Feeding of benthic foraminifera on diatoms and sewage-derived organic matter: an experimental application of lipid biomarker techniques

Foraminiferal ecology at sewage outfalls has been investigated in numerous field studies over the last 30 years. Foraminifera have been frequently used as biomonitors of sewage pollution since they are both abundant and ubiquitous. Sewage outfalls have been demonstrated to have both positive and negative effects on adjacent foraminiferal populations, but it has never been shown conclusively why sewage affects foraminifera in these ways. Such information on the impact mechanisms of sewage pollution is essential if foraminifera are to be used as sewage pollution biomonitors, and also to understand the ecology of these important protists. One possible cause of a positive effect is the direct consumption of sewage-derived particulate organic matter (POM) by the foraminifera themselves. However this hypothesis has never been tested experimentally. Here, lipid (fatty acid and sterol) biomarker techniques were applied to study the ingestion of two potential food items by the foraminiferan Haynesina germanica in the laboratory. An experiment was conducted to confirm that the laboratory conditions were conducive to the survival and feeding of the foraminifera. In this experiment, foraminifera were provided with the pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, which was considered to be a suitable food source. After 2 weeks, a four-fold increase in the levels of the diatom fatty acid biomarker, 20:5(n-3), in the foraminifera suggested that they had fed actively on the diatoms and survived under the experimental conditions. These experimental conditions were used in the main experiment, where foraminifera were fed the POM from sewage. Lipid biomarker analysis indicated that H. germanica did not consume secondary treated sewage-derived POM. Neither fatty acid profiles in the sewage nor coprostanol, the diagnostic human faecal sterol, were detected in foraminifera after exposure to the potential sewage food source. However, foraminifera may have consumed bacteria associated with the sewage in the experiment. The findings are discussed in terms of current EU legislation on sewage treatment that has affected the composition of sewage discharges, and therefore possibly reduced the nutritive value of sewage to the marine benthos.     

Trophic accumulation and depuration of mercury by blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum)

Mercury concentrations in blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) collected from an area of mercury-contaminated sediments in Lavaca Bay, TX, USA, are more than an order of magnitude greater than concentrations in penaeid shrimp from the same area. Laboratory feeding experiments using mercury-contaminated fish as food showed that both blue crabs and pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum) could accumulate mercury concentrations comparable to those in their food in 28 days. Calculated mercury assimilation efficiencies averaged 76% for blue crabs and 72% for pink shrimp. Significant depuration of mercury by blue crabs was not observed during a subsequent 28-day period, but pink shrimp lost mercury at a rate of about 0.012 day-1. Model calculations predict biomagnification factors of mercury of about two to three at steady state for both species. The large difference in observed concentrations of mercury in field-collected blue crabs and penaeid shrimp does not result from differences in efficiency of mercury assimilation from their food or from differences in excretion rates. It is more likely the result of differences in residence times in the contaminated area and of differences in feeding habits.     

东欧和中东岩石圈磁化率异常

一般的根据航磁异常来反演地壳磁化率差的反演方法是假设在整个所考虑的区域上核场是常数的,然而这个假设在具有几千公里伸范围的区域上是不成立的。本文研究了一种反演技术,它考虑了核场的变化,这既包括方向上的变化也包括强度上的变化。该技术也考虑了岩石圈内磁层的表面起伏。将该技术应用于东欧和中东的标量磁异常图卫星测量上,结果所得到的磁化率差图反映了该地区的主要构造特征。规模很小的前寒武地盾表现出高磁化率。阿尔卑斯—喜马拉雅造山带具有明显的磁特征。碰撞带是低磁化率区,而造山带内的大陆板块具有高磁化率。著名的库尔斯克含铁建造具有强磁化率高的特征。磁卫星已经在两个不同的地方时—黎明和黄昏测量了地球的磁场,得到两份独立的磁异常图。标量磁异常图是以这两份图的共有特征为基础绘制的。并且研究出了一种根据这两份图的相关频谱来选择那些共有特征的协方差技术。     

Modeling preferential flow in reactive barriers: implications for performance and design

Reactive barriers are passive and in situ ground water treatment systems. Heterogeneities in hydraulic conductivity (K) within the aquifer-reactive barrier system will result in higher flux rates, and reduced residence times, through portions of the barrier. These spatial variations in residence time will affect the treatment capacity of the barrier. A numerical flow model was used to evaluate the effects of spatial variations in K on preferential flow through barriers. The simulations indicate that the impact of heterogeneities in K will be a function of their location and distribution; the more localized the high K zone, the greater the preferential flow. The geometry of the reactive barrier will also strongly influence flow distribution. Aquifer heterogeneities will produce greater preferential flow in thinner barriers compared to thicker barriers. If the barrier K is heterogeneous, greater preferential flow will occur in thicker barriers. The K of the barrier will affect the flow distribution; decreasing the K of the barrier can result in more even distribution of flow. Results indicate that less variable flow will be attained utilizing thicker, homogeneous barriers. The addition of homogeneous zones to thinner barriers will be effective at redistributing flow only if installed immediately adjacent to both the up- and downgradient faces of the barrier.     

科威特石油大火烟云物理及化学特性的机载观测

1991年3月底在距科威特燃烧油井约120km的烟云最密集区所进行的机载测量表明:典型的粒子质量浓度为500-1000μgm~(-3),SO_2的体积混合比为500-1000p.p.b.v.,氮的氧化物的体积混合比为30-60p.p.b.v..在距科威特1000km处烟云中的臭氧含量超过背景水准约50p.p.b.v..由硫通量估计的石油燃烧率为每天3.9±1.6百万桶.只在5000m以下的高度观测到大量烟尘,由烟尘造成的太阳辐射衰减的测量值与新近评估中的假定值相似.     

Neutrino Event Rates from Gamma-Ray Bursts

We recalculate the diffuse flux of high-energy neutrinos produced by gamma-ray bursts in the relativistic fireball model. Although we confirm that the average single burst produces only approximately 10-2 high-energy neutrino events in a detector with a 1 km2 effective area, i.e., about 10 events yr-1, we show that the observed rate is dominated by burst-to-burst fluctuations that are very large. We find event rates that are expected to be larger by 1 order of magnitude, likely more, which are dominated by a few very bright bursts. This greatly simplifies their detection.     

Influence of aquifer properties on phytoremediation effectiveness

Recent research has shown that planting deep-rooted trees, such as poplar, can take up and degrade important ground water pollutants such as trichloroethylene (TCE) as they transpire water from the capillary fringe of shallow contaminated aquifers. The effect of hydrogeologic factors on the minimum plantation area needed to prevent downgradient migration of contaminated ground water is not well known. Accordingly, the objective of this research was to identify the hydrogeologic parameters that control phytoremediation effectiveness. We used a numerical ground water flow model to evaluate the effect that natural variations in hydrogeologic parameters and growing season duration have on the minimum plantation area required for capture. We found that the plantation area that was needed to completely capture a ground water contamination plume was directly proportional to aquifer horizontal hydraulic conductivity, saturated thickness, and ground water gradient. The plantation area needed for capture increased nonlinearly with increasing plume width, aquifer anisotropy, and decreasing growing season duration. The plantation area needed for capture was generally insensitive to aquifer-specific yield and storativity. Steady-state simulations can be used to predict the plantation area needed for capture in many applications. A particularly important finding of this work is that evapotranspiration fluxes through plantations appropriately sized to contain the plume substantially exceeded the ground water flux through the plume itself.