Identification of estrogen-like alkylphenols in produced water from offshore oil installations

Produced water released into the sea from oil installations contains a vast number of organic compounds. This work focuses on the analysis and identification of phenols in produced water, in particular long-chain para-substituted alkylphenols, which act as endocrine disruptors for marine biota. Some alkylphenol standards, unavailable commercially, have been synthesised and some compounds of interest identified. However, a complete identification is not possible since conventional GC techniques cannot achieve the desired degree of separation. An overview of the levels of the 52 known alkylphenols in produced water from nine oil installations in the North and Norwegian Seas has been made. The previously unidentified alkylphenols in produced water have been characterised by means of alkylphenol retention indices (APRI) and mass spectrometry, and their total amounts estimated for the same nine locations. Our results confirm the presence of naphthols and other as yet unidentified compounds in produced water, while thiophenols were not detected by the used technique.     

浅析卫星遥感在黄海浒苔监测中的应用

通过对浒苔的光谱特性分析,建立基于极轨气象卫星和环境卫星资料监测浒苔的模型技术方法,利用该模型实现浒苔信息提取,生成浒苔监测产品,并在地理信息技术支持下,分析浒苔影响范围及移动路径。利用2006—2008年卫星资料分析表明:2006年和2007年夏季,黄海未出现明显的浒苔信息;2008年5月中旬,浒苔始发于黄海中南部;6月中下旬,浒苔影响范围最大时达到800 km2;7月中下旬,黄海海域浒苔范围明显减小。对浒苔移动路径和黄海海域风场等资料的综合分析结果表明,浒苔位置移动主要受风力和洋流作用的影响。     

Effect of iron type on kinetics and carbon isotopic enrichment of chlorinated ethylenes during abiotic reduction on Fe(0)

Four samples of two commercially available iron brands used as substrate for iron permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) were tested for suitability for remediation of perchloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-dichloroethylene (cDCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). Kinetic studies indicate that rates of reaction are enhanced for cDCE and VC on Connelly iron (2.8 x 10(-4) to 6.9 x 10(-4) L/m2/hr and 2.0 x 10(-4) to 9.0 x 10(-4) L/m2/hr, for cDCE and VC, respectively) vs. Peerless iron (3.1 x 10(-5) to 4.6 x 10(-5) L/m2/hr and 2.4 x 10(-5) to 4.1 x 10(-5) L/m2/hr, for cDCE and VC, respectively). Carbon isotopic analyses of the residual chlorinated ethylene (CE) during degradation indicate significant fractionation occurs during reductive dechlorination, with, for example, up to 70% enrichment in carbon isotopic values observed when VC is more than 99% degraded. Comparison of fractionation factors (epsilon) indicates significant differences in carbon isotopic fractionation for different iron types and for different CEs. For the lower CEs (cDCE and VC) in particular, both slower reaction rates and larger fractionation are observed for degradation on Peerless vs. Connelly iron. This is the first study to establish a correlation between the rate of abiotic degradation on Fe(0) and the extent of isotopic fractionation, and the first to confirm consistent differences in these two parameters as a function of iron type. The possibility that these differences in kinetics and carbon isotopic fractionation for cDCE and VC are related to differences in branching ratios between competing hydrogenolysis and beta-elimination reactions during reductive dechlorination on the iron surfaces is discussed.     

Impacts of the Jessica oil spill on intertidal and shallow subtidal plants and animals

Densities of fishes, invertebrates and plants at rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal sites were censused 1-2 days prior to the Jessica oil spill and compared with information obtained for the same sites one month after the spill, both for sites impacted by oil and unaffected reference sites. While the availability of pre-spill data made this analysis one of the most powerful to date for testing impacts of oil on shoreline environments, no clear changes attributable to oiling could be identified. Discharged oil appeared to cause very little impact in the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones, with such impacts lying within the range of natural spatial and temporal variation at sites investigated. Factors considered to minimize impact in Galápagos included paucity of fully sheltered shores in spill path, moderate wave action, warm temperature, high levels of sunlight, and mixing of bunker oil with diesel.     

Estimating ground water recharge from topography, hydrogeology, and land cover

Proper management of ground water resources requires knowledge of the rates and spatial distribution of recharge to aquifers. This information is needed at scales ranging from that of individual communities to regional. This paper presents a methodology to calculate recharge from readily available ground surface information without long-term monitoring. The method is viewed as providing a reasonable, but conservative, first approximation of recharge, which can then be fine-tuned with other methods as time permits. Stream baseflow was measured as a surrogate for recharge in small watersheds in southeastern Wisconsin. It is equated to recharge (R) and then normalized to observed annual precipitation (P). Regression analysis was constrained by requiring that the independent and dependent variables be dimensionally consistent. It shows that R/P is controlled by three dimensionless ratios: (1) infiltrating to overland water flux, (2) vertical to lateral distance water must travel, and (3) percentage of land cover in the natural state. The individual watershed properties that comprise these ratios are now commonly available in GIS data bases. The empirical relationship for predicting R/P developed for the study watersheds is shown to be statistically viable and is then tested outside the study area and against other methods of calculating recharge. The method produces values that agree with baseflow separation from streamflow hydrographs (to within 15% to 20%), ground water budget analysis (4%), well hydrograph analysis (12%), and a distributed-parameter watershed model calibrated to total streamflow (18%). It has also reproduced the temporal variation over 5 yr observed at a well site with an average error < 12%.     

Effects of chitin on microbial emulsification, mineralization potential, and toxicity of bunker C fuel oil

Bunker C, one of the most frequently spilled petroleum products in the US, is difficult to remove from oiled surfaces and is relatively recalcitrant to biodegradation; therefore, emulsification and biodegradability must be optimized before bioremediation can be considered a viable treatment option. Sand from a freshly oiled beach near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, was incubated at 10 degrees C with nutrients (Bushnell-Haas (BH)) or nutrients with crab shell chitin (BH-C). BH-C amendment resulted in greater numbers of bunker C emulsifiers and greater mineralization potentials for hexadecane, phenanthrene, and fluorene than with BH only. Compared to BH alone, mineralization potentials for bunker C also were higher in BH-C, with an estimated 8% of fuel oil mineralized after 6 weeks. Microbially emulsified oil was more toxic than in uninoculated controls (p < 0.05) as measured by Microtox assays. However, toxicity was significantly lower in BH-C than BH after 4 and 6 weeks incubation (p < 0.05).     

根据诱发微震确定岩石的大尺度原地渗透张量

利用钻孔的水力学测试或随机的注水试验诱发的地震发射信号,我们了一种确定渗透率张量的方法,对于完全非质岩体,当记录到地震发射信号时,该方法给出了确定其渗透张量的唯一解,该方法是对Ｓｈａｐｉｒｏ等人（１９９７）针对各向同性情况提出的方法的扩展和延伸,它要求假设：水力诱发的微震触发前缘的扩展如同第二类压缩性比奥特波（对应于孔隙压力松弛过程）在等效的均质、各向同性饱和态的也隙障性介质中传播和扩展,该等效介质中的渗透率张量即是该各向异性岩石体积放大至地震活动区域铁尺寸时的渗透率张量,利用Ｈｏｔ Ｄｒｙ Ｒｏｃｋ Ｓｏｕｓ－Ｆｏｒｅｔｓ试验过程中采集到的微震数据（Ｙｙｅｒ ｅｔ ａｌ．１９９４）我们证实了该方法,这些数据表明,相对应的岩石体积以定向裂隙系统导致的明显的渗透率各向异性为特征,渗透率张量的最大主分量近于垂向,它     

基于粒子系统的三维气象符号系统设计与实现

提出了利用粒子系统技术建立三维气象符号系统的方法,首先对气象特征进行语义逻辑分解,设计气象的符号可视化元素,然后通过粒子系统技术对气象的符号元素进行可视化表达.实验验证了建立三维气象符号系统的技术可行性和应用适应性,为气象现象的可视化表达提供了有效支持.     

Temporal and spatial biomonitoring of heavy metals in eastern Aegean coastal waters using Amphibalanus amphitrite

This biomonitoring study presents the spatial and temporal distributions of heavy metals in the soft tissues of a major fouling species Amphibalanus amphitrite living on hard substrate at different sites along the eastern Aegean coast. A. amphitrite has been chosen as a strong candidate for monitoring heavy metals. Sediment and seawater samples were also collected to detect their metal contents in order to gain more information on the environmental conditions and possible bioaccumulation patterns. The physico-chemical characteristics of sampling stations have been measured in order to characterize the sampling area. The order of metal concentrations in barnacles, sediment and seawater decreased in the following order Cu > Fe > Zn > Mn > Cd > Cr > Pb > Hg, Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Hg > Cd and Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Cd > Hg, respectively. These results showed that barnacles accumulate Cu in a higher degree than both sediment and seawater. Moreover, metal concentrations in barnacle have the potential for use in any future regulatory framework monitoring and eventually controlling ambient metal pollution levels.