“Trap-dams”: Artificial Subsurface Storage of Water
To secure and increase the availability of clean drinking water in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, construction of sediment filled dams for artificial subsurface storage of water could provide very cost efficient solutions.
Dependable water supplies from valley alluvium in arid regions.
Reliable sources of high-quality water for domestic use are much needed in arid regions. Valley alluvium, coarse sand and gravel deposited by streams and rivers, provides an ideal storage medium for water in many regions of the world. However, river sediments will not accumulate in a valley without a natural or artificial barrier to slow the water. Sediments will deposit upstream of a barrier dam and form an alluvial deposit of relatively well-sorted material. The alluvium then acts as both an underground water-supply reservoir and a water filter, yielding a constant flow of high-quality water. Trap dams that store water in alluvial sediments and slowly release the filtered water represent an appropriate and inexpensive technology for combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought at the community level. Small trap dams may be built as a community project using local materials and local labor.
Lupin alkaloids from teratogenic and nonteratogenic lupins. II. Identification of the major alkaloids by tandem gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in plants producing crooked calf disease.
The major alkaloids of lupin plants producing crooked calf disease were identified by tandem gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and infrared analysis. The gas chromatography peak invariably present in teratogenic plants proved to be anagyrine. A minor but irregular contaminant of the peak was α-isolupanine. Other alkaloids present but apparently not associated with crooked calf disease were lupanine and two others that were probably epimethoxylupanine and 5,6-dehydrolupanine.