Bioremediation refers to the clean-up of pollution in soil, groundwater, surface water, and air using typically microbiological processes. It uses naturally occurring bacteria and fungi or plants to degrade, transform or detoxify hazardous substances to human health or the environment. For bioremediation to be effective, microorganisms must enzymatically attack the pollutants and convert them to harmless products. As bioremediation can be effective only where environmental conditions permit microbial growth and action, its application often involves the management of ecological factors to allow microbial growth and degradation to continue at a faster rate. Like other technologies, bioremediation has its limitations. Some contaminants, such as chlorinated organic or high aromatic hydrocarbons, are resistant to microbial attack. They are degraded either gradually or not at all, hence, it is not easy to envisage the rates of clean-up for bioremediation implementation. Bioremediation represents a field of great expansion due to the important development of new technologies. Among them, several decades on metagenomics expansion has led to the detection of autochthonous microbiota that plays a key role during transformation. Transcriptomic guides us to know the expression of key genes and proteomics allow the characterization of proteins that conduct specific reactions. In this book we show specific technologies applied in bioremediation of main interest for research in the field, with special attention on fungi, which have been poorly studied microorganisms. Finally, new approaches in the field, such as CRISPR-CAS9, are also discussed. Lastly, it introduces management strategies, such as bioremediation application for managing affected environment and bioremediation approaches. Examples of successful bioremediation applications are illustrated in radionuclide entrapment and retardation, soil stabilization and remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, plastics or fluorinated compounds. Other emerging bioremediation methods include electro bioremediation, microbe-availed phytoremediation, genetic recombinant technologies in enhancing plants in accumulation of inorganic metals, and metalloids as well as degradation of organic pollutants, protein-metabolic engineering to increase bioremediation efficiency, including nanotechnology applications are also discussed.

This book presents the first overview of the composition and structure of the Earth's lower mantle. The first part focuses on the study of lower-mantle minerals, identified as inclusions in diamonds from different regions of the world. Three associations are established among the lower-mantle minerals: ultramafic, mafic, and carbonatic. The carbonatic association is of particular interest because it characterizes the media of natural diamond formation. In turn, the second part analyzes the structure of the lower mantle, revealing its heterogeneous composition. It is based on the results of experiments demonstrating phase transitions in lower-mantle minerals, and on seismological data. Deep-seated earthquakes point to the presence within the lower mantle of numerous seismic boundaries caused by mineral structure transitions. In closing, the last part of the book compares observed data with experimental data, highlighting several discrepancies that indicate Earth may have a more complex planetary history than previously assumed, and examining its primarily non-chondritic composition.

This study, based on a literature review and simulations, shows the efficiency of cover crops at catching nitrate in most agriculture situations. It also analyzes both the negative impacts they can have and the ecosystem services they can provide. The introduction of a cover crop between two main crops helps catch the soil mineral nitrogen before the period of drainage and consequently reduces nitrate leaching and nitrate concentration in the drainage water. This study allows quantifying the efficiency of cover crops at catching nitrate and optimizing their implantation conditions over a large range of French pedoclimatic conditions. The presence of high nitrate levels in surface and ground waters, due to excessive nitrogen fertilization and natural production of nitrate by soil organic matter mineralization, is a double challenge for public health and environment protection.

The natural disasters are the killer agents which can/can't be predicted even though we have modern technology. Every year, in one place or another, disasters striking which is devastating the area and surroundings, leading to ecological disruption besides huge loss of life and property. India is vulnerable to cyclones, landslides/avalanches, earthquakes, floods, droughts, forest fires, epidemics, etc. The 5700-km long coast of India, with its dense population is vulnerable to cyclones/low depressions, tsunamis, etc. The 2400-km long rugged Himalayan terrain is vulnerable to landslides, avalanches and earthquakes. India is not only vulnerable to natural disasters, it is also experiencing industrial accidents. The Bhopal Gas tragedy is one of the major man-made disasters in the world. The state of Andhra Pradesh has 970-km long coastline with two major rivers, etc. The conference is conducted in Visakhapatnam, is famous for industries and tourism. Recently, several industrial accidents took place, besides major natural disasters like Hud-Hud, etc. Disaster management shall be implemented from the grass root level in vulnerable areas to improve the capacity building, so as to minimize the losses. The capacity building coupled with technology results in reduction of loss of life and property.

Handbook of Flotation Reagents: Chemistry, Theory and Practice: Flotation of Gold, PGM and Oxide Minerals, Volume 2 focuses on the theory, practice, and chemistry of flotation of gold, platinum group minerals (PGMs), and the major oxide minerals, along with rare earths. It examines separation methods whose effectiveness is limited when using conventional treatment processes and considers commercial plant practices for most oxide minerals, such as pyrochlore-containing ores, copper cobalt ores, zinc ores, tin ores, and tantalum/niobium ores. It discusses the geology and mineralogy of gold, PGMs, and oxide minerals, as well as reagent and flotation practices in beneficiation. The book also looks at the factors affecting the floatability of gold minerals and describes PGM-dominated deposits such as Morensky-type deposits, hydrothermal deposits, and placer deposits. In addition, case studies of flotation and beneficiation in countries such as Canada, Africa, Russia, Chile, and Saudi Arabia are presented. This book will be useful to researchers, university students, and professors, as well as mineral processors faced with the problem of beneficiation of difficult-to-treat ores.

Fish die. Seagulls starve. Economies wither. And that's just in the coastal villages. El Nino--The Christ Child--and its climatological opposite, La Nina, are global events so powerful and strange they virtually have personalities. Many remember the El Nino seasons of 1982-83 and 1997-98, which brought floods, tornadoes, droughts, and snow to unusual locales. Increased study of these Tropical Pacific phenomena, also known as ENSO (the El Nino and Southern Oscillation), has now enabled scientists to predict the ENSO state as much as 12 to 18 months in advance and has helped to shape weather prediction in general. Here, the basic causes and effects of El Nino and La Nina are carefully chronicled for anyone in search of accurate and current information on these natural phenomena.

Chapters are devoted to the history of ENSO; its influence on global weather and on the United States, including the ecosystem; and how governments and industries worldwide are utilizing new weather data to harness ENSO's economic impact, rather than be saddled by it. A chronology tours key events, from the 15th century diary observations of colonists in Ecuador and Peru to recent events like the devastating El Nino of 1997-98, which was responsible for 23,000 deaths and $33 billion in damages. Biographies of important researchers, illustrations and maps, and an extensive bibliography help make this a total guide to these magnificent natural cycles.

This book presents a model for describing the hierarchical concept of China's water rights structure, one which takes into account pioneering theories on natural resources and environmental institutional economics. It highlights the basic theory of water rights, with a view to helping Chinese policymakers acquire a deeper understanding of water rights and the need for a reform program in the long-term development of water-poor China. To do so, it draws on three main sources: Cheung SNS's "Economic Explanation", Douglas C. North's "New Economic History" and Ray Huang's "Macro History". The book makes two essential contributions: it elaborates the hierarchical water governance structure in China, which originated in the Qin Dynasty that unified the country 2000 years ago and has been employed without interruption ever since; further, it constructs a choice model for water governance structures and advances the logic of making structural choices with minimum transaction costs under constraint conditions, while also explaining the inherent nature of China's choice for the hierarchical structure from the perspectives of management cost and cooperation cost. As such, the book enriches and builds on the theories of the "water governance" school represented by Karl Marx, Karl Wittfogel and Ray Huang, laying the foundation for the further study of water rights theory in contemporary China.

This volume addresses the latest results of the Major Water Program of the Chinese Government which aims at the restoration of polluted water environments and sustainable management of water resources in China. It specifically summarizes the results of the BMBF-CLIENT project "Management of Water Resources in Urban Catchments" and the related MoST project "Key Technologies and Management Modes for the Water Environmental Rehabilitation of a Lake City from the Catchment Viewpoint" in Chaohu. The project is conducted by the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Technische Universitat Dresden, German and Chinese companies (WISUTEC, AMC, bbe Moldaenke, itwh, OpenGeoSys e.V., HC System and EWaters) in close cooperation with Tongji University, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology of Academy of Sciences, Institute for Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chaohu Lake Management Authority. The book explains the development of concepts and solutions for sustained water quality improvement in Chaohu, combining urban water resource management, decentralized sanitation solutions, methods in water quality assurance, environmental information systems and groundwater modeling.

This book highlights the aeolian processes in the desert zone of Kazakhstan and Central Asian Deserts, and analyzes the current status of dust and sand storms in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It also highlights the analyses, dynamics and long-term observations of storms on the basis of numerous cartographic materials and satellite images. Dust/sand storms are a common and important phenomenon in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as well,especially in its southern parts, where areas are covered by a great variety of deserts and offer a significant source of mineral and salt aerosols. The deserts of Kazakhstan mostly cover lowlands and extend from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to the piedmonts of the Tien-Shan Mountain. In Kazakhstan and Central Asia desertification processes due to wind erosion in the form of dust/sand storms were observed in semi-desert and desert landscapes.

This book focuses on scientific and technological aspects of groundwater-resources assessment and surveillance. It describes relevant risks and investigates selected techniques for the monitoring and mitigation of the individuated threats to groundwater quality. The authors discuss the concepts of groundwater-resources protection and offer examples of both geogenic and anthropogenic degradation of groundwater quality, such as heavy metals from mining activities and natural water-rock interactions, as well as risk of contamination due to geological CO2 storage practices etc. The volume also covers non-invasive monitoring techniques and briefly addresses innovative sensor technologies for the online assessment of water quality. Furthermore, the role played by geochemical techniques, the potential of environmental isotopes and the support provided by physical modelling are highlighted. The chapters guide the reader through various viewpoints, according to the diverse disciplines involved, without aiming to be exhaustive, but instead picking representative topics for their relevance in the context of groundwater protection and control. This book will be of interest to advanced students, researchers, policy-makers and stakeholders at various levels.

This book collects selected full papers presented at the International Symposium on Energy Geotechnics 2018 (SEG-2018), held on 25th - 28th September 2018, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). It covers a wide range of topics in energy geotechnics, including energy geostructures, energy geostorage, thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical behaviour of geomaterials, unconventional resources, hydraulic stimulation, induced seismicity, CO2 geological storage, and nuclear waste disposal as well as topics such as tower and offshore foundations. The book is intended for postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners working on geomechanics and geotechnical engineering for energy-related applications.

This book introduces readers to the rich and varied thermal springs of the Tibetan Plateau, which is steadily rising due to the collision of two continental plates. Readers will discover a wealth of information on boiling springs and hot springs, including their location and elevation, temperature, geological characteristics, and water chemical data, as well as tables on warm and tepid springs. Shedding new light on this vital supplement to hydroelectric resources in remote southwest China, the book will appeal to a broad relationship, from experts researching the Tibetan Plateau to companies specializing in geothermal exploration.

The Handbook of Irrigation Hydrology and Management examines and analyzes irrigated ecosystems in which water storage, applications, or drainage volumes are artificially controlled in the landscape and the spatial domain of processes varies from micrometers to tens of kilometers, while the temporal domain spans from seconds to centuries. The continuum science of irrigation hydrology includes the surface, subsurface (unsaturated and groundwater systems), atmospheric, and plant subsystems. Further, it presents numerous considerations including the selection of economically viable cropping patterns, land allocation by crop, water resource allocation by crop, irrigation scheduling, deficit management irrigation, optimizing crop yields, and more. Features: Offers water-saving strategies to increase the judicious use of scarce water resources Presents strategies to maximize agricultural yield per unit of water used for different regions Compares irrigation methods to offset changing weather patterns and impacts of climate change

This new textbook and lab manual on remote sensing and digital image processing of natural resources includes numerous practical, problem-solving exercises, and case studies that use the free and open-source platform R. It explains the basic concepts of remote sensing and its multidisciplinary applications using R language and R packages, and engages students in learning theory through hands-on real-life projects. Features 1. Aims to expand theoretical approaches of remote sensing and digital image processing through multidisciplinary applications using R and R packages. 2. Engages students in learning theory through hands-on real-life projects. 3. All chapters are structured with solved exercises and homework and encourages readers to understand the potential and the limitations of the environments. 4. Covers data analysis in free and open-source (FOSS) R platform, which makes remote sensing accessible to anyone with a computer. 5. Explores current trends and developments in remote sensing in homework assignments with data to further explore the use of free multispectral remote sensing data, including very high spatial resolution information. Students in upper-level undergraduate or graduate programs with Remote Sensing Course and Geoprocessing Course, civil and environmental engineering, geosciences, and environmental sciences, electrical engineering, biology, hydrology, agriculture Engineering. Professionals in different areas who use remote sensing and image processing. Students in upper-level undergraduate or graduate programs taking courses in Remote Sensing and Geoprocessing, civil and environmental engineering, geosciences, and environmental sciences, electrical engineering, biology, hydrology, agricultural engineering, as well as professionals in different areas who use remote sensing and image processing, will gain a deeper understanding and first-hand experience with remote sensing and digital processing, with a learn-by-doing methodology using applicable examples in natural resources. .

This collective book is a multidisciplinary approach on a key-topic for our common future: overfishing. The focus is addressed to the "Atlantic World", considering the main oceanic geography in which this problem born in the early 20th century. The volume offers a wide range of contributions from experts on the topic covering the most relevant areas of the Atlantic and explaining important case studies on overfishing recent history. Written in a historical perspective, the book looks for institutional regulatory solutions based on multilateral solutions and scientific advising. Founders thought on the topic and the understanding's evolution of the overfishing problem are mainly considered. This book is an accessible synthesis on overfishing history especially recommended for social scientists, historians, biologists, decision-makers and committed citizens.

Piton de la Fournaise and Karthala are both shield volcanoes in the southwest Indian Ocean. This publication summarizes the work done on these very active basaltic volcanoes. Piton de la Fournaise has a long history of scientific research and monitoring, with many data collected during recent eruptions. It is certainly one of the most studied volcanoes in the world. The work presented in this monograph includes geological, geophysical, geochemical and petrological aspects, but also studies on physical geography, natural hazards and the sociological and behavioural approaches.' The Karthala volcano may be less well known, but it serves as an interesting comparison to Piton de la Fournaise. Although situated close to the volcanoes of Hawaii, it differs from them by its more alkaline magmas and less frequent activity. It was also monitored for more than 25 years, producing extraordinary eruptions in recent years.