Evaluation of toxicity in tributaries of the Mersey estuary using the isopod Asellus aquaticus (L.)

Increasing numbers of industrial, agricultural and natural chemicals are present in sewage effluent and are known to elicit toxic effects in laboratory exposures, but little is known of their combined sub-lethal effect in the field. In this study, a combination of esterase activity and ventilation rate assays was performed to determine the neurological and physiological function of the freshwater crustacean Asellus aquaticus (L.) at sites above and below a sewage treatment works (STW). Cholinesterase and carboxylesterase activities were significantly inhibited (n=8, P<0.05) and ventilation rates increased (n=8, P=0.0001) in A. aquaticus at STW sites compared to those from reference sites, indicating a decrease in neurological and physiological function. The ecological relevance of these findings for the population dynamics of the organisms in the field is discussed.     

Formation of a shelfbreak front by freshwater discharge

The circulation and transport of freshwater generated by an idealized buoyant source is studied using a three-dimensional primitive equation model. Freshwater enters the continental shelf, turns anticyclonically and moves downstream in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation. In the region close to the source, the flow reaches an equilibrium in the bottom boundary layer so that freshwater does not spread offshore any further. This offshore equilibrium distance increases as we move downstream until the freshwater is able to feel the presence of the shelfbreak. A shelfbreak front forms and the shelfbreak prevents any further offshore spreading of freshwater in the bottom boundary layer.Two complimentary mechanisms are responsible for the slow cross-shelf migration of freshwater and subsequent trapping of shelfbreak fronts: bottom stress and topographic changes. The shelfbreak creates an active, dynamic process preventing leakage from the continental shelf region to the slope region. However, the dynamical process that traps the front to the shelfbreak is still unclear.The location of the shelfbreak front depends on four dimensionless parameters: scaled inlet volume transport, scaled breadth, scaled “diffusivity” and scaled shelf width. We develop empirical relations for predicting the location of the frontal bottom intersection, given these parameters.     

城市利用地下咸水节省淡水资源

开发地下咸水,用于城市居民生活,可节省58%淡水资源.还可腾出地下库容,增大降雨入渗,淡化地下咸水,改善生态环境.     

青藏高原隆升与环境效应

通过对青藏高原北缘库木库里盆地新生代沉积建造、孢粉、阶地热年龄、沉积响应的调查研究，得出青藏高原新生代的渐新世、上新世和更新世一全新世形成的三套磨拉石建造代表青藏高原最强烈的三次隆升作用；自渐新世以来到上新世晚期高原隆升幅度达1500～2000m，更新世、全新世高原隆升了约2500m，46．4Ka．Bp至今高原隆升了约44m；青藏高原的隆升速率由渐新世开始有愈来愈强烈的趋势，预示青藏高原的隆升是一个多阶段、不等速和非均变的复杂过程；根据库木库里盆地沉积演化揭示青藏高原的隆升经历了早中渐新世早期隆升期、晚渐新世——早中新世早期稳定剥蚀夷平期、早中新世中晚期小幅隆升期、中中新世较稳定剥蚀夷平期、晚中新世振荡隆升期、上新世快速隆升期、更新世一全新世强烈隆升期共七个隆升阶段；并探讨了高原隆升引起的气候干燥、生物灭绝、荒漠化等多种环境效应。     

The influence of floodplain geohydrology on the distribution of Sarcocornia pillansii in the Olifants Estuary on the West Coast, South Africa

The distribution of Sarcocornia pillansii (Moss) A.J. Scott was determined by water-table depth and electrical conductivity (EC) of the groundwater. Where the groundwater was accessible (<1.5 m) and had a low EC (<80 mS cm⁻¹), S. pillansii extended its roots down to the water-table where a suitable water potential gradient was shown to exist between the soil and roots. In areas where the groundwater was too deep and/or hypersaline, the plants grew on hummocks. The unconfined aquifer below the floodplain is linked to the estuary and although diurnal tidal waves were dampened, water-table level fluctuations were recorded between tidal events. The complex geomorphology of the floodplain influences groundwater flow, in turn affecting the distribution of the salt marsh vegetation.     

Eocene-Pliocene time scale and stratigraphy of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB)

We present a general stratigraphic synthesis for the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and the Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB) from Eocene to Pliocene times. The stratigraphic data were compiled both from literature and from research carried out by the authors during the past 6 years ; an index of the stratigraphically most important localitites is provided. We distinguish 14 geographical areas from the Helvetic domain in the South to the Hanau Basin in the North. For each geographical area, we give a synthesis of the biostratigraphy, lithofacies, and chronostratigraphic ranges. The relationships between this stratigraphic record and the global sea-level changes are generally disturbed by the geodynamic (e.g., subsidence) evolution of the basins. However, global sea-level changes probably affected the dynamic of transgression–regression in the URG (e.g., Middle Pechelbronn Beds and Serie Grise corresponding with sea-level rise between Ru1/Ru2 and Ru2/Ru3 sequences, respectively) as well as in the Molasse basin (regression of the UMM corresponding with the sea-level drop at the Ch1 sequence). The URGENT-project (Upper Rhine Graben evolution and neotectonics) provided an unique opportunity to carry out and present this synthesis. Discussions with scientists addressing sedimentology, tectonics, geophysics and geochemistry permitted the comparison of the sedimentary history and stratigraphy of the basin with processes controlling its geodynamic evolution. Data presented here back up the palaeogeographic reconstructions presented in a companion paper by the same authors (see Berger et al. in Int J Earth Sci 2005).     

洞庭湖流域水生态系统服务功能经济价值研究

以洞庭湖流域水生态系统为例,在明确河湖库塘生态系统服务功能内涵的基础上,运用生态学与生态经济学方法对洞庭湖流域各类水生态系统服务功能经济价值进行了评估。结果表明,全流域河湖库塘水生态系统服务功能总价值量为1106.19亿元,约占湖南省2004年GDP(5612.26亿元)的19.7%,其中,城镇和农村生活供水、工农业生产供水、水力发电、内陆航运等直接利用价值为415.698亿元;调洪、输沙、水资源贮存等间接利用价值为690.492亿元。可以认为,流域水生态系统服务功能对湖南省工农业生产的持续发展,维系生态环境健康和人民生命财产安全起到了不可替代的支撑和保障作用。     

Geographic variations in shell growth rates of the mussel Diplodon chilensis from temperate lakes of Chile: Implications for biodiversity conservation

The Chilean lake district includes diverse lentic ecosystems along ca. 700 km of the country (36°–43°S), including the “Nahuelbutan lakes”, “Araucanian lakes” and “Chiloe lakes”. This area is recognized as an important “hot spot” of benthic freshwater biodiversity in Southern South America. In Chilean temperate lakes, increased nutrient loads of P and N caused eutrophication, particularly in the Nahuelbutan Lakes. The freshwater Hyriidae mussel Diplodon chilensis (Gray, 1828) which is one of the most abundant species in Chilean temperate lakes, is known to be very susceptible to eutrophication. This species presents a clear reduction in its geographic ranges and is considered to be a threatened species in many Chilean lakes. In this study, we used a correlative approach to determine how eutrophication-driven changes in the food supply and in geographical parameters of different Chilean lakes affected the shell growth rates of D. chilensis. The results obtained from sclerochronological analyses of the mussel shells suggest an association with a group of environmental variables, including geographical types (negative), such as latitude and altitude, and limnological types (positive), especially phosphorous and turbidity. However, the D. chilensis populations under extreme conditions of turbidity in eutrophic and hypertrophic lakes are extinct or nearly so. The high positive correlation of the mean D. chilensis growth rates with orthophosphate (R=0.76; P<0.05), in relation to dissolved inorganic nitrogen, suggests that P is the major limiting factor of the primary productivity in Chilean temperate lakes. We discuss some implications of our results in terms of the conservation of biodiversity in temperate lake ecosystems at different taxonomic levels.