Inspiraling streams of enriched gas observed around a massive galaxy 11 billion years ago.

Stars form in galaxies, from gas that has been accreted from the intergalactic medium. Simulations have shown that recycling of gas-the reaccretion of gas that was previously ejected from a galaxy-could sustain star formation in the early Universe. We observe the gas surrounding a massive galaxy at redshift 2.3 and detect emission lines from neutral hydrogen, helium, and ionized carbon that extend 100 kiloparsecs from the galaxy. The kinematics of this circumgalactic gas is consistent with an inspiraling stream. The carbon abundance indicates that the gas had already been enriched with elements heavier than helium, previously ejected from a galaxy. We interpret the results as evidence of gas recycling during high-redshift galaxy assembly.

Ecological-health risks assessment and source apportionment of heavy metals in agricultural soils around a super-sized lead-zinc smelter with a long production history, in China.

Smelting activities are considered as the primary cause of heavy metal (HM) accumulation in soils, and the human health around the smelter has been a great concern worldwide. In this study, a total of 242 agricultural soil samples were collected around a large scale Pb/Zn smelter in China, and eight HMs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) were analyzed to assess HMs status, ecological -health risks, and identify source. Monte Carlo simulation was utilized to evaluate the probabilistic health risks, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) was employed to identify sources. The results revealed the average contents of five heavy metals (Cd 5.28 mg/kg, Pb 203.36 mg/kg, Hg 0.39 mg/kg, Zn 293.45 mg/kg, Cu 37.14 mg/kg) are higher than their background values in Hunan province. Cd had the highest mean pollution index (PI) of 41.8 and the greatest average ecological risk index (Er) of 1256.34, indicating that Cd was the primary enriched pollutant and had a higher ecological risk than other HMs. The mean hazard index (HI) through exposure to eight HMs was 2.95E-01 and 9.74E-01 for adults and children, respectively, with 35.94% of HI values for children exceeding the risk threshold of 1. Moreover, the mean total cancer risks (TCR) were 2.75E-05 and 2.37E-04 for adults and children, respectively, with 75.48% of TCR values for children exceeding the guideline value of 1E-04. In addition, the positive matrix factorization results showed smelting activities, natural sources, agricultural activities and atmospheric deposition were the three sources in soils, with the contribution rate of 48.62%, 22.35%, and 29.03%, respectively. The uncertainty analysis of the PMF indicated that the three-factor solution is reliable. This work will provide scientific reference for the comprehensive prevention of soil HM pollution adjacent to the large smelter.