Earth Sciences Commons^™

Zinc Speculation And Ligand Fluxes In Chesapeake Bay And Elizabeth River Pore Waters, Duncan Glover Byers

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Presented here are the first data on the vertical concentrations, complexation, speciation, and fluxes of total dissolved zinc and zinc complexing ligands, and zinc speciation in sediment pore waters in the Chesapeake Bay and Elizabeth River, Virginia.

Sediment pore waters were collected in mid and southern Chesapeake Bay in November 1997 and in the Elizabeth River (Pinner's Point) in March, April, and July 1998. Flux experiments were conducted in Elizabeth River sediment cores in April and July 1998. [TDZn] and zinc complexation were determined using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry at a hanging mercury drop electrode (DPASV-HMDE).

[TDZn] in the …

Classification Of Torbanite And Cannel Coal. Ii. Insights From Organic Geochemical And Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Zhiwen Han, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Petrographic and megascopic criteria have traditionally been used as the basis for the classification of torbanite and cannel coal. For this study, it was hypothesized that modern analytical organic geochemical and multivariate statistical techniques could provide an alternative approach. Towards this end, the demineralized residues of 14 torbanite (rich in Botryococcus-related alginite) and cannel (essentially, rich in organic groundmass and/or sporinite) coal samples were analyzed by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Cluster analysis performed on the Py-GC/MS data clearly distinguished the torbanite from the cannel coal, demonstrating a consistency between the chemical properties and the petrographic composition. All the torbanite …

Chemistry Of Maceral And Groundmass Density Fractions Of Torbanite And Cannel Coal, Zhiwen Han, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Microscopically, torbanite and cannel coal are composed of coarser macerals set in a fine-grained to amorphous groundmass. It is often assumed that the amorphous groundmass is genetically related to the distinct macerals. The separation of macerals and groundmass from 14 late Paleozoic torbanite, cannel, and humic coals permits the analysis of individual constituents using elemental analysis and flash pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Cluster and principal component analyses of the Py-GC/MS data further reveal the chemical similarities and differences between the various constituents. Pyrolyzates of Botryococcus-related alginites are characterized by an abundance of normal alkadienes, alkenes, and alkanes. Even their …

Classification Of Explosives Transformation Products In Plant Tissue, Steven L. Larson, Robert P. Jones, Lynn Escalon, Don Parker

US Army Corps of Engineers

Explosives contamination in surface or groundwater used for the irrigation of food crops and phytoremediation of explosives-contaminated soil or water using plant-assisted biodegradation have brought about concerns as to the fate of explosives in plants. Liquid scintillation counting, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gel permeation chromatography were utilized to characterize explosives (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine and trinitrotoluene) and their metabolites in plant tissues obtained from three separate studies. Analyzing tissues of yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus), corn (Zea mays), lettuce (Lacuta sativa), tomato (Lyopersicum esculentum), radish (Raphanus sativus), and parrot feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) …

A Biogeochemical Comparison Of Fossil (Carboniferous) And Modern Crustose Red Algae, Michael A. Kruge, John E. Utgaard, William Ferry

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The nature of the contribution of the various types of algae to sedimentary organic matter continues to be a topic of research interest. Crustose red algae have however received less attention than other types. The fossil calcareous red algae (Rhodophyta) analyzed in this study are two relatively unrecrystallized specimens of Parachaetetes (Family Solenoporacea) from the lower part of the Ste. Genevieve Formation (Carboniferous, Visean) in Union County, Illinois, USA. They occurred in the patch reef phase of a small carbonate mudmound-patchreef. The three modern specimens (collected and identified by F. Collier) are the crustose algae Lithothamnion, Clathromorphum and Phymatolithon …

Molecular Organic Geochemistry Of New York Bight Sediments. Sources Of Biogenic Organic Matter And Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

As part of a multidisciplinary evaluation of the environmental impact of waste disposal in the New York Bight, a preliminary effort was undertaken to assess the molecular geochemistry of its sedimentary organic matter (OM). For this initial phase of the study, samples were taken from two New York Bight cores collected outside the area of known dumping [in Sandy Hook Bay, NJ], to establish the environmental context for future work on sediments from within dumpsite zones. The method employed was flash pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), which is an organic microanalysis technique suitable for solid samples, in this case dried, raw …