Niveles de plomo en los individuos de la necrópolis tardorromana de la c/ Virgen de la Misericordia (Valencia)

El objetivo general de este estudio ha sido determinar los contenidos de plomo (Pb) en restos de huesos y suelos de la necrópolis de la c/ Virgen de la Misericordia (Valencia) para reconstruir el proceso de transición del elemento (desde el sedimento hacia los huesos y viceversa) debido a la acción de los procesos diagenéticos

Application of QUAL2Kw to the Oglio River (Northern Italy) to assess diffuse N pollution via river-groundwater interaction

Water quality modeling is increasingly recognized as a useful tool for obtaining valuable information for optimal water quality management. In this study, the free software QUAL2Kw was used to evaluate the impacts of agricultural nitrogen (N) excess on river nitrate (NO3-N) concentrations. We explored the possibility to use QUAL2Kw in order to back calculate the exchange of water and N from the groundwater to the Oglio River, northern Italy, which drains a heavily irrigated and fertilized agricultural land. Along the river course water monitoring activities carried out in the dry, summer period revealed steep increases of NO3-N in different sectors, by up to 2 orders of magnitude, not explained by any significant point inputs. Such increases suggest the occurrence of large water exchange with nitrate-polluted groundwater and diffuse inputs. In turn, groundwater pollution is due to high N excess in the watershed (~200 kg N ha-1 yr-1), flood-based irrigation techniques and soil permeability. The QUAL2Kw model was calibrated using the average of 2 years' data collected in winter 2010 and 2011 and validated using the data of winter 2012. To minimize the error between simulation results and measured data, the constants of inorganic suspended solid (ISS), ammonium (NH4-N), nitrate and organic N were calibrated. The calibration and validation results showed a good correspondence between the calculated and measured values for most of water-quality variables. QUAL2Kw was then run separately with three years' summer data (2009, 2010 and 2011), and large gaps were found between the measured and predicted values of discharge, electrical conductivity, NO3-N and total N. Such gaps are discussed in terms of river-groundwater interactions, limited to the summer period and following irrigation by flooding, rise of the groundwater table and vertical transport of N. The gaps allowed to back calculate the volumes of water and the amount of N exchanged. The total load of NO3-N entering into the river from groundwater was estimated in 25.17, 25.63 and 29.89 ton per day for NO3-N in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. Similar results were obtained in another study based on mass balance of N isotopes. The combination of experimental and QUAL2Kw modelled data proved to be a simple, low cost but effective tool in the estimation of NO3-N exchange between the surface and groundwater

The Cult Statues of the Pantheon

This article reconsiders the possible statuary of the Pantheon in Rome, both in its original Augustan form and in its later phases. It argues that the so-called ‘Algiers Relief’ has wrongly been connected with the Temple of Mars Ultor and is in fact evidence of the association of the Divus Julius with Mars and Venus in the Pantheon of Agrippa, a juxtaposition which reflects the direction of Augustan ideology in the 20s b.c. and the building's celestial purpose. This triple statue group became the focus of the later Pantheon, and its importance is highlighted by the hierarchized system of architectural ornament of the present building

Can’t tell a book by its cover: disjointed groundwater contamination and land use in an alluvial aquifer of Northern Italy

In the Po plain, intensive agriculture is supported by large irrigation volumes and use of fertilizers. We analysed the effects of different land uses in a sector of the Mincio River on groundwater hydrochemical characteristics and hypothesized local regulation of NO3- contamination. In the unconfined coarse-grained alluvial aquifer, hydraulic heads were measured monthly in 17 wells from May 2019 to December 2019, to trace how the aquifer recharge and manure spreading influence groundwater physico-chemical parameters and quantity. The experimental site was divided into two different zones on the left and right bank characterized by different land use. Although these dissimilarities concern different irrigation and fertilization practices, we measured in both areas nitrate (NO3-) contamination in groundwater, with concentrations exceeding legislative limits by a factor of 2. Our results suggest that NO3- contamination in this area is not only driven by specific land use and related agricultural practice; rather, other local factors intrinsic to the local aquifer and groundwater characteristics play an important role. Presented results on groundwater quality and quantity provide useful information to increase knowledge on local N dynamics and to the administrations regulating fertilizer use in this area, already reported as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ)

Reactive silica traces manure spreading in alluvial aquifers affected by nitrate contamination: A case study in a high plain of Northern Italy

In the northern sector of the Po River Plain (Italy), widespread intensive agriculture and animal farming are supported by large amounts of water from Alpine lakes and their emissaries. Flood irrigation and excess fertilization with manure affect both the hydrology and the chemical quality of surface and groundwater, resulting in diffuse nitrogen pollution. However, studies analyzing the mechanisms linking agricultural practices with vertical and horizontal nitrogen paths are scarce in this area. We investigated groundwater quality and quantity in an unconfined, coarse-grained alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Mincio River (a tributary of the Po River), where steep summer gradients of nitrate (NO3-) concentrations are reported. The effects of manure on solutes' vertical transport during precipitation events in fertilized and in control soils were simulated under laboratory conditions. The results show high SiO2 and NO3- leaching in fertilized soils. Similarly, field data are characterized by high SiO2 and NO3- concentrations, with a comparable spatial distribution but a different temporal evolution, suggesting their common origin but different processes affecting their concentrations in the study area. Our results show that SiO2 can be used as a conservative tracer of manure spreading, as it does not undergo biogeochemical processes that significantly alter its concentrations. On the contrary, nitrate displays large short-term variations related to aquifer recharge (i.e., flood irrigation and precipitation). In fact, aquifer recharge may promote immediate solubilization and stimulate nitrification, resulting in high NO3- concentrations up to 95.9 mg/L, exceeding the Water Framework Directive (WFD) thresholds. When recharge ends, anoxic conditions likely establish in the saturated zone, favoring denitrification and resulting in a steep decrease in NO3- concentrations

Short-term effects of the EU Nitrate Directive reintroduction: reduced N loads to river from an alluvial aquifer in Northern Italy

The Po Plain (northern Italy) is one of the largest aquifers in Europe, and 67% of the utilized agricultural land in this area is classified as a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). However, it hosts intensive agriculture and livestock farming. In a stretch of the Mincio River (a tributary of the Po River), hydraulic heads and physico-chemical parameters of river and groundwater were monitored for a hydrologic year (2020–2021), to evaluate the effects of manure fertilization and flooding irrigation on surface-and groundwater chemistry. From 2020 the Nitrate Directive’s fertilization limit was reintroduced and a comparison has been performed comparing surface-and groundwater data from the 2019 fertilization period (before limit reintroduction) and 2020 (after). Results suggest that in 2021 the phreatic aquifer displayed elevated nitrate (NO3−) concentrations, exceeding 50 mg L−1, although average values were lower than those of 2019. Nitrate loads in the Mincio River reached 6670 kg NO3− d−1 and resulted from the overfertilization in the surrounding area and the quick transfer of nitrogen from groundwater to the river. As compared to 2019, the river loads decreased by 59%, suggesting that the introduction of fertilization limits can produce measurable, short-term responses in alluvial aquifers

Intraskeletal Chemical Variation Related to Diagenetic Processes: A Late Roman Necropolis Case

The aim of the present study was to define a methodological strategy for understanding how post- mortem degradation in bones caused by the environment affects different skeletal parts and for selecting better preserved bone samples employing rare earth elements (REEs) analysis and multivariate statistics. It is the first time that REEs are used to evaluate diagenesis impact in archaeological bones. To test our methodological proposal the samples selected belong to adult and young individuals and were obtained from the late-ancient roman necropolis of the c / En Gil (35 samples), located in the downtown area of ?? Valencia City. Therefore, a method for the determination of major elements, trace elements and REEs in bone remains has been developed employing Inductively-Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Bone samples, mainly rib and femur, from 8 individuals have been studied. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to facilitate the interpretation of the results. Zn/Ca and Sr/Ca parameters show that diet profiles of a population could change depending on the class of bones analyzed.</p