Soil and Groundwater Quality and Resources Assessment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Water".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2024 | Viewed by 1090

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Tianjin Center, China Geological Survey, Tianjin 300170, China
2. North China Center for Geoscience Innovation, China Geological Survey, Tianjin 300170, China
Interests: hydrogeology; isotope hydrogeochemistry; groundwater circulation and evolution; groundwater environment

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: microbial biogeochemistry; microbe–mineral interaction; soil and groundwater contamination; microbial ecology; hydrogeochemistry
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human activities, particularly in regions experiencing the development of industry and agriculture and the exploitation of mineral resources, pose increasing threats to terrestrial ecosystems and groundwater environments. This situation is critical in areas facing water scarcity, where groundwater serves as the primary source of drinking water. Such concerns center around the type, distribution, source, migration, transformation, and ecological health risks associated with various contaminants in soil–groundwater ecosystems. The concentrations of contaminants in these ecosystems are complex due to long-term water–rock interactions, diverse groundwater recharge patterns, hydrologic-biogeochemical processes, and intensive human exploitation. Notably, the threat extends to both traditional and emerging inorganic and organic pollutants, which find their way into human bodies via bioaccumulation, food chains, and drinking water, thus leading to health risks such as chemical toxicity, radiation exposure, and carcinogenic effects. In the face of escalating environmental challenges and the urgent need for sustainable land management, the assessment of soil quality and resources has never been more crucial. Given the pivotal role that soil and groundwater play in supporting agriculture, maintaining natural landscapes, extracting geothermal resources, and providing potable water, it is imperative that we deepen our understanding of these resources.

In response to these environmental challenges, we have established a Special Issue entitled “Soil and Groundwater Quality and Resources Assessment”. This collection of research articles aims to illuminate the critical processes at play and promote innovative approaches that protect our soil and groundwater ecosystems.

Dr. Wanjun Jiang
Prof. Dr. Yizhi Sheng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • multiple contaminants
  • source apportionment
  • migration–transformation
  • ecological health risks
  • soil–groundwater system

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 11380 KiB  
Article
Changing Soil Water Content: Main Trigger of the Multi-Phase Mobilization and Transformation of Petroleum Pollution Components—Insights from the Batch Experiments
by Mingxing Yang, Bing Wang, Yubo Xia, Yan Qiu, Chunling Li and Zhendong Cao
Water 2024, 16(13), 1775; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16131775 - 22 Jun 2024
Viewed by 563
Abstract
Soil moisture content continuously alters the types and forms of petroleum organic pollutants in the soil through processes such as dissolution, convection, and dilution, forming complex migration and transformation in a water–air–soil–NAPL system. Field investigations and traditional indoor simulation experiments have difficulty in [...] Read more.
Soil moisture content continuously alters the types and forms of petroleum organic pollutants in the soil through processes such as dissolution, convection, and dilution, forming complex migration and transformation in a water–air–soil–NAPL system. Field investigations and traditional indoor simulation experiments have difficulty in terms of accurately diagnosing the state of different petroleum pollutants due to the influence of environmental factors and the difficulty of controlling single factors. Batch experiments were conducted to simulate the mobilization and differentiation processes of petroleum pollutants under the influence of soil water content. The results show that (1) the residual content of components is the lowest in coarse sand and the highest in clay, which is mainly affected by soil particles; meanwhile, the residual saturation value of octanoic acid is the largest, and that of toluene is the smallest, as determined in terms of their viscosity and volatility. (2) The infiltration processes of the components are affected by their properties and medium characteristics. Due to its small particle size and strong adsorption, clay has the highest residual saturation of petroleum pollutants (28.8%). This can even be more than twice that of coarse sand (13.3%). For different components, the residual saturations of octanoic acid and toluene are the highest and lowest, respectively (taking fine sand as an example: 25.3% and 13.2%), with a relatively large difference, as determined in terms of viscosity and solubility. (3) As the free phase can migrate freely, it is transformed most rapidly in the pores. The changes in the dissolved phase of each component are relatively small and tend to be gentle. The changes in the residual phase are mainly affected by volatility, viscosity, soil particles, and pore and cosmid content; the degree of change is ordered as follows: toluene > cyclohexane > hexadecane > octanoic acid. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater Quality and Resources Assessment)
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