scholarly journals Geochemistry of Water and Gas Emissions From Cuicocha and Quilotoa Volcanic Lakes, Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Melián ◽  
T. Toulkeridis ◽  
N. M. Pérez ◽  
P. A. Hernández ◽  
L. Somoza ◽  
...  

There are hundreds of volcanic lakes around the world that represent an important hazard due to the potential occurrence of phreatomagmatic or limnic eruptions. Variations in geochemical and geophysical parameters could help to identify potential risks for these events. Cuicocha and Quilota volcanic lakes, located at the North Andean Volcanic Zone of Ecuador, are geologically young, with gas emissions manifested mainly as CO2 via bubbling gases. Both lakes present a limited monitoring record. Therefore, volcanic monitoring is a priority task due to the potential hazard they represent by the possibility of water stratification and CO2 accumulation. During 2012-2018 period, geochemical investigation based mainly on diffuse CO2 surveys and analyzing the chemical and isotopic composition of bubbling gases has been carried out at Cuicocha and Quilotoa lakes. Additionally, vertical profiles of water columns were conducted in both lakes to investigate the possibility of water stratification and CO2 accumulation in the lakes. A bathymetric study was also carried out in Quilotoa in 2017, giving further information about the degasification processes and the morphology of the lake bottom. The computed diffuse CO2 output for Cuicocha volcanic lake (3.95 km2) showed a range from 53 to 652 t d−1 for the period 2006–2018, with a maximum value in 2012, coinciding with a maximum of the 3He/4He ratio measured at the bubbling gases and an increase in the seismic activity with an episode of long-period seismicity recorded in 2011–2012. For Quilotoa volcanic lake (3.50 km2) diffuse CO2 output was estimated between 141 and 536 t d−1 for the period 2014–2018. The chemical and isotopic data show that Cuicocha has a chemical composition typical of worldwide superficial shallow waters and aquifers, while Quilotoa shows a chemical composition typical of crater lakes in active volcanic systems. The distribution of the dissolved gas composition along the vertical profiles shows the existence of different water masses in both lakes, with an increase in the concentration of dissolved gases with depth. The carbon isotopic signature indicates an endogenous origin of the CO2, with a greater contribution in the stratification zone in both lakes. This study shows methods applicable to other volcanic lakes of the world to monitor their activity and potential risks.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitri Rouwet ◽  
Karoly Németh ◽  
Giancarlo Tamburello ◽  
Sergio Calabrese ◽  
Issa

Volcanic lakes pose specific hazards inherent to the presence of water: phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions, lahars, limnic gas bursts and dispersion of brines in the hydrological network. Here we introduce the updated, interactive and open-access database for African volcanic lakes, country by country. The previous database VOLADA (VOlcanic LAke DAta Base, Rouwet et al., Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 2014, 272, 78–97) reported 96 volcanic lakes for Africa. This number is now revised and established at 220, converting VOLADA_Africa 2.0 in the most comprehensive resource for African volcanic lakes: 81 in Uganda, 37 in Kenya, 33 in Cameroon, 28 in Madagascar, 19 in Ethiopia, 6 in Tanzania, 2 in Rwanda, 2 in Sudan, 2 in D.R. Congo, 1 in Libya, and 9 on the minor islands around Africa. We present the current state-of-the-art of arguably all the African volcanic lakes that the global experts and regional research teams are aware of, and provide hints for future research directions, with a special focus on the volcanic hazard assessment. All lakes in the updated database are classified for their genetic origin and their physical and chemical characteristics, and level of study. The predominant rift-related volcanism in Africa favors basaltic eruptive products, leading to volcanoes with highly permeable edifices, and hence less-developed hydrothermal systems. Basal aquifers accumulate under large volcanoes and in rift depressions providing a potential scenario for phreatomagmatic volcanism. This hypothesis, based on a morphometric analysis and volcanological research from literature, conveys the predominance of maar lakes in large monogenetic fields in Africa (e.g. Uganda, Cameroon, Ethiopia), and the absence of peak-activity crater lakes, generally found at polygenetic arc-volcanoes. Considering the large number of maar lakes in Africa (172), within similar geotectonic settings and meteoric conditions as in Cameroon, it is somewhat surprising that “only” from Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos fatal CO2 bursts have been recorded. Explaining why other maars did not experience limnic gas bursts is a question that can only be answered by enhancing insights into physical limnology and fluid geochemistry of the so far poorly studied lakes. From a hazard perspective, there is an urgent need to tackle this task as a community.


Author(s):  
Manuel-Angel Gonzalez-Chapa ◽  
Jose-Ramon Vega-Galaz

Combined Heat and Power systems have been used all around the world due to their effective and viable way of transforming energy from fossil fuel. Indeed, the advantage of lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to those obtained in conventional power or conventional heat generation systems have been an important factor giving CHP systems an advantage over these conventional ones. Certainly CHP has been, and continues to be, a good practice while renewable technologies become more economically. While these technologies emerge it is important to continue minimizing these greenhouse gas emissions from conventional and CHP units as much as possible. This paper deals with the fuel optimization of power, heat and CHP systems including emissions and ambient conditions constraints. Ambient conditions variations are evaluated before solving the optimization and then introduced to the problem to consider their effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 08 (03) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Gülüstan Nağı qızı Əliyeva ◽  

The scientific article provides detailed information about silyubum marianum and dandelion. Their chemical composition, therapeutic properties against liver, bile and other diseases, and their use in cosmetology were discussed. The article also discusses the benefits of silymarin in the treatment of cancer and osteoporosis. The components of silyubum marianum and dandelion plants have been announced. Distribution zones of silyubum marianum and dandelion plants in the world and in Azerbaijan have been noted. The rules of use of plants are also reflected in the article. Key words: plant, silyumarin, thorns, liver, seeds, silibinin.Carduelis,carotene


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schott

<p><b>Abstract </b></p> <p>While the pedagogical benefits of fieldtrips have long been recognised our ever increasing understanding of the impacts of flying on climate change is presenting educators with a poignant dilemma; the many benefits long associated with international fieldtrips are at odds with the world community’s needs in limiting/halting climatic change. In response, the paper presents the concept of a VR-based virtual fieldtrip as an innovative and carbon-sensitive type of (educational) travel. The paper not only makes the case for virtual fieldtrips as a meaningful learning tool but also explores both the virtual fieldtrip’s impact on Greenhouse Gas emissions and climate change-related learning. On both accounts the initial findings in this paper are very encouraging. More in-depth research is now required to not only develop a deeper understanding of the full breadth of benefits, but also of the diverse weaknesses presented by virtual fieldtrips and how to negotiate them.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tuccori ◽  
Irma Convertino ◽  
Sara Ferraro ◽  
Emiliano Cappello ◽  
Giulia Valdiserra ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2020 triggered a massive dissemination of information (“infodemic”) about the disease channeled through the web and social media. This “infodemic” included also sensational and distorted information about drugs, which likely affected primarily opinion leaders and people particularly active on social media, and subsequently other peoples leading to inadequate choices by individual patients everywhere. In particular, for some drugs approved with other indications, namely chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, NSAIDs, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, favipiravir and umifenovir, information has spread that has led to a hazardous use. In this article, we analyzed the rationale behind the claim for use of these drugs in COVID-19, the communication about their effect on the disease, the consequences of this communication on people's behavior and the response of some influential regulatory authorities in an attempt to minimize the actual or potential risks arising from this behavior. Finally, we discussed the role of pharmacovigilance stakeholders in emergency management and possible strategies to be put in place to deal with other similar situations in the future.


Author(s):  
Charu Virmani ◽  
Tanu Choudhary ◽  
Anuradha Pillai ◽  
Manisha Rani

With the exponential rise in technological awareness in the recent decades, technology has taken over our lives for good, but with the application of computer-aided technological systems in various domains of our day-to-day lives, the potential risks and threats have also come to the fore, aiming at the various security features that include confidentiality, integrity, authentication, authorization, and so on. Computer scientists the world over have tried to come up, time and again, with solutions to these impending problems. With time, attackers have played out complicated attacks on systems that are hard to comprehend and even harder to mitigate. The very fact that a huge amount of data is processed each second in organizations gave birth to the concept of Big Data, thereby making the systems more adept and intelligent in dealing with unprecedented attacks on a real-time basis. This chapter presents a study about applications of machine learning algorithms in cyber security.


Author(s):  
Fumiko Satoh

Companies around the world are increasingly expected to report their greenhouse gas emissions. Currently there are various formulas to calculate emissions, and there are different reporting formats. Most of the reporting formats are paper-based or non-readable-by-machine formats. The emissions of companies will influence their accounting results due to ‘cap & trade’ systems or environmental taxes. Analyses of financial impacts are important for management decisions and corporate evaluations by interested third parties. A standardized reporting format for GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions is critical for reliable analysis of the impact of emissions on finances. This paper proposes an XBRL (eXtensible Business Markup Language) format as the foundation for standardizing the emissions reporting formats, and provides a preliminary XBRL taxonomy for emissions reporting. XBRL makes it possible to combine the financial reports and the emissions reports. Evaluations of the emissions impact are easier for both managers of the company and external parties, even if a large number of emissions reports must be analyzed.


This chapter has a purpose to acknowledge 3M's greatest opportunity to overcome sustainability and transparency challenges which lies within innovation and collaboration. As a science company, 3M partners with its customers and communities to make the world cleaner, safer and stronger. Starting with technology and working toward the improvement of every life on the planet allows the company to think holistically about addressing global challenges. With an eye toward the future, 3M launched their 2025 sustainability goals. These goals range from investing in sustainable materials and energy efficiency to water management and helping the customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the use of 3M products. 3M has also set goals around building a diverse workforce and worker and patient safety in health care and industrial settings. 3M continues to invest in developing products that help its customers reach their environmental goals, as well as increasing its social sustainability efforts.


Author(s):  
Hewitt Crane ◽  
Edwin Kinderman ◽  
Ripudaman Malhotra

Of the various alternatives to fossil energy, nuclear power is the most advanced and the best positioned to become a major source of energy. It is also essentially free of CO2 emissions, and if reducing greenhouse gas emissions is truly the highest concern, then we will have to develop nuclear power. Yet developing nuclear power would also pose challenges in terms of waste disposal, and proliferation of nuclear weapons including the risk of a terrorist organization acquiring such weapons. To some environmentalists nuclear power presents a serious, dilemma. Support or opposition to nuclear power is strongly affected by value judgments as well as lack of disseminated information on questions: What happens if there is leakage of nuclear waste someday? To what extent would people and the world be affected? Would we be trading international security for energy security—does nuclear power increase our vulnerability to terrorist attacks? The mixture of clear benefits with outstanding questions currently allows some nations to embrace nuclear power, some to accept it grudgingly, and still others choose to ignore it. Given its availability and environmental benefits, nuclear is an option that cannot be ignored if we are to tackle the energy problem in a serious way. To assume that we can store and safeguard the waste for thousands of years may be hubris, but we come out in favor of developing nuclear technology in part because we already have to store the legacy nuclear waste that has been generated over the last 50 years. Another 60 or so years of waste will represent a marginal addition to that enormous task, but it would buy us badly needed time to carefully develop other energy sources that do not entail net greenhouse gas emissions. Also, we find that many of the concerns raised against the development of nuclear power are vastly exaggerated. For example, as we describe in this chapter, safe storage of the waste does not require 10,000 years: if we use reprocessing technologies, the remaining waste could be rendered benign in a couple of centuries.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Branney ◽  
Jan Zalasiewicz

‘What have volcanoes done for us?’ outlines how humans have benefited from volcanoes. Volcanism has helped make the planet as it is today, by contributing to the chemical composition of the atmosphere and oceans. Volcanoes provide rich, fertile environments for wildlife and agriculture. Ultimately, volcanoes have been essential for the evolution of the biosphere, the emergence of humanity and human civilization, and for the flowering of culture. However, volcanoes across the world are increasingly being exploited for tourism, quarrying, deforestation, and urbanization. They also pose a hazard, one that increases as burgeoning human populations encroach ever closer. The chapter then looks at methods of monitoring and mitigating volcanic hazards.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document