Tạp chí Khoa học Trái Đất và Môi trường Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

The port system of Ho Chi Minh City including 34 ports, serves as the gateway to the South (including the South East and the Mekong Delta) in export and import activities. In which contribute a huge amount of pollutants to the atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City. The objective of this study is to: (i) Calculating air emissions from ports system in Ho Chi Minh city using the SPDGIZ model which emits a large amount of air pollutants such as sulfur oxide (SOX), nitrogen oxide (NOX), fine dust (PM2.5, PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon monoxide (CO) from large ships (Ocean going vessels - OGVs), towing ships (Harbor Crafts - HCs), cargo handling equipment (Cargo handling equipment - CHE) and other vehicles (Heavy trucks – HVs); (ii) Using dispersion model TAPM-AERMOD to assess the impact of port operations to air quality in surouding port area; (iii) Proposing abatement measures based on the results of simulation to reduce emissions/ air pollution levels. The results of emission inventory show that the total port emissions are largely NOX and SOX mainly from large ships (OGVs) and cargo handling equipment (CHE) due to the use of heavy oil and diesel which have high sulfur content. The results show that the time at which a mooring boat is the most time consuming (accounting for over 90% of total emissions from OGVs).

This research applied the groundwater quality index (GWQI) and principal component analysis (PCA) for assessing pollution levels and factors effecting groundwater quality of Pleistocene aquifer in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Seventeen wells were colected in April (dry season) and October (rainy season) during 5 years (2012-2017). Nine parameters of water (pH, TDS, độ cứng, Cl-, F-, NO3-, SO42-, Cu2+ và Fe2+) were collected for analyses. The results of GWQI (dry season) divided into 17 wells in dry season with groundwater quality from good to very good which occupied to 82% databases, compared to 94% of rainy season. Meanwhile, the number of wells significantly changed from poor to very poor water between two seasons. PCA demonstrated that two specific factors, interaction of chemical components in river sediments and character of aquifer and anthropogenic, affected to the quality of groundwater in this study area. These explained 65.555% (dry season) and 61.562% (rainy season) of the variances. This result is provided specific information, and the useful tools in order to deal with the complicated databases, as well as zone the groundwater quality in the study area. This further help the authorities to plan suitable strategy for groundwater quality management.

Plastic debris was separated from Saigon river sediment using a microplastic sediment separator (MPSS) for the first time. A separation fluid of ZnCl2 solution (1.6 kg/L) was used to separate lower density materials (floating on the top) from higher density materials (sinking in the bottom). Plastic and plastic-like materials were collected and analyzed by a FTIR spectrometer to determine plastic composition. The results show that a total of 350 items (0.0485 g) of plastic debris were extracted from 1,500.00 g dry sediment, including 11 items (0.0130 g) of macroplastics (> 5 mm) and 339 items (0.0355 g) of microplastics (0.3–5 mm). Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and PE-PP mixture were the most major plastic types with 225, 85, and 21 items, respectively. Others, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (PU), silicon, rubber, and nylon were also found in the sediment sample. Fragments were the major shape with 300 items while other shapes of sheets, fibers and beads were also recorded. The advantages of MPSS are high capacity, high separation efficiency, and low-cost operation. The disadvantages of this apparatus are high pollution due to using ZnCl2, bottom stirrer is easily stuck, and uncertain efficiency with small microplastic particles (< 0.3 mm). A significant high number of microplastics in sediment environment indicates that microplastics could be a potential risk for benthic organisms and aquatic food web. Various types and shapes of plastics also suggests that macroplastics and microplastics in sediment could originate from various sources. It is said that, for the first time in Vietnam, plastic debris, particular with microplastics, can be efficiently extracted from a large amount of sediment sample (up to 1.5 kg dry sediment). These findings could be an interesting reference for researchers who may want to obtain a large amount of microplastics for further investigation of microplastic toxicology.

In the present study, Multivariate Statistical Analysis (MSA) such as Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) were applied to determine the temporal and spatial variations of groundwater quality in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Groundwater samples were collected from 18 monitoring wells in April (dry season) and October (wet season) during the year 2012. Fifteen parameters (pH, TH, TDS, Cl-, F-, NO3-, SO42-, Cr6+, Cu2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3- and Fe2+) were selected for MSA. PCA identified a reduced number of mean three latent factors of groundwater quality. Three factors called salinization, water-rock interaction and anthropogenic pollution explanined 70,5% (dry season) and 71.28% (wet season) of the variances. Cluster analysis revealed two main different groups of similarities between the sampling sites. This study presents the necessity of MSA in order to extract more precise information from a huge minitoring data, which will be usefull to groundwater quality management.

Livestock is one of the main activities of the agricultural sector in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Beside of pollution sources such as waste water, solid waste, livestock activity in Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province in recent years has caused air pollution in the livestock area and surrounding area. This research was carried out to evaluate the process of air pollution dispersion from livestock activities based on applying the TAPM meteorological model and AERMOD air quality model. The results showed that the maximum concentrations of air pollutants from livestock area such as NH3, H2S and CH3SH exceeded the National Technical Regulation on Ambient Air Quality (average hour) in the centre of Tan Thanh district, such as Toc Tien commune, part of Tan Phuoc and Phuoc Hoa communes, is 505 μg/m3; 57.4 μg/m3 and 111 μg/m3, respectively. Phu My district and other suburban communes (Hac Dich, Song Xoai, Chau Pha, Tan Hoa, Tan Hai, My Xuan, etc.) have distribution of lower concentrations of air pollutants. Base on the present results of modeling, the authors have proposed livestock development scenarios to control air pollution from this activity, contributing to environmental protection for Tan Thanh district.

The purpose of this study is to reuse fishpond sediment to produce organic fertilizer for planting maize. The sludge was mixed with rice husk and Composted under aerobic conditions. The effectiveness of Compost on planting maizes was assessed by adding to maizes with and without combination chemical fertilizers as different dosages as recommendations. The amounts of Compost adding for maizes were 10 and 20 tons/ha. Maize growth, characteristics of corn, and soil physical and chemical parameters such as bulk density, soil aggregate stability, the volume of moisture, and useful moisture of soil were measured and evaluated. The results showed that the quality of organic fertilizer produced from waste sludge met Vietnamese standard (QCVN:2018/BNNPTNT) for adding to crops. Applying organic fertilizer with the quantity of 20 tons/ha to combine with the recommendation of inorganic fertilizer amount for planting maizes increased the yield. Moreover, 20 ton/ha of organic fertilizer coupling with 50% of chemical fertilizer amount as a recommendation for planting maize also enhanced the yield to compare with the control (only using inorganic fertilizer as a recommendation). The maize yield of applying 20 tons/ha of organic fertilizer was higher than the maize yield of 10 tons/ha of organic fertilizer. Using organic fertilizer produced by fishpond sediment did improve not only the soil quality but also protected the canals and increased household income.

The objective of this study was to analyze the changes of riverbanks in Ho Chi Minh City for the period 1989-2015 using remote sensing and GIS. Combination of Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and thresholding method was used to extract the river bank based on the multi-temporal Landsat satellite images, including 12 Landsat 4-5 (TM) images and 2 Landsat 8 images in the period 1989-2015. Then, DSAS tool was used to calculate the change rates of river bank. The results showed that, the processes of erosion and accretion intertwined but most of the main riverbanks had erosion trend in the period 1989-2015. Specifically, the Long Tau River, Sai Gon River, Soai Rap River had erosion trends with a rate of about 10.44 m/year. The accretion process mainly occurred in Can Gio area, such as Dong Tranh river and Soai Rap river with a rate of 8.34 m/year. Evaluating the riverbank changes using multi-temporal remote sensing data may contribute an important reference to managing and protecting the riverbanks.

Numerical model is a useful tool in studying the flow and sediment transport, change in river bed and is built on solving governing differential equations. Numerical model has many different levels and three-dimensional model is the highest level, allowing detailed simulation of flow and sediment transport process in 3D space. The paper presents a method calculating three - dimensional flow and sediment transport in the open channel. Water level and flow velocity are solved from three-dimensional equations with hydrostatic hypothesis. Concentration of suspended sediment, bottom sediment and bottom evolution is solved from transport equations. The governing differential equations in the "sigma" transform coordinate system are solved by finite volume method on unstructured grid of quadrilateral elements. Boundary condition of water level or flow will be imposed on open boundary. For suspended sediment concentrations in the injected phase, suspended sediment concentrations are applied and the outflow phase applies free drainage conditions. This method of calculation was tested with the problem of curved channel sediment transport which was studied experimentally by Odgaard and Bergs. Calculation results are quite consistent with the measured data. In order to test the practical applicability, this method is also tested with the problem of sediment transport in Cu lao Pho islet on Dong Nai river. To solve the matter of hydraulic boundary condition of this problem, the model of Cu lao Pho islet is integrated into the Sai Gon - Dong Nai river system model. Results of the calculation of the river bed evolution of the Cu lao Pho islet on the Dong Nai river also show that this calculation method gives results consistent with the rule and can be used in practical research.  

A backarc basin represented by a mafic/ultramafic magmatic ophiolitic sequence has been discovered first time within Vietnam territory. Backarc basin/forearc basin and other features of a convergent tectonic system are being considered as a location of the two geological blocks that almagamated together and preferred as a geological suture. The middle Triassic suture resulted from the welding of the Indochina and Sibumasu blocks has been studied in details and traced from northen Thailand as Nan-Attaradit suture southward to Cambodia as Sra Kaeo suture. After a gap comparable to the territory of Vietnam it reappears in the northern Malaysia and being recognized as Bentong-Raub suture. With this new discovery of a back arc basin of this suture system located within Vietnam, the complete geographical location of the suture between the Indochina and Sibumasu block has been clearly verified and would be valuable information for geological studies in the area.

The paper presents results of rice straw biomass potential and applying efficiency for household scale biochar production in Tien Giang, a typical case study in Go Cong Tay district. The study results showed that the total rice production of Go Cong Tay district was 185.072 tons/year and the rice straw biomass corresponding 233.190,72 tons/year. This rice straw biomass have the high organic ingredients and calorific value, about 44,1% ratio and 4.030 kcal/kg respectively. With weigh 100 kg of input rice straw, the biochar obtained 48,25 ± 2,25 kg (48,25%) after 6 hours burning. The volume of ash and unripe coal ratio were quite low equal to 0,75 ± 0,13 kg and 3,95 ± 1,33 kg, respectively. Optimizational biochar production have short burning process with highly biochar products weight, low ash and unripe coal contents. In addition, the organic ingredients and calorific value from biochar products meet the quality requirements for purposes such as land reclamation, increasing crop yield and towards sustainable agriculture.