Drought-induced tree mortality has recently received considerable attention. Questions have arisen over the necessary intensity and duration thresholds of droughts that are sufficient to trigger rapid forest declines. The values of such tipping points leading to forest declines due to drought are presently unknown. In this study, we have evaluated the potential relationship between the level of tree growth and concurrent drought conditions with data of the tree growth-related ring width index (RWI) of the two dominant conifer species (Pinus edulis and Pinus ponderosa) in the Southwestern United States (SWUS) and the meteorological drought-related standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). In this effort, we determined the binned averages of RWI and the 11 month SPEI within the month of July within each bin of 30 of RWI in the range of 0-3000. We found a significant correlation between the binned averages of RWI and SPEI at the regional-scale under dryer conditions. The tipping point of forest declines to drought is predicted by the regression model as SPEI tp = −1.64 and RWI tp = 0, that is, persistence of the water deficit (11 month) with intensity of −1.64 leading to negligible growth for the conifer species. When climate conditions are wetter, the correlation between the binned averages of RWI and SPEI is weaker which we believe is most likely due to soil water and atmospheric moisture levels no longer being the dominant factor limiting tree growth. We also illustrate a potential application of the derived tipping point (SPEI tp = −1.64) through an examination of the 2002 extreme drought event in the SWUS conifer forest regions. Distinguished differences in remote-sensing based NDVI anomalies were found between the two regions partitioned by the derived tipping point.
Partitioning tracer tests (PTTs) are being used in environmental systems for the detection and estimation of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) saturations in contaminated aquifers. A series of such studies was recently conducted at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in two hydraulically isolated test cells of an aquifer contaminated by light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPL). These experiments were performed before and after two remediation efforts, a complexing sugar flush (CSF) and a recirculating in‐well aeration (IWA) system. The breakthrough curves obtained from monitoring tracer concentrations in the extraction wells indicated the presence of an immiscible phase, and the LNAPL saturation values determined from the pre‐ and post‐PTTs allowed the estimation of remediation efficiencies for both test cells. These remediation efficiencies, a removal of 43% of the LNAPL for the CSF and an increase of 32% for the IWA system, are consistent with data obtained from cores collected from within the experiment zones. The apparent increase in contamination for the IWA cell is likely due to a significant change in the LNAPL distribution caused by the flow system associated with the IWA technology. Several factors influenced the interpretation of the PTT data. Physical heterogeneities at the site caused significant tailing of the tracer concentrations and required the use of a simple extrapolation technique to account for the concentrations below analytical quantification limits. Degradation affected selected nonreactive and reactive tracers, causing the overestimation and underestimation of LNAPL saturations, respectively.
Pilot‐scale testing of an innovative ground water remediation technology was conducted in a source zone of a trichloroethene‐contaminated Superfund site in Tucson, Arizona. The technology is designed to enhance the removal of low‐solubility organic contaminants from heterogeneous sedimentary aquifers by using a dual‐screened vertical circulation well to inject and extract solutions containing a complexing sugar (hydroxypropyl‐beta‐cyclodextrin (HPCD]). Prior to initiating the pilot test, tracer tests were conducted to determine hydraulic characteristics of the vertical flow field and to evaluate trichloroethene‐elution behavior during water flushing. The pilot test involved injecting approximately 4 m3 of a 20% HPCD solution into the upper screened interval of the well and extracting from the lower screened interval. The results of the pilot test indicate that the cyclodextrin solution increased the rate of trichloroethene removal from the aquifer. The concentrations of trichloroethene in the ground water extracted from the lower screened interval of the well increased by a factor of three (∼750 μg/L) in the presence of the cyclodextrin pulse, compared to concentrations obtained during previous water flushing (∼250 μg/L). Furthermore, the concentration of trichloroethene in water collected from the circulation well under static conditions was reduced to 6% of the levels measured prior to the test.
The partitioning tracer test (PTT) is a characterization tool that can be used to quantify the porespace saturation (S N ) and spatial distribution of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs)
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