In river

Rhodium occurs native with other platinum metals in river sands of the Urals and in North and South America. It is also found with other platinum metals in the copper-nickel sulfide area of the Sudbury, Ontario region. Although the quantity occurring here is very small, the large tonnages of nickel processed make the recovery commercially feasible. The annual world production of rhodium is only 7 or 8 tons. 

Large deposits of monazite (found on the beaches of Travancore, India and in river sands in Brazil), ahanite (in the western United States), and bastnasite (in Southern California) will supply cerium, thorium, and the other rare-earth metals for many years to come. 

Their contribution to the total dissolved load in rivers can be estimated by considering the mean composition of river water and the relative importance of various rocks to weathering. Estimates (18) indicate that evaporites and carbonates contribute approximately 17% and 38%, respectively, of the total dissolved load in the wodd s rivers. The remaining 45% is the result of the weathering of siUcates, underlining the significant role of these minerals in the overall chemical denudation of the earth s surface. 

The paper describes the different chemical sensors and mathematical methods applied and presents the review of electronic tongue application for quantitative analysis (heavy metals and other impurities in river water, uranium in former mines, metal impurities in exhaust gases, ets) and for classification and taste determination of some beverages (coffee, bear, juice, wines), vegetable oil, milk, etc. [1]. 

COLLECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BIOACTIVE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS OCCURRING IN RIVERS AND LAKES. ADSORPTION SELECTIVITY OF MONOSACCHARIDES ONTO HYDROUS METAL OXIDES... 

In 1974, the Harmonized Monitoring Programme was set up by the Department of the Environment (DoE). The objective was to provide a network of sites at the lower end of catchments, where water quality data could be collected and analysed in a nationally consistent manner, allowing the loads of materials carried through river catchments into estuaries to be estimated and long-term trends in river quality to be assessed. The complete list of substances to be monitored is diverse and specifies about 115 substances. The pesticides aldrin, dieldrin, y-HCH, heptachlor, p,p -DDT and p,p -DDE are included. Figures 1 and 2 show the downward trend of y-HCH and dieldrin over the past 20 years at the Harmonized Monitoring Sites. This confirms that reductions in environmental concentrations have been achieved, particularly over the past 10 years. 

Figure 1 y-HCH in rivers in Great Britain (% distribution of eoneentrations). (Data from Harmonized Monitoring Sites)... 

Similarly, contaminant concentrations in rivers or streams can be roughly assessed based on rate of contaminant introduction and dilution volumes. Estuary or impoundment concentration regimes are highly dependent on the transport mechanisms enumerated. Contaminants may be localized and remain concentrated or may disperse rapidly and become diluted to insignificant levels. The conservative approach is to conduct a more in-depth assessment and use model results or survey data as a basis for determining contaminant concentration levels. 

A review and methods for the use of epilithic diatoms for detecting and monitoring changes in river water quality, 1993... 

Table 16.14 Concentrations, in (in river water, pH 7.5) ppm, of substances which show toxic effects in various organisms ...

C. Aguilar, I. Feirer, R Bonnll, R. M. Marce and D. Barcelo, Monitoring of pesticides in river water based on samples previously stored in polymeric cartridges followed by on-line solid-phase extraction-liquid cliromatography-diode array detection and confirmation by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry . Anal. Chim. Acta 386 237-248 (1999). 

S. Lacorte, J. J. Vreuls, J. S. Salau, R Ventura and D. Barcelo, Monitoring of pesticides in river water using fully automated on-line solid-phase extraction and liquid cliro-matography with diode array detection with a novel filrtation device , J. Chromatogr. 795 71-82(1998). 

D. Puig, L. Silgoner, M. Grasserbauer and D. Barcelo, Part-per-trillion level determination of priority methyl-, nirto-, and clilor ophenols in river water samples by automated online liquid/solid exrtaction followed by liquid chr omatography/mass spectr ometry using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and ion spray interfaces . Anal. Chem. 69 2756-2761 (1997). 

The method has been applied to the determination of boron in river water and sewage,16 the chief sources of interference being copper(II) and zinc ions, and anionic detergents. The latter interfere by forming ion-association complexes with ferroin which are extracted by chloroform this property... 

Microbes could not break down branch-chain detergents, so they left foam in river water. They were replaced by straight-chain alkyl benzene sulfonates, such as sodium dodecylbenzene-sulfonate and sodium xylenesulfonate. 

Straight-chain detergents don t work in hard water. Phosphates were added to detergents to soften the water, but phosphates are excellent fertilizer for algae in rivers and oceans. The algae blooms deplete the oxygen in the water, which in turn kills fish. Phosphates were replaced with other water softeners such as sodium carbonate and EDTA. 

TABLE 13 Secondary Alkanesulfonates (SAS) and Linear Alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS) in River Waters Near Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) (pg/L)... 

Nitrification as a deoxygenation process is normally significant only in river systems receiving pollutional inputs of ammonia. The kinetics of nitrification are less clear than those for carbonaceous deoxygenation (33). 

Photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is primary production, the fundamental driving force of ecosystems and is a critical dynamic in rivers. It may be represented as... 

Atmospheric Reaeration. Interfacial properties and phenomena that govern oxygen concentrations in river systems include 1) oxygen solubility (temperature, partial pressure and surface dependency), 2) rate of dissolution of oxygen (saturation level, temperature and surface thin film dependency, i.e., ice, wind), and 3) transport of oxygen via mixing and molecular diffusion. A number of field and empirically derived mathematical relationships have been developed to describe these processes and phenomena, the most common of which is (32) ... 

Rivers transport suspended sediments derived from the disintegration of basin surface layers. With reduced velocity, sediment is deposited in the river channel. The finest material is carried to the sea. It has been estimated that the average mechanical denudation rate for continents is 0.056 mm year (35). This is based on a total suspended load of 13.5 x 10 metric tons year (S). Presently, about two-thirds of the world s total suspended sediment load derives from Southern Asia and large Pacific Islands. Berner has estimated the increase in sediment loss in the U.S. and world since prehuman times to be approximately 200% (35). Current estimated erosion rate from the major land forms is provided in Table I. The relatively recent construction of large sediment trapping dams that normally caused sediment to be deposited in river valleys or transported to the ocean has drastically reduced sediment yields in great rivers. 

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