Preliminary determination of calcium, phosphorus, and the calcium/phosphorus ratio in cortical bone of Chinstrap penguin using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis

Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） approach was applied to analyzing of Chinstrap penguin （ Pygoscelis Antarctica） cortical bone. The method enabled the in situ determination of Ca and P concentrations and the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone. The preliminary results show that ： （ 1 ） there is the bone site-related difference for Ca and P concentrations. The mean values for the investigated parameters （ on a dry-weight basis） are： 30.7% （Ca） and 14.9% （P） for the femoral cortical bone, 21.4% （Ca） and 11.5% （P） for wing cortical bone. （2） The variation for the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone is lower than those for Ca and P separately. This is in agreement with the previous report that the specificity of the Ca/P ratio is better than that of Ca and P concentrations and is more reliable for the diagnosis of bone disorders. The authors suggest that further studies be conducted to establish norreal values of Ca, P and Ca/P ratio for polar animals and provide a basis for the diagnosis of bone disorders.     

Sodium and potassium in the bones of penguin and skua revealed by EPR and SR-XRF technique

Penguin and skua in the maritime Antarctic have high salt loadings in the body due to almost exclusive diet consumption of marine invertebrates. However, the storage and turnover of sodium and potassium in these animals are poorly investigated. Here we determined the concentration and microscopic distribution of the two elements in the bones of penguin and skua. The average concentrations of sodium and potassium in penguin bone were comparable with that in skua bone (0.18% and 0.82% for penguin bone; 0.19% and 0.76% for skua bone in dry weight). The ratios of sodium to calcium and potassium to calcium (0.0330 and 0.0075 for penguin, 0.0335 and 0.0082 for skua in average by weight) were somewhat higher than the reported ratios for terrestrial animals, indicating these marine animals' bone enrichment of salt. The ratios of sodium to potassium in average by weight were 6.75 and 4.65 for penguin and skua, respectively. This value is much lower compared with the bulk sea water ratio of about 27.0, implying that potassium is favorable to reside in the bone rather than sodium. Both sodium and potassium were found to significant correlation with the content of organic materials in bone based upon the intensity of native signal determined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). It was estimated that almost all of potassium is kept within the organic phases, while about 30% of sodium is stored in organic phases and the other 70% within mineral phase. The microscopic distributions of potassium in the cross-section and/or surface were revealed by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) technique. The ratio of potassium to calcium based upon the SR-XRF intensity counter varied considerably from the surface to the interior, and on the surface the highest concentration of potassium was observed in the middle section with decreasing amounts toward the edge. This indirectly documented that exchange of potassium between fluid and bone organic phase maybe occur.     

An assessment of variations in mercury deposition to Antarctica over the past 34,000 years

We performed a comparison analysis of the variations .in Mercury ( Hg) concentrations and the precipitation proxies ( e. g. , 18 O values and 10 Be concentrations) in the Dome C ice core. The results showed that there were significant correlations between Hg and δ 10O values, 10Be concentrations, indicating that the accumulation rate in Dome C is one of the key factors controlling the variations of Hg concentrations in the past 34 ,000 years, and implying that Hg concentrations in ice core can be used as another reliable proxy of precipitation rate in Antarctica. Based upon the high-resolution δ 18O values, we estimated the variations in mercury deposition flux to Antarctica over the past 34,000 years. The highest mercury deposition flux is about 3. 80 pg cm-2 yr-1 during the Last Glacial Maxium (LGM) as high as 3. 5 times of the mercury deposition flux ( about 1. 08 pg cm -2 yr -1) in Holocene due to the fluctuations in natural mercury emissions such as the oceanic biological emissions.     

企鹅珍珠贝人工养殖及育珠的研究

在幼贝中间养成中采用柱形笼养殖法,母贝的养成中采用穿耳开放式养殖法,与全程采用锥形笼的传统式养殖方法相比较,进行企鹅珍珠贝人工养殖。结果表明:采用本技术养殖企鹅珍珠贝,在幼贝中间养成阶段,比传统养殖的壳高生长速率提高32·1%(P<0·05),壳长生长速率提高30·3%(P<0·01),成活率提高36%(P<0·01);母贝养成阶段,比传统养殖的壳高生长速率提高28·1%(P<0·05),壳长生长速率提高26·7%(P<0·01),成活率提高18·3%(P<0·01)。同时进行企鹅珍珠贝人工培育游离珠实验,植核贝在休养期和育珠期存活率分别为71·2%和54·3%,留核率分别为29·6·6%和21·0%,成珠率58·6%,优质珠比例为26·7%。     

Study on the distribution,abundance and growth condition of Antarctic Krill(Euphausia superba)in the Prydz Bay region,Antarctica during the Austral summer of 1999/2000

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) were collected from the Prydz Bay region during the austral summer of 1999/2000. The sample - collection was made at 15 sites in 3 longitudinal transects. Although krill were encountered at 14 sites, the abundance was comparatively low in general. The main component of the krill population was of post -larval stages. The mean numerical and weight density of krill integrated for all sampling stations in the survey area were 16. 17 ind. 1000 m -3and 12.02 g 1000 m -3 , respectively. In the survey area, stations with larger krill density are mainly located in the slope zone, except that the largest sample was collected in the open sea zone. No krill occurred in the only station of the shelf zone during our investigation. Krill collected from the slope zone were under better growth condition than those from the open sea zone, but when the survey area is considered as a whole, the growth condition is normal. The results of the comprehensive analysis of the environmental fa