Terrestrial discharge influences microbioerosion and microbioeroder community structure in coral reefs

Microbioerosion rates and microbioeroder community structure were studied in four Kenyan protected coral-reef lagoons using shell fragments of Tridacna giant clams to determine their response to the influence of terrestrial run-off. Fourteen different microbioeroder traces from seven cyanobacteria, three green algae and four fungi species were identified. The river discharge-impacted reef and ‘pristine’ reef showed similar composition but higher microbioeroder abundance and total cyanobacteria- and chlorophyte-bioeroded areas when compared with the other study reefs. Cyanobacteria dominated during the north-east monsoon (NEM) relative to the south-east monsoon (SEM) season, with algae and cyanobacteria being major microbioeroders in the river-impacted and pristine reefs. The rate of microbioerosion varied between 4.3 g CaCO3 m^?2 y^?1 (SEM) and 134.7 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1 (NEM), and was highest in the river-impacted reef (127.6 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1), which was almost double that in the pristine reef (69.5 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1) and the mangrove-fringed reef (56.2 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1). The microbioerosion rates measured in this study may not be high enough to cause concern with regard to the health and net carbonate production of Kenya’s coral reefs. Nevertheless, predicted increases in the frequency and severity of stresses related to global climate change (e.g. increased sea surface temperature, acidification), as well as interactions with local disturbances and their influence on bioerosion, may be increasingly important in the future.     

海洋表层沉积物中金属镉的来源解析

利用2015年8月份对长江口及其邻近海域表层沉积物的监测数据,基于主成分分析/绝对主成分分数(PCA/APCS)受体模型定量解析了重金属元素镉(Cd)的可能来源,并结合地统计学插值了Cd的源贡献量的空间分布状况,结果表明沉积物中镉污染主要存在3个可能来源,源头及贡献率分别为工业污染(18.8%)、陆地径流输入(66.0%)、生物活动等自然因素(13.6%),并且各个源头贡献量具有不同的空间分布状况,其中工业污染的高值区主要集中在靠近陆地区域,陆地径流输入的分布呈现由近岸向外海逐减降低的特征,生物活动等自然因素的高值区主要集中在远离陆地的外海区域。     

Variations in glacier volume and snow cover and their impact on lake storage in the Paiku Co Basin,in the Central Himalayas

Glaciers and snow cover are important constituents of the surface of the Tibetan Plateau. The responses of these phenomena to global environmental changes are sensitive, rapid and intensive due to the high altitudes and arid cold climate of the Tibetan Plateau. Based on multisource remote sensing data, including Landsat images, MOD10A2 snow product, ICESat, Cryosat-2 altimetry data and long-term ground climate observations, we analysed the dynamic changes of glaciers, snow melting and lake in the Paiku Co basin using extraction methods for glaciers and lake, the degree-day model and the ice and lake volume method. The interaction among the climate, ice-snow and the hydrological elements in Paiku Co is revealed. From 2000 to 2018, the basin tended to be drier, and rainfall decreased at a rate of −3.07 mm/a. The seasonal temperature difference in the basin increased, the maximum temperature increased at a rate of 0.02°C/a and the minimum temperature decreased at a rate of −0.06°C/a, which accelerated the melting from glaciers and snow at rates of 0.55 × 10⁷ m³/a and 0.29 × 10⁷ m³/a, respectively. The rate of contribution to the lake from rainfall, snow and glacier melted water was 55.6, 27.7 and 16.7%, respectively. In the past 18 years, the warmer and drier climate has caused the lake to shrink. The water level of the lake continued to decline at a rate of −0.02 m/a, and the lake water volume decreased by 4.85 × 10⁸ m³ at a rate of −0.27 × 10⁸ m³/a from 2000 to 2018. This evaluation is important for understanding how the snow and ice melting in the central Himalayas affect the regional water cycle.     

High-frequency monitoring of hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in forested catchments of southern Chile

The variability of rainfall-dependent streamflow at catchment scale modulates many ecosystem processes in wet temperate forests. Runoff in small mountain catchments is characterized by a quick response to rainfall pulses which affects biogeochemical fluxes to all downstream systems. In wet-temperate climates, water erosion is the most important natural factor driving downstream soil and nutrient losses from upland ecosystems. Most hydrochemical studies have focused on water flux measurements at hourly scales, along with weekly or monthly samples for water chemistry. Here, we assessed how water and element flows from broad-leaved, evergreen forested catchments in southwestern South America, are influenced by different successional stages, quantifying runoff, sediment transport and nutrient fluxes during hourly rainfall events of different intensities. Hydrograph comparisons among different successional stages indicated that forested catchments differed in their responses to high intensity rainfall, with greater runoff in areas covered by secondary forests (SF), compared to old-growth forest cover (OG) and dense scrub vegetation (CH). Further, throughfall water was greatly nutrient enriched for all forest types. Suspended sediment loads varied between successional stages. SF catchments exported 455 kg of sediments per ha, followed by OG with 91 kg/ha and CH with 14 kg/ha, corresponding to 11 rainfall events measured from December 2013 to April 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations in stream water also varied with rainfall intensity. In seven rainfall events sampled during the study period, CH catchments exported less nutrients (46 kg/ha TN and 7 kg/ha TP) than SF catchments (718 kg/ha TN and 107 kg/ha TP), while OG catchments exported intermediate sediment loads (201 kg/ha TN and 23 kg/ha TP). Further, we found significant effects of successional stage attributes (vegetation structure and soil physical properties) and catchment morphometry on runoff and sediment concentrations, and greater nutrients retention in OG and CH catchments. We conclude that in these southern hemisphere, broad-leaved evergreen temperate forests, hydrological processes are driven by multiple interacting phenomena, including climate, vegetation, soils, topography, and disturbance history.     

Predicting quantiles of water quality from catchment characteristics

Water quality is often highly variable both in space and time, which poses challenges for modelling the more extreme concentrations. This study developed an alternative approach to predicting water quality quantiles at individual locations. We focused on river water quality data that were collected over 25 years, at 102 catchments across the State of Victoria, Australia. We analysed and modelled spatial patterns of the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles of the concentrations of sediments, nutrients and salt, with six common constituents: total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate-nitrite (NO_x), and electrical conductivity (EC). To predict the spatial variation of each quantile for each constituent, we developed statistical regression models and exhaustively searched through 50 catchment characteristics to identify the best set of predictors for that quantile. The models predict the spatial variation in individual quantiles of TSS, TKN and EC well (66%–96% spatial variation explained), while those for TP, FRP and NO_x have lower performance (37%–73% spatial variation explained). The most common factors that influence the spatial variations of the different constituents and quantiles are: annual temperature, percentage of cropping land area in catchment and channel slope. The statistical models developed can be used to predict how low- and high-concentration quantiles change with landscape characteristics, and thus provide a useful tool for catchment managers to inform planning and policy making with changing climate and land use conditions.     

Smectite formation in metalliferous sediments near the East Pacific Rise at 13°N

A 43 cm long E271 sediment core collected near the East Pacific Rise(EPR) at 13°N were studied to investigate the origin of smectite for understanding better the geochemical behavior of hydrothermal material after deposition.E271 sediments are typical metalliferous sediments. After removal of organic matter, carbonate, biogenic opal,and Fe-Mn oxide by a series of chemical procedures, clay minerals(2 μm) were investigated by X-ray diffraction,chemical analysis and Si isotope analysis. Due to the influence of seafloor hydrothermal activity and close to continent, the sources of clay minerals are complex. Illite, chlorite and kaolinite are suggested to be transported from either North or Central America by rivers or winds, but smectite is authigenic. It is enriched in iron, and its contents are highest in clay minerals. Data show that smectite is most likely formed by the reaction of hydrothermal Fe-oxyhydroxide with silica and seawater in metalliferous sediments. The Si that participates in this reaction may be derived from siliceous microfossils(diatoms or radiolarians), hydrothermal fluids, or detrital mineral phases. And their δ30 Si values are higher than those of authigenic smectites, which implies that a Si isotope fractionation occurs during the formation because of the selective absorption of light Si isotopes onto Feoxyhydroxides. Sm/Fe mass ratios(a proxy for overall REE/Fe ratio) in E271 clay minerals are lower than those in metalliferous sediments, as well as distal hydrothermal plume particles and terrigenous clay minerals. This result suggests that some REE are lost during the smectite formation, perhaps because their large ionic radii of REE scavenged by Fe-oxyhydroxides preclude substitution in either tetrahedral or octahedral lattice sites of this mineral structure, which decreases the value of metalliferous sediments as a potential resource for REE.     

Managing land-use effects on Northland dune lakes: lessons from the past

The Northland region of New Zealand includes numerous high-value, macrophyte-dominated dune lakes. Recent water policy reforms offer limited guidance on managing for aquatic macrophytes. In addition, dune lake histories are poorly known as regular monitoring dates to 2005 AD. Here, ca. 4000 years of lake functional behaviour is reconstructed from sedimentary archives in two Northland dune lakes (Humuhumu and Rotokawau). Results demonstrated that macrophyte dominance is sensitive to catchment erosion and hydrological drawdown. Degradation of macrophyte communities occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, earlier at Lake Humuhumu than Lake Rotokawau (post-1880 AD and post-1930 AD, respectively). In both lakes, increased erosional influx reduced macrophyte productivity, before later increases to wider trophic state (post-1970 AD). Lake-level decline is linked to increased nutrient loading at Lake Rotokawau but less so, Lake Humuhumu which is more strongly groundwater-fed. In Northland dune lakes, water-level reduction and erosional influx from land use have driven macrophyte degradation.     

贵州夜郎湖表层水体地球化学昼夜变化及其影响因素

为探究岩溶水库水文地球化学行为过程,对贵州普定夜郎湖表层水体进行了为期3 d的高分辨率昼夜监测。结果表明：1）多变的天气和水文条件叠加导致水体离子指标昼夜变化不显著,规律性较差。而水温、DO、pH值、SpC、SIc、pCO₂等常规理化指标受水温变化和生物作用表现出明显的昼夜波动。2）利用亨利常数和主成分分析,得到温度变化、生物作用、人类活动、水库的蓄水与放水对夜郎湖水库水文地球化学特征变化的贡献率分别为21.66%、17.28%、14.08%和10.22%,说明作用于水库水文地球化学行为的因子具有多元性。3）δ ¹⁸O表现出与DO一致的波动趋势,即白天上升,晚上下降,反映在短时间尺度上,氢氧稳定同位素变化受控于生物过程（主要是呼吸作用过程）;而对比水库水体和大气降水的d-excess（d值）发现,水库水体的d值（8.21‰）显著偏低于当地大气降水的d值（9.64‰）,说明在长时间尺度上,主要受蒸发效应引起的不平衡分馏影响。     

察尔汗盐湖西北部典型采区地下卤水赋存状态的地面核磁探测与数值模拟研究

察尔汗盐湖地下晶间卤水蕴藏了宝贵的盐湖矿产资源,如何确定地下卤水的赋存规律以制定科学合理的卤水开采和补给方案,正成为盐湖资源大规模可持续利用亟需解决的重要问题。本文以察尔汗盐湖西北部的典型采卤区作为研究区域,1)利用新型的地面核磁共振找水仪,通过在研究区布设两条十字交叉的测线,探测并反演解译测区地下60米深度内的卤水静态赋存形式,2)结合OpenGeoSys(OGS)多物理场耦合地下水数值模拟软件,对测区地下卤水的动态运移形式进行数值模拟计算。地面核磁探测结果表明研究区含水量整体偏低,最大含水量约0.8%,平均含水量约0.4%。测点结果给出的含水层位分界面与邻近钻孔的地层层位分界面的一致性较高,浅部的层位误差在10%以下,达到了0.5米的精度。考虑到测区南北两边均有采卤渠正在汲取地下卤水,且在测区中心存在两条废弃的采卤渠,OGS地下水数值模拟研究结果表明采卤渠造成测区浅部卤水较大空缺,与研究区浅部含水量总体偏低的探测特征一致。研究结果表明地面核磁共振技术能准确探测卤水当前的赋存状态,地下水运移模拟技术可以深入认识采补活动引起卤水赋存状态的变化规律。探测和模拟结合的联合研究是确定卤水赋存规律的重要手段,研究成果可为盐湖资源合理开采高效利用提供基础资料和相关科学支撑。     

A modified numerical model for moisture-salt transport in unsaturated sandy soil under evaporation

Soil salinization, caused by salt migration and accumulation underneath the soil surface, will corrode structures. To analyze the moisture-salt migration and salt precipitation in soil under evaporation conditions, a mathematical model consisting of a series of theoretical equations is briefly presented. The filling effect of precipitated salts on tortuosity factor and evaporation rate are taken into account in relevant equations. Besides, a transition equation to link the solute transport equation before and after salt precipitation is proposed. Meanwhile, a new relative humidity equation deduced from Pitzer ions model is used to modify the vapor transport flux equation. The results show that the calculated values are in good agreement with the published experimental data, especially for the simulation of volume water content and evaporation rate of Toyoura sand, which confirm the reliability and applicability of the proposed model.