Thursday 31 May 2018

The Week Unwrapped: Isis killers, transportation hold-ups and adult competition

Exactly what should we finish with returning jihadis? Why is public transportation in decrease? And why aren't more dads taking shared parental leave?Analysis Friday

Holden Frith and Felicity Capon delve behind the headings and debate what actually matters from the previous 7 days. You can sign up for The Week Unwrapped on iTunes, SoundCloud or any place you get your podcasts. It is produced by Matt Hill and the music is by Tom Mawby. UK NewsWorld News Middle East Criminal activity Society Transportation Employment< a href=http://www.theweek.co.uk/the-week-unwrapped >

The Week
Unwrapped Islamic State Syria Iraq London TfL Tube

Source

http://www.theweek.co.uk/the-week-unwrapped/91684/the-week-unwrapped-isis-killers-transport-delays-and-parental-rivalry



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Wednesday 30 May 2018

LETTER: Council transport chief states London Roadway works will be for 'advantage of everybody'

Cllr Mark Shelford

Cabinet member for transportation and environment

Source

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/letter-council-transport-chief-says-1574061



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Embraces are reciprocal.

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11 Thoughts on Traveling Around the World for 11 Years

March 13 marks the anniversary of the date in 2007 when I turned over the keys to my house to travel around the world. It is the date I use to mark what I call my Travelversary. The last 11 years have totally changed my life in every way imaginable. I have been to more …
Continue reading



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Tuesday 29 May 2018

Shoppers camp out for days for restricted edition Adidas fitness instructors that double as complimentary transportation season ticket worth ₤ 650.

Embraces are reciprocal.

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11 Thoughts on Traveling Around the World for 11 Years

March 13 marks the anniversary of the date in 2007 when I turned over the keys to my house to travel around the world. It is the date I use to mark what I call my Travelversary. The last 11 years have totally changed my life in every way imaginable. I have been to more …
Continue reading



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Monday 28 May 2018

Tory Transportation Secretary Chris Grayling accused of 'running frightened' after flying out of the country on rail fares increase day

EU budgets €30·6bn for transport in 2021-27

EUROPE: A total costs envelope of EUR30 · 6bn has actually been assigned for transport investment as part of the European Commission's 2021-27 spending plan propositions presented to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Might 2.

Explaining its proposed Multiannual Funding Structure as 'practical and contemporary', the Commission advanced prepare for a total spending plan of EUR1 135bn over the seven years, equivalent to 1 · 11 % of GNP for the staying 27 member states. This is broadly equivalent to the level of spending in 2014-20. The propositions are to be settled over the coming months, with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker eager to reach contract before the European Parliament elections in spring 2019.

In order to streamline the existing structure, the Commission proposes to lower the number of different programmes by more than a 3rd and 'significantly streamline' using financial instruments. Research study and innovation is viewed as a key top priority, with a boost in overall investment to EUR114 · 8bn, which the Horizon Europe programme has a budget plan of EUR97 · 9bn.

Transportation costs will be funnelled through the Connecting Europe Facility, which has an overall budget plan of EUR42 · 2bn to money cross-border facilities investment in the transportation, energy and digital sectors. The transport aspect of EUR30 · 6bn is made up of a 'basic envelope' of EUR12 · 8bn and an additional EUR11 · 3bn from the cohesion fund. Another EUR6 · 5bn would be provided to boost strategic transportation infrastructure for improved military movement.

Throughout the 2018 TEN-T Days in Ljubljana, more than 40 associations and stakeholders jointly revealed a declaration on April 26 calling for 'more financial investment in clean and contemporary transport'. The signatories consisted of transport operators, local authorities, logistics company and users throughout the rail, maritime, inland waterways, air travel and intermodal sectors.

The Ljubljana Statement called upon European policymakers to increase the CEF budget plan for 2021-27 'to assist in the conclusion of the TEN-T core network', which would need an approximated EUR500bn between 2021 and 2030, and to supply additional grants for transportation jobs on the so-called detailed networks.

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman described that 'the Connecting Europe Facility offers the very best assurance to provide high EU added-value in the transportation sector, and offers an opportunity to finance the actual implementation of sustainable transport tasks.'

The Ljubljana Declaration was handed over to Budget plan Commissioner Günther Oettinger at the TEN-T Days occasion. 'We completely agree that buying infrastructure suggests promoting financial development and work', said Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc.

Source

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/policy/single-view/view/eu-budgets-EUR306bn-for-transport-in-2021-27.html



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Sunday 27 May 2018

Proposals for new or re-opened railway stations in two Doncaster villages have been outlined to transport ministers.

Proposals for new or re-opened railway stations in two Doncaster villages have been outlined to transport ministers.

Details of how officials from the Sheffield City Region would like to see stations operating at Finningley, near Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and Askern, have been outlined in official consultation documents.

It follows meetings which have left campaigners encouraged that new stations could be forthcoming.

Graham Moss, chairman of the campaign group Friends of Askern Railway Station, met with officials at a Department of Transport during the consultation - and says he was encouraged by the talks.

He attended the Department for Transport's East Midlands Franchise Consultation at Sheffield Hall, along with Doncaster Coun Austin White.

His optimism comes at a time when the Sheffield City Region and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive has included services to both Askern and Doncaster Sheffield Airport in its own list of requirements for the re-tendering of the East Midlands rail franchise..

Mr Moss said: "They appeared to be interested in the in bringing Askern station back, and, with the airport too, I think it is just the sort of thing they are looking for - I'm now quite upbeat about it."

He believes the department is also interested in possible links to Doncaster Sheffield Airport on the same line.

Campaigners want to see Askern included on the existing Lincoln to Doncaster service, with the line then continuing on to Leeds.

Mayor of Askern Francis Jackson added: "We think the cost of re-opening Askern station would be around £1m, but that is not a lot of money for a rail project."

The re-opening of the station has been included in recommendations from the Sheffield City Region and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.

Their joint joint response to the Department for Transport Consultation on the re-tendering of the East Midlands Rail Franchise calls for an hourly service to be introduced on the Lincoln to Doncaster line.

They state: "This could serve a potential new station at Finningley, which would serve the fast growing Doncaster Sheffield Airport as well as a number of local attractions such as the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

"This improved service could potentially be extended to Leeds via the Knottingley line, which currently doesn’t have any stopping passenger trains.

"There is a call for a new (or re-opened) station on this line at Askern, a town of 6,000 people north of Doncaster that needs better transport connections to help regenerate it, as well as serving its wider satellite villages.

"This service would provide a competitive direct link between Lincoln and Leeds, meeting growing demand for a better connection between these two cities and with Doncaster, as well as better linking Lincoln to the East Coast Mainline northwards and to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

The response also made mention of the plans to move the East Coast line to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

It stated: "Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) is our regional airport and is growing fast in terms of passenger numbers, as well as for freight. The airport owners Peel Group, along with Doncaster MBC and SCRCA (Sheffield City Region Combined Authority), are keen to improve rail links to the airport. We have aspirations for a new station on the Lincoln-Doncaster line at Finningley (for DSA), which would benefit from an improved service on that line. A study is also currently being undertaken into a proposal for a new station on the East Coast Mainline to serve the airport, which would extend its catchment area considerably."

A report is expected from the Department of Transport in the New Year.

Source

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/proposals-for-new-or-re-opened-railway-stations-in-two-doncaster-villages-have-been-outlined-to-transport-ministers-1-8909504



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Transport is now the biggest polluter in the UK - we need to get 'aggressive' on car use

Emissions from transportation are continuing to increase-- on the other hand, the energy sector has cut emissions by 57%.

The Government has actually verified that transportation in the UK is now the legally-binding environment targets. At the exact same time, the toxic fumes pumped out by roadway automobiles are connected to the needless deaths of more than 900 people in Britain I have written to Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary advising him to prevent crisis by changing course from a UK infrastructure agenda so dangerously rooted in the twentieth century.With each year

, each round of cuts, and each new financial investment in a 'automobile as king' fossil-fuelled transportation system, the Government reverses from the sustainable transport future we require to integrate in Britain.Committed to a major road-building plan, the similarity which has not been seen for decades, the Conservatives are looking backwards in the hopes of structure Britain from an issue that needs strong political will and genuine innovation.The Government isn't really positive it can even provide the expensive projects to which it has already committed. If it does, nevertheless, we can be positive they will stop working by themselves terms-- putting more cars and trucks on our roadways and increasing congestion.Dumbfounding as it is, at the same time, the Government is likewise cutting financing for bus services, rowing back on its rail electrification guarantees and under-committing to crucial walking and cycling facilities tasks. In my constituency, this is best highlighted by the confounding choice to downgrade plans for a crucial regional East-West railway link-- choosing filthy diesel over electrical trains-- to prioritise constructing a new roadway system to link the same cities.The modest financial investment in electrical automobile innovation, nevertheless, is welcome, and will play a part in cleansing and decarbonising our transport system, however it fails to grasp the actual problem. As does an ineffective plan to prohibit contaminating fuel and diesel vehicles in 22 years time. We need fewer not just more recent vehicles on our roadways. We also need to be sure we're not turning over a vehicle production market found to be consistently evading and cheating on automobile requirements with delivering the climate and environment developments about which it has actually deceived the British public for nigh on 2 decades.As a member of the European Parliament's Public Health and Transportation Committees, I am currently dealing with legislation that aims to introduce, as one procedure amongst numerous, road pricing to ensure the negative effects of driving are shouldered by the polluters and that the cash is reinvested in tidying up our air and decarbonising transport systems throughout Europe.It will not be popular amongst

chauffeurs, but when,< a href=http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2017/10/30/green-mep-in-oxford-for-halloween-to-raise-awareness-of-frightening-levels-of-air-pollution/ target= _ blank rel= noopener data-saferedirecturl ="// www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2017/10/30/green-mep-in-oxford-for-halloween-to-raise-awareness-of-frightening-levels-of-air-pollution/&source=gmail&ust=1518174466334000&usg=AFQjCNHky4f6BnNiUBfZML03IsnpXTdBTw"> as in Oxford, it is individuals who least contribute to the problem that suffer its impacts most highly it is necessary and just.Road pricing is just among the steps already available to a UK Government that could take immediate action on the transport crises. Banning polluting automobiles from urban locations, diesel scrappage schemes, and charging clean air zones are some others.Ultimately, we have to be moving away from private vehicles, to more public and mass transport. We require a Federal government that supports regional authority efforts to promote walking and biking and provides the economical facilities active transport requires.It needs a strong vision to

alter the way we think of end-to-end journeys and provide a system that is fit for purpose. It is exactly what I am dealing with my coworkers in the EU.We're not there yet, however I am advising Chris Grayling to join us on the road towards a genuinely sustainable movement future.Keith Taylor is the Green

Party MEP for South East England.

Source

http://leftfootforward.org/2018/02/transport-is-the-biggest-polluter-in-the-uk-we-need-to-get-aggressive-on-car-use/



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Embraces are reciprocal.

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11 Thoughts on Traveling Around the World for 11 Years

March 13 marks the anniversary of the date in 2007 when I turned over the keys to my house to travel around the world. It is the date I use to mark what I call my Travelversary. The last 11 years have totally changed my life in every way imaginable. I have been to more …
Continue reading



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Saturday 26 May 2018

McIntosh MCT500 SACD/CD Transport UK price

McIntosh has actually revealed the brand-new MCT500 SACD/CD Transportation with UK schedule in March. So, at least you get possibility to do some saving up.The new

MCT500 transport has been created to replay SACD/CD discs.Additionally, it can checking out a vast array of audio formats from USB flash drives and user-generated CD and DVD Data discs.McIntosh MCT500

transportation The MCT500 can play

all typical disc types consisting of SACD, CD, CD-R/RW and DVD-R. Furthmore, popular file formats such as AAC, AIFF, ALAC, DSD (approximately DSD128), FLAC, MP3, WMA and WAV (up to 24-bit/192kHz) WMA can be played from discs and USB drives.SACD/ CD The MCT500 SACD/CD Transportation can be partnered with a wide variety of McIntosh devices including digital inputs. So, hook it up to preamps, integrated amplifiers, processors, earphone amps and DACs.For SACD playback, the transportation includes McIntosh's exclusive MCT output.

This uses a safe and secure digital connection when linked(with the included cable)to a McIntosh product with an MCT input. Also, regular CDs can likewise be played over MCT.You can likewise use the transportation with a vast array of aftermarket DACs thanks to its 3 digital outputs: balanced XLR, coaxial

and optical.Disc transport An innovative disc transportation with an accuracy die-cast aluminium tray makes it possible for smooth and peaceful disc-handling. An advanced digital servo provides quickly

, peaceful and precise operation.Audio data is checked out at two times the normal rate, guaranteeing much better disc-tracking and error-correction processing.Finally, the MCT500 is wrapped in traditional McIntosh styling. You get a polished stainless steel

chassis, black glass front panel, brightened logo and aluminium end caps.Integration with other McIntosh system components is through the Power Control and information ports.Pricing and availability Orders can be positioned now with authorised McIntosh dealers with shipping expected to start in February (US)and March/April(UK); ₤ 5,995 The post

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Scunthorpe MP to check out issues at non-emergency patient transportation service

Wednesday 23 May 2018

11 Thoughts on Traveling Around the World for 11 Years

March 13 marks the anniversary of the date in 2007 when I turned over the keys to my house to travel around the world. It is the date I use to mark what I call my Travelversary. The last 11 years have totally changed my life in every way imaginable. I have been to more …
Continue reading



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Doing what you think you gotta do.

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Tuesday 22 May 2018

Transportation Secretary Chris Grayling rejects cancelling rail tasks in Yorkshire and the North

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has denied cancelling "a single project" for upgrading the rail network in the north of England.

Mr Grayling made the comments at an event in York to launch Network Rail's strategy for using digital technology to reduce overcrowding and cut delays.

He said he wants the city to be served by Britain's first digitally controlled intercity railway - with the system being introduced on the Transpennine route.

In July 2017, Mr Grayling sparked anger after announcing the cancellation of three electrification projects, consisting of Cumbria's Lakes Line between Oxenholme and Windermere, the Midland Main Line north of Kettering and the Great Western Main Line between Cardiff and Swansea.

Think tank IPPR North claims planned transport investment in London is two-and-a-half times higher per person than in the North.

The capital will receive £4,155 per person compared with just £1,600 in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber regions combined, according to the analysis.

The Government described the figures as "misleading" and "highly unrepresentative", adding that Transport for London projects should not be included as they receive no central funding.

Labour's shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald claimed digital signalling upgrades will have a "limited impact" without more lines being electrified.

"Every train is going to be replaced. The Transpennine upgrade is going to be a huge flagship project for the country.

"We've just finished the electrification of the Liverpool to Manchester railway line. We're in the process of electrifying from Manchester to Bolton.

"So I would challenge anybody who said we're not doing the right thing for the north of England.

"We're spending more money on transport upgrades in the north of England than any government has for decades."

Mr Grayling announced in York that all new trains and rail signalling will be digital or digital-ready from next year.

Much of Britain's rail signalling uses Victorian technology, with line-side traffic lights controlling trains.

With more than half of these systems needing to be replaced within the next 15 years, Government-owned Network Rail will install digital versions which will enable trains to run closer together, boosting frequency, speed and reliability.

Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne said: "Not since the railway transformed from steam to diesel in the 1960s has a technological breakthrough held such promise to vastly improve our railway for the benefit of the millions of people and businesses who rely on it every day.

"The age of a digital railway has today moved from the drawing board and into reality as we reveal a blueprint that will improve the lives of millions of passengers and freight users across the country.

"Today's commitment is to adopt and roll out new digital technology, for both trains and track, that will deliver faster, more frequent services for passengers and businesses alike, giving our economy a massive boost."

Network Rail has pledged that 70% of journeys will benefit from digital signalling within 15 years.

Source

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/transport-secretary-chris-grayling-denies-cancelling-rail-projects-in-yorkshire-and-the-north-1-9159623



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No candy is worth a visit to the warren.

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Chinese Stone Lions at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri

A pair of centuries-old stone lions that at one time guarded a Confucian temple in Nanjing, China, now stand at the entrance of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.
Sitting inside a brick archway that leads into the school, the intricate and elegant white lion statues were carved by an unknown artist almost 550 years ago, during the Ming Dynasty, in Chufu, the birthplace of Confucius. Each creature stands about five feet tall and weighs about 5,000 pounds.
The lions were sent to the university as gifts in 1931 by the Chinese government at the time. The founder of the School of Journalism, Walter Williams, accepted the ancient stone statues as symbols of goodwill between the two nations.
In Chinese history, guardian lions have a long and storied history. Born from Buddhist symbolism, the stone lions often stand in front of palaces, tombs, government offices, temples, and homes of the wealthy. It was a gift of great significance, rooting the school in a tradition of international honor and interconnectedness.
A Japanese stone lantern, which the school received in 1926 from the American-Japan Society of Tokyo, also stands near the entrance.

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Sunday 20 May 2018

Could you quickly get an Uber Bike? Taxi company seeks to move into two-wheeled transportation

Britain braces for Russian cyber attacks targeting transport links, water supplies, hospitals and airports

No candy is worth a visit to the warren.

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Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka, Kansas

The Evel Knievel Museum takes you through the thrills and spills of the stuntman’s career. It’s a place where daredevil dreams run wild. The collection is packed with information about the many bold endeavors (and failures) that shot the stuntman to fame.
Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, Knievel captivated American audiences with his wild antics. He tried to complete jump after jump, soaring over enormous obstacles and often wrecking in the process. The motorcyclist miraculously survived all these fate-testing attempts, though he constantly broke bones and wound up in the hospital.
You can discover the wide variety of things Knievel jumped—from trucks to tanks of sharks to Snake River Canyon—and find out more about the extensive amount of injuries he suffered in the process.
Several of the daredevil’s motorcycles are on display. His iconic red, white, and blue rocket cycle is proudly exhibited for all to admire. You can also see some very battered helmets sitting within glass cases like little testaments to his daring feats. And if that weren’t enough, you can try a virtual jump for yourself.
The museum is on the grounds of Topeka’s Historic Harley Davidson dealership, which also houses a small motorcycle museum.

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Saturday 19 May 2018

Transport chiefs vow 20-minute Manchester link WILL occur

5 Venues That Celebrate London Transport

5 Venues That Celebrate London Transport

London transport is iconic; red buses, the red and white tube sign and carriages are known the world over. It might not always be reliable and by golly, the tube is a sweaty experience in summer, but it's such a representation of London we think it's worth celebrating. And we're not the only ones, there are countless bars, restaurants and event spaces based around our 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' (and boats and buses...).

From abandoned tube stations and carriages to museums and livery halls, all these venues are unique and have something a little unexpected.

1. London Transport Museum

5 Venues That Celebrate London TransportCovent Garden

The London Transport Museum is located on the famous Covent Garden Piazza and celebrates one of London's most iconic creations - the big red London bus.

London Transport Museum explores the story of London and its transport system over the last 200 years, highlighting the powerful link between transport and the growth of modern London, culture and society since 1800.

The Museum Galleries provide a fascinating event space, surrounded by the backdrop of the museum collection. The Galleries can host sit-down dinners for up to 180 guests for both corporate and private events or up to 500 people for a cocktail reception with a bit of a difference.

2.

5 Venues That Celebrate London TransportOxford Circus

Opened in 2015, is a quirky bar that transports guests back in time to post-war 1940s. The backdrop is an abandoned underground tube station and also features vintage tube carriage paraphernalia as well as old tube maps adorning the walls; it's a train enthusiast's dream.

It has a secret(ish) entrance in Soho's Kingly Court and the 1940s theme starts as soon as you step in the door. Bar and waiting staff are head-to-toe in vintage clothes, there's spam sandwiches on the menu and the menus are printed as an old newspaper. Dancing and sing-alongs around the piano are encouraged, whilst you sip on some pretty darn good cocktails.

The venue can be hired exclusively for 150 people or partially hired for 40; so dust down your tea dress and practise your swing dancing for a jolly good time.

3. Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum

5 Venues That Celebrate London TransportWalthamstow

Based in an 1877 Victorian Pumping Station, the Grade II listed Museum celebrates the industrial and transport achievements of the Lea Valley Corridor.

Amongst other historical artefacts including steam engines, pumping machinery and an extensive collection of firefighting equipment, the museum is home to an original 1968 Victoria Line tube car.

The iconic tube carriage, that has fully functioning doors and lighting, is available for hire for filming and photography.

4. The Science Museum

5 Venues That Celebrate London TransportSouth Kensington

Ok, so admittedly this is a little tenuous because this venue houses a rocket and most people don't usually get around via this mode of transport...but hey, rockets are cool.

The Science Museum is the home of science, technology and innovation and is full of world-famous exhibitions and astounding gallery spaces that combine to make it one of London's most unique venues for events.

Conveniently located in South Kensington, the cultural heart of London, the museum can cater for all kinds of events: dinners, award shows, conferences and film screenings, with a huge diversity of spaces available for hire.

5. Museum of London

5 Venues That Celebrate London TransportMoorgate

Museum of London takes you on a magical tour through London and through time, celebrating everything about the city from prehistoric times to present day.

Its immersive galleries feature the original lift from Selfridges, a model of the original St Paul's Cathedral and of course the very first London taxi cab in all its glory.

The diversity and flexibility of the event spaces at the museum make it a popular space for anything from drinks receptions, intimate dinners, awards dinners or conferences. It's the perfect place to get creative with your events and immerse your guests in some real London history.

For more unusual venues visit

Source

http://londonreview.hirespace.com/5-venues-that-celebrate-london-transport/



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Friday 18 May 2018

TfN starts work as official transportation body

Northern Transport Summit 2017

John Cridland, chair, Transport for the North TfN starts work as formal transport body 5 Apr 2018, 10:40 At Liverpool

's Mann Island, Transportation for the North will this afternoon hold its first meeting as an official body with statutory powers.TfN chairman John Cridland said:" The scale of opportunity and ambition can not be downplayed. For the very first time, suggestions on exactly what and where investment is needed will be agreed by the people that live and work in the North, allowing us to talk with a united voice to main government." It's a watershed minute for devolution and an as soon as in a generation opportunity to provide substantial improvements in the North's transportation network. "Our Strategic Transportation Plan will set the plan for transportation facilities enhancements throughout the next Thirty Years and will permit us to make a strong and constant case for continual investment in the North." The body stemmed as a voluntary partnership in early 2015 and released a Northern Transportation Technique report a year later on. In October 2016 it sent an application for degenerated powers, which were confirmed in November 2017. Barry White, who previously ran BAM PPP UK and the Scottish Futures Trust, was announced as TfN's new primary

executive in autumn in 2015. In February, Tim Wood's position as interim Northern Powerhouse Rail director was made a long-term function, while TfN's draft 30-yesr Tactical Transportation Strategy, on which consultation is continuous until 17 October, was released in January. As well as establishing an overall strategic strategy and supplying a one-voice route to the Secretary of State, TfN's remit implies it will: Coordinate and deliver clever ticketing systems across the North End up being a statutory partner in road and rail financial investment decisions Oversee(jointly with DfT)franchised rail services covering Northern and TransPennine Express franchises Construct new roadways

  • , with the contract of Government and relevant highway and local authorities Pick capital grants Partners in TfN consist of the borough councils of Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, Cheshire East, Cheshire West & Chester and Warrington, along with the county councils of Cumbria and Lancashire and the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester combined authorities.Although there are 3 other nascent sub-national transport bodies, TfN is the very first to take on formal powers.As far as the Institute for Economic Advancement is worried, the tough work starts now, with substantial problems such as Manchester to Sheffield travel time, over-concentration on the M6, M1 and M62 freeway paths and M6 logjams need addressing.IED executive director Nigel Wilcock commented:"We are usually encouraging of those policies and plans which have economic advancement at their core and on this basis invite the approach that has actually been taken in the development of the draft transport strategy." Our concept observation, however, is that the framing of the draft transportation plan might take more of an initiative to be at the heart of some of the UK's present financial policies. The Industrial Strategy is referenced throughout the document however the draft transport plan sets out how its plan' harmonizes 'or' reinforces'the approach-- instead of how such a wide-ranging method might lead on some of the ideas

    worrying movement to capture of the economic dividend from such financial management."Man Lawson, director of the Civil Engineering Professionals'Association North West, stated:" Transfer for the North's accession to statutory status fulfils a long-held CECA policy objective."CECA is an eager supporter of rebalancing the economy. With so much depending on such plans as the upgrade of the Cumbrian coast line, in order to support major civil engineering works prepared at Sellafield, Moorside and West Cumbria Mining, we identify their vital importance to the local economy. "And similar transport schemes throughout the North West, from Crewe to Carlisle and from the Pennines to the sea, can make a real difference to the efficiency

    of the region."Transfer minister Jo Johnson said:"With substantial new powers allowing Transportation for the North to consult with one voice and drive forward crucial tasks, such as Northern Powerhouse Rail and clever ticketing, I am confident that TfN will play a critical function in delivering the future of northern

    transport."



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Aerotropolis: Futuristic vision to turn Yorkshire airport into global transport center and develop 73,000 jobs

Thursday 17 May 2018

Tom Richmond: Another Chris Grayling snub as North makes case for transport revolution

UNLIKE this region’s clapped-out Pacer trains that are finally reaching the end of the line after these antiquities were found to be in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act, the same – regrettably – cannot be said of Chris Grayling.

The Transport Secretary continues to insult Yorkshire with his continuing contempt for the region after he snubbed this week’s Commons debate to scrutinise the disparity in spending between the South and the neglected North.

Sorry, but Theresa May now needs to explain why failing Grayling is allowed to remain at the controls of transport policy and bring her creaking administration into further disrepute.

After all, the Macavity-like Minister has previous. For the record, he boycotted last November’s debate on Northern Powerhouse rail; he failed to reply to correspondence from North East MPs for 120 days and he’s been rebuked for not having the courtesy to inform local MPs of campaign visits.

Grayling’s insults now rival the number of trains cancelled on the snow-hit railways, and this is before the numerous breakdowns in policy-making on his watch. Broken promises on rail electrification; backing unproven bi-modal trains; ineffectual powers for Transport for the North; the early termination of the East Coast Main Line franchise amid scandal and now sales of advance tickets being reduced because Network Rail has been unable to confirm future timetables due to engineering work.

Yet, while he continues to find time to advance £30bn plans for a second Crossrail line in London before the first route is even complete, he might have learned something had he had the humility, and courtesy, to attend Tuesday’s debate led by Hull North MP Diana Johnson and listen to the points made.

His Cabinet colleagues are more respectful – Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson was present for part of Monday’s exchanges about the funding of the Armed Forces – and the campaigning Hull MP spoke for all fed-up rail commuters and motorists when she said Ministers should be held to account.

Yet how does the Government respond? The no-show Grayling was represented by his newly-appointed deputy Jo Johnson (brother of Boris) who also just happens to be the Minister for London. Talk about a blatant conflict of interest when the North-South funding divide – presided over, in fairness, by successive governments – is now actually stopping the national economy in its tracks.

As the Hull MP said, there is a case for a “more ambitious approach to transport spending that leaves no citizen, no nation and, crucially, no region behind, and that will boost economic efficiency and growth post-Brexit”.

It’s all the more regrettable Grayling was not present to hear MPs from the North, and rest of the country, make this case. For, while, in fairness, transport spending has gone up, this region is still paying the price for decades of under-investment.

It’s also disingenuous of Ministers to hail HS2 as the long-term solution. It’s not. Though a new high-speed rail line (if built) will increase capacity on existing routes, today’s commuters cannot wait 20 years or so. They want, and deserve, improvements now and expect the DfT to be making a far more persuasive case.

And this is why the landmark report by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, headed by former chancellor George Osborne, is precisely the type of future investment that needs to be made now if the Government wants to give young people the very best start in life.

It calls for work on Northern Powerhouse Rail, a project to reduce journey times across the region, to begin now so it can be completed by 2032-33 when the Northern leg of HS2 is also due to be complete.

Why the urgency? It would mean children born last year could explore further education, apprenticeships or jobs opportunities across the region, or further afield, by the time of their 16th birthday and without having to worry about sub-standard transport links.

After all, it takes 61 minutes to travel between Bradford, the UK’s youngest city, and Manchester at present. Under Northern Powerhouse Rail, this journey time could be reduced to 20 minutes with a bit of vision – and commitment from the Government.

The potential prize? According to Northern Powerhouse Partnership, it foresees a £100bn boost to the North’s economy if east-west links across the Pennines begin to rival London’s Crossrail schemes – or the type of investment taken for granted in other parts of the country.

It’s a compelling case that was brilliantly summed up by the aforementioned Diana Johnson when she evoked the spirit of President John F Kennedy at the end of her Commons speech and said: “As a northern MP, I am not asking what this country can do for the North; I am asking what the North can do for this country. It is time that 
the Transport Secretary and the Department for Transport also asked themselves that question.”

That’s if they care – and actually understand the crucial connection between transport, infrastructure investment, economic growth and aspiration. Over to you Chris Grayling. An answer before the last Pacer is taken out of service would be a start.

Source

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/tom-richmond-another-chris-grayling-snub-as-north-makes-case-for-transport-revolution-1-9040804



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Eon employer: Eco-friendly power is done, now for heat and transportation

Michael Lewis: Decarbonising power 'done', heat and transportation next.Eon CEO Michael Lewis

believes the UK has actually mainly split decarbonisation of power generation and should focus on heat and transportation, which is where he said the energy company will concentrate its efforts.Speaking at Aurora's Spring Forum, Lewis, who took the reins from Tony Cocker a year ago, praised the policy stability of successive previous federal governments in delivering renewables."[ Eco-friendly generation] has been a big success, however in many methods

, that is currently done,"stated Lewis. While there are" some issues around intermittency"to solve," we have [achieved] renewable, low and absolutely no carbon generation at a lower price than standard generation. Now we have to rely on carry and heating-- and that is where Eon desires to play a key function. "He said heat and transport appeared at a comparable juncture to renewables

"ten or eleven years back"and explained that while the UK has was successful in providing nearly 40GW of eco-friendly generation,"success was far from a forgone conclusion back then". Lewis stated in 2008, Eon had 2 overseas tasks under building and construction,"both extremely over spending plan and late ". The company had another 2 in operation, both beleaguered by technical troubles. On the other hand, the London Variety task" came that close to not going ahead, and would not have gone ahead unless federal government had actually transferred to 2 Rocs". Giving offshore wind developers additional aid at that point, he suggested, was now

bearing fruit in making it possible for the economies of scale that are leading to cost decreases." We will make an ₤ 800m financial investment choice, and had to understand that the federal government guaranteed us, which they did, and developed a world class industry." That insight must now be applied to decarbonising heat and transport, said Lewis, which is where Eon will focus more fully."Our company believe our capabilities are much better released where there is still an issue to be solved," he stated, recommending

the starting point needs to be"making the existing system more effective." Under the proposed Eon-RWE deal, it has been revealed that Eon will focus mostly on retail and networks, with RWE handling generation.Speaking at the exact same conference, SSE manager Alistair Phillips-Davies said he"saw the SSE-Npower merger going forward and being unaffected by the RWE-Eon deal". Follow us at @EnergystMedia. For regular bulletins, register for the complimentary newsletter.



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Wednesday 16 May 2018

Scotland was brought to it's knees by blizzard that crippled transport links but crisis unit was shut due to SNOW

Public transport operating 'minimal service' in 'challenging' conditions

Public transportation operating 'minimal service' in 'challenging' conditions

RELEASED: 11:15 03 March 2018|UPGRADED: 11:37 03 March 2018

Automobile in collision with a wall on Baytree Road hill.Some public transportation

services are up and running today( Saturday)but conditions are still'treacherous'. ❄ ⛄ Temperatures are increasing and

gritting is beginning to have an influence on the main network, now we have them back in some sort of working order, our focus has actually now turned onto clearing other key routes and hills throughout the authority. ⛄ ❄-- NS Travel and Roads (@NStravel_roads) March 3, 2018 North Somerset Council had gritters out over night across the district trying

to clear the main road networks as temperature levels increased above freezing.However the police are asking individuals to just drive 'if necessary', saying the roads are' still treacherous'.

First West of England will be rebooting its bus services today although they are restricted.

❄ ☃ Gritters out again tilling and dealing with the network, with more runs continuing throughout the night, conditions remain dangerous. ☃ ❄

pic.twitter.com/6bw9oGOkmV!.?.!— NS Travel and Roadways(@NStravel_roads) March 2, 2018 A business spokesperson stated :"An assessment of our paths early

today showed lots of parts of our network will continue to be impact by road condition, however other areas run a typical Saturday service."We desire to recommend people to examine before travelling, permit additional time due to the fact that services might operate at a decreased frequency, might consist of diversions and as an outcome might take longer than typical. "The following bus routes are operating: - X1-- Running normal path Over night< a href= "https://twitter.com/hashtag/ice?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"> #ice implies our area's roads are treacherous once again today. We're recommending people not to travel unless definitely needed

. We'll release further recommendations if the scenario changes.-- Avon & Somerset Authorities(@ASPolice) March 3, 2018 - X2-- Running regular route - A3-- Operating normal route - 7-- Running limited route-- from Magdalene Way through Queensway,

Ebdon Roadway then normal path to town centre, along Walliscote Roadway, Clevedon Roadway, Drove Roadway, Devonshire Roadway, Beach Roadway, Broadway

, turning&at Lidl in Winterstoke Roadway. Unable to serve Coronation Estate and Brompton Road in addition to parts of Ebdon Roadway and Walliscote Roadway - X5-- Not able to serve Wellington Terrace. Running by means of 6 ways to Walton Roadway - X7-- Operating along A370, unable

to serve Locking Castle and West Wick. - 20-- Operating along A370 however unable to serve Brean or Uphill. - 126-- Operating along Axbridge by-pass as it is not able to serve Axbridge - Trains from Plymouth/Penzance to London Paddington are now running but with some hold-up. - There is a decrease South Wales service with trains not operating west of Bridgend. - There are still reduced services between Weston and Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway. - Customers who bought tickets beforehand to take a trip Thursday to Sunday can utilize their tickets to the end of

play on Monday. - Bristol Airport is open and functional, however travellers are being recommended to call their airline companies directly to discover the status of their flights.The company tweeted:"Road conditions at and around the airport stay challenging and chauffeurs ought to proceed with care."

- We will update this area with info about roadway closures as we have it.

Source

http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk:80/news/public-transport-operating-limited-service-in-challenging-conditions-1-5419193



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Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev

From the World Heritage inscription: The Incense Route was a network of trade routes extending over two thousand kilometers to facilitate the transport of frankincense and myrrh from the Yemen and Oman in the Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean. The four Nabatean towns of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat, and Shivta, with their associated fortresses and agricultural …
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Like, too good to be true.

Share and Enjoy:The post Like, too good to be true. appeared first on Indexed.

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Tuesday 15 May 2018

Cl − as a Chemical Finger Print of Solute Transportation in the Aquitard-Aquifer System of the North Jiangsu Coastal Plain, China

Geofluids
Volume 2017 (2017), Article ID 6131547, 16 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6131547

Cl as a Chemical Fingerprint of Solute Transport in the Aquitard-Aquifer System of the North Jiangsu Coastal Plain, China

1School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
2Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution and Ecology Restoration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
3State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
4Key Laboratory of Ministry of Land and Ground Fissure Disaster, Nanjing 210018, China

Academic Editor: Xiaoqing Shi

Copyright © 2017 Qin Ge et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Detailed vertical profiles of Cl in porewaters through the aquitard-aquifer system were used to yield solute transport mechanism and build a conceptual model regarding evolution processes and transport time of natural tracer migration in North Jiangsu coastal plain, China. One-dimensional vertical simulated models of Cl profiles illustrate that diffusion appeared to be the dominant solute transport mechanism in the aquitard-aquifer system. A downward groundwater flow did not improve the fitness between simulated and measured values. Several simulated models were constructed and suggested that the evolution of the Cl profiles is mainly ascribed to the introduction of seawater and freshwater of transgression-regression to the first confined aquifer and the upper boundary. Groundwater in the first confined aquifer recharged by the Late Pleistocene glacial meltwater (25–15 ka BP) was supported in response to the low Cl concentrations. The shallow groundwater in the first confined aquifer and porewater with high salt were attributable to the Holocene seawater intrusion. These timeframes were also consistent favorably with the results of previous studies into the palaeohydrology of the study area.

1. Introduction

Aquitards frequently seem to have the ability to contain high salinity relative to aquifers [1, 2]. Many researches have been conducted on the thicker, nonfractured clay-rich and shale units with the bulk hydraulic conductivity (K) below 1 × 10–10 m/s [3–6]. Under such conditions, solute transport in the aquitards is demonstrated to be dominated by molecular diffusion [7, 8].

Shaw and Hendry [9] suggest that the thickness of clay-rich aquitard was requested to be >60 m in order to avoid the occurrence of the initial interferences among the advective-diffusive solute profiles. However, the water-bearing units (aquifers or sand streaks) with various thicknesses were often interspersed within aquitards [6, 10–12] and particularly marked in the late Quaternary sediments of coastal plains in China due to the transgression-regression effect [13]. Critically, these occurrences could cause perturbations in transport paths and partial advection solute transport in porewater profiles and lead to problems with the interpretation of the palaeohydrogeological information [12]. Despite the potential for significant advective migration during tracer profiles, diffusion was determined as the pure transport mechanism controlling solute transport in the aquitard-aquifer system based on the researches of Kuang et al. [14, 15]. Geochemical tracers were used to define and constrain long-term transport mechanisms and preserve a historical record of the major palaeohydrologic events at the aquitard scale [6, 10–12, 16]. Although solute transport in the aquitards had been conducted in many studies, the porewater transport mechanism and processes in clay-rich aquitards interspersed with the cooccurrence of multiple aquifers of coastal area need more studies to support and further confirm.

North Jiangsu coastal plain (NJCP) is located in the eastern part of China, adjacent to the south Yellow Sea (Figure 1). This study area belongs to the part of the new Silk Road, where groundwater resource plays a pivotal role in promoting social and economic development. However, groundwater in this region has been mostly seriously affected by seawater intrusion because of the Quaternary transgressions [17, 18]. To ensure the sustainable development of the new Silk Road, the management of the groundwater resource should be given considerable attention. Most of the previous studies in this area have focused on the detailed investigation of the change and evolution of regional groundwater quality [19, 20]. Additionally, saline groundwater in the aquitards and aquifers has been studied to investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics and chemical evolution processes [21]. Nevertheless, an understanding of the saline transport mechanism and processes in the aquitard-aquifer system is still very limited in such coastal areas.

Figure 1: (a) Location map of the research area and (b) various shorelines of different time in the study area (modified after Liu et al. [22]).

The aim of this work is to investigate the solute transport mechanism and evolution processes in the aquitard-aquifer system and provide additional palaeohydrogeologic information using Cl concentration vertical profiles. The specific objectives of this study are to (1) obtain the effective diffusion coefficients () and of the studied vertical deposition profiles on the basis of laboratory experiments, (2) apply 1D vertical transport model of the Cl profiles to gain insight into the dominant solute transport mechanism in the aquitard-aquifer system, and (3) explore a more detailed synthesis of the time of paleohydrologic and formative geologic events for tracer profiles in the aquitard-aquifer system.

2. General Description of the Field Site

2.1. Hydrogeological Setting

The current study is conducted on the Late Pleistocene and Holocene clay-rich deposits in NJCP, a part of China’s Eastern Plain (Figure 1). The NJCP has a continental and maritime climate and the average annual temperature of 13–16°C. Annual precipitation averaged approximately 800–1,200 mm and nearly 30–60% of the annual precipitation falls between June and September [25]. The annual evaporation is about 900–1,050 mm.

The depositional facies of the deposits change from west to east, progressing from alluvium to proluvial sediments and then marine sediments on the coastal plain, mainly because of the development of the Huai River, the Yellow River, and the sea level change [23, 26, 27]. A gradual and vertical Quaternary sediment shift is observable from the single continental alluvial to the transitional sediments between land and marine facies [17, 18]. The depositional facies of the research area can be classified into three groups: continental facies, marine facies, and transitional facies. Quaternary continental facies mainly refer to fluvial alluvial facies and fluvial-lacustrine alluvial facies [17, 18]. Marine facies are composed of littoral facies and shallow sea facies. Transitional facies occurred along the coast consist of estuarine, lagoon, intertidal, and residual seawater zone.

The major aquifer is composed of the multilayered aquifer groups on the east coast (Figure 2). The phreatic aquifer and the first, second, and third confined aquifers are recognized in this study area and composed of Quaternary sediments with a thickness of 10–50 m [19]. These aquifers consist of sandy gravel, medium-fine sand, and fine sand and are separated by silt- and clay-dominated aquitards. The aquifers are characterized by a complex multilayered framework due to the special geographical position and complex climate conditions (Figure 2).

Figure 2: A– cross section of the study area (modified after Fu [20]). I, II, and III represent first, second, and third confined aquifers.

The burial depth of the phreatic aquifer and the first confined aquifer are generally less than 5 and 60 m, respectively. Groundwater in the phreatic aquifer and the first confined aquifer corresponding to the Holocene and the Late Pleistocene formations is mostly saline with total dissolved solids (TDS) generally over 3 g/L. Freshwater can be found in the bottom of the first confined aquifer. The TDSs of saline water exhibit an increasing trend from the west to east. Groundwater in these aquifers belongs to Cl-Na water type, with a small amount of HCO3-Cl-Ca·Na type, which was derived from the Holocene seawater [20] and then mixed with the recharge of precipitation and irrigation water. Evaporation and exploitation are the main discharge pathways. Groundwater exploitation is limited due to the high salinity.

The burial depths of the second and third confined aquifers were usually shallower than 140 and 250 m, respectively. Groundwater in the second confined aquifer illustrated the chemical signature of fresh water and was trapped in the fluvial deposits during the Middle Pleistocene, which was possibly recharged during a colder period in the Late Pleistocene [28]. The third confined aquifer groundwater is mainly characterized by less saline with TDS below 2.0 g/L, except some areas in the northeast with TDS values extremely higher than 2.0 g/L [19, 20]. The salinity of some groundwater in the third aquifer was attributed to the entrapped relict seawater of the Late Pleistocene. The hydrochemical compositions of groundwater in the second and third confined aquifer are mostly HCO3-Na, HCO3·Cl-Na·Ca, Cl-Na, and Cl-Ca·Na. Groundwater runoff conditions are poor and the water circulation is slow gradually, which are current targets for exploitation and major water resource for local residents. Groundwater ages in the second and third aquifers were assumed to be around 30 ka BP on the basis of carbon isotopic dating (14C) [20, 28]. As a result of the lack of clay aquitards locally, the leakage recharge from the upper shallow groundwater is possibly regarded as the main sources for deep confined groundwater during groundwater exploitation, and the corresponding discharge is artificial extraction.

2.2. Transgressions and Regressions

It is believed that this study area has undergone many times of transgressive-regressive processes since Quaternary [29, 30]. In the early Middle Pleistocene, climate warming, strong surface runoff, and enhancement of river erosion caused the deposition of the clayey sediment interbedded with silt. Subsequently, the first transgression occurred as a result of sea level rise, and the range and degree were smaller.

The scope of the two other transgressions in the Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, about 110–70 ka BP; MIS 3, about 40–25 ka BP) expanded gradually [31]. These two transgressions corresponded to the depth of approximately 30–90 m in the study region. The shoreline of the second transgression (MIS 5) reached the above 5–7 m of the modern coastline, and all of the study area suffered from marine environment [29]. The transgression in the MIS 3 was relatively small, and the deposition environment might be subaerial exposure [32]. The sea level in MIS 3 seemed to not reach the location of the modern sea level in the study area and generally agreed that the coastline was close to or below 10–20 m of the modern shoreline [29]. In other words, the sea level regressed from this region with the time of 70–10 ka BP (MIS 2–4), and the corresponding sediments probably suffered from weathering denudation [33]. In the Holocene (MIS 1), the sea level rose rapidly and large-scale seawater intrusion occurred, resulting in an interactive marine and terrestrial deposit with a whole transgression-to-regression succession [22, 34]. It was not until AD 1,128 that the coastline then moved eastward rapidly and seawater gradually retreated from this region [35].

2.3. Boreholes Description

Two stratigraphic boreholes were drilled about 10 km apart (Figure 1). The first borehole (SY1) had a depth of 250 m and was located approximately 10 km west of the southern Yellow Sea shore (33.86° N, 120.43° E). In this study, the upper section with the depth of 2–182 m was conducted. The second borehole had a depth of 120 m and was located approximately 20 km west of the southern Yellow Sea shore (33.80° N, 120.32° E). The stratigraphic columns of the two boreholes were presented in Figure 3 reference to the field logs. 1-2 m below ground was considered to be the oxidized and fractured layer due to the fluctuation of water table, and the underlying deposits were regarded as unoxidized zone. There was a lack of downward water flow in the oxidized layer because of its fractured features and discontinuity [36]. The oxidized layer was outside the range of this study. Although the two boreholes were very close to each other, the marine layers have different degrees of inclination toward the sea because of neotectonic activity [13].

Figure 3: Geological profiles, time periods of the drilled boreholes in NJCP, along with hydrostratigraphic interpretation. The marine oxygen isotope stages are determined by the marine micropaleontology identification. I, II, and III represent the positions of first, second, and third confined aquifers.

Three transgressive events were confirmed to have occurred in the study area and were named, from the earliest to the latest: the Asterorotalia transgression, the False Rotifer transgression, and the Winding Worms transgression. Species such as Ammonia annectens, A. beccarii var., and Rosalina bradyi were found in the surficial aquitard (grey-yellow) with a depth of 0–19.9 m in borehole SY1 and 0–18.9 m in borehole SY2, suggesting that these depths belonged to MIS 1 period. Correspondingly, the occurrence of a large number of Pseudorotalia schroeteriana indicates the underlying aquitard at depth of 23.8–33.6 m in SY1 and 23.3–54.2 m in SY2 formed in MIS 3. Deposits at depth of 41.5–86.5 m in SY1 and 61.1–85.6 m in SY2 developed during the MIS 5 period and were attributable to the presence of the warm species Pseudorotalia indopacifica and Asterorotalia pulchella.

3. Material and Methods

3.1. Borehole Sampling and Analysis

In this study, core samples were collected from 2 to 182 m in borehole SY1 between January and February 2013 using a rotary drill. Additional core samples were collected from 10.6 m to 120 m in borehole SY2 in December 2014. For these study profiles, subsamples were taken every 2–5 m at the SY1 and SY2 drilling sites. To ensure that no drilling fluid contaminated the collected samples, immediately after retrieval and before packing, the outer 2-3 cm of the samples were removed and discarded. Sample was packaged in a sealable aluminum barrel (in length of 20 cm and diameter of 8 cm) and sealed with wax, which was prepared for chemical analysis. Samples were collected on-site by 10 mL glass bottles to extract porewater for stable isotopic analysis and were sealed using raw adhesive tape immediately after sampling to prevent fractionation caused by evaporation. The packaged borehole samples were placed in coolers (at approximately 4-5°C) with ice bags in the field for transport to the School of Environmental Studies of the China University of Geoscience, where samples were stored at 4-5°C prior to analysis, to minimize the growth of microorganisms.

The high-pressure mechanical squeezer (HPMS) using nitrogen was employed on the sealed core samples for porewater extraction. The HPMS was designed and developed based on the ex situ squeezing device described in detail by Li et al. [37]. The application of a pressure-controlled noble gas to a sample forced porewater to separate from the sediment. The operational pressure of the HPMS was controlled within an allowable range of 0–8 MPa, with an analytical precision of 0.2 MPa. The outermost 1-2 cm of the prepared core samples was scraped to discard any materials that could have been altered by exposure to the atmosphere (oxidation). Approximately 1,000 g soil samples were conducted to ensure that enough porewater was provided for analysis. To avoid overconsolidation or destruction of the clay-pore system, the applied stress was increased to 8 MPa gradually rather than in a single step. First, a small stress of approximately 1 MPa was initially applied to expel most of the air in the sample chamber and to ensure that the sample was bedded. Second, the applied stress was increased by 1  MPa every 4-5 hours during the day. Finally, core samples were compressed and consolidated under pressure for 3-4 days. Meanwhile, porewater flowed out from the center hole of the bottom endplate through 0.45 μm filter paper and was collected in a clean plastic bottle. The water samples were weighed and filtered through a 0.45 μm membrane and immediately stored in a refrigerator at 4°C before being analyzed.

For stable isotopes analysis, porewater was extracted from the collected core samples using vacuum distillation, reducing the influence of air during the porewater collection process. The final distillation temperature keeps 120°C for 6-7 h. All extracted water samples were kept in a refrigerator at around 4°C.

Porewater samples of borehole SY1 () and SY2 () were analyzed for Cl and Br concentration analysis using ion chromatography (ICS-1100, Dionex, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) at the School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences. The analytical precision for Cl and Br concentration was greater than 0.01 mg/L.

Stable isotope analysis in borehole SY1 and SY2 was conducted at the State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science of Wuhan University and the Laboratory of Geological Survey Institute, China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, respectively. These isotope samples of SY1 and SY2 boreholes were analyzed with mass gas isotopic ratio mass spectrometry (MAT 253, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA, with an analytical precision of ±0.2 and ±2, resp.) and a liquid water isotope analyzer (LGR, IWA–45EP, USA, with an analytical precision of ±0.1 and ±0.5, resp.), with values reported relative to Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (V–SMOW).

3.2. Laboratory Test
3.2.1. Porosity

The porosities of the soil samples from the saturated zone were determined. To avoid samples being in an unsaturated state caused by the release of confining pressure during the sampling process, samples were secondarily saturated using the vacuum saturation method for more than 72 h. The porosity of selected samples was determined using a cutting ring with a specific volume (119.9 × 10−6 m3). Eight samples from the borehole SY1 and 25 samples from the borehole SY2 were dried at 105°C for 48–72 h for analysis of their total porosities (), as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Geologic profiles and hydrogeologic zones, the measured Cl concentrations, hydraulic conductivity, porosity versus depth, and porewater types. The black dotted bordered rectangles represent the sediments that were not revealed in the borehole SY2.

3.2.2. Hydraulic Conductivity

The values of the samples in the profiles were determined using a laboratory testing method on undisturbed samples. A laboratory hydraulic conductivity tester was designed on the basis of a TST-55 permeameter, consisting of a cutting ring, two porous plates, a lantern ring, a top cover, a bottom cover, several screws, and pressure-resistant water supply bottle [38]. An external vacuum compressor was added to ensure that the of low-permeability clay was measured with high efficiency (Figure 5). The tester functioned within the operating pressure range of 0–0.6 MPa which was controlled with a precision regulator with an analytical precision of 0.02 MPa. The water flow in the low-permeability samples approximately followed at a constant pressure head. The external pressure generated by the air compressor was the most influential factor controlling water flow in the laboratory experiment. The change in the water supply bottle level was much lower than the external pressure head, and its function could be neglected (verifying test has been done but not present in this paper). Hydraulic pressure was produced in the water outlet if water flowed through the samples quickly during the experimental process, and then drip leakage was allowed in the test. For high-permeability samples (e.g., sand or silt deposits), an external vacuum compressor was ineffective, and the pressure head was provided by the water level of the supply bottle. was calculated using falling down head equations in accordance with highway engineering test methods for soils (2007) [39]. Testing results show that of the clay-rich zone varied with depth in the borehole SY1 from 7.3 × 10−10 to 1.5 × 10−11 m/s, and of silt-rich samples were between 2.6 × 10−8 and 1.8 × 10−9 m/s (Figure 4).

Figure 5: Device for measuring the of saturated clay-rich deposits.

3.2.3. Diffusion Testing

Many different laboratory diffusion testing techniques for low-permeability materials have been reviewed [40]. The radial diffusion method was selected to apply in this study, because of its suitability for low-permeability aquitards and its high efficiency [41–43]. The radial diffusion device was developed with special stainless steel, consisting of a tube, the upper cap, and the lower cap [44]. The height and internal diameter of the tube were 10 cm and 7 cm, respectively, as shown in Figure 6. A hole (length of 9 cm and diameter of 3 cm) was drilled along the central axis of the sample as a reservoir. Subsequently, water with a certain Cl concentration was injected into the reservoir. The application of Cl online monitoring in the reservoir assisted the recording of the concentration variation. To ensure that the probe of Cl online monitoring contacted the water in the reservoir easily, a spiral hole with the diameter of 3.0 cm was drilled on the upper cap.

Figure 6: Radial diffusion system and Cl online monitor.

Diffusing testing results were analyzed using the COMSOL software (COMSOL 4.4, Burlington, MA, USA) [45, 46] according to the initial and boundary conditions of the experimental model. The measured of Cl was 4.5 × 10−10 m2/s for a SY1 core sample (porosity, 0.4, depth 54.95–55.15 m, and laboratory temperature 12°C), and 3.5 × 10−10 m2/s for a SY2 core sample (porosity, 0.5, depth 32.8–33.0 m, and laboratory temperature 24°C). The measured values were corrected to the mean groundwater temperature (14°C) on the basis of the relationship between temperature and viscosity [47]. The corrected values of Cl for borehole SY1 and SY2 samples were 4.3 × 10−10 m2/s and 2.7 × 10−10, respectively.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Salt Source of Porewater

Salt in groundwater derives from several possible sources. The relationship of Cl and Br was always applied to determine the origin of groundwater salinity, since the Cl/Br ratios keep constant during the dilution and evaporation process of seawater prior to halite precipitation [48, 49]. Besides, Cl concentrations together with δ18O and δ2H values were further to characterize the salinization process of groundwater [50].

The Cl/Br mass ratios of SY1 saline porewater have a mean value of 203.6 below the near-shore seawater values. For SY2 saline porewater, Cl/Br mass ratios scatter around the near-shore seawater values with a mean value of 315.7. The quasilinear relationship of Cl and Br (Figure 7(a)) and the plot of Cl and δ2H (Figure 7(b)) suggest saline porewater salinity was derived from seawater. Most of the saline porewater plotted closely to the diluted line of standard seawater, indicating that the original porewater has been mixed by freshwater. The relationship of Cl and δ2H in SY1 suggests that the low Cl/Br mass ratios were probably attributed to the release of Br from diagenesis of marine organic material [51]. Thus, Cl could be assumed to behave conservatively and serve as a good natural tracer to quantify mechanism of solute transport.

Figure 7: Cl versus (a) Br concentrations and (b) δ2H of porewaters in the aquitards and groundwater in aquifers. The groundwater samples are referred from Fu [20]. The red line represents the diluted line of standard seawater (SW), and the red dotted line represents SW evaporated trajectory. The paths for evaporating seawater are from Fontes and Matray (1993) [24].

4.2. Chloride–Depth Profiles

The extracted porewater Cl distributions of two boreholes along with the profiles were presented in Figure 4. The Cl concentrations yielded a well-defined 1D depth profile and indicated the presence of three distinct hydrogeologic zones interrupted by the aquifers. Two gradual decreases in Cl concentrations of borehole SY1 were observed from 334.8 to 60.0 mg/L (depth 162.2–86.5 m in zone B) and 16,086.1 to 262.2 mg/L (depth 19.8–2.0 m in zone A) as the depth decreases. Between 62.2 and 19.8 m, Cl concentrations increased rapidly from 16,086.1 to 412.3 mg/L. In borehole SY2, the high Cl concentrations were presented steadily ranging from 13,000 to 15,576.6 mg/L (mean 14,223.8 mg/L, depth 55.1–10.6 m). Then Cl concentration decreased with depth and attained its minimum value of around 250 mg/L at 85.6 to 120 m. The bad agreement between Cl concentrations in SY1 and borehole SY2 suggests that the chemical vertical variability in the profiles was assumed to be complex and large over distances [19].

The decreasing trend in observed Cl concentrations in the zone A from 19.8 m to the top of borehole SY1 could be attributed to the diluted mixture of modern meteoric water after the Holocene transgression. The shape of the Cl profile through the remaining zone A and the underlying deep first confined aquifer (aquifer I, Figure 4) suggests that Cl diffused from the zone A downward into the aquifer and upward toward the top of zone A. The lower Cl values (about 60 mg/L) from 108 to 89 m, attached to aquifer I, imply that the invasion of the different glacial meltwater into the aquifer I resulted in porewater in the underlying aquitards (zones B and C) suffering from vertical solute diffusive mixing.

The Cl concentrations of zone A in borehole SY2 were centered on the sand–rich deposits, especially for the depth of 54.2–10.6 m. It yielded a maximum Cl concentration of 15,576.6 mg/L, similar to the Cl concentrations of near-shore seawater values (about 9,000–16,000 mg/L). This could explain that the Holocene seawater rapidly travelled though the deposits and replaced the original porewater due to the coarse logic section. The B zone yielded Cl concentrations that were relatively constant at around 250 mg/L and showed a signature of freshwater, consisting with the constant Cl concentrations in borehole SY1 C zone and aquifer II (Figure 4). It shows that the deep first confined aquifer did not exert a significant impact on the adjoining Cl aquitard profile in borehole SY2 due to its thin thickness (about 3 m, depth 85.6–82.6 m). Due to their freshwater signatures, porewaters in the B and C zone of the two boreholes were assumed to derive from postdepositional glacial meltwater recharge with different time in the Late Pleistocene relative to groundwater in aquifer I.

4.3. Conceptual Transport Model

Vertical solute transport in a saturated medium can be simulated using the advection-diffusion equation: where is the average linear porewater velocity, D is the coefficient of hydrodynamic dispersion, C is the mass concentration of the solute, Z is the distance, and is the time. The coefficient of hydrodynamic dispersion is defined as D = + , where is the effective diffusion coefficient and α is dispersivity. The average linear porewater velocity is defined as V = , where is the Darcy velocity and is the effective porosity. We assumed that advection in the aquitard-aquifer system follows Darcy’s law and no threshold hydraulic gradient exists in the porewater transport process [52]. The effective porosity was supposed to be equal to the porosity, namely, (total porosity) [5, 42]. More, compaction-driven flow was also ignored according to the previous researches on aquitard-aquifer system [14, 15, 53]. Beyond that, the aquifer and aquitard were assumed to be individually homogeneous.

The porosities (s) for the borehole SY1 are uniform with depth (except depth of 14.82–15.02 m) and have a mean value of 0.41. For borehole SY2, s of aquitards are mostly around 0.5 and approximately 0.4 for the aquifers. Then, s of the aquitards and aquifers of borehole SY1 are set to be 0.41. Correspondingly, 0.5 and 0.4 are set to be s of the aquitards and aquifers in borehole SY2, respectively.

Based on the estimated values of two borehole aquitards using laboratory diffusion testing technique, the corrected values of Cl for boreholes SY1 and SY2 samples are presented in Table 1. The values for Cl in the aquitards and aquifers within 162.2 m were assumed to be 4.3 × 10–10 m2/s since no indication of pore structure occurred in these units [6]. The estimated for borehole SY2 was assumed to be 2.7 × 10–10 m2/s.

Table 1: Initial and boundary concentrations adopted for Cl concentrations at SY1 bore and SY2 bore.

4.4. Initial and Boundary Conditions

The vertical distributions of Cl in the aquitard-aquifer system at the time of their deposition are unknown. The Cl profiles are probably attributed to several historical palaeohydrological events. The higher Cl concentrations in zone A originated from seawater during the Holocene transgression, and the low concentrations in aquifer I of SY1 possibly resulted from the invasion of glacial meltwater. However, the time of this intrusion of melt water is uncertain. The intrusion also had been described as aquifer “activation” of Hendry et al. (2013) [6] and Hendry and Harrington (2014) [11]. Defining the time of aquifer I recharge needed to depend on a great of assumptions. It is supposed that the recharge time for aquifer I was selected to coincide with the onset of the last glacial maximum, and the simulations were developed from 25 to 15 ka BP [29]. The relative constant values (around 250 mg/L) at depth of 159–120 m in borehole SY1 indicate that the aquitards and aquifers at depth of 182–19.8 m were assumed to be filled with freshwater (Cl, 250 mg/L) before “activation” of aquifer I. Afterwards, the later invasion with glacial meltwater (the last glacial maximum) into aquifer I resulted in Cl diffusion mixing transport at the top of zone B and the bottom of zone A. In fact, no realistic physical mechanism, other than perpetual flushing of the aquifer could be presented by a constant value throughout the aquifer I. A near-instantaneous change in Cl concentration within the aquifer I was assumed during the activation of aquifer [6]. And an instantaneous value of 60 mg/L was used in aquifer I after the activation of aquifer in keeping with the lower porewater values in the adjacent aquitard and groundwater values in aquifer I of the study area [20].

The sea level of the last glacial maximum was −130 m below the modern coastline [54]. In the Holocene, the sea level rose rapidly, and the study area was submerged by seawater [55], which seemed to result in the porewater salinization in the deposits, as Yi et al. (2012) [31] described occurring in the North China Plain. Due to the uncertainty of sedimentation rate and the relative thin thickness of the Holocene deposits, the fixed upper BC was set to locate at the surface of the Late Pleistocene since the onset of the Holocene, which was assumed to be the sediment-water interface (19.9 m). Theoretically, the Cl concentration for the upper BC should be the value of standard seawater (19.0 g/L). Actually, most of the near-shore seawater had low Cl concentrations (approximately 10,000–16,000 mg/L [20]), and the highest Cl concentration of 16,086.1 mg/L was observed in the two boreholes. Porewater salinity distribution in coastal plain aquitard-aquifer system was probably complex and mostly different from the standard seawater [15]. The assumed fixed Cl concentration of 16,100 mg/L was adopted as the upper BC.

The study area stayed in a marine environment until the appearance of Yellow River captured Huai River in AD 1,128. Since then, seawater retreated from the study area, and the shoreline gradually reached the present level (Figure 1(b)) [26]. It could believe that the Holocene deposits had been filled with seawater during the period of transgression, and the Cl concentration of seawater was set to be 16,100 mg/L. A freshening upper BC (fixed Cl concentration of 100 mg/L) was applied to the oxidation-nonoxidation interface (about 2 m) since AD 1,128, coinciding with the time of marine regression of this area.

For the borehole SY2, the depth of this study extends to the underlying aquifer III at the depth of approximately 160–180 m on the basis of the distributions of regional aquifers (Figures 2 and 4), because the drilled borehole did not reveal the underlying confined aquifer which should serve as the lower BC. Before the “activation” of aquifer I, the aquitards and aquifers at depth of about 160–18.9 m were assumed to be filled with freshwater (Cl, 250 mg/L). Subsequently, the glacial meltwater (the last glacial maximum; Cl, 60 mg/L) and the Holocene seawater intrusion led to Cl diffusion mixing transport of this profile. At the beginning of the Holocene, the initial Cl concentration of porewater at depth of 54.2–18.9 m was assigned as 16,100 mg/L since the relative coarser sediments occurred in this profile (described in Section 4.2). Beyond that, the similar various initial conditions and BC with different timeframes were assigned consisting with the setting for borehole SY1. Specific initial conditions and BC could refer to Table 1 for a summary of the boundary conditions.

4.5. Simulations of Aquitard-Aquifer System Cl Profiles

Previous researches on solute transport in the thick, regional aquitards have suggested that thin, sand-filled layers or permeable conduits might result in facilitating Cl“halos” laterally through an aquitard [56] and major deviations from one-dimensional diffusion profiles [12]. In this study, the sand layers (aquifers or sand streaks) are commonly encountered in the aquitards. Determining the influence of sand layers on the Cl transport simulations is crucial to palaeohydrological interpretation of porewaters.

The solute transport mechanism could be inferred to be advection if solute concentrations had no obvious vertical change; otherwise, curvilinear concentration profiles were attributed to molar diffusion transport [57, 58]. In order to detect the influence of sand layers on Cl transport, vertical 1D diffusion transport (see (1)) was postulated to be the dominant migration mechanism throughout the aquitard-aquifer system, because obvious vertical distributions appeared in the Cl concentration profiles (Figure 4).

As shown in Figure 4, the thickness of aquifer has an obvious influence on the Cl concentration profiles, for example, aquifer I (86.5–62.6 m) of SY1 borehole. The thick aquifer I is observed in borehole SY1, and Cl concentrations in the neighboring aquitards display the notable diffusion mixing trends occurring in the aquitard-aquifer interfaces. However, when the aquifer is relatively thin (the deep first confined aquifer with the thickness of about 3 m in the borehole SY2, depth of 85.6–82.6 m), the impact on Cl concentration profile in the neighboring aquitards is so little that even can be ignored. Namely, the thick aquifer should be regarded as the fixed concentration BC since the diffusion front does not reach the bottom of the aquifer in the simulations, while, for thin aquifer, the diffusion front reaches the bottom of aquifer in a short time, and the corresponding Cl concentration in the thin entire aquifer will keep changing with time on the basic of the Cl concentrations of the adjacent aquitards [15]. Besides that, the relatively thick aquifer (silt) is also found at depth of 52.3–41.5 m in borehole SY1. Groundwater in the aquifer entrapped palaeoseawater of the Holocene was similar to the constituents of the adjacent aquitards and was renewed more rapidly than the deep confined aquifers due to their shallow depth [19]. The Cl concentrations in the aquifer are also dynamic just like values in the thin sand layers. Thus, in this study, the thin aquifer II, the shallow first confined aquifer in borehole SY1, and the deep first confined aquifer (mentioned above, 85.6–82.6 m) in the borehole SY2 are supposed to be regarded as aquitards in the simulations.

To determine whether palaeohydrological change events affect the interpretation of the measured Cl profiles, the various boundary conditions were evaluated and applied to the modeling simulations. The transient constant upper and lower BC, initial conditions, aquifer boundary encountered in aquitards, and ’s were shown in Table 1. The starting time of aquifer I was reconstructed broadly varying from 30 to 12 ka BP to assess the impact of the last glacial maximum on the measured profile.

As is illustrated in Figure 8(a), the simulations with 20–15 ka BP are the best fit to the measured data at the depth of 162.2–62.6 m in borehole SY1. Using 15 ka BP simulation as the new initial condition and applying a subsequent saline BC (16,100 mg/L) with the transport time of about 10 ka and 70 ka are to develop the historical SY1 Cl concentration profile in the Holocene (Figure 8(b)). The obtained best fit simulation with transport time of 10 ka is consistent with the onset timescale of the Holocene. Subsequently, utilizing fresher upper BC with Cl concentration of 100 mg/L (the mean concentration of rainfall) which is referenced from Zhang et al. (2000) [59] and Zhang et al. (2003) [60] followed by saline BC, this model is used to simulate the shorter timescale (since AD 1,128). It provides a very good fit to the measured porewater Cl profile (Figure 8(c)), suggesting that the observed relatively large vertical scatter in Cl profile is closely related to the various upper BC.

Figure 8: Measured and modeled Cl concentration profiles in aquitard-aquifer system at the studied boreholes. (a, d) SY1 and SY2 profiles between 30 and 12 ka BP with a fresher boundary condition of the Aquifer I. (b, e) Using the simulation result of 15 ka BP as the new initial condition, simulated borehole profiles after a further 10 ka BP and 7 ka BP with a saline upper BC. (c, f) Using the simulation result of 10 ka BP as the new initial condition, simulated SY1 profiles after a further AD 1,128 with a fresher upper BC. The black dotted bordered rectangles in the borehole SY2 profile represent the sediments that were not revealed in the borehole SY2.

Due to the thin deep first confined aquifer existing in borehole SY2, this aquifer activation is not considered in the simulations (note: the simulations related to the deep aquifer activation are modeled but not presented). As Figure 8(d) shows, the meltwater intrusion into the aquifer I has less of an impact on the Cl profile. According to the simulative result of the SY1 (Figure 8(a)), 15 ka BP simulation was selected as the new initial condition, and a series of simulations were performed, first by implementing a saline phase in the surface of the Late Pleistocene and then a freshening phase (Cl, 100 mg/L) in the oxidation-nonoxidation interface (about 2 m). Apart from the low Cl concentration in aquifer I (depth of 85.6–82.6 m), good fits between the simulated and measured Cl values are yielded (Figures 8(e) and 8(f)). These results could be explained that the realistic assumption is traceable in reasonable selection of the BC and initial conditions associations with the palaeohydrology events in the simulations.

4.6. Effects on the Diffusion Simulations of Cl Profiles
4.6.1. Effects of Effective Diffusion Coefficient on the Evolution of the Cl Profiles

Although simulations have the capacity to reflect tracer transport time, the simulated profiles cannot be unique because of the selection of values to material properties [61]. Sensitivity analyses of parameters in solute transport processes in aquitards have been conducted, and the results indicate that the diffusion model was most sensitive to the choice of values [62]. However, obtaining values using field or laboratory test methods is difficult because of the heterogeneity of deposits, test operations, and sampling. The selected unsuitable parameters for the simulation possibly lead to deviations in transport time [10]. In this study, the values of the sand layers (aquifers and sand streaks) are estimated similar to the aquitards in the two boreholes due to the absence of laboratory measurements of sand layers. To illustrate the influence of of the aquitard-aquifer systems on the simulated Cl concentration profiles, different values are selected for aquitard and aquifer deposits. In order to describe convenience, the simulated results of SY1 (Figure 8(c)) and SY2 (Figure 8(f)) are called “base case simulations,” as illustrated in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Results of sensitivity analyses on simulations; (a) and (c) show the simulation profiles of the two boreholes through simply modifying effective diffusion coefficients of sand layers () by various increase factors. (b) and (d) show the modified simulation tracer profiles of the two boreholes using various for the whole profiles. represents the value applied for the base case simulation.

As the results shown in Figures 9(a) and 9(c), there is no greater difference between the base case simulation and the reconstruction simulations due to the thin sand layers in the borehole SY2. These also exhibit that same for the aquitards and aquifers would not result in the obvious offsets of the Cl simulation profiles in this study. The obvious differences were observed in the Figures 9(b) and 9(d), suggesting that the Cl simulations in the aquitard-aquifer system are affected by different chosen values. The best fits are obtained when = 4.3 × 10–10 m2/s for SY1 and = 2.7 × 10–10 m2/s for SY2 core samples, coinciding with the measured values.

4.6.2. Effects of Velocity Coefficient on the Evolution of the Cl Profiles

Advection transport is another factor that may influence solution migration [3, 62]. On the basis of the dynamic data of groundwater table monitored in the study area for numerous years, the mean water table level in the study area is generally 0.4 m; the mean piezometric level of the first and second confined aquifers is −4.5 m and −15.4 m, respectively. The determined vertical hydraulic gradient is fairly uniform with a value of 0.25 across the aquitards, assuming Darcy’s law is valid at very low velocities. Accordingly, the average downward porewater velocities through the clay-rich deposits are calculated to be between 0.118 m/ka and 5.76 m/ka for the values determined through the lab experiment method. In these simulations, groundwater velocities are supposed to range broadly from 0.01 to 10 m/ka.

The simulated profiles for downward velocities of 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 10 m/ka and the measured Cl concentrations of the two boreholes are presented in Figure 10. The best fits simulated profiles for the two boreholes are obtained for velocity of 0.1 m/ka and less. The higher velocity cases evidently depart from the measured Cl profiles. However, the added advective velocity produces no marked change in the simulated profiles, and the minimum deviation does not affect the transport profiles. Therefore, it can surmise that diffusion solely is adequate to reconstruct the transport of Cl in the aquitard-aquifer system.

Figure 10: Porewater Cl measurements of (a) SY1 and (b) SY2 profiles, and simulations with the different groundwater velocities for the two studied boreholes.

However, the Cl concentrations of porewater in the aquitards which are below aquifer I, and above aquifer III in boreholes present significant horizontal distribution and they do not show a coherent diffusion trend, it is likely that the strong overpressure in aquifers results in an advective component to the reversal of the Cl profiles [3]. Besides that, lateral advection was also not involved in these simulations, which probably contributes a horizontal advective component to the Cl profiles [63].

5. Conclusion

Numerical simulations of diffusive Cl transport were used to define the recharge processes of the aquifer I and explore the long–term evolution of porewater chemistry in aquitard-aquifer system of NJCP. Based on the preexisting knowledge of the sedimentary depositional environments and the events of transgression and regression since the Late Pleistocene, the various initial and upper boundary conditions over geological time were implemented. Diffusion has been approved to be the dominant transport mechanism of Cl in the aquitard-aquifer system. The thickness of the sand layers had significant influence on the shapes of the simulated Cl concentration in the aquitards. The simulations yielded well-defined 1D Cl profiles, suggesting that the assumed geological timeframes for the simulations are applicable and the high Cl profiles through the upper aquitards of the two boreholes are consistent with the onset of the Holocene (10 ka BP).

The results of this study present an understanding of the vertical solute transport in the aquitard-aquifer system based on the measured tracer profiles and transport parameters. The good agreement obtained between simulated and measured profiles suggests that the simulations can not only help one to understand solute transport mechanism in the aquitard-aquifer system but also provide insight into the timing of major geologic events (e.g., glaciations, transgression). The model simulation mechanisms are also suitable to other areas of the new Silk Road with the similar hydrogeological characteristics of NJCP.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants nos. 41502231 and 41272258). The authors would like to thank Professor Zhang Wen and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and advice, as well as all the members of the Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, China, for their assistance and support in the process of sampling and data collection.

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Source

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/geofluids/2017/6131547/



source http://taxi.nearme.host/cl-%e2%88%92-as-a-chemical-finger-print-of-solute-transportation-in-the-aquitard-aquifer-system-of-the-north-jiangsu-coastal-plain-china/