. Martitization during the diagenesis-supergene enrichment cycle was followed by high-grade metamorphism during the ~1.73–1.69 Ga Kimban Orogeny during which martite recrystallized as granoblastic hematite. Later interaction with hydrothermal fluids associated with ~1.6 Ga Hiltaba-granitoids led to W, Sn and Sb enrichment in the hematite. By reconstructing the evolution of the massive orebody at Peculiar Knob, we show how application of complimentary advanced microanalytical techniques, in-situ and on the same material but at different scales, provides critical constraints on ore-forming processes.

Interfacial Viscoelasticity of Crude Oil/Brine: An Alternative Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Mechanism in Smart Waterflooding

SPE Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. 803-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrnoosh Moradi Bidhendi ◽  
Griselda Garcia-Olvera ◽  
Brendon Morin ◽  
John S. Oakey ◽  
Vladimir Alvarado
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Interaction Mechanism ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Injection Water

Summary Injection of water with a designed chemistry has been proposed as a novel enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) method, commonly referred to as low-salinity (LS) or smart waterflooding, among other labels. The multiple names encompass a family of EOR methods that rely on modifying injection-water chemistry to increase oil recovery. Despite successful laboratory experiments and field trials, underlying EOR mechanisms remain controversial and poorly understood. At present, the vast majority of the proposed mechanisms rely on rock/fluid interactions. In this work, we propose an alternative fluid/fluid interaction mechanism (i.e., an increase in crude-oil/water interfacial viscoelasticity upon injection of designed brine as a suppressor of oil trapping by snap-off). A crude oil from Wyoming was selected for its known interfacial responsiveness to water chemistry. Brines were prepared with analytic-grade salts to test the effect of specific anions and cations. The brines’ ionic strengths were modified by dilution with deionized water to the desired salinity. A battery of experiments was performed to show a link between dynamic interfacial viscoelasticity and recovery. Experiments include double-wall ring interfacial rheometry, direct visualization on microfluidic devices, and coreflooding experiments in Berea sandstone cores. Interfacial rheological results show that interfacial viscoelasticity generally increases as brine salinity is decreased, regardless of which cations and anions are present in brine. However, the rate of elasticity buildup and the plateau value depend on specific ions available in solution. Snap-off analysis in a microfluidic device, consisting of a flow-focusing geometry, demonstrates that increased viscoelasticity suppresses interfacial pinch-off, and sustains a more continuous oil phase. This effect was examined in coreflooding experiments with sodium sulfate brines. Corefloods were designed to limit wettability alteration by maintaining a low temperature (25°C) and short aging times. Geochemical analysis provided information on in-situ water chemistry. Oil-recovery and pressure responses were shown to directly correlate with interfacial elasticity [i.e., recovery factor (RF) is consistently greater the larger the induced interfacial viscoelasticity for the system examined in this paper]. Our results demonstrate that a largely overlooked interfacial effect of engineered waterflooding can serve as an alternative and more complete explanation of LS or engineered waterflooding recovery. This new mechanism offers a direction to design water chemistry for optimized waterflooding recovery in engineered water-chemistry processes, and opens a new route to design EOR methods.

scholarly journals Localized Basal Freezing Within George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica

1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (116) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pedley ◽  
J.G. Paren ◽  
J.R. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Freezing Point ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
Thick Layer ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Salinity Water ◽  
Basal Melting ◽  
Surface Ice

AbstractHobbs Pool is an area of thin ice shelf situated within George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Thicker ice shelf surrounding Hobbs Pool isolates the upper 155 m of the water column from water lying at the same depth else-where under the ice shelf. Summer melt-water lakes drain through crevasses at Hobbs Pool forming a 155 m thick layer of low-salinity water close to its freezing point. Colder and more saline water in the lower part of this layer leads toin-situfreezing of fresher water lying above it. Below 155 m depth, the water temperature and salinity are linearly related by basal melting which is observed elsewhere under the ice shelf. The surface ice shows areas of deformation and deposits of subglacial rock debris which may result from upward particle paths in the area. The raising of subglacial rock debris on to the ice surface may provide a mechanism for the transport of erratics across the ice shelf to Alexander Island from the base of Palmer Land glaciers.

In Situ Stress Field, Fault Reactivation and Seal Integrity in the Bight Basin, South Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Reynolds ◽  
Richard R. Hillis ◽  
Evelina Paraschivoiu
Keyword(s):  
Stress Field ◽  
South Australia ◽  
In Situ Stress ◽  
Fault Reactivation ◽  
Seal Integrity ◽  
In Situ Stress Field

scholarly journals Synergistic Effects of Temperature and Salinity on the Gene Expression and Physiology of Crassostrea virginica

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
H R Jones ◽  
K M Johnson ◽  
M W Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crassostrea Virginica ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Gill Tissue ◽  
Eastern Oyster ◽  
Comparative Transcriptomics ◽  
Functional Enrichment ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Hypoosmotic Stress

Abstract The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, forms reefs that provide critical services to the surrounding ecosystem. These reefs are at risk from climate change, in part because altered rainfall patterns may amplify local fluctuations in salinity, impacting oyster recruitment, survival, and growth. As in other marine organisms, warming water temperatures might interact with these changes in salinity to synergistically influence oyster physiology. In this study, we used comparative transcriptomics, measurements of physiology, and a field assessment to investigate what phenotypic changes C. virginica uses to cope with combined temperature and salinity stress in the Gulf of Mexico. Oysters from a historically low salinity site (Sister Lake, LA) were exposed to fully crossed temperature (20°C and 30°C) and salinity (25, 15, and 7 PSU) treatments. Using comparative transcriptomics on oyster gill tissue, we identified a greater number of genes that were differentially expressed (DE) in response to low salinity at warmer temperatures. Functional enrichment analysis showed low overlap between genes DE in response to thermal stress compared with hypoosmotic stress and identified enrichment for gene ontologies associated with cell adhesion, transmembrane transport, and microtubule-based process. Experiments also showed that oysters changed their physiology at elevated temperatures and lowered salinity, with significantly increased respiration rates between 20°C and 30°C. However, despite the higher energetic demands, oysters did not increase their feeding rate. To investigate transcriptional differences between populations in situ, we collected gill tissue from three locations and two time points across the Louisiana Gulf coast and used quantitative PCR to measure the expression levels of seven target genes. We found an upregulation of genes that function in osmolyte transport, oxidative stress mediation, apoptosis, and protein synthesis at our low salinity site and sampling time point. In summary, oysters altered their phenotype more in response to low salinity at higher temperatures as evidenced by a higher number of DE genes during laboratory exposure, increased respiration (higher energetic demands), and in situ differential expression by season and location. These synergistic effects of hypoosmotic stress and increased temperature suggest that climate change will exacerbate the negative effects of low salinity exposure on eastern oysters.

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