The 1974 spill of the Bouchard 65 oil barge: petroleum hydrocarbons persist in Winsor Cove salt marsh sediments

Petroleum hydrocarbons persist in salt marsh sediments in Winsor Cove (Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts) impacted from the 1974 spill of No. 2 fuel oil by the barge Bouchard 65. Intertidal sediment cores were collected from 2001 to 2005 and analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). TPHs content was greatest (as high as 8.7 mg g(-1) dry weight) in the surface sediments and decreased with distance landward. Select samples were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with values as high as 16.7 microg g(-1) for total naphthalenes and phenanthrenes/anthracenes. These remaining PAHs are mainly C(4)-naphthalenes and C(1)-, C(2)-, and C(3)-phenanthrenes/anthracenes revealing preferential loss of almost all of the naphthalenes and the parent compound phenanthrene. Inspection of the data indicates that biodegradation, water-washing and evaporation were major removal processes for many of the petroleum hydrocarbons in the marsh sediments. In addition, historical data and photographs combined with their recent counterparts indicate that erosion has physically removed these contaminants from this site.     

太湖沉积物中长链脂肪酸甲酯化合物的检出及意义

在太湖表层沉积物中检测出丰度较高的一系列长链脂肪酸甲酯化合物,采用标准图谱与质谱解析相结合的方法进行鉴定,长链脂肪酸甲酯化合物有类似正构烷烃的分布型式,碳数分布范围为Ｃ１４－Ｃ３４,主峰碳为Ｃ１６,具有明显的偶碳优势。     

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Daya Bay, China: An in situ study of primary production and environmental impacts

A month-long investigation of phytoplankton biomass and primary production (PP) was carried out during a harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Daya Bay, China, in 2003. During the bloom, the phytoplankton community was dominated by Scrippsiella trochoidea and Chattonella marina. The phytoplankton biomass (Chl a) and PP reached peak levels of 519.21 mg m⁻³ and 734.0 mgC m⁻³ h⁻¹, respectively. Micro-phytoplankton was the key contributor to Chl a and PP in a cage-culture area and in the adjacent HAB-affected waters, with percentages of up to 82.91% and 84.94%, respectively. The HAB had complicated relationships with hydrological and meteorological factors in Daya Bay. However, the water around the cage-culture area always showed statistically greater phytoplankton biomass and nutrient loadings than in adjacent waters, suggesting that this was the “trigger area” of the bloom. The spatial and temporal distribution of diverse HABs in Daya Bay, their ecological characteristics, and their environmental impacts are also discussed in this paper.     

近百年来湖泊有机碳与无机碳埋藏响应流域开发的协同变化——以石林喀斯特地区为例

有机碳和无机碳的流域输出是湖泊碳埋藏的重要驱动因子,而喀斯特地区无机碳循环具有反应迅速且对人类活动影响敏感的特点.在流域开发持续增强的背景下,喀斯特地区湖泊有机碳和无机碳的来源、含量与埋藏通量可能会出现同步变化的协同模式.本文以云南省石林喀斯特地区流域土地利用类型不同的两个中型湖泊(长湖、月湖)开展对比分析,通过对沉积物钻孔的土壤侵蚀强度(磁化率)、流域外源输入(C:N比值)、水动力(粒度)、营养盐(总氮、总磷)、藻类生产力(叶绿素色素)等代用指标的分析,结合监测数据和历史资料重建了两个湖泊环境变化的近百年历史,并定量识别了有机碳和无机碳埋藏响应流域开发的变化特征与协同模式.沉积物磁化率和C:N比值结果揭示了流域地表侵蚀和外源输入的阶段性特征,同时总氮和总磷含量记录了长湖和月湖营养水平上升的长期模式.在流域森林覆被较高(33.43%)的长湖中,全岩和有机质C:N比值分别与磁化率信号呈显著正相关(r=0.95和0.89,P<0.001),且与无机碳和有机碳含量呈显著负相关(r=-0.94,P<0.001和r=-0.52,P=0.01),反映了森林植被退化时流域碳输出的减少对沉...     

Evaporation in the Atacama Desert: An empirical study of spatio-temporal variations and their causes

The Atacama Desert is hyper-arid, and areas where adequate moisture exists for evaporation are spatially highly restricted. Nevertheless, water resources exist and their evaluation requires knowledge of this elusive but important component of the hydrological cycle. Evaporation may occur in four typical areas: rivers and associated riparian zones, localized springs, large playas and extensive areas of bare soil after infrequent precipitation events. Transpiration is locally possible where moisture is sufficiently close to the surface to allow phreatophytes or scarce grass cover to grow, but virtually no information is available for quantification. Pan evaporation data from 11 stations for the period 1977–1991 is analyzed and complemented by analysis of an evaporation study conducted in the Salar de Atacama during 1987/1988. The results show that pan evaporation, and hence maximum potential evaporation may be considered largely a function of maximum temperature and elevation as well as density of the evaporating fluid. Actual evaporation is limited by available moisture and diminishes rapidly as the level of soil moisture saturation drops below the soil surface, extinguishing at ca. 2 m depth. Evaporation is greatest during the summer, but at higher elevations convective cloudiness develops during January and February reducing evaporating rates at a time when significant precipitation may occur. Inter-annual variations in pan evaporation are considerable and weakly correlated with ENSO, but variations in actual evaporation are damped by comparison. Regression equations are developed which have widespread applicability and may be used to estimate evaporation in areas where no site-specific data exists.     

1st Ishihara Lecture: An overview of the behavior of pile foundations in liquefiable and non-liquefiable soils during earthquake excitation

The seismic response of a pile foundation is usually analyzed by approximate methods in practice. These methods typically neglect one or more of the important factors that affect seismic response such as inertial interaction, kinematic interaction, seismic pore water pressures, soil nonlinearity, cross stiffness coupling and dynamic pile to pile interaction. A nonlinear 3-D analysis is used to show how all these factors affect pile response, to demonstrate some of the consequences of using various approximate methods and to provide a comprehensive overview of how pile foundations behave during earthquakes in liquefiable and non-liquefiable soils.     

Composition and daytime vertical distribution of the ichthyoplankton assemblage in the Central Cantabrian Sea shelf, during summer: An Eulerian study

During summer, wind driven coastal upwelling dominates in the Central Cantabrian Sea (southern Bay of Biscay). Nevertheless, atmospheric forcing is highly variable and wind pulses may cause noticeable and fast hydrographic responses in the shelf region. In this paper, the composition and vertical distribution of the summer ichthyoplankton assemblage during the daytime at a fixed station, located on the Central Cantabrian Sea shelf, are documented. Also, the impact of a short-time scale hydrographic event on the abundance and structure of the larval fish assemblage is examined. Significant small-scale temporal hydrographic variability was observed. Currents showed changes in speed and direction and significant changes in thermocline depth were also observed. A total of 34 taxa of fish larvae were identified. Engraulis encrasicolus eggs and larvae of the shelf-dwelling species Trachurus trachurus, Capros aper and E. encrasicolus dominated the ichthyoplankton assemblage. The distribution of E. encrasicolus eggs and fish larvae was vertically structured. E. encrasicolus egg concentration increased exponentially towards the surface. Fish larvae showed a subsurface peak of concentration and their vertical distribution was not conditioned by thermocline depths. The short term hydrographic event did not affect the vertical distribution of fish larvae but it accounted for significant temporal changes in larval fish assemblage structure and abundance. Results suggest that temperature and light intensity are important factors in the vertical distribution of fish larvae. They also indicate that the temporal monitoring of the larval fish assemblage in this region requires multiple sampling sites.     

Precipitation induced stream flow: An event based chemical and isotopic study of a small stream in the Great Plains region of the USA

A small stream in the Great Plains of USA was sampled to understand the streamflow components following intense precipitation and the influence of water storage structures in the drainage basin. Precipitation, stream, ponds, ground-water and soil moisture were sampled for determination of isotopic (D, ¹⁸O) and chemical (Cl, SO₄) composition before and after two intense rain events. Following the first storm event, flow at the downstream locations was generated primarily through shallow subsurface flow and runoff whereas in the headwaters region – where a pond is located in the stream channel – shallow ground-water and pond outflow contributed to the flow. The distinct isotopic signatures of precipitation and the evaporated pond water allowed separation of the event water from the other sources that contributed to the flow. Similarly, variations in the Cl and SO₄ concentrations helped identify the relative contributions of ground-water and soil moisture to the streamflow. The relationship between deuterium excess and Cl or SO₄ content reveals that the early contributions from a rain event to streamflow depend upon the antecedent climatic conditions and the position along the stream channel within the watershed. The design of this study, in which data from several locations within a watershed were collected, shows that in small streams changes in relative contributions from ground water and soil moisture complicate hydrograph separation, with surface-water bodies providing additional complexity. It also demonstrates the usefulness of combined chemical and isotopic methods in hydrologic investigations, especially the utility of the deuterium excess parameter in quantifying the relative contributions of various source components to the stream flow.     

Impact of soil compaction and irrigation practices on salt dynamics in the presence of a saline shallow groundwater: An experimental and modelling study

Soil salt accumulation is a widespread problem leading to diminished crop yield and threatening food security in many regions of the world. The soil salinization problem is particularly acute in areas that lack adequate soil water drainage and where a saline shallow water table (WT) is present. In this study, we present laboratory-scale column experiments, extending over a period of more than 400 days that focus on the processes contributing to soil salinization. We specifically examine the combined impact of soil compaction, surface water application model and water quality on salt dynamics in the presence of a saline shallow WT. The soil columns (60 cm height and 16 cm diameter) were packed with an agricultural soil with bulk densities of 1.15 and 1.34 g/cm⁻³ for uncompacted and compacted layers, respectively, and automatically monitored for water content, salinity and pressure. Two surface water compositions are considered: fresh (deionized, DI) and saline water (~3.4 mS/cm). To assess the sensitivity of compaction on salt dynamics, the experiments were numerically modelled with the HYDRUS-1D computer program. The results show that the saline WT led to rapid salinization of the soil column due to capillarity, with the salinity reaching levels much higher than that at the WT. However, compaction layer provided a barrier that limited the downwards moisture percolation and solute transport. Furthermore, the numerical simulations showed that the application of freshwater can temporarily reverse the accumulation of salts in agricultural soils. This irrigation strategy can help, in the short-term, alleviate soil salinization problem. The soil hydraulic properties, WT depth, water quality, evaporation demand and the availability of freshwater all play a role in the practicability of such short-term solutions. The presence of a saline shallow WT would, however, rapidly reverse these temporary measures, leading to the recurrence of topsoil salinization.     

Chronology of Early to Mid-Pleistocene sediments in the northern North Sea: New evidence from amino acid and strontium isotope analyses

Sediments deposited during glacial-interglacial cycles through the Early to Mid-Pleistocene in the North Sea are chronologically poorly constrained. To contribute to the chronology of these units, amino acid racemization (AAR) and strontium (Sr) isotope analyses have been performed on samples from four shallow borings and one oil well along a transect in the northern North Sea. D/L Asp (aspartic acid) values obtained through reverse-phase liquid chromatography in the benthic foraminiferal species Elphidium excavatum is focused on because of consistent results and a good stratigraphic distribution of this benthic species. For the Early Pleistocene, an age model for the well 16/1–8, from the central part of the northern North Sea based on Sr ages allows for dating of the prograding wedges filling the pre-Quaternary central basin. A regional calibration curve for the racemization of Asp in Elphidium excavatum is developed using published ages of radiocarbon-dated samples and samples associated with the previously identified Bruhnes/Matuyama (B/M) paleomagnetic boundary and a Sr age from this study. Based on all the available geochronological evidence, samples were assigned to marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) with uncertainties on the order of 10–70 ka.Sr ages suggest a hiatus of <2 million years (Ma) possibly due to non-deposition or low sedimentation between the Utsira Formation (Pliocene) and the Early Pleistocene. An increase in sedimentation rates around 1.5 ± 0.07 Ma (∼MIS 51) may partly be due to sediment supply from rivers from the south-east and partly due to the extension of ice sheet around 1.36 ± 0.07 Ma from the Norwegian coast to the central North Sea. A possible basin-wide glaciation occurred around 1.1 Ma (∼ MIS 32) (upper regional unconformity/top of unit Q4 in this study), resulting in erosion and regional unconformity. Two interglacials in the Norwegian Channel have been dated: the Radøy Interglacial to 1.07 ± 0.01 Ma (possibly MIS 31, the ‘super interglacial’), and the Norwegian Trench Interglacial to 0.50 ± 0.02 Ma (possibly MIS 13). A massive till unit identified at the same stratigraphic level in all shallow borings may partly represent an extensive MIS 12 glaciation. This study shows that the combined use of amino acid racemization data and Sr isotope chronology can refine the chronological ambiguities of Quaternary North Sea sediments related partly to the impact of glacial processes.