Pores water

In the marine environment oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of pore waters may be inherited from ocean water or inflnenced by diagenetic reactions in the sediment or nnderlying basement. Knowledge of the chemical composition of sedimentary pore waters has increased considerably since the beginning of the Deep-Sea-Drilling-Project. From numerous drill sites, similar depth-dependent trends in the isotopic composition have been observed. 

For oxygen this means a decrease in from an initial 5-valne very near 0%c (ocean water) to abont -2%o at depths aronnd 200 m (Perry et al. 1976 Lawrence and Gieskes 1981 Brnmsack et al. 1992). Even lower 5 0-values of about -4%c at depths of around 400 m have been observed by Matsumoto (1992). This decrease in 0 is mainly dne to the formation of anthigenic 0-enriched clay minerals such as smectite from alteration of basaltic material and volcanic ash. Other diagenetic reactions inclnde recrystallization of biogenic carbonates, precipitation of 

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The pores between the rock components, e.g. the sand grains in a sandstone reservoir, will initially be filled with the pore water. The migrating hydrocarbons will displace the water and thus gradually fill the reservoir. For a reservoir to be effective, the pores need to be in communication to allow migration, and also need to allow flow towards the borehole once a well is drilled into the structure. The pore space is referred to as porosity in oil field terms. Permeability measures the ability of a rock to allow fluid flow through its pore system. A reservoir rock which has some porosity but too low a permeability to allow fluid flow is termed tight . 

Compaction occurs when continuous sedimentation results in an increase of overburden which expels pore water from a sediment package. Pore space will be reduced and the grains will become packed more tightly together. Compaction is particularly severe in clays which have an extremely high porosity of some 80% when freshly deposited. 

Compaction reduces porosity and permeability. As mentioned earlier during the introduction of growth faults. If the expulsion of pore water is prevented, overpressures may develop. 

The magnesium ion is made available by migrating pore waters. If the process is continuous on a geologic time scale more and more Mg + is introduced to the system and the porosity reduces again. The rock has been over-dolomitised. 

The relationship was based on a number of observations, firstly that the conductivity (Cq) of a water bearing formation sample is dependent primarily upon pore water conductivity (C ) and porosity distribution (as the rock matrix does not conduct electricity) such that ... 

Table 2. Absorption Peaks of Gel-Silica Monolith Pore Water and Surface Hydroxyl Groups ...

This removal may also include diffusion of soluble U(VI) from seawater into the sediment via pore water. Uranium-organic matter complexes are also prevalent in the marine environment. Organically bound uranium was found to make up to 20% of the dissolved U concentration in the open ocean." ° Uranium may also be enriched in estuarine colloids and in suspended organic matter within the surface ocean. " Scott" and Maeda and Windom" have suggested the possibility that humic acids can efficiently scavenge uranium in low salinity regions of some estuaries. Finally, sedimentary organic matter can also efficiently complex or adsorb uranium and other radionuclides. 

Global uranium flux calculations have typically been based on the following two assumptions (a) riverine-end member concentrations of dissolved uranium are relatively constant, and (b) no significant input or removal of uranium occurs in coastal environments. Other sources of uranium to the ocean may include mantle emanations, diffusion through pore waters of deep-sea sediments, leaching of river-borne sediments by seawater," and remobilization through reduction of a Fe-Mn carrier phase. However, there is still considerable debate... 

Upward flow of pore water and dissolved material caused by pressure gradients. 

Carbon dioxide is produced as a result of metabolism of all heterotrophic organisms. The concentrations of CO2 in pore water of reduced sediments are therefore high. Autotrophic microorganisms consume CO2 in the oxidized part of the sediment, which can vary in depth from a meter in deep sea sediments to a few mm... 

POi that is incorporated into the authigenic apatite is thought to be supplied primarily via the decomposition of organic materials at the sea floor. A variety of additional processes, such as cycling at redox boundaries or incorporation by microbial communities, may act to elevate pore water concentrations, promoting... 

As is the case with assessments of the toxicity of dissolved trace metals, the development of sediment quality criteria (SQC) must be based on the fraction of sediment-associated metal that is bioavailable. Bulk sediments consist of a variety of phases including sediment solids in the silt and clay size fractions, and sediment pore water. Swartz et al. (1985) demonstrated that the bioavailable fraction of cadmium in sediments is correlated with interstitial water cadmium concentrations. More recent work (e.g., Di Toro et al, 1990 Allen et al., 1993 Hansen et al, 1996 Ankley et ai, 1996, and references therein) has demonstrated that the interstitial water concentrations of a suite of trace metals is regulated by an extractable fraction of iron sulfides. 

Berg M, Arnold CG, Muller SR, Muhlemann J, Schwarzenbach RP (2001) Sorption and desorption behavior of organotin compounds in sediment-pore water systems. Environmental Science and Technology, 35(15) 3151-3157. 

The majority of trichloroethylene present on soil surfaces will volatilize to the atmosphere or leach into the subsurface. Once trichloroethylene leaches into the soil, it appears not to become chemically transformed or undergo covalent bonding with soil components. When trichloroethylene was absorbed onto kaolinite and bentonite, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra showed no evidence of chemical reactions (Jurkiewicz and Maciel 1995). Because trichloroethylene is a dense nonaqueous phase liquid, it can move through the imsaturated zone into the saturated zone where it can displace soil pore water (Wershaw et al. 1994). 

Wershaw RL, Aiken GR, Imbrigiotta TE, et al. 1994. Displacement of soil pore water by trichloroethylene. J Environ Qual 23 792-798. 

As more sensitive analytical methods for pesticides are developed, greater care must be taken to avoid sample contamination and misidentification of residues. For example, in pesticide leaching or field dissipation studies, small amounts of surface soil coming in contact with soil core or soil pore water samples taken from further below the ground surface can sometimes lead to wildly inaccurate analytical results. This is probably the cause of isolated, high-level detections of pesticides in the lower part of the vadose zone or in groundwater in samples taken soon after application when other data (weather, soil permeability determinations and other pesticide or tracer analytical results) imply that such results are highly improbable. 

Figure 7. Sediment eontains derived both seavenged from the water eolumn during particle settling and contained in solid material. Ra produced in the sediments is highly soluble in pore waters and diffuses into the overlying water or is advected across the sediment-water interface by discharging groundwater. Rn is produced within the water column from dissolved Ra and within the underlying sediments.

Nozaki Y, Yamada M, Nikaido H (1990) The marine geochemistry of actinium-227 evidence for its migration through sediment pore water. Geophys Res Lett 17 1933-1936 Nozaki Y (1993) Actinium-227 a steady state tracer for the deep-se basin wide circulation and mixing studes. In Deep Ocean Circulation, Physical and Chemical Aspects. Teramoto T (ed) Elsevier p 139-155... 

Cochran JK, Krishnaswami S (1980) Radium, thorium, uranium and °Pb in deep-sea sediments and sediment pore waters from the north equatorial Pacific. Am J Sci 280 849-889 Cochran JK, Masque P (2003) Short-lived U/Th-series radionuchdes in the ocean tracers for scavenging rates, export fluxes and particle dynamics. Rev Mineral Geochem 52 461-492 Colley S, Thomson J, Newton PP (1995) Detailed °Th, Th and °Pb fluxes recorded by the 1989/90 BQFS sediment trap time-series at 48°N, 20°W. Deep-Sea Res 42(6) 833-848... 

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