Barium In Sediments Research Articles

Testing the utility of geochemical proxies for paleoproductivity in oxic sedimentary marine settings of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

During the early stages of sediment diagenesis most of the organic matter reoxidizes, leaving behind a residual fraction of organic carbon which does not typically reflect its original quantities. Paleo-productivity reconstructions are therefore based on changes in the chemical composition of carbonate shells or, alternatively, use the abundances of inorganic elements in the bulk sediments, that have been shown to be proxies for organic matter contents. To examine the applicability of bulk inorganic elements composition for this task, we compare recorded changes in known anthropogenic nutrient fluxes to the oligotrophic and oxygenated Gulf of Aqaba in the north Red Sea, with the sedimentary records of barium, cadmium, copper and nickel over the last decades. Among these elements, nickel and copper strongly correlate with recorded nutrient fluxes and primary productivity in the region. In the present case, nickel is a more reliable proxy since part of the copper is possibly contributed from air-borne pollution sources. The applicability of cadmium to serve as a tracer for nutrient additions could not be reliably tested because contribution of cadmium associated with phosphate ore loading in the adjacent ports may be significant. We do not observe any bulk sediment barium enrichments associated with increased nutrient fluxes. Overall, it appears from these correlations that nickel and probably also copper reliably record past changes in nutrient availability and organic matter fluxes while sedimentary barium and barite, which are commonly attributed to productivity, do not.

Reconstructing Early Industrial Contributions to Legacy Trace Metal Contamination in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Early industrial trace metal loadings are poorly characterized but potentially substantial sources of trace metals to the landscape. The magnitude of legacy contamination in southwestern Pennsylvania, the cradle of North American fossil fuel industrialization, is reconstructed from trace metal concentrations in a sediment core with proxies including major and trace metal chemistry, bulk density, and magnetic susceptibility. Trace metal chemistry in this sediment record reflects 19th and 20th century land use and industry. In particular, early 19th century arsenic loadings to the lake are elevated from pesticides used by early European settlers at a lakeside tannery. Later, sediment barium concentrations rise, likely reflecting the onset of acidic mine drainage from coal operations. Twentieth century zinc, cadmium, and lead concentrations are dominated by emissions from the nearby, infamous Donora Zinc Works yet record both the opening of a nearby coal-fired power plant and amendments to the Clean Air Act. The impact of early industry is substantial and rivals more recent metal fluxes, resulting in a significant potential source of contaminated sediments. Thus, modern assessments of trace metal contamination cannot ignore early industrial inputs, as the potential remobilization of legacy contamination would impact ecosystem and human health.

Assessment of radium-226 bioavailability and bioaccumulation downstream of decommissioned uranium operations, using the caged oligochaete (Lumbriculus variegatus).

The present study investigated the integrated effects of several geochemical processes that control radium-226 ((226) Ra) mobility in the aquatic environment and bioaccumulation in in situ caged benthic invertebrates. Radium-226 bioaccumulation from sediment and water was evaluated using caged oligochaetes (Lumbriculus variegatus) deployed for 10 d in 6 areas downstream of decommissioned uranium operations in Ontario and Saskatchewan, Canada. Measured (226) Ra radioactivity levels in the retrieved oligochaetes did not relate directly to water and sediment exposure levels. Other environmental factors that may influence (226) Ra bioavailability in sediment and water were investigated. The strongest mitigating influence on (226) Ra bioaccumulation factors was sediment barium concentration, with elevated barium (Ba) levels being related to use of barium chloride in effluent treatment for removing (226) Ra through barite formation. Observations from the present study also indicated that (226) Ra bioavailability was influenced by dissolved organic carbon in water, and by gypsum, carbonate minerals, and iron oxyhydroxides in sediment, suggestive of sorption processes. Environmental factors that appeared to increase (226) Ra bioaccumulation were the presence of other group (II) ions in water (likely competing for binding sites on organic carbon molecules), and the presence of K-feldspars in sediment, which likely act as a dynamic repository for (226) Ra where weak ion exchange can occur. In addition to influencing bioavailability to sediment biota, secondary minerals such as gypsum, carbonate minerals, and iron oxyhydroxides likely help mitigate (226) Ra release into overlying water after the dissolution of sedimentary barite. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:507-517. © 2014 SETAC.

Concentrations and distribution of biogenic barium in surface sediments of Prydz Bay, Antarctica 

Concentrations of biogenic barium were investigated in surface sediments of Prydz Bay, Antarctica, during the 21st and 27th CHINARE cruises. Factors controlling the observed distribution are explored. Biogenic barium concentrations obtained from a sequential extraction procedure are compared with total concentrations obtained from the normative calculation based on a total digestion, and differences in the results are examined. Concentrations of biogenic barium, calculated by the normative calculation, were much higher than the concentrations obtained through sequential extraction; this discrepancy is the result of the occurrence of barium associated with Mn/Fe oxides, which represents an important component of total barium in these sediments. Concentrations of biogenic barium obtained from the sequential extraction range from 104 to 445 μg∙g -1 , and the average concentration was 227 μg∙g -1 . The highest concentrations of biogenic barium occur in the central area of the bay, where the seawater is more stable, while lower values occur in the bank and the ice shelf. Biogenic barium is significantly linearly correlated with biogenic barium and organic carbon, and similar in distribution of Chl a, which may indicate that primary productivity of phytoplankton in the sur- face water column is the main environmental factor regulating barium concentration and distribution.

Discharged drilling waste from oil and gas platforms and its effects on benthic communities

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 456:285-302 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09622 REVIEW Discharged drilling waste from oil and gas platforms and its effects on benthic communities J. I. Ellis1,*, G. Fraser2, J. Russell3 1Coastal & Freshwater Research Group, Cawthron Institute, Private Bag 2, Nelson 7010, New Zealand 2Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario M6H 1T5, Canada 3Alder Institute, Tors Cove, Newfoundland A0A 4A0, Canada *Email: joanne.ellis@cawthron.org.nz ABSTRACT: This review paper identifies the main effects of oil and gas drilling waste on benthic environments. We identified 26 papers and technical reports that surveyed sediment samples from 72 production or exploration platform sites to assess the zone of influence of sediment contamination and biological effects on benthic communities. While oil-based fluids are now rarely used in the marine context, their release has had large-scale (out to 6 km) and persistent (decadal time scale) impacts on benthic communities. The zone of influence of water-based drilling fluids as determined by sediment barium concentration was larger (2 to 20 km) than for synthetic-based fluids (200 to 2000 m). The zone of biological effects on benthic community diversity and abundance ranged from 100 to 1000 m for both water and synthetic fluids. Effects include changes in benthic species diversity, abundance and alterations to community structure. Functional changes included a loss of suspension-feeding species and increases in deposit feeders and polychaetes. In general, this review demonstrates a loss of benthic biodiversity and suspension-feeding communities due to oil exploration and production and the potential for large-scale effects on sensitive communities such as deep-sea, coral and vegetated habitats. Current research gaps and priorities are identified. KEY WORDS: Benthic community composition · Chemical toxicity · Organic enrichment · Suspended sediments · Oil-based fluids · Synthetic-based fluids · Water-based fluids Full text in pdf format PreviousCite this article as: Ellis JI, Fraser G, Russell J (2012) Discharged drilling waste from oil and gas platforms and its effects on benthic communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 456:285-302. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09622 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 456. Online publication date: June 07, 2012 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.

Barite and barium in sediments and coral skeletons around the hydrocarbon exploration drilling site in the Træna Deep, Norwegian Sea

Barite and barium concentrations in bottom sediments and coral skeletons from the vicinity of the hydrocarbon exploration well drilled in 1992–1993 in the Traena Deep, Norwegian Sea have been studied to assess the spreading of the drilling mud and related ecological effects on Lophelia petrusa coral reefs. Sand size barite crystals derived from the drilling mud and elevated Ba concentrations in surface (0–2 cm) sediments were found up to 4 km from the exploration drilling site. 210Pb-dating results on sediment cores indicate that Ba-rich surface intervals (0–2 cm) record ca. 20 years of sedimentation history, and connect Ba enrichment with exploration drilling. The geographic distribution of Ba contents in sediments allowed the reconstruction of the drilling mud dispersal pattern showing transport eastward from the drilling site, consistent with the prevailing current directions. The presence of relatively coarse-grained sediments and barite crystals trapped in coral polyps, ca. 500 m down current from the drilling site, reflects the elevated turbulence and sediment supply during the drilling activity. This elevated sediment dispersion likely placed a stress upon the coral reefs, but due to strong currents that effectively dilute episodic drilling waste and sediment discharges, the damage does not appear significant.

The impact of sediment provenance on barium-based productivity estimates

Abstract Biogenic barium in marine sediments has been suggested to be a reliable proxy of export productivity from the surface ocean and algorithms have been developed to link these properties. However, problems arise when the proposed algorithms are applied to predominantly terrigenous sediments. A major source of error is incorrect estimates of the terrigenous Ba/Al ratio in normative calculations of the amount of biogenic barium in the sediment. Compared to an often used “global average” Ba/Al ratio, much better results can be obtained by estimating the terrigenous Ba/Al ratio from exponential regression of the Ba/Al ratios of surface sediments obtained from continental slope transects. This method has been applied to surface sediments from the Chilean continental slope. The calculated regional terrigenous Ba/Al ratios could be verified with purely terrigenous samples from Chilean rivers. The resulting accumulation rates of biogenic barium on the Chilean continental slope reliably reproduce the regional pattern of primary productivity in the southern Peru–Chile Current, indicating the potential of biogenic barium as a useful (paleo)productivity proxy.

Long-term changes in sediment barium inventories associated with drilling-related discharges in the Santa Maria Basin, California, USA

Nine-year (1986–1995) records of barium (Ba) concentrations in surficial, subsurface, and suspended sediments near offshore oil and gas platforms in the Santa Maria Basin, California, USA, were analyzed to evaluate temporal trends related to drilling activities. These trends provide important information on the long-term effects of drilling discharges on geochemical conditions. Drilling during the 1986 through 1989 (phase II) monitoring period resulted in significant changes in Ba concentrations in suspended particles and surficial sediments, whereas the relatively shorter 1993 through 1994 (phase III) drilling operations resulted in only minor increases in Ba concentrations in suspended sediments. Residual excess Ba was present in some sediments within 500 m of the platforms at concentrations up to an order of magnitude above background. These elevated levels probably were associated with cuttings particles deposited near the base of the platforms. Calculated excess Ba in sediments within 500 m of the platforms represented 6 to 11% of the total Ba discharged during the two drilling periods.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF SYNTHETIC-BASED DRILLING MUD DISCHARGES TO BASS STRAIT, AUSTRALIA

Esso Australia Ltd. (Esso) on behalf of the Esso/BHP joint venture undertakes exploration and development drilling activities to produce oil and gas from the Gippsland Basin in eastern Bass Strait. As part of the environmental management of the operation, a field monitoring program was undertaken to verify the predicted limited effect on the seabed of the discharge of residual synthetic based mud (SBM) adhered to drill cuttings.Reservoir studies of the mature Fortescue oil field identified scope to more efficiently deplete existing reserves as well as develop undrained oil pools within the known reservoir system. As such, 18 additional wells were drilled from the Fortescue platform in 1994-1996 following the original development drilling program when 21 wells were drilled in 1983-1985.Esso's standard drilling fluid in Bass Strait is an environmentally acceptable water based mud (WBM). However, due to the high frictional forces involved the greater lubricating properties of a non-water based drilling mud were required to drill the long reach, high angle sections of seven of the additional wells. The ester SBM was chosen on the basis of its lubricity and biodegradability, to reduce any potential environmental effects from the persistence of non-water based mud in seabed sediments.A seabed monitoring program was undertaken around the Fortescue platform by taking seabed samples from August 1995 to August 1997 at sites along a transect following the predominant ocean current and at control sites, before, during and after the period in which SBM cuttings were discharged. The seabed sediments were measured for esters, barium, biological changes and grain size. Results show clearly the increase in esters concentration in sediments during drilling, then the rapid decrease after completion of cuttings discharge. After a recovery period of 11 months from completion of SBM drilling, SBM esters were not detected in sediments. Sediment barium concentration was also found to be elevated, but only after SBM had been used, indicating greater dispersion of WBM than the more cohesive SBM. The barium concentrations found generally do not have measurable effects on biota. The impact on the sediment biology was found to be limited to the sampling site 100 m from the platform discharge point with recovery evident within four months of completion of drilling.Mechanisms for recovery of the minimal zone of effect are thought to be a combination of the biodegradation of the ester SBM used and the physical seabed dispersion process evident in eastern Bass Strait generated by the continuous series of storms which pass through especially in winter.

Changes of lead and barium with time in California off-shore basin sediments

During ancient times the natural deposition fluxes of lead which can be leached with dilute acid from sediments in Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and San Pedro basins offshore from the Los Angeles Urban complex, were about 0.7, 0.1 and 0.2 μg Pb/cm 2 yr respectively. Since there was little difference in biological productivity in surface waters of these basins, it is proposed that clay is a major transport vehicle for sequestered soluble lead, which then explains why the lead deposition flux within the Santa Barbara basin was so much larger compared to the other basins. The fluxes of silicate mud in the basins in ancient times were about 92, 19 and 30 mg/cm 2 yr in Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and San Pedro basins respectively. Today deposition fluxes of acid soluble lead within these three basins are 3- to 9-fold greater, being about 2.1, 1.1 and 1.8 μg Pb/cm 2 yr respectively, partly in the form of directly deposited large sewage particles, which account for none, 2 3 and 3 4 of the total industrial lead deposition fluxes in the respective basins. Concentrations of leachable lead in varve dated sediment layers increase with time and isotopic compositions of these leads change in accordance with corresponding known changes of isotopic compositions of industrial lead in the Los Angeles atmosphere. Lead remaining in acid leached sediment residues originates from igneous and clay minerals, exhibiting no change in concentration or isotopic composition since pre-industrial times. Deposition fluxes of total barium in sediments among the three basins were proportional to mass deposition fluxes before 1950 in the same manner as for lead. Afterwards, there are barium concentration maxima with time in both Santa Monica and San Pedro Basin sediments which are attributable to industrial sewage rather than to episodic erosion from barium-rich sedimentary evaporite strata exposed locally along the shore. An increase of barium concentrations in present day Santa Barbara basin sediments may reflect dispersal of barium-rich drilling mud from local drilling operations.