Sensitive Ion‐Flotation Separation of Ag(I) Traces Using 2‐(2‐Methoxyphenyl)benzimidazole before Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Determination in Water

A sensitive, reliable, and environmentally friendly method for simple separation and preconcentration of Ag(I) traces in aqueous samples is presented prior to their flame atomic absorption spectrometric determinations. At pH 7.0, Ag(I) was separated with 2‐(2‐methoxyphenyl)benzimidazole (MPBI) as a new complexing agent and floated after adding sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a foaming reagent. The floated layer was then dissolved in proper amount of concentrated nitric acid in methanol and introduced to the flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS). The effects of pH, concentration of MPBI, type and amount of surfactant as the floating agent, type and amount of eluting agent, and influence of foreign ions on the recovery of the analyte ion were investigated. Also, using a nonlinear curve fitting method, the formation constant of 1.62 × 10⁶ was obtained for Ag(I)–MPBI complex. The analytical curve was linear in the range of 1.8 × 10^?7–1.7 × 10^?6 mol/L for determination of Ag(I). The relative standard deviation (RSD; N = 10) corresponding to 0.7 × 10^?6 mol/L of Ag(I), the limit of detection (10 blanks), and the enrichment factor were obtained as 1.7%, 2.9 × 10^?8 mol/L, and 43.0, respectively. The proposed procedure was then applied successfully for determination of silver ions in different water samples.     

Coral communities and reefs from Guerrero,Southern Mexican Pacific

Corals in the Eastern Pacific extend south from the Gulf of California to Ecuador and oceanic Chile, and west from Colombia to Clipperton Atoll. Nevertheless, large stretches of the Mexican Pacific remain fundamentally unstudied. Therefore, to assess the current conditions of coral communities, a coastal fringe ～300 km long (17°40′ N, 101°39′ W to 16°46′ N, 99°49′ W) was surveyed within the Southern Mexican Pacific, between 2005 and 2009. Fifteen stony coral species were identified at 13 coral communities and six Pocillopora‐dominated fringing reefs, with Pocillopora verrucosa and Pocillopora damicornis the primary contributing taxa. Reef development was identified in embayments or behind rocks or islands that offered shelter from northern and northwestern winds. Observations of Pocillopora effusus, Pocillopora inflata, Porites lobata, Pavona clavus, and Pavona varians expanded the species known geographic ranges by several degrees of latitude, suggesting reef building fauna comprised a mixture of widespread and relatively rare Eastern Pacific corals. Results indicated greater live coral cover in the Ixtapa‐Zihuatanejo area (15–73%) than in the Acapulco localities, which had high algal dominance; the reefs in the latter region exhibited high erosion. Regional differences are likely the result of long‐standing anthropogenic pressures around Acapulco since 1950, when it became an important tourist destination. This paper is the first detailed report of ecologically stressed corals and coral reefs from the state of Guerrero on the Mexican Southern Pacific coast.     

Cladocora caespitosa bioconstructions in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve (Spain,NW Mediterranean): distribution,size structure and growth

Today, living banks of the coral Cladocora caespitosa appear to be restricted to a few Mediterranean locations and are threatened by the escalating impacts affecting coastal areas. In this study the exceptional occurrence of the Mediterranean coral C. caespitosa in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve (NW Mediterranean, Spain) is characterised in terms of spatial distribution, cover area, colony size and growth rates. The coral colonies form beds and banks in rocky bottoms within a semi‐enclosed bay that offers both hydrodynamic protection and high water exchange. The spatial distribution of the C. caespitosa colonies, from 5 to 27 m depth, is highly aggregated, depending on sea‐floor morphology and showing up to 80% of substrate coverage. The annual corallite growth rates obtained through the alizarin red staining method and x‐ray image analysis are similar, and range between 2.55 ± 0.79 mm and 2.54 ± 0.81 mm, respectively. The exceptional nature of these bioconstructions is due to their cumulative cover area, which is comparable in size to the largest C. caespitosa bioconstructions described to date in Mljet National Park (Croatia, Adriatic Sea).     

A statistical method for varve verification using seasonal pollen deposition

We developed a fast, inexpensive, statistically rigorous method of varve verification that uses prospective varve layer-splitting and seasonal pollen deposition. This method can be used on any sediment that contains seasonally deposited pollen, and avoids the need for radio-isotopic, optical, or thermoluminescence dating. The method uses a χ² test and non-parametric regression, together with recorded plant bloom times from pollen traps, to assess the differences in pollen abundances in light/dark (i.e. summer/winter-spring) sediment layers. A statistical test is required because such seasonally deposited data are inherently noisy, with a low signal-to-noise ratio. To illustrate this approach, visible laminations of Lake Mina, Minnesota, USA, were assessed in two separate regions of a core spanning 900 years. Results show that the laminations were deposited annually.     

Paleoenvironments of the evolving Pliocene to early Pleistocene foreland basin in northwestern Taiwan: An example from the Dahan River section

The overriding of the Luzon volcanic arc atop the underlying Chinese rifted‐continental margin has caused the formation of the Taiwan mountain belts and a peripheral foreland basin west of the orogen since the late Miocene. In this study, lithofacies analysis and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic investigations of the Dahan River section in northwestern (NW) Taiwan were performed. Our results offer insights into the temporal evolution of the sedimentary environments and the competing effects of the sedimentation and basin tectonics of the NW Taiwan foreland basin from the Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Nannofossil biostratigraphic studies showed that the upper Kueichulin Formation and the overlying Chinshui Shale can be assigned to the NN15 biozone of the Pliocene age, and the Cholan Formation pertains to NN16–NN18 of the early Pleistocene. The NN15–NN16 boundary coincides roughly with the boundary of the Chinshui Shale and Cholan Formation. We recognized three major sedimentary environments in the studied foreland succession comprising the upper Kueichulin Formation, Chinshui Shale, Cholan Formation and Yangmei Formation, in ascending order. During the deposition of the upper Kueichulin Formation in the early Pliocene, the dominant environment was a wave‐ and tide‐influenced open marine setting. During the late Pliocene, the environment deepened to an outer‐offshore setting when the sediments of Chinshui Shale were accumulated. In the Pleistocene, the environment then shallowed to wave‐dominated estuaries during the deposition of the lower Cholan Formation, and the basin was rapidly filled, generating a meandering and sandy braided river environment during the deposition of the upper Cholan to the Yangmei Formation. In summary, the evolution of sedimentary environments in the studied succession shows a deepening then a shallowing and coarsening upward trend during the period from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene, spanning the age from approximately 4 to 1 Ma.