Publications by authors named "Andre Burnol"

Acquisitions of the Sentinel-1 satellite are processed and comprehensively analyzed to investigate the ground displacement during a three-year period above a double gas storage site (Lussagnet and Izaute) in Southwestern France. Despite quite low vertical displacements (between 4 and 8 mm) compared to the noise level, the cyclic motion reflects the seasonal variations due to charge and discharge during summer and winter periods, respectively. We can simulate the ground deformation at both storage sites by a simple mechanical model.

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Fate and speciation of trace elements (TEs), such as arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg), in aquifers are closely related to physio-chemical conditions, such as redox potential (Eh) and pH, but also to microbial activities that can play a direct or indirect role on speciation and/or mobility. Indeed, some bacteria can directly oxidize As(III) to As(V) or reduce As(V) to As(III). Likewise, bacteria are strongly involved in Hg cycling, either through its methylation, forming the neurotoxin monomethyl mercury, or through its reduction to elemental Hg°.

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Mercury (Hg) mobility and speciation in subsurface aquifers is directly linked to its surrounding geochemical and microbial environment. The role of bacteria on Hg speciation (i.e.

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Arsenic (As) is a toxic element frequently present in acid mine waters and effluents. Precipitation of trivalent arsenic sulphide in sulphate-reducing conditions at low pH has been studied with the aim of removing this hazardous element in a waste product with high As content. To achieve this, a 400m L fixed-film column bioreactor was fed continuously with a synthetic solution containing 100mg L(-1) As(V), glycerol and/or hydrogen, at pH values between 2.

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Although groundwater arsenic constitutes a major hazard to the health of the people of Southeast Asia, the exact mineralogical origin of the arsenic in these fluvial aquifers is still under debate. Fe(III) oxides are the dominant hosts of mobilizable arsenic in the sediments, with the role of secondary Fe(II)-bearing phases like mackinawite, siderite, vivianite, magnetite, and carbonate green rust (fougerite) still unclear. Based on published field data from Chakdaha (India), the importance of the phases for arsenic mobility is evaluated quantitatively using models of growing complexity.

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High levels of arsenic in groundwater and drinking water are a major health problem. Although the processes controlling the release of As are still not well known, the reductive dissolution of As-rich Fe oxyhydroxides has so far been a favorite hypothesis. Decoupling between arsenic and iron redox transformations has been experimentally demonstrated, but not quantitatively interpreted.

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Lead consumption in Europe is 2.054 M tonnes/year, more than 70% of which is produced by recycling and, more specifically, the recycling of car batteries. This industry is jeopardised by the method employed so far, recycling by alkaline fusion, because the treatment produces 200,000 tonnes of toxic and unstable slag.

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