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B. Wang

Publications and source records attributed to B. Wang.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2011

Nitrogen in Chinese coals

Three hundred and six coal samples were taken from main coal mines of twenty-six provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China, according to the resource distribution and coal-forming periods as well as the coal ranks and coal yields. Nitrogen was determined by using the Kjeldahl method at U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), which exhibit a normal frequency distribution. The nitrogen contents of over 90% Chinese coal vary from 0.52% to 1.41% and the average nitrogen content is recommended to be 0.98%. Nitrogen in coal exists primarily in organic form. There is a slight positive relationship between nitrogen content and coal ranking. ?? 2011 Science Press, Institute of Geochemistry, CAS and Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Chinese Journal of Geochemistry↗
USGS2008

The 2005 catastrophic acid crater lake drainage, lahar, and acidic aerosol formation at Mount Chiginagak volcano, Alaska, USA: Field observations and preliminary water and vegetation chemistry results

A mass of snow and ice 400-m-wide and 105-m-thick began melting in the summit crater of Mount Chiginagak volcano sometime between November 2004 and early May 2005, presumably owing to increased heat flux from the hydrothermal system, or possibly from magma intrusion and degassing. In early May 2005, an estimated 3.8??10 6 m 3 of sulfurous, clay-rich debris and acidic water, with an accompanying acidic aerosol component, exited the crater through a tunnel at the base of a glacier that breaches the south crater rim. Over 27 km downstream, the acidic waters of the flood inundated an important salmon spawning drainage, acidifying Mother Goose Lake from surface to depth (approximately 0.5 km 3 in volume at a pH of 2.9 to 3.1), killing all aquatic life, and preventing the annual salmon run. Over 2 months later, crater lake water sampled 8 km downstream of the outlet after considerable dilution from glacial meltwater was a weak sulfuric acid solution (pH = 3.2, SO 4 = 504 mg/L, Cl = 53.6 mg/L, and F = 7.92 mg/L). The acid flood waters caused severe vegetation damage, including plant death and leaf kill along the flood path. The crater lake drainage was accompanied by an ambioructic flow of acidic aerosols that followed the flood path, contributing to defoliation and necrotic leaf damage to vegetation in a 29 km 2 area along and above affected streams, in areas to heights of over 150 m above stream level. Moss species killed in the event contained high levels of sulfur, indicating extremely elevated atmospheric sulfurcontent. The most abundant airborne phytotoxic constituent was likely sulfuric acid aerosols that were generated during the catastrophic partial crater lake drainage event. Two mechanisms of acidic aerosol formation are proposed: (1) generation of aerosol mist through turbulent flow of acidic water and (2) catastrophic gas exsolution. This previously undocumented phenomenon of simultaneous vegetationdamaging acidic aerosols accompanying drainage of an acidic crater lake has important implications for the study of hazards associated with active volcanic crater lakes. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems↗
USGS2008

Estimating groundwater recharge in Hebei Plain, China under varying land use practices using tritium and bromide tracers

Tritium and bromide were used as applied tracers to determine groundwater recharge in Hebei Plain, North China, to evaluate the impacts of different soil types, land use, irrigation, and crop cultivation practice on recharge. Additional objectives were to evaluate temporal variability of recharge and the effect on results of the particular tracer used. Thirty-nine profiles at representative locations were chosen for investigation. Average recharge rates and recharge coefficient determined by tritium and bromide tracing for different sites were 0.00-1.05 mm/d and 0.0-42.5%, respectively. The results showed relative recharge rates for the following paired influences (items within each pair are listed with the influence producing greater recharge first): flood-irrigated cropland and non-irrigated non-cultivation land, flood irrigation (0.42-0.58 mm/d) and sprinkling irrigation (0.17-0.23 mm/d), no stalk mulch (0.56-0.80 mm/d) and stalk mulch (0.44-0.60 mm/d), vegetable (e.g. Chinese cabbage and garlic, 0.70 mm/d) and wheat-maize (0.38 mm/d), peanut (0.51 mm/d) and peach (0.43 mm/d). The results also showed greater recharge for the first year of tracer travel than for the second. Because total precipitation and irrigation were greater in the first year than in the second, this may reflect temporal variability of recharge. The method may not be applicable where the water table is shallow (less than 3 m). A comparison of the near-ideal tritium tracer with the more common but less ideal bromide showed that bromide moved approximately 23% faster than tritiated water, perhaps because of anion exclusion. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V.

Journal of Hydrology↗
USGS2008

Substrate Geochemistry and Soil Development in Boreal Forest and Tundra Ecosystems in the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Seward Peninsula, Alaska

We report on soil development as a function of bedrock type and the presence of loess in two high latitude ecosystems (boreal forest and tundra) and from two regions in Alaska?the Yukon-Tanana Upland (YTU, east-central Alaska) and the Seward Peninsula (SP, far-west coastal Alaska). This approach to the study of 'cold soils' is fundamental to the quantification of regional geochemical landscape patterns. Of the five state factors in this study, bedrock and biota (ecosystem; vegetation zone) vary whereas climate (within each area) and topography are controlled. The influence of time is assumed to be controlled, as these soils are thousands of years old (late Quaternary to Holocene). The primary minerals in soils from YTU, developed over loess and crystalline bedrock (metamorphic and intrusive), are quartz, plagioclase, and 2:1 clays; whereas in the SP, where loess and metasedimentary bedrock (schist and quartzite) predominate, they are quartz and muscovite. The A horizon of both regions is rich in peat. Examination of the ratio of mobile (K2O, CaO, and Fe2O3) to immobile (TiO2) major oxides, within each region, shows that very little difference exists in the chemical weathering of soils developed between the two ecosystems examined. Differences were observed between tundra soils developed in the two regions. These differences are most probably due to the dissimilarity in the geochemical importance of both loess and bedrock. A minimal loss of cadmium with soil depth is seen for soils developed over YTU crystalline bedrock in the boreal forest environments. This trend is related to the mobility of cadmium in these soils as well as to its biogenic cycling. Major differences were observed in the proportion of cadmium and zinc among the A, B, and C horizon material sequestered in various soil fractions as measured by sequential soil extractions. These trends followed such variables as the decrease with depth in organic matter, the change in clay minerals, and the change in the proportion of oxides/hydroxides. An analysis of the bulk soil mineralogy and the relation between CaO and MgO and Al2O3 and Fe2O3 indicates that the silty textured soils of the YTU are predominantly eolian (that is, of late Tertiary or Quaternary age) but not broad-regional in origin. Their composition instead is probably the result of locally derived dusts as well as input from long-term, in-place bedrock weathering.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2006

Concentration and distribution of sixty-one elements in coals from DPR Korea

Fifty coal samples (28 anthracite and 22 lignites) were collected from both main and small coal mines in DPR Korea prioritized by resource distribution and coal production. The concentrations of 61 elements in 50 coal samples were determined by several multielement and element-specific techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ion chromatogram (IC), cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS), and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS). The ranges, arithmetic means and geometric means of concentrations of these elements are presented. A comparison with crustal abundances (Clarke values) shows that some potentially hazardous elements in the coals of DPR Korea are highly enriched Li, B, S, Cl, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sn, Sb, W, Te, Hg, Ag, Pb, and La, Ce, Dy, Tm, Ge, Mo, Cs, Tl, Bi, Th and U are moderately enriched. A comparison of ranges and means of elemental concentrations in DPR Korea, Chinese, and world coals shows the ranges of most elements in DPR Korea coals are very close to the ranges of world coals. Arithmetic means of most elements in DPR Korea coals are close to that of American coals. Most elements arithmetic means are higher in Jurassic and Paleogene coals than coals of other ages. In DPR Korea coals, only seven elements in early Permian coals are higher than other periods: Li, Zn, Se, Cd, Hg, Pb, and Bi. Only five elements B, As, Sr, Mo, W in Neogene coals have arithmetic means higher than others. SiO2 and Al2O 3 in ashes are more than 70% except six samples. The correlation between ash yields and major elements from high to low is in the order of Si>Al>Ti>K>Mg>Fe>Na>Ca>P>S. Most elements have high positive correlation with ash (r>0.5) and show high inorganic affinity. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fuel↗
USGS2005

Geometry and kinematics of Late Cretaceous inversion structures in the Jiuquan Basin, western China

Late Cretaceous inversion structures, which are significant for oil and gas accumulation, are widely distributed throughout the Jiuquan Basin. These structures are primarily made up of inverted faults and fault-related folds. Most of the axial planes of folds are parallel to inverted faults trending north-east, indicating that the principal stress direction was north-west - south-east in the Late Cretaceous. The average inversion ratios of faults in the four sags that were investigated are 0.39, 0.29, 0.38, 0.32. The average inversion ratio in the Jiuquan Basin is 0.34 and the degree of inversion is moderate to strong. As moderate inversion is suitable for forming excellent hydrocarbon traps, there is considered to be significant potential in the basin for the presence of structural traps. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cretaceous Research↗