Effects of chronic exposure to cadmium or copper on Idothea baltica (Crustacea,Isopoda)

Acute toxicty tests (LT₅₀) of copper or cadmium on the crustacean isopod Idothea baltica demonstrated differences between females, males, and juveniles. Copper appears to be more toxic than cadmium. the effects of chronic exposure to 5 μl⁻¹ and 500 μl⁻¹ copper or cadmium were evaluated from survival, body growth, and sex ratio in the first stages of juveniles development. While in juveniles 500 μl⁻¹ significantly affected body growth, sex ratio, and survival, 5 μl⁻¹ affected only survival. The study of the long-term effects of a pollutant on different demographic parameters in a species can serve to assess a ‘safe’ level of environmental contamination.     

Removal of Cadmium from Aqueous Solution Using Castor Seed Hull: A Kinetic and Equilibrium Study

The effects of various parameters such as initial concentration, adsorbent loading, pH, and contact time on kinetics and equilibrium of adsorption of Cd²⁺ metal ion from its aqueous solution by castor seed hull (CSH) and also by activated carbon have been investigated by batch adsorption experiments. The amount of adsorption increases with initial metal ion concentration, contact time, solution pH, and the loading of adsorbent for both the systems. Kinetic experiments indicate that adsorption of cadmium metal ion on both CSH and on activated carbon consists of three steps – a rapid adsorption of cadmium metal ion, a transition phase, and an almost flat plateau region. This has also been confirmed by the intraparticle diffusion model. The lumped kinetic results show that the cadmium adsorption process follows a pseudo‐second order rate law. The kinetic parameters including the rate constant are determined at different initial metal ion concentrations, pH, amount, and type of adsorbent, respectively. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models are used to describe the experimental data. The Langmuir model yields a better correlation coefficient than the other model. A comparison of the monolayer adsorption capacity (q_m) of CSH, activated carbon, and several other reported adsorbents has been provided. The value of separation factor (R_L) calculated from the Langmuir equation also gives an indication of favorable adsorption of the metal ion. From comparative studies, it has been found that CSH is a potentially attractive adsorbent than commercial activated carbon for cadmium metal ion (Cd²⁺) removal.     

The Enrichment Process of Groundwater Fluorine in Sea Water Intrusion Area of Gaomi City,China

A typical area, Gaomi City in China, was chosen to discuss the enrichment process of groundwater fluorine in sea water intrusion area. The groundwater had fluorine levels of 0.09–10.99 mg/L, with an average concentration of 1.38 mg/L. The high-fluorine groundwater was mainly distributed in the unconsolidated Quaternary sediments, where concentrations in 83.6% of the samples exceeded the national limit of 1.0 mg/L. The groundwater in the Quaternary sediments also had higher levels of Cl⁻, TDS, Mg²⁺, and pH and lower levels of Ca²⁺, Co, Ni, and Cu than that in the bedrock. The groundwater fluorine levels in the Quaternary sediments are positively correlated with Cl⁻, TDS, Mg²⁺, pH, and negatively correlated with Ca²⁺, γCa²⁺/γMg²⁺, Co, Ni, Cu. Geochemical indices of Cl⁻ and TDS indicate sea water intrusion in the Quaternary high-fluorine groundwater area (F⁻ > 1.0 mg/L), while they do not indicate any intrusion in the bedrock area. The chemical weathering of minerals was intensified with the intrusion of sea water. Cation exchange was confirmed to occur in the Quaternary sediments and was promoted by sea water intrusion. Cation exchange consumes part of groundwater Ca²⁺ and permits more F⁻ dissolving. Consequently, in the Quaternary sediments, the groundwater was supersaturated with CaF₂ minerals and undersaturated with MgF₂ minerals when F⁻ > 1.0 mg/L, while CaF₂ and MgF₂ minerals both are undersaturated when F⁻ < 1.0 mg/L. Thus, the chemical weathering of minerals and cation exchange caused by sea water intrusion are the crucial processes controlling the groundwater fluorine levels, which should be considered when the groundwater fluorine enrichment mechanism is discussed along coastal zones.     

Protonated Hydroxylamine-Assisted Iron Catalytic Activation of Persulfate for the Rapid Removal of Persistent Organics from Wastewater

This research aims at optimizing the effects of processing conditions, salts, natural organic materials, and water matrices quality on the effectiveness of the Fe(II)/K₂S₂O₈/hydroxylamine process in the degradation of pararosaniline. Assisting the Fe(II)/KPS (potassium persulfate) treatment with protonated hydroxylamine (H₃NOH⁺) increases the degradation rate of pararosaniline by more than 100%. Radical scavenger experiments show that the SO₄^●− radical dominates pararosaniline degradation in the Fe(II)/KPS system, whereas ^●OH is the dominant reactive species in the presence of H₃NOH⁺. The disparity in pararosaniline removal effectiveness upon the Fe(II)/KPS/H₃NOH⁺ and Fe(II)/KPS systems gets more significant with increasing reactants doses (i.e., H₃NOH⁺, H₂O₂, Fe(II)) and solution pH (2–7). Interestingly, H₃NOH⁺ increased the working pH to 6 instead of pH 4 for the Fe(II)/KPS process. Moreover, mineral anions such as Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻, and SO₄⁻ (up to 10 × 10⁻³ m ) do not affect the efficiency of the Fe(II)/KPS/H₃NOH⁺ process. In contrast, acid humic decreases the performance of the process by ≈20%. In natural mineral water, treated wastewater, and river water samples, the Fe(II)/KPS/H₃NOH⁺ process maintains higher degradation performance (≈95%), whereas the process efficiency is greatly amortized in seawater. The efficiency of the Fe(II)/KPS process was drastically decreased in the various water matrices.     

Dynamischer Zinkaustausch an umweltrelevanten anorganischen Festphasen

The fixation of slightly soluble substances on inert carriers offers the possibility to examine the exchange of heavy metals at these phases under dynamic conditions. Investigations are presented for the exchange of Zinc under various conditions (pH, different concentrations of other cations such as Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ or of NTA as a chelating agent) on fixed MnO₂-hydrate, Fe(OH₃), CaCO₃ and a natural clay-slate. Batch-experiments showed that all phases are able to sorb Zinc with MnO₂-hydrate as the best sorbent for this metal (highest sorption constant and capacity). Column desorption experiments demonstrate that a decrease of the pH of the aqueous phase or an addition of NTA remobilise Zinc from MnO₂-hydrate, Fe(OH)₃, CaCO₃ and also from the clay-slate. The same effect of releasing sorbed metal (with exception of the CaCO₃-phase) show Na⁺ or Ca²⁺ containing solutions. Therefore Zinc is bonded under natural conditions on the oxihydrates and the clay-slate in a labile, ion-exchangeable form in contrast to CaCO₃, on which Zinc is sorbed probably as the carbonate.     

Sulfur and Carbon Co‐doped TiO2 Composite Fabricated by Lignosulphonate and Its Suitability for Removal of Cadmium

Highly toxic divalent cadmium causes serious environmental issues. To quickly monitor and/or efficiently remove this potentially toxic metal ion as well as to explore its interfacial chemistry with metal oxides, a sulfur and carbon co‐doped titania (S/C‐TiO₂) composite is synthesized via a facile sol‐gel method with the assistance of sodium lignosulphonate (SLS). The prepared composite displays a well‐crystallized TiO₂ nanostructure comprising the anatase phase. Both S and C, which are derived from the SLS template, are found to enter the TiO₂ lattice. The S/C‐TiO₂ composite exhibits a porous structure with a wide pore size distribution. The newly synthesized composite shows adsorption capability for the potentially toxic metal Cd(II). The adsorption process requires <5 min to reach equilibrium. The measured equilibrium adsorption capacity is 19.42 mg g^?1, which is twice as high as that of bare TiO₂. The removal efficiency is as high as 97%. Moreover, the materials are suitable for contaminated solutions over a wide range of pH values and various initial cadmium concentrations. A mechanism for the enhanced adsorption behavior is also proposed.     

A Study: Removal of Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) Ions from Real Industrial Water and Contaminated Water Using Activated Sludge Biomass

This study aims to remove of Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺ ions from solution and to investigate the adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, and ion‐exchange affinities of these metals using waste activated sludge (AS) biomass. The adsorptions of the metals on biomass were optimal at an acidic pH value of 6.0 based on its monolayer capacities. Maximum monolayer capacities of AS biomass (q_max) were calculated as 0.478, 0.358, and 0.280 mmol g^?1 for Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺, respectively, and the adsorption equilibrium time was found as 60 min for each metal. The adsorbed amount of metal rose with increasing of initial metal ion concentration. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of AS for initial 0.25 mmol L^?1 metal concentration was determined as 0.200, 0.167, and 0.155 mmol g^?1 for Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺ ions, respectively. These relevant values were determined as 0.420, 0.305, and 0.282 mmol g^?1 for Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Pb²⁺ ions, respectively, when initial metal concentration was 0.50 mmol L^?1. In the multi‐metal sorption system, the adsorption capacity of AS biomass was observed in the order of Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Pb²⁺. In the presence of 100 mmol L^?1 H⁺ ion, the order of ion‐exchange affinity with H⁺ was found as Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Pb²⁺. The adsorption kinetics were also found to be well described by the pseudo‐second‐order and intraparticle diffusion models. Two different rate constants were obtained as k_i1 and k_i2 and k_i1 (first stage) was found to be higher than k_i2 (second stage).     

Major Ion and Trace Metal Geochemistry of an Acidic Septic-System Plume in Silt

Four years of detailed ground-water monitoring at a newly installed, seasonal-use, domestic septic system located on poorly buffered (CaCO₃ equivalent content ≤ 1.6 wt.%) lacustrine silt, has revealed the development of an acidic ground-water plume. Acid, generated by the partial oxidation of effluent NH₄⁺ dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and possibly sulfide minerals present in the sediment, has resulted in a distal plume core zone with pH values in the range of 4.4 to 5.0. The acidic zone, where NH₄⁺ does, however, persist (> 2 mg/1, as N) and where DOC remains elevated (6–13 mg/1), is associated with high average concentrations of the trace metals Fe (4.7 mg/1), Al (1.9 mg/1), and Mn (3.6 mg/1). Attenuation of nitrogen along the plume core flowpath is indicated by a decrease in the N/ Cl⁻ ratio from an effluent value of 1.7, to a plume value of only 0.5 after 4 m of subsurface flow. Increased SO₄²⁻ levels observed in the zone of N depletion suggest that attenuation can be at least partly attributed to reduction of plume NO₃⁻ by oxidation of reduced S present in the sediment. PO₄³⁻ has not migrated significantly beyond the infiltration bed gravel layer, demonstrating that PO₄³⁻ mobility is limited in these sediments (retardation factor > 10).     

Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Determination of Trace Amounts of Cadmium and Zinc in Water Samples after Preconcentration onto Modified Amberlite XAD‐4 Resin

In the present article, a procedure for the simultaneous separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of cadmium and zinc is proposed. It is based on the adsorption of cadmium and zinc ions onto a column of Amberlite XAD‐4 resin loaded with aluminon reagent. Cadmium and zinc ions are quantitatively retained on the column in the pH range from 6.5–7.5, at a flow rate of 2 mL min^–1. The cadmium and zinc ions are eluted with 5.0 mL of 5 mol L^–1 HNO₃ solution. Cadmium and zinc are measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). In the present case, 0.1 μg of cadmium and 0.5 μg of zinc can be concentrated in the column from 1000 mL of aqueous sample, where their concentrations are as low as 0.1 and 0.5 ng mL^–1, respectively. The relative standard deviations, for seven replicated determinations of 1.0 μg mL^–1 of cadmium and zinc, are 1.2 and 1.1%, respectively. The detection limits for cadmium and zinc in the original solution are 0.02 and 0.11 ng mL^–1, respectively. The interference of a large number of anions and cations has been studied and the optimized conditions are utilized for the determination of trace amounts of cadmium and zinc in different environmental and standard samples.     

Influence of hydrolysis on the sorption of metal cations by smectites: Importance of edge coordination reactions

A comparison was made between the adsorptive behaviors of Cd²⁺ and UO ₂ ²⁺ relative to two smectites that differed in their ratio of edge sites to fixed-charge sites. Adsorption varied with both pH and ionic strength, consistent with sorptive contributions of ion exchange and coordination reactions to edge hydroxyls. Both clay minerals exhibited a greater affinity for UO ₂ ²⁺ than for Cd²⁺, and the clay with a higher proportion of edge sites retained both ions more strongly. A computational model including fixed-charge sites and edge hydroxyls resulted in a good prediction of overall UO ₂ ²⁺ and Cd²⁺ uptake to both smectites.     

A comparative study of toxicity identification using Daphnia magna and Tigriopus japonicus: Implications of establishing effluent discharge limits in Korea

In Korea, the new permission criteria for industrial effluents based on Daphnia magna acute toxicity tests will be gradually implemented starting from 2011. Thus, in this study, toxicity assessment and identification using a marine species (Tigriopus japonicus) and the freshwater species (D. magna) was comparatively investigated. Effluent from an acid mine drainage treatment plant showed acute toxicity toward both organisms due to low pH, which was removed by neutralization of the effluent. Additionally, evaluation of the effluent of an electronics company revealed that Cu was attributable to the observed toxicity, and the effluent was more toxic toward T. japonicus than D. magna. Moreover, effluents from a metal plating factory were acutely toxic toward D. magna (6.50 TU), while they were not toxic against T. japonicus. Toxicity identification revealed that the high level of Cl⁻ (12,841 mg L⁻¹) was the cause of toxicity. Thus, the effluents had no effect on the marine species, T. japonicus. These findings suggest that a marine species rather than a freshwater species is more desirable for toxicity assessment of industrial effluent discharged into the saltwater, and thus should be considered in the legislation of toxicity-based discharge limits in Korea.     

Seasonal and annual variation of CO2 flux above a broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest

Long-term measurement of carbon metabolism of old-growth forests is critical to predict their behaviors and to reduce the uncertainties of carbon accounting under changing climate. Eddy covariance technology was applied to investigate the long-term carbon exchange over a 200 year-old Chinese broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains (128°28′E and 42°24′N, Jilin Province, P. R. China) since August 2002. On the data obtained with open-path eddy covariance system and CO₂ profile measurement system from Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2004, this paper reports (i) annual and seasonal variation of F _NEE, F _GPP and R _E; (ii) regulation of environmental factors on phase and amplitude of ecosystem CO₂ uptake and release Corrections due to storage and friction velocity were applied to the eddy carbon flux.

L_AI and soil temperature determined the seasonal and annual dynamics of F_GPP and R_E separately. V_PD and air temperature regulated ecosystem photosynthesis at finer scales in growing seasons. Water condition at the root zone exerted a significant influence on ecosystem maintenance carbon metabolism of this forest in winter.

The forest was a net sink of atmospheric CO₂ and sequestered −449 g C·m⁻² during the study period; −278 and −171 gC·m⁻² for 2003 and 2004 respectively. F _GPP and F _RE over 2003 and 2004 were −1332, −1294 g C·m⁻². and 1054, 1124 g C·m⁻² respectively. This study shows that old-growth forest can be a strong net carbon sink of atmospheric CO₂.

There was significant seasonal and annual variation in carbon metabolism. In winter, there was weak photosynthesis while the ecosystem emitted CO₂. Carbon exchanges were active in spring and fall but contributed little to carbon sequestration on an annual scale. The summer is the most significant season as far as ecosystem carbon balance is concerned. The 90 days of summer contributed 66.9, 68.9% of F _GPP, and 60.4, 62.1% of R _E of the entire year.

     

Relationship between13C and18O fractionation and changes in major element composition in a recent calcite-depositing spring — A model of chemical variations with inorganic CaCO3 precipitation

A theoretical model is derived in which isotopic fractionations can be calculated as a function of variations in dissolved carbonate species on CO₂ degassing and calcite precipitation. This model is tested by application to a calcite-depositing spring system near Westerhof, Germany. In agreement with the model,¹³C of the dissolved carbonate species changes systematically along the flow path. The difference in δ values between the upper and lower part of the stream is about 1‰. The¹³C content of the precipitated calcite is different from that expected from the theoretical partitioning. The isotopic composition of the solid CaCO₃ is similar to that of the dissolved carbonate, though in theory it should be isotopically heavier by about 2.4‰. The¹⁸O composition of dissolved carbonate and H₂O is constant along the stream. Calculated calcite-water temperatures differ by about +5°C from the observed temperatures demonstrating isotopic disequilibrium between the water and precipitated solid. This is attributed to kinetic effects during CaCO₃ deposition from a highly supersaturated solution, in which precipitation is faster than equilibration with respect to isotopes.Plant populations in the water have virtually no influence on CO₂ degassing, calcite saturation and isotopic fractionation. Measurements of P_CO2, S_C and¹³C within a diurnal cycle demonstrate that metabolic effects are below the detection limit in a system with a high supply-rate of dissolved carbonate species. The observed variations are due to differences in CO₂ degassing and calcite precipitation, caused by continuously changing hydrodynamic conditions and carbonate nucleation rates.     

Impact of Ca2+ and Mg2+ on the Removal of F− by Magnesium Potassium Phosphate

This study investigates the influence of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ on the removal of F^? by magnesium potassium phosphate (MPP) from water. The kinetic experiments reveal that the F^? concentration decreased from 3.5 to 3.31 mg L^?1 in a single (F^?) system and to 1.45 mg L^?1 in a ternary system (F^?, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺) after 1 min, respectively. Thus, the F^? removal efficiencies are found to increase by about 53% with the co‐active effect of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ in the solution. Moreover, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ are almost completely removed in the F^?, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ system. According to the pseudo‐first‐order modeling, the rate constants k for F^?, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ are 0.00348, 0.0106, and 0.0159 min^?1 respectively; thus, Mg²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > F^?. In the ternary system, the removal efficiencies are 53.29–66.03% for F^?, 99.99–100% for Ca²⁺, and 87.21–95.19% for Mg²⁺ with initial pH 5–10. The removal efficiencies of F^? increases with increases in initial concentrations of F^?, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺. The removal of F^? is governed by two routes: 1) adsorption by electrostatic interactions and outer sphere surface complexation; 2) co‐precipitation with Ca₃(PO₄)₂, CaHPO₄, Mg₃(PO₄)₂, and Mg(OH)₂.     

不同上覆水氟浓度对湖泊沉积物氟释放与微生物群落的影响

通过模拟沙湖沉积物-水系统,以沙湖原水氟离子（F^-）浓度为1倍浓度（0.69 mg/L）,设置0.5倍浓度、1倍浓度、1倍浓度灭菌、2倍浓度和4倍浓度共5个实验组,探究不同上覆水F^-浓度背景下沙湖沉积物中F^-的迁移.结果表明,沉积物F^-的释放量随上覆水F^-浓度的增加而呈下降的趋势,其中2倍和4倍浓度组的沉积物由释放F^-转变为吸附F^-.碱性水体有利于沉积物F^-的释放,即随着pH增大,F^-释放量也会增加.微生物的Beta多样性层次聚类分析表明,F^-会抑制Paenisporosarcina与Thiobacillus的相对丰度,但对Fusibacter的生命活动具有促进作用.根据各浓度组间优势菌属相对丰度与环境因子的冗余分析可得,Acinetobacter、Thiobacillus相对丰度与pH呈负相关;Fusibacter相对丰度与F^-浓度呈显著正相关,而Thiobacillus的相对丰度则与F^-表现出弱负相关.通过对各浓度组中重要离子的分析发现,0.5倍组和4倍组中F^-的迁移受Ca²⁺、HCO₃^-和SO₄^2-浓度影响较大;相关性分析表明0.5倍浓度组的Ca²⁺、HCO₃^-浓度与F^-浓度呈极显著正相关,而4倍组中F^-浓度和Ca²⁺、HCO₃^-浓度呈负相关,SO₄^2-浓度和F^-浓度的相关性则是0.5倍组呈负相关,4倍组呈极显著正相关.本文在不同上覆水F^-浓度背景下全面探究了沙湖沉积物中F^-释放和迁移机理,为沙湖及其他含氟地表水的氟污染防治提供理论支持.     

Removal of heavy metals from contaminated water using ethylenediamine-modified green seaweed (Caulerpa serrulata)

The demand for clean water is on the increase as the population increases. One of the ways to address the water shortage is to treat the polluted water through removal of the contaminants. The use of adsorbents for pollutant removal is one of the promising methods. Seaweed is an aquatic plant and its sorption ability for selected metals in water was investigated in this study. We report the performance of the seaweed (Caulerpa serrulata) before and after modification with ethylenediamine (EDA), on adsorption of copper, lead and cadmium in aqueous solution. The adsorption capacities for Cu, Cd and Pb were 5.27 mg g⁻¹, 2.12 mg g⁻¹ and 2.16 mg g⁻¹, respectively, with the EDA-modified seaweed, and 3.29 mg g⁻¹, 4.57 mg g⁻¹ and 1.06 mg g⁻¹, with the unmodified weed, respectively. The pH for maximum adsorption was found to be within the range of pH 4–pH 6. In a separate investigation, it was found that 0.1 g of dried seaweed leached 20 mg of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) using 100 ml of distilled-deionised water. The resulting solution was green. The leaching phenomenon contributes to secondary pollution. Modification of the seaweed with EDA reduced the DOC content by half (50%) and also removed the green colouration. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorbent was able to take up to 95% of the metals (in synthetic standard solutions) in less than 10 min. The adsorbed metals were then stripped using a solution of 0.5 M HNO₃ indicating that the adsorbent can be regenerated. In addition, the study revealed that modification improved the thermal stability of the adsorbent such that even when the temperature was raised to 1000 °C, more than 80% (compared to <50% for unmodified weed) of the modified adsorbent was not degraded, indicating that modification had a significant influence on the thermal stability of seaweed. The modified seaweed has been shown to have great potential for the removal of metals and DOC in polluted water. The modified adsorbent can therefore be applied for the removal of metals in polluted waters hence suitable for treatment of water for domestic consumption at a point of use.     

Sedimentary phosphorus species and sedimentation flux in the East China Sea

Core sediment samples were collected from the middle shelf of the East China Sea (ECS) to study the phosphorus forms, P accumulation rate (PAR), P burial efficiency and the burial flux in the ECS. The sediment samples were sequentially extracted and directly extracted to analyze different forms of sedimentary P: lossely sorbed P and iron-bound P (P_CDB); inorganic P associated with francolite (carbonate fluorapatite, CFA), biogenic hydroxyapatite, smecite, and CaCO₃ (P_CFA); detrital P (P_Detrital); organic P (P_Organic); and total P. In addition, the Fe contents in the citrate-dithionite-bicarbonate (CDB) extracted solution were also measured.The total concentrations of P in the surface sediments in the study area ranged from 13.5 to 22.3 μmol g⁻¹. Inorganic P was the major form and accounted for 72–93% of the total P pool. The average percentage of each fraction of P followed the sequence: P_Detrital (70%)>P_Organic (15.5%)>P_CDB (8.4%)>P_CFA (5.8%). The distribution pattern of total P in the surface sediment was similar to that of P_Detrital and P_Organic, but different from that of P_CDB and P_CFA. The profile variation of P_Organic was the most significant among the phosphorus forms at the study stations. The concentrations of P_CDB and P_CFA showed minor variation with depth. These results may suggest that transformations of P_Organic, P_CFA and P_CDB occurred at the study stations during sedimentary P burial.Based on the concentrations of total P, P_CDB and Fe_CDB obtained in the present study and the mass accumulation rate (MAR) reported in the literature, the values of the PAR, the P diffusion flux (J_PFe) supplied by reducible iron hydroxides and the P burial efficiency were calculated. The calculated results for PAR and J_PFe in the study area ranged from 1.02 to 24.23 μmol cm⁻² yr⁻¹ and from 0.1 to 2.11 μmol cm⁻² yr⁻¹, respectively. The phosphorus burial efficiency (PBE) was approximately 90%. The ECS is a phosphorus sink, and the average annual P burial flux has been reasonably estimated to be in the range of 20–25×10⁹ mol yr⁻¹.     

Seasonal variation in carbon exchange and its ecological analysis over Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia

Eddy covariance technique was used to measure carbon flux during two growing seasons in 2003 and 2004 over typical steppe in the Inner Mongolia Plateau, China. The results showed that there were two different CO₂ flux diurnal patterns at the grassland ecosystem. One had a dual peak in diurnal course of CO₂ fluxes with a depression of CO₂ flux after noon, and the other had a single peak. In 2003, the maximum diurnal uptake and emitting value of CO₂ were −7.4 and 5.4 g·m⁻²·d⁻¹ respectively and both occurred in July. While in 2004, the maximum diurnal uptake and release of CO₂ were −12.8 and 5.8 g·m⁻²·d⁻¹ and occurred both in August. The grassland fixed 294.66 and 467.46 g CO₂·m⁻² in 2003 and 2004, and released 333.14 and 437.17 g CO₂·m⁻² in 2003 and 2004, respectively from May to September. Water availability and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) are two important factors of controlling CO₂ flux. Consecutive precipitation can cause reduction in the ability of ecosystem carbon exchange. Under favorable soil water conditions, daytime CO₂ flux is dependent on PAR. CO₂ flux, under soil water stress conditions, is obviously less than those under favorable soil water conditions, and there is a light saturation phenomena at PAR=1200 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹. Soil respiration was temperature dependent when there was no soil water stress; otherwise, this response became accumulatively decoupled from soil temperature.

     

Biosorption Kinetics and Isotherm Studies of Cd(II) by Dried Enteromorpha compressa Macroalgae Cells from Aqueous Solutions

For the first time ever, Enteromorpha compressa macroalgae (ECM), which is commonly found in Turkey, has been used as biosorbent by us. This study aims to investigate the biosorption of Cd²⁺ from aqueous solutions in a batch system by using an alga of ECM in different concentrations, pH levels, agitation rates (90–150 rpm), and contact periods. The maximum biosorption capacity of the ECM was found to be 9.50 mg/g at pH 6, Cd²⁺ initial concentration of 10 mg/L and agitation rate 150 rpm. Cadmium removal efficiency was about 95%. The experimental isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. Isotherm parameters for both equations were determined and discussed. The stated biosorption mechanism is explained by the Freundlich isotherm (r² = 0.998) theory. Two simplified kinetic models including a pseudo‐first‐ and second‐order equation were selected to follow the biosorption process. Kinetic parameters; rate constants, equilibrium adsorption capacities and related correlation coefficients, for each kinetic model were calculated and discussed. It was shown that the biosorption of cadmium onto ECM could be described by the pseudo‐second‐order equation (r² > 0.99).