Aqueous geochemistry datasets from regional groundwater monitoring programs can be a major asset for environmental baseline assessment (EBA) in regions with development of natural gases from unconventional hydrocarbon resources. However, they usually do not include crucial parameters for EBA in areas of shale gas development such as methane concentrations. A logistic regression (LR) model was developed to predict the probability of methane occurrence in aquifers in Alberta (Canada). The model was calibrated and tested using geochemistry data including methane concentrations from two groundwater monitoring programs. The LR model correctly predicts methane occurrence in 89.8% ( = 234 samples) and 88.1% ( = 532 samples) of groundwater samples from each monitoring program. Methane concentrations strongly depend on the occurrence of electron donors such as sulfate and to a lesser extent on well depth and the total dissolved solids of groundwater. The model was then applied to a province-wide public health groundwater monitoring program ( = 52,849 samples) providing aqueous geochemistry data but no methane concentrations. This approach allowed the prediction of methane occurrence in regions where no groundwater gas data are available, thereby increasing the resolution of EBA in areas of shale gas development by using basic hydrochemical parameters measured in high-density groundwater monitoring programs.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03981 | DOI Listing |
Environ Sci Technol
January 2025
Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Ecological Security and Green Development, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
The massive production and widespread use of plastics have resulted in a growing marine plastic pollution problem. Cold seep ecosystems are maintained by microorganisms related to nitrogen and carbon cycling that occur in deep-sea areas, where cold hydrocarbon-rich water seeps from the ocean floor. Little is known about plastic pollution in this ecosystem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Grant Institute, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK.
Glendonites (from the precursor of ikaite, CaCO.6HO) preferentially precipitate within sediments in cold waters (- 2 to 7°C) via either organotrophic or methanogenic sulphate reduction. Here, we report the first occurrence of possible glendonites associated with the end Permian mass extinction in the earliest Triassic (ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
December 2024
Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address:
Peatlands are important global stores of carbon. However, peatland disturbance, including climate change, can cause stored carbon to be released, shifting peatlands from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources. Yet, there is a paucity of data on the carbon cycling of Australian peatlands from which to inform effective management of the peatland carbon store.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Vet Res
December 2024
Department of Basic and Clinical Sciences, University of Nicosia Medical School, 2408, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Background: Recent evidence suggests that the lower gut microbiome of ruminants presents roles in their health and environment, including the development of the mucosal immune system, milk production efficiency and quality and subsequent methane emissions. However, there are proportionately fewer studies on this complex microbial community in cattle and region-focus studies are non- existent.
Methods: Herein, we present the research protocol of the GUTBIOME CY project pertaining to determine the composition of the lower gut microbiome in dairy cows situated in 37 farms across five districts of the island of Cyprus.
Sci Total Environ
December 2024
Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China. Electronic address:
Seagrass meadows are acknowledged as blue carbon ecosystems, yet they are also ideal habitats for methane (CH) release, offsetting their ability to mitigate climate change. The global CH fluxes in seagrass meadows remain highly uncertain due to regional and species biases, and the microbial mechanisms driving methane release are poorly understood. Here, we investigated CH air-sea fluxes, sediment CH emission potential and microbes involved in CH release using geochemical techniques combined with qPCR and Illumina sequencing in a temperate Zostera japonica and Zostera marina mixed meadow.
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