Historic Preservation for Environmental Scientists: Tools and Perspectives to Better Understand, Preserve, and Manage the Environment

There is a substantial intersection between historic preservation and environmental protection that is rarely explored in the literature or in existing courses, though the relationship between the two disciplines is evident throughout the practice of each. One federal agency, the National Park Service (NPS), is tasked with preserving both natural and cultural resources, and manages the majority of both of these that are set aside for future generations in the US. Many of the same federal laws that are used to preserve historic sites are also used to preserve the environment. When historic sites are protected, this often inevitably protects a portion of the natural environment as well, and when areas are set aside for natural protection, this often has the result of preserving archaeological resources that these areas may contain. Many of the research tools used by historic preservationists can be of use to environmental scientists, and scientific results are sometimes used when decisions are made regarding the preservation, alteration, or demolition of historic sites and structures. This portfolio outlines examples of this intersection of disciplines including aquaculture and the preservation of working waterfronts, the importance of environmental setting to the preservation of a mill town, land records research, and erosion and cultural sedimentation. It closes with a proposed syllabus for a course in industrial archaeology, which can be built on to better explore the intersections and conflicts between environmental and historic preservation at industrial sites and adaptive reuse projects

SUBAQUEOUS SOILS OF CHESAPEAKE BAY: DISTRIBUTION, GENESIS, AND THE PEDOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF SEA-LEVEL ALTERNATIONS

Soils and sediments make up a substantial portion of the resource base that supports human societies and other life on Earth, yet in the subaqueous environment our understanding of these materials pales in comparison to our understanding and management of upland soils. We must develop an understanding of how subaqueous soils/sediments are distributed, how they form and change over time, and how they will be impacted by rising sea-levels as a result of climate change if we are to wisely manage these resources. The goal of this study is to improve this understanding in Chesapeake Bay subestuaries. The Rhode River subestuary was first surveyed to identify rates of bathymetric change in these settings and to characterize the common material types found in these settings. Bathymetric change was evaluated using hydrographic surveys dating back to 1846, and though the river bottom does change slowly, it has been more or less stable during the years evaluated. Several types of morphologically distinct materials make up the soil profiles in Rhode River. Materials highest in organic matter are easy to identify in the field, and commonly become ultra-acidic if disturbed. Also present were submerged upland soils, colored and structured like soils in the surrounding landscape. To better understand the impacts of submergence on these materials, a sampling campaign was conducted on shallow marine sediments, reclaimed land, and restored aquatic environments under both seawater and freshwater. This demonstrated that shallow marine sediments develop upland soil features and biogeochemical characteristics within 150 years of drainage, and that these characteristics do indeed persist in the subsoil two years after submergence. Topsoil changes more radically, releasing anomalous amounts of Fe while accumulating anomalous amounts of reduced S minerals, a process exacerbated by seawater flooding. Using these results, a soil-landscape conceptual model was developed and used to predict subaqueous soil distribution in the West River subestuary. These predictions were evaluated with a sampling campaign, and found to be significant. This model can now be used in other subestuaries to quickly and efficiently survey subaqueous soils, supporting the development of future land-use interpretations in these environments

Making 'chemical cocktails' - evolution of urban geochemical processes across the periodic table of elements.

Urbanization contributes to the formation of novel elemental combinations and signatures in terrestrial and aquatic watersheds, also known as 'chemical cocktails.' The composition of chemical cocktails evolves across space and time due to: (1) elevated concentrations from anthropogenic sources, (2) accelerated weathering and corrosion of the built environment, (3) increased drainage density and intensification of urban water conveyance systems, and (4) enhanced rates of geochemical transformations due to changes in temperature, ionic strength, pH, and redox potentials. Characterizing chemical cocktails and underlying geochemical processes is necessary for: (1) tracking pollution sources using complex chemical mixtures instead of individual elements or compounds; (2) developing new strategies for co-managing groups of contaminants; (3) identifying proxies for predicting transport of chemical mixtures using continuous sensor data; and (4) determining whether interactive effects of chemical cocktails produce ecosystem-scale impacts greater than the sum of individual chemical stressors. First, we discuss some unique urban geochemical processes which form chemical cocktails, such as urban soil formation, human-accelerated weathering, urban acidification-alkalinization, and freshwater salinization syndrome. Second, we review and synthesize global patterns in concentrations of major ions, carbon and nutrients, and trace elements in urban streams across different world regions and make comparisons with reference conditions. In addition to our global analysis, we highlight examples from some watersheds in the Baltimore-Washington DC region, which show increased transport of major ions, trace metals, and nutrients across streams draining a well-defined land-use gradient. Urbanization increased the concentrations of multiple major and trace elements in streams draining human-dominated watersheds compared to reference conditions. Chemical cocktails of major and trace elements were formed over diurnal cycles coinciding with changes in streamflow, dissolved oxygen, pH, and other variables measured by high-frequency sensors. Some chemical cocktails of major and trace elements were also significantly related to specific conductance (p<0.05), which can be measured by sensors. Concentrations of major and trace elements increased, peaked, or decreased longitudinally along streams as watershed urbanization increased, which is consistent with distinct shifts in chemical mixtures upstream and downstream of other major cities in the world. Our global analysis of urban streams shows that concentrations of multiple elements along the Periodic Table significantly increase when compared with reference conditions. Furthermore, similar biogeochemical patterns and processes can be grouped among distinct mixtures of elements of major ions, dissolved organic matter, nutrients, and trace elements as chemical cocktails. Chemical cocktails form in urban waters over diurnal cycles, decades, and throughout drainage basins. We conclude our global review and synthesis by proposing strategies for monitoring and managing chemical cocktails using source control, ecosystem restoration, and green infrastructure. We discuss future research directions applying the watershed chemical cocktail approach to diagnose and manage environmental problems. Ultimately, a chemical cocktail approach targeting sources, transport, and transformations of different and distinct elemental combinations is necessary to more holistically monitor and manage the emerging impacts of chemical mixtures in the world's fresh waters

Application and evaluation of a subaqueous soil-landscape conceptual model in the West River subestuary, Maryland

A soil-landscape conceptual model developed in the Rhode River subestuary of Maryland was applied to create a soil survey for the adjacent West River subestuary. The survey for the West River subestuary was completed before samples were collected there to evaluate the soil-landscape conceptual model used to generate the soil survey. The West River subestuary was then sampled along transects that crossed soil map units to compare observed soil taxa with predicted soil taxa. Observed transect samples were classified and scored based on their similarity to predicted taxa in soil map units. These data were resampled via a bootstrapping method to determine if the predictions of the West River subestuary soil survey were significantly different from random predictions. Significant information was provided by the survey, and therefore by the soil-landscape conceptual model used to generate it.https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.2049

Soil taxonomy proposals for acid sulfate soils and subaqueous soils raised by the 8th International Acid Sulfate Soils Conference\u3csup\u3e§\u3c/sup\u3e

The 8th International Acid Sulfate Soils Conference presented examples and discussions for classification of ‘acid sulfate soils’ and related issues for ‘subaqueous soils’. When these soils are disturbed or exposed, the sulfides (predominantly pyrite) react with oxygen to produce sulfuric acid; soil materials that do this to a great extent are recognised as ‘sulfidic materials’ in Soil Taxonomy. Soil Taxonomy describes physical and chemical properties and thresholds for incubation of sulfidic materials for acidification, and has developed definitions for features and materials commonly seen in these soils. However, based on discussions and examples from field tours the conference has several proposals to modify and add to existing definitions, such as adding new subgroups, defining sulfuric materials and editing the definition of the sulfuric horizon. These changes are centred on improving the interpretative value of taxa in Soil Taxonomy as well as use and management recommendations and their value in soil survey products

Watershed ‘chemical cocktails’: forming novel elemental combinations in Anthropocene fresh waters

Este artículo contiene 25 páginas, 9 figuras.In the Anthropocene, watershed chemical transport is increasingly dominated by novel combinations of elements, which are hydrologically linked together as ‘chemical cocktails.’ Chemical cocktails are novel because human activities greatly enhance elemental concentrations and their probability for biogeochemical interactions and shared transport along hydrologic flowpaths. A new chemical cocktail approach advances our ability to: trace contaminant mixtures in watersheds, develop chemical proxies with high-resolution sensor data, and manage multiple water quality problems. We explore the following questions: (1) Can we classify elemental transport in watersheds as chemical cocktails using a new approach? (2) What is the role of climate and land use in enhancing the formation and transport of chemical cocktails in watersheds? To address these questions, we first analyze trends in concentrations of carbon, nutrients, metals, and salts in fresh waters over 100 years. Next, we explore how climate and land use enhance the probability of formation of chemical cocktails of carbon, nutrients, metals, and salts. Ultimately, we classify transport of chemical cocktails based on solubility, mobility, reactivity, and dominant phases: (1) sieved chemical cocktails (e.g., particulate forms of nutrients, metals and organic matter); (2) filtered chemical cocktails (e.g., dissolved organic matter and associated metal complexes); (3) chromatographic chemical cocktails (e.g., ions eluted from soil exchange sites); and (4) reactive chemical cocktails (e.g., limiting nutrients and redox sensitive elements). Typically, contaminants are regulated and managed one element at a time, even though combinations of elements interact to influence many water quality problems such as toxicity to life, eutrophication, infrastructure corrosion, and water treatment. A chemical cocktail approach significantly expands evaluations of water quality signatures and impacts beyond single elements to mixtures. High-frequency sensor data (pH, specific conductance, turbidity, etc.) can serve as proxies for chemical cocktails and improve real-time analyses of water quality violations, identify regulatory needs, and track water quality recovery following storms and extreme climate events. Ultimately, a watershed chemical cocktail approach is necessary for effectively co-managing groups of contaminants and provides a more holistic approach for studying, monitoring, and managing water quality in the Anthropocene.This work was funded by USDA (award # 2016-67019-25280) and NSF-EPSCoR (#1641157) for supporting collaborations at the AGU Chapman Conference on Extreme Climate Events. Significant funding for data collection/analyses in this paper was provided by NSF EAR1521224, NSF CBET1058502, NSF Coastal SEES1426844, NSF DEB-0423476 and DEB-1027188, NSF RI EPSCoR NEWRnet Grant No. IIA-1330406, EPA ORD, Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Multi-state Regional Hatch Project S-1063.Peer reviewe

Relieving substrate limitation-soil moisture and temperature determine gross N transformation rates

A field experiment was designed with the objective to reveal the interactions between soil moisture, temperature, total, dissolved, and phosphate buffer extractable C and N, and microbial activity in the control of in situ gross N mineralization and immobilization rates in a deciduous forest. We had three alternative hypotheses to explain variations of the gross N transformations: 1) microorganisms are C limited, 2) microorganisms are N limited, or 3) neither C nor N limit the microorganisms but moisture and temperature conditions. Each hypothesis had specific criteria to be fulfilled for its acceptance. The results demonstrated that gross N transformation rates were more dependent on and variable with soil moisture and temperature than the size of the different C and N pools. The immobilization of N was dependent on the gross mineralization rate, suggesting that the production of enzymes for mineralization of organic N and the immobilization of N from the surrounding soil is disconfirmed when the intracellular N content of the microorganisms is sufficiently high. If the microorganisms are starved for N, enzyme systems involved in both the assimilation and mineralization of N are activated. The mean in situ gross N mineralization rate was two orders of magnitude higher than the natural N deposition in the area and the N addition in the NITREX experiments, meaning that a reduction in the gross N mineralization rate of about 1% would be enough to compensate for the addition of inorganic N. This decrease would hardly be detectable given the great spatial and temporal variability of N transformation rates