Annual Plutonium Budget for the Rio Grande

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Graf
Keyword(s):  
National Laboratory ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Suspended Sediments ◽  
River System ◽  
Sediment Discharge ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Plutonium Concentration ◽  
Rio Chama

A mean annual plutonium budget for the Northern Rio Grande provides an accounting of the amounts of plutonium moving into and out of various reaches of the river during a typical year. Such a budget is a basis for assessing the rates of plutonium transport and the location of storage along the river. The budget presented in the following pages is for bedload and suspended sediments. It does not include plutonium in water because water-borne plutonium is such a small portion of the total in the system (as discussed in Chapter 7). The budget as calculated here requires data concerning sediment and plutonium concentrations in the sediment. The sediment discharge data that are available from U. S. Geological Survey gaging sites (Chapter 4) define the overall framework for budget construction. A reasonably detailed picture is possible for the river system from the Rio Grande at Embudo and the Rio Chama at Chamita southward to the Rio Grande at San Marcial (for locations, see Figure 3.9) where the river empties into Elephant Butte Reservoir. Data collected by Los Alamos National Laboratory and published in the annual surveillance reports by the laboratory’s Environmental Studies Group and later by the Environmental Surveillance Group provide plutonium concentrations for bedload and suspended sediments. The calculations for each site in this study used mean values of plutonium concentrations from all measurements at or near the site. Table 8.1 reviews the sources of plutonium concentration data for each of the sediment-gaging sites in the regional budget calculations. Unfortunately, the sites for collecting the plutonium data were not always colocated with the gaging sites that produced the sediment discharge data. In addition, most of the plutonium concentration data are for bedload sediments because of the manner in which the workers collected samples. In some cases, the best estimates of plutonium concentrations in suspended load for gaging sites are from concentrations found in sediments of the nearest reservoir downstream because those sediments are likely to have been in suspension before their emplacement on reservoir floors. The assumption that the mean concentration is a useful representative value seems reasonable given that in those reaches with relatively large amounts of data, concentration values do not show temporal or geographic trends.

scholarly journals A Sediment Rating-curve Method to Determine Sediment Discharge for Rainy Season in Micro-scale Watersheds

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atikah Sitorus ◽  
Edi Susanto
Keyword(s):  
River Discharge ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Sediment Discharge ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Rating Curve ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Sediment Rating Curve ◽  
Curve Method ◽  
Sediment Data

This research was carried out to overcome the problem of the lack of sediment data available in several watersheds in North Sumatra, the lack of available sediment data is caused by the requirement of a large amount of time, cost and risk to obtain such data. Purpose of this study was to obtain the equation of sediment rating curve. The sediment rating curve is an equation that connects the river discharge with sediment discharge, so that to obtain the sediment discharge, it is enough to use the river discharge data. This research used the descriptive method using the primary (sediment discharge and concentration data) and secondary data (climate data). Result of the study obtained the equation of the sediment rating curve of Qs = 14.115 Q2.2736 and the value of R2 of 0.711. The sediment discharge obtained has exceeded the limit set by the Ministry of Forestry regarding the criteria for determination of watersheds.

Plutonium and the Rio Grande

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Graf
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
River System ◽  
Alamos National Laboratory ◽  
Los Alamos ◽  
Los Alamos National Laboratory ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Chemical Wastes

The first atomic bombs were constructed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where lab workers disposed of waste plutonium in nearby canyons leading to the Rio Grande. Today, the environmental consequences are just beginning to be understood as scientists examine the effects created by past mishandling of one of the most toxic chemical wastes known. Written in an engaging, accessible style, Plutonium and the Rio Grande is the first book to offer a complete exploration of this environmental history. It includes an explanation of what plutonium is, how much of it was released by the Los Alamos workers, and how much entered the river system directly from waste disposal and indirectly, as a result of atomic bomb fallout. The book includes extensive appendices, maps, diagrams, and photographs. Environmental managers, ecologists, hydrologists and other river specialists, as well as concerned general readers will find the book readable and informative.

Plutonium in the Rio Grande System

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Graf
Keyword(s):  
River Water ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Lower Atmosphere ◽  
Atmospheric Fallout ◽  
Los Alamos ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Global Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

The water, sediment, landform, and vegetation systems of the Northern Rio Grande provide the environmental framework within which plutonium moves and is stored. Plutonium enters the Northern Rio Grande from two sources: atmospheric fallout and releases from operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory that enter the main stream by transport through Los Alamos Canyon. This chapter describes the nature and timing of plutonium loading in the river’s sediment system as a means of identifying those years when sedimentation is likely to have accumulated those deposits with the highest concentrations of plutonium. This chapter also discusses plutonium in river water, sediments in transit, and sediments deposited along and stored along the channel, as well as the various mean values of plutonium concentrations found in the region of Los Alamos. The review includes plutonium in the regional environments around Los Alamos, including the compartments of river water, active sediments, flood-plain deposits, and reservoir deposits, as well as the plutonium concentrations in the sediments of Los Alamos Canyon. Most of the plutonium in atmospheric fallout is from the testing of nuclear weapons. Five nations have detonated a total of 484 nuclear devices in the atmosphere, 466 with known dates. These explosions have injected plutonium into the general atmospheric circulation, resulting in a global distribution of fallout as the material returns to the surface. There are three types of fallout: local, tropospheric, and stratospheric. Local or early fallout arrives within a day of the detonation and consists of particles 100 to 200 microns in diameter (fine sand) transported in the lower atmosphere and deposited within several hundred kilometers of the site of the explosion. Finer particles travel greater distances and disperse over greater areas. Tropospheric fallout arrives within a month of the detonation and consists of particles less than 100 microns in diameter (mostly silt size), transported in the lower atmosphere. The global atmospheric circulation transports tropospheric fallout around the world in a band about 30 degrees latitude wide, centered on the site of the explosion. Most of the tropospheric fallout delivers plutonium to the earth’s surface in precipitation, with only about 10 percent occurring as dry fall.

scholarly journals The Rise of Climate-Driven Sediment Discharge in the Amazonian River Basin

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazzareno Diodato ◽  
Naziano Filizola ◽  
Pasquale Borrelli ◽  
Panos Panagos ◽  
Gianni Bellocchi
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Sediment Discharge ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Magdalena River ◽  
Sediment Export

The occurrence of hydrological extremes in the Amazon region and the associated sediment loss during rainfall events are key features in the global climate system. Climate extremes alter the sediment and carbon balance but the ecological consequences of such changes are poorly understood in this region. With the aim of examining the interactions between precipitation and landscape-scale controls of sediment export from the Amazon basin, we developed a parsimonious hydro-climatological model on a multi-year series (1997–2014) of sediment discharge data taken at the outlet of Óbidos (Brazil) watershed (the narrowest and swiftest part of the Amazon River). The calibrated model (correlation coefficient equal to 0.84) captured the sediment load variability of an independent dataset from a different watershed (the Magdalena River basin), and performed better than three alternative approaches. Our model captured the interdecadal variability and the long-term patterns of sediment export. In our reconstruction of yearly sediment discharge over 1859–2014, we observed that landscape erosion changes are mostly induced by single storm events, and result from coupled effects of droughts and storms over long time scales. By quantifying temporal variations in the sediment produced by weathering, this analysis enables a new understanding of the linkage between climate forcing and river response, which drives sediment dynamics in the Amazon basin.

scholarly journals Modeling of solid sediment transport in mountain rivers

2020 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 12002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issam Boukhanef ◽  
Anna Khadzhidi ◽  
Lyudmila Kravchenko ◽  
Zeroual Ayoub ◽  
Kastali Abdennour
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Suspended Sediments ◽  
High Water ◽  
The Other ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Solid Transport ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One

In Algeria, the problems of erosion and sediment transport are critical, since they have the most dramatic consequences of the degradation of agricultural soils on the one hand and the siltation of the dam on the other .The sediment transport in the Algerian basins is very important especially during the periods of floods, It is in this sense that this study, which consists of estimating the sediment transport in suspension and determining the models of relation linking the liquid discharge and the sediment discharge in order to estimate the solid transport in the absence of suspended sediments concentration data at the Sidi Akkacha station at the outlet of the basin of Oued Allala which is subject to a high water erosion, it degrades from one year to the other under the effect of this phenomenon especially during the floods which drain high amounts of fine particles exceeding in general, the concentration of 150 g/l, the results obtained from the application of the models are very encouraging since the correlation between liquid and solid discharge exceeds 80 %.

scholarly journals ORCHILEAK (revision 3875): a new model branch to simulate carbon transfers along the terrestrial–aquatic continuum of the Amazon basin

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3821-3859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronny Lauerwald ◽  
Pierre Regnier ◽  
Marta Camino-Serrano ◽  
Bertrand Guenet ◽  
Matthieu Guimberteau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
River System ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
New Model ◽  
Canopy Soil ◽  
C Cycle

Abstract. Lateral transfer of carbon (C) from terrestrial ecosystems into the inland water network is an important component of the global C cycle, which sustains a large aquatic CO2 evasion flux fuelled by the decomposition of allochthonous C inputs. Globally, estimates of the total C exports through the terrestrial–aquatic interface range from 1.5 to 2.7 Pg C yr−1 (Cole et al., 2007; Battin et al., 2009; Tranvik et al., 2009), i.e. of the order of 2–5 % of the terrestrial NPP. Earth system models (ESMs) of the climate system ignore these lateral transfers of C, and thus likely overestimate the terrestrial C sink. In this study, we present the implementation of fluvial transport of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and CO2 into ORCHIDEE (Organising Carbon and Hydrology in Dynamic Ecosystems), the land surface scheme of the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace ESM. This new model branch, called ORCHILEAK, represents DOC production from canopy and soils, DOC and CO2 leaching from soils to streams, DOC decomposition, and CO2 evasion to the atmosphere during its lateral transport in rivers, as well as exchange with the soil carbon and litter stocks on floodplains and in swamps. We parameterized and validated ORCHILEAK for the Amazon basin, the world's largest river system with regard to discharge and one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. With ORCHILEAK, we are able to reproduce observed terrestrial and aquatic fluxes of DOC and CO2 in the Amazon basin, both in terms of mean values and seasonality. In addition, we are able to resolve the spatio-temporal variability in C fluxes along the canopy–soil–water continuum at high resolution (1°, daily) and to quantify the different terrestrial contributions to the aquatic C fluxes. We simulate that more than two-thirds of the Amazon's fluvial DOC export are contributed by the decomposition of submerged litter. Throughfall DOC fluxes from canopy to ground are about as high as the total DOC inputs to inland waters. The latter, however, are mainly sustained by litter decomposition. Decomposition of DOC and submerged plant litter contributes slightly more than half of the CO2 evasion from the water surface, while the remainder is contributed by soil respiration. Total CO2 evasion from the water surface equals about 5 % of the terrestrial NPP. Our results highlight that ORCHILEAK is well suited to simulate carbon transfers along the terrestrial–aquatic continuum of tropical forests. It also opens the perspective that provided parameterization, calibration and validation is performed for other biomes, the new model branch could improve the quantification of the global terrestrial C sink and help better constrain carbon cycle–climate feedbacks in future projections.

scholarly journals Association of HIV-1 Infection and Antiretroviral Therapy With Type 2 Diabetes in the Hispanic Population of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Lopez-Alvarenga ◽  
Dora A. Martinez ◽  
Alvaro Diaz-Badillo ◽  
Liza D. Morales ◽  
Rector Arya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
Robust Regression ◽  
Rio Grande Valley ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Cell Counts

The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) in South Texas has one of the highest prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the United States (US). We report for the first time the T2D prevalence in persons with HIV (PWH) in the RGV and the interrelationship between T2D, cardiometabolic risk factors, HIV-related indices, and antiretroviral therapies (ART). The PWH in this study received medical care at Valley AIDS Council (VAC) clinic sites located in Harlingen and McAllen, Texas. Henceforth, this cohort will be referred to as Valley AIDS Council Cohort (VACC). Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using retrospective data obtained from 1,827 registries. It included demographic and anthropometric variables, cardiometabolic traits, and HIV-related virological and immunological indices. For descriptive statistics, we used mean values of the quantitative variables from unbalanced visits across 20 months. Robust regression methods were used to determine the associations. For comparisons, we used cardiometabolic trait data obtained from HIV-uninfected San Antonio Mexican American Family Studies (SAMAFS; N = 2,498), and the Mexican American population in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES; N = 5,989). The prevalence of T2D in VACC was 51% compared to 27% in SAMAFS and 19% in HHANES, respectively. The PWH with T2D in VACC were younger (4.7 years) and had lower BMI (BMI 2.43 units less) when compared to SAMAFS individuals. In contrast, VACC individuals had increased blood pressure and dyslipidemia. The increased T2D prevalence in VACC was independent of BMI. Within the VACC, ART was associated with viral load and CD4+ T cell counts but not with metabolic dysfunction. Notably, we found that individuals with any INSTI combination had higher T2D risk: OR 2.08 (95%CI 1.67, 2.6; p < 0.001). In summary, our results suggest that VACC individuals may develop T2D at younger ages independent of obesity. The high burden of T2D in these individuals necessitates rigorously designed longitudinal studies to draw potential causal inferences and develop better treatment regimens.

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