Arsenic migration to deep groundwater in Bangladesh influenced by adsorption and water demand

Drinking shallow groundwater with naturally elevated concentrations of arsenic is causing widespread disease in many parts of South and Southeast Asia. In the Bengal Basin, growing reliance on deep (\u3e150 m) groundwater has lowered exposure. In the most affected districts of Bangladesh, shallow groundwater concentrations average 100 to 370 μg L−1, while deep groundwater is typically \u3c 10 μg L−1. Groundwater flow simulations have suggested that, even when deep pumping is restricted to domestic use, deep groundwater in some areas of the Bengal Basin is at risk of contamination. However, these simulations have neglected the impedance of As migration by adsorption to aquifer sediments. Here we quantify for the first time As sorption on deeper sediments in situ by replicating the intrusion of shallow groundwater through injection of 1,000 L of deep groundwater modified with 200 μg L−1 of As into a deeper aquifer. Arsenic concentrations in the injected water were reduced by 70% due to adsorption within a single day. Basin-scale modelling indicates that while As adsorption extends the sustainable use of deep groundwater, some areas remain vulnerable; these areas can be prioritized for management and monitoring

Coastal flooding by tropical cyclones and sea-level rise

The future impacts of climate change on landfalling tropical cyclones are unclear. Regardless of this uncertainty, flooding by tropical cyclones will increase as a result of accelerated sea-level rise. Under similar rates of rapid sea-level rise during the early Holocene epoch most low-lying sedimentary coastlines were generally much less resilient to storm impacts. Society must learn to live with a rapidly evolving shoreline that is increasingly prone to flooding from tropical cyclones. These impacts can be mitigated partly with adaptive strategies, which include careful stewardship of sediments and reductions in human-induced land subsidence

Flood risk of natural and embanked landscapes on the Ganges–Brahmaputra tidal delta plain

The Ganges-Brahmaputra river delta, with 170 million people and a vast, low-lying coastal plain, is perceived to be at great risk of increased flooding and submergence from sea-level rise. However, human alteration of the landscape can create similar risks to sea-level rise. Here, we report that islands in southwest Bangladesh, enclosed by embankments in the 1960s, have lost 1.0-1.5 m of elevation, whereas the neighbouring Sundarban mangrove forest has remained comparatively stable. We attribute this elevation loss to interruption of sedimentation inside the embankments, combined with accelerated compaction, removal of forest biomass, and a regionally increased tidal range. One major consequence of this elevation loss occurred in 2009 when the embankments of several large islands failed during Cyclone Aila, leaving large areas of land tidally inundated for up to two years until embankments were repaired. Despite sustained human suffering during this time, the newly reconnected landscape received tens of centimetres of tidally deposited sediment, equivalent to decades\u27 worth of normal sedimentation. Although many areas still lie well below mean high water and remain at risk of severe flooding, we conclude that elevation recovery may be possible through controlled embankment breaches

Salt Marsh Accretion and Storm Tide Variation: an Example from a Barrier Island in the North Sea

We reconstruct past accretion rates of a salt marsh on the island of Sylt, Germany, using measurements of the radioisotopes 210Pb and 137Cs, as well as historical aerial photographs. Results from three cores indicate accretion rates varying between 1 and 16 mm year−1. Comparisons with tide gauge data show that high accretion rates during the 1980s and 1990s coincide with periods of increased storm activity. We identify a critical inundation height of 18 cm below which the strength of a storm seems to positively influence salt marsh accretion rates and above which the frequency of storms becomes the major factor. In addition to sea level rise, we conclude that in low marsh zones subject to higher inundation levels, mean storm strength is the major factor affecting marsh accretion, whereas in high marsh zones with lower inundation levels, it is storm frequency that impacts marsh accretion