scholarly journals Simulating future salinity dynamics in a coastal marshland under different climate scenarios

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Eberhard ◽  
N. Loes M. B. van Schaik ◽  
Anett Schibalski ◽  
Thomas Gräff
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Soil Column ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Unconfined Aquifer ◽  
Salt Transport ◽  
Winter Rainfall ◽  
Deep Aquifer ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One

Abstract. Salinization is a well-known problem in agricultural areas worldwide. For the last 20–30 years, rising salinity in the upper, unconfined aquifer has been observed in the Freepsumer Meer, a deep grassland area near the German North Sea coast. In order to investigate long-term development of soil salinity and water balance, the one-dimensional SWAP model was set up and calibrated for a soil column in the area, simulating water and salt balance at discrete depths for 1961–2099. The model setup involved a deep aquifer as the only source of salt through upward seepage since other sources were negligible. In the vertical salt transport equation, only dispersion and advection were included. Six different regional outputs of statistical downscaling methods (WETTREG, XDS), based on simulations of different GCMs (ECHAM5, ECHAM6, IPSL-CM5) driven by greenhouse gas emission scenarios (SRES-A2, SRES-B1) and concentration pathways (RCP45, RCP85), were used as scenarios. These comprised different rates of increasing surface temperature and essentially different trends in seasonal rainfall. The results of the model runs exhibit opposing salinity trends for topsoil and deeper layers: While the projections of some scenarios entail decreasing salinities near the soil surface, most of them project a rise in subsoil salinity with strongest trends of up to +0.9 mg cm−3 (100 a)−1 at −65 cm. The results suggest that topsoil salinity trends are affected by the magnitude of winter rainfall trends while high subsoil salinity trends correspond to low winter rainfall and high summer temperature. Absolute salinity is high in scenarios of high-temperature and low-rainfall summers. How these projected trends affect the vegetation and thereby future land use will depend on the future management of groundwater levels in the area.

scholarly journals Leaching of microplastics by preferential flow in earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) burrows

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Yu ◽  
Martine van der Ploeg ◽  
Esperanza Huerta Lwanga ◽  
Xiaomei Yang ◽  
Shaoliang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Soil Column ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Lumbricus Terrestris ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Groundwater Systems ◽  
Set Up

Environmental contextMicroplastics found in soil pose several potential environmental risks. This study shows that microplastics on the soil surface can be ingested by earthworms and transported to the lower soil layers. In this way, microplastics may enter the food chain and find their way into groundwater systems, especially in cases where the water table is shallow. AbstractIn the current study, we examine how the activities of earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) affect microplastic (MP) distribution and concentration in soil, with a focus on low density polyethylene (LDPE). We also want to determine if MPs can be flushed out with water. We used a laboratory sandy soil column (polyvinyl chloride tube) experimental set-up and tested five different treatments: (1) treatment with just soil (control) to check if the saturated conductivity (Ksat) could be impacted by MP, (2) treatment with MP, (3) treatment with MP and litter, (4) treatment with earthworms and litter as a second control for treatment 5 and (5) treatment with MPs, earthworms and litter. Each treatment consisted of eight replicates. For the treatments with MP, the concentration of MP added at the start of the experiment was 7% by weight (3.97g, polyethylene, 50% 1mm–250µm, 30% 250µm–150µm and 20% <150µm) based on 52.78g of dry litter from Populus nigra. In the treatments using earthworms, two adult earthworms, with an initial average weight of (7.14±0.26) g, were placed in each column. Results showed that LDPE particles could be introduced into the soil by the earthworms. MP particles were detected in each soil sample and within different soil layers for the earthworm treatments. Earthworms showed a tendency to transport the smaller MP particles and that the amount of MPs in size class <250μm increased in soil samples with increasing soil depth in comparison to the other size classes. After leaching, MPs were only detected in the leachate from the treatments with the earthworms, and the MP had similar size distributions as the soil samples in the 40–50cm layer of the treatment with MP, earthworms and litter. The results of this study clearly show that biogenic activities can mobilise MP transport from the surface into the soil and even be leached into drainage. It is highly likely that biogenic activities constitute a potential pathway for MPs to be transported into soil and groundwater.

Using groundwater levels and Specific Yield to Estimate the Recharge, South of Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Sherwan Sh. Qurtas
Keyword(s):  
Unconfined Aquifer ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Specific Yield ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Monitoring Wells ◽  
Water Table Fluctuation Method ◽  
Recharge Estimation ◽  
Fluctuation Method

Recharge estimation accurately is crucial to proper groundwater resource management, for the groundwater is dynamic and replenished natural resource. Usually recharge estimation depends on the; the water balance, water levels, and precipitation. This paper is studying the south-middle part of Erbil basin, with the majority of Quaternary sediments, the unconfined aquifer system is dominant, and the unsaturated zone is ranging from 15 to 50 meters, which groundwater levels response is moderate. The purpose of this study is quantification the natural recharge from precipitation. The water table fluctuation method is applied; using groundwater levels data of selected monitoring wells, neighboring meteorological station of the wells, and the specific yield of the aquifers. This method is widely used for its simplicity, scientific, realistic, and direct measurement. The accuracy depends on the how much the determination of specific yield is accurate, accuracy of the data, and the extrapolations of recession of groundwater levels curves of no rain periods. The normal annual precipitation there is 420 mm, the average recharge is 89 mm, and the average specific yield is around 0.03. The data of one water year of 2009 and 2010 has taken for some technical and accuracy reasons.

scholarly journals The Swiss National Park

Oryx ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
G. N. Zimmerli
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Swiss Society ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Nature Protection ◽  
Swiss National Park ◽  
Plant Life ◽  
Eastern Border ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Protection Commission

The idea of a Swiss national park originated with the Swiss Society for Nature Research and this Society played the leading part in its realization. In 1906 the Society set up as part of its own organization a Swiss Nature Protection Commission and charged it to search for an area in Switzerland suitable for establishment as a reserve, in which all the animal and plant life could be protected against interference by man and so could be left entirely to the play of natural forces. It was not easy to find in Switzerland a suitably large area which still retained its original characteristics, was virtually free from human settlement, and contained some wealth of fauna and flora. After a careful survey of the whole country it became clear that the most suitable region was the Lower Engadine, with its isolated valleys on the eastern border of the country. The district in which, at the beginning of the century, bears had still lived was the one in which primitive nature could be found in its truest state.

A physically-based soil surface model and its combination with numerical models for predicting bare-soil evaporation rates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaocheng Liu ◽  
Chenming Zhang ◽  
Yue Liu ◽  
David Lockington ◽  
Ling Li
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Surface Resistance ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Soil Column ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Vapor Flow ◽  
Physically Based

<p>Estimation of evaporation rates from soils is significant for environmental, hydrological, and agricultural purposes. Modeling of the soil surface resistance is essential to estimate the evaporation rates from bare soil. Empirical surface resistance models may cause large deviations when applied to different soils. A physically-based soil surface model is developed to calculate the surface resistance, which can consider evaporation on the soil surface when soil is fully saturated and the vapor flow below the soil surface after dry layer forming on the top. Furthermore, this physically-based expression of the surface resistance is added into a numerical model that considers the liquid water transport, water vapor transport, and heat transport during evaporation. The simulation results are in good agreement with the results from six soil column drying experiments.  This numerical model can be applied to predict or estimate the evaporation rate of different soil and saturation at different depths during evaporation.</p>

scholarly journals Mineral fertilizers as a governing factor of the regulation of the number of fungi in soil

2009 ◽  
pp. 201-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijana Pesakovic ◽  
Dragutin Djukic ◽  
Leka Mandic ◽  
Milan Rakicevic ◽  
Rade Miletic
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fungi ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Nitrogen Rate ◽  
Nutritive Medium ◽  
Governing Factor ◽  
Npk Fertilizer ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Fertilizer Rates

Over 2003-2005 period, a study was performed on the effect of different rates of NPK fertilizer of formulation 8:16:24 + 3% MgO (N1 - 400 kg ha-1; N2 - 600 kg ha-1; N3 - 800 kg ha-1; N4 - 1000 kg ha-1) on development of the soil fungi. The trial was set up in the experimental plum orchard established by Fruit Research Institute Cacak, and the laboratory of Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Agronomy Cacak. Unfertilized soil was used as the control soil. Each of the stated variants was carried out in three replications. The size of the basic plot was 68 m2. The effect of the studied mineral fertilizer rates was determined three times over the growing season, the number of fungi being checked by the indirect rarefaction method on Chapek nutritive medium. The results of the study inferred that the application of mineral fertilizers brought about the decrease in the number of fungi. Of all studied variants, the one with the highest nitrogen rate (variant N4) exhibited the strongest effect. The influence of the fertilizer was highest at the third sampling. Furthermore, the effect was highest in season 2003.

scholarly journals PLATFORM COOPS NOW!: A team entrepreneurship capacity building program to create platform coops

2021 ◽  
pp. 135-156
Author(s):  
Liher Pillado Arbide ◽  
Ander Etxeberria Aranburu ◽  
Giovanni Tokarski
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
New School ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Building Program ◽  
Capacity Building Program

Traditional labour relationships have been disrupted due to the digital platforms based businesses. This article aims on the one hand to share the consequences the sharing economy has generated for workers, and how MONDRAGON’s principles as one of the best examples of worker owned business group in the world, can be applied within the new digital era. On the other hand, this paper provides a literature review on how digital platforms can operate with fairer principles based on the framework that platform coops consist of. Last but not least, Mondragon University and The New School have set up a capacity building program on team entrepreneurship and an online incubation program that aims to support the creation of platform coops, whose results after two editions and future opportunities for research are shared.

scholarly journals Improving Interior Environmental Quality Using Sustainable Design in Jordanian Hospital Bedrooms

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 443
Author(s):  
Saeed Hussein Alhmoud ◽  
Çiğdem Çağnan ◽  
Enis Faik Arcan
Keyword(s):  
Interior Design ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Building Assessment ◽  
The World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One

As the wave of sustainability is sweeping across the major countries and cities of the world, the effect of the inevitable change is finding its way through to the health sector as well. Since the main functions of the hospital include healing the patient, it aims to provide adequate health services to people. Hospitals managers should strive to realize facilities that meet a certain level of demand. This study aims to present the interior environmental quality (IEQ) of bedrooms in Jordanian hospitals and propose a solution to improve indoor environment quality using sustainable design principles. A qualitative research methodology is used in this study. A comparative analysis is made between the original set up of the hospital buildings and the present conditions in which they are in. During the research, it was found that the design to be applied for a hospital should be following the healing environmental characteristics. Besides, the design of hospitals should be made with the climatic conditions of the area in mind. In the advanced countries of the world, hospitals are generally built with extensive research and important factors such as temperature, wind direction and humidity are taken into consideration. The design for a hospital building should be assessed according to the German Green Building Assessment (DGNB) criteria. It has been found that the one-bedroom is ideal for patients because it provides the necessary privacy and also greatly reduces the spread of the disease. In hygienic practices, there should be a first-class healing environment with evidence-based medical research. It was concluded that the practices involving the use of sustainable designs can be followed with the hints received from hospitals in the advanced countries of the world. Keywords: Jordan hospital; IEQ; bedroom; interior design; healthcare; green building assessment; DGNB

scholarly journals 4 The Court and Domestic and International Legal Systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nussberger Angelika
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Member States ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
European Court ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter assesses the relationship between the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and domestic and international legal systems. With the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Member States accept to be bound by final judgments of the Court and to implement them in their domestic legal systems. The Convention system does not make any difference as to the set-up of the national legal system or to the hierarchical position accorded to the Convention in national law. This is in line with a purist international law perspective, summarized in Article 27 of the Vienna Convention of the Law on Treaties: ‘A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty.’ However, from the constitutional law perspective of the Member States, the situation is much more multi-faceted and complex. While it is generally accepted that the Court's judgments are binding and have to be implemented, the relationship between the Convention and the national constitutions as well as between their respective guardians, the Court on the one hand and national constitutional or supreme courts on the other hand, is not seen as one-way and hierarchical, but nuanced and differentiated. Implementation of judgments is accepted to be a duty, but not necessarily without exceptions. The chapter then considers the relationship between the ECtHR and the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

scholarly journals Changes And New Constraints In The Competition Rules Enforcement Due To Accession: The Perception Of The Romanian Companies

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Mihaela Dima
Keyword(s):  
Competition Policy ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Free Market ◽  
National Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Competition Rules ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right

Many times, in the attempt to win or to maintain an advantageous position on the market, the economic agent will use a whole arsenal of practices (inclusively and mostly from the marketing field), most of them anticompetitive, with a negative impact on the business environment, which also affects the well-being of the consumer. The policy in the field of competition is the one that defines these types of behaviour and penalizes them depending on the importance of their negative impact, by creating a complex and coherent legislative and institutional mechanism. The right enforcement of the competition policy at the national level is the key in this process, but this should be coordinated with the regional and international objectives and regulations in this field. Romania is facing a double challenge: on the one side, it had to set up a competition policy, which was almost ignored before the90s, on the other side, it had to comply, recently, with high standards in the field, as an EU candidate. Now, as a member state, the promotion of a competition culture becomes a must, along with the design of an adequate system of information and knowledge dissemination for all of those involved. The paper is based on a original and qualitative research and aims at emphasising the increased necessity of the promotion of a competition culture for the competitiveness of the Romanian business environment on the European level in the new context of accession. This will help Romanian business to face the competition challenges within a more extended single European market, as an essential issue of the free market economy status recently granted, and accordingly to the most important EU objectives set up at Lisabon to become the most competitive economy in the world up to 2010.

scholarly journals Spreading of chemical substance after its accidental spillage onto the soil surface under unsaturated conditions and variable porosity

2019 ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Olena Kozhushko ◽  
Petro Martyniuk
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Chemical Substance ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Solute Transfer ◽  
Variable Porosity ◽  
The One

In this paper we study a mathematical model of soil moisture transport with variable porosity. The problem is set for the case of highly concentrated solute spilled onto soil surface. We investigate the way solute transfer, adsorption of contaminant by soil particles and variable porosity influence infiltration of solute into the soil profile. For that purpose, two models are used: a classical one and the one with consideration of mentioned factors. By comparing the results of both models, we established that high concentration of solute causes moisture transport to transpire more slowly, and the pollutant to remain on the soil surface for longer time. Numerical results indicate that porosity can vary considerably under the conditions of intensive contamination with salts.

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