Distribution of heavy metals in marine bivalves, fish and coastal sediments in the Gulf and Gulf of Oman

An assessment of marine contamination due to heavy metals was made in the Gulf and Gulf of Oman based on marine biota (fish and various bivalves) and coastal sediment collected in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during 2000-2001. Sediment metal loadings were generally not remarkable, although hot spots were noted in Bahrain (Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn) and on the east coast of the UAE (As, Co, Cr, Ni). Concentrations of As and Hg were typically low in sediments and the total Hg levels in top predator fish commonly consumed in the region were < 0.5 microg g(-1) and posed no threat to public health. Very high Cd concentrations (up to 195 microg g(-1)) in the liver of some fish from southern Oman may result from food-chain bioaccumulation of elevated Cd levels brought into the productive surface waters by upwelling in the region. Very high As concentrations (up to 156 microg g(-1)) were measured in certain bivalve species from the region. Although not certain, the As is probably derived from natural origins rather than anthropogenic contamination.     

Exploring aberrant bivalve shell ultrastructure and geochemistry as proxies for past sea water acidification

Throughout much of Earth's history, marine carbonates have represented one of the most important geological archives of environmental change. Several pivotal events during the Phanerozoic, such as mass extinctions or hyperthermal events have recently been associated with ocean acidification. Nevertheless, well‐defined geological proxies for past ocean acidification events are, at best, scarce. Here, experimental work explores the response of bivalve shell ultrastructure and isotope geochemistry (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O and δ²⁶Mg) to stressful environments, in particular to sea water acidification. In this study, the common blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, was cultured (from early juvenile stages to one year of age) at four pH regimes (pH_NBS 7·2 to pH 8·0). Shell growth rate and ultrastructure of mainly the calcitic portion of the shells were compared between experimental treatments. Specimens exposed to low‐pH environments show patches of disordered calcitic fibre orientation in otherwise well‐structured shells. Furthermore, the electron backscattered diffraction analyses reveal that, under acidified conditions, the c‐axis of the calcite prisms exhibits a bimodal or multi‐modal distribution pattern. Similar shell disorder patterns have been reported from mytilids kept under naturally acidified sea water conditions. In contrast, this study found no evidence that different pH regimes affect shell carbon, oxygen or magnesium isotope ratios. Based on these observations, it is proposed that: (i) stressful environments, in this case low sea water pH, predictably affect bivalve biomineralization patterns; and (ii) these findings bear potential as a novel (petrographic) proxy for ancient sea water acidification. An assessment of the applicability of these data to well‐preserved fossil shell material from selected time intervals requires additional work.     

Intraplate volcanism in the Danube Basin of NW Hungary: 3D geophysical modelling of the Late Miocene Pásztori volcano

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Three-dimensional geophysical modelling of the early Late Miocene Pásztori volcano (ca. 11–10&nbsp;Ma) and adjacent area in the Little...     

Formation of todorokite from vernadite in Ni-rich hemipelagic sediments

Todorokite is considered to form from vernadite in nature and commonly concentrates nickel. However, this mineralogical transformation has never been imaged nor explained mechanistically, and its effect on the uptake of nickel has never been quantified at the molecular-level. We have characterized these reactions at the macroscopic, microscopic, nanoscopic and atomic scales in a marine manganese concretion by combining transmission electron microscopy, electron and X-ray microprobe analysis, powder and micro X-ray diffraction, and Mn and Ni K-edge EXAFS spectroscopy. The concretion was collected during the Ticoflux II expedition near the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, and is representative of Mn deposits in hemipelagic sediments. It consists of 5 to 25 μm aggregates, shaped like sea-urchins, with a core of 7Å-vernadite (1.0 wt% Ni), a rim of 10Å-vernadite (3.8 wt% Ni), and an outermost region of todorokite fibers (1.9 wt% Ni) that extend outwards. The crystallites of 7Å-vernadite are single- to bi-layered, with hexagonal layer symmetry (a = b = 2.83 Å), and an average structural formula of . The crystallites of 10Å-vernadite contain 10 to 20 layers semi-coherently stacked in the ab plane and uniformly separated in the [0 0 1] direction by ∼9 Å due to the intercalation of hydrated Mg²⁺ cations. The average structural formula of 10Å-vernadite is if the layers contain vacancy sites, or alternately , if they contain Mn³⁺. The average formula of todorokite is .A genetic model is proposed based on combining these new data with previously published results. The thermodynamically unstable 7Å-vernadite transforms via dissolution-recrystallization to semi-ordered Mg-rich 10Å-vernadite. Nickel is released from dissolved biogenic silica or reduced organic matter, and taken up mainly in the Mn layer of 10Å-vernadite. Interlayer magnesium serves as a template to the further topotactic transformation of 10Å-vernadite to todorokite. The dimension of the todorokite tunnels in the [0 0 1] direction is uniform and determined by the size of the hydrated Mg²⁺ ion (8.6 Å). The tunnel dimension in the [1 0 0] direction depends on the density of Mg²⁺ in the interlayer and the superstructure of the phyllomanganate layer. If the parent phyllomanganate contains high amounts of Mg²⁺ (i.e., high layer charge), or Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ cations ordered following the Mn³⁺-Mn⁴⁺-Mn⁴⁺ sequence as in synthetic triclinic birnessite, then the tunnel dimension is ideally 3 × 3 octahedral chain widths in both crystallographic directions. Otherwise, the tunnel dimension is incoherent in the [1 0 0] direction (i.e., T(3,n) tunnel structure), as has been observed in all natural todorokites. Natural todorokite is defective because the precursor natural phyllomanganates either have a layer charge deficit below 0.33e per octahedral site, or rarely are triclinic birnessite. The abundance of Mg in seawater and its key role in converting phyllomanganate to tectomanganate with T(3,n) tunnel structure explain why todorokite is common in marine ferromanganese oxides, and seldom present in terrestrial environments. The topotactic phase transformation described here is the only known route to todorokite crystallization. This implies that all natural todorokites may be authigenic because they are formed in situ from a phyllomanganate precursor.     

The Boreholes of the Sea Urchin Genus Echinometra (Echinodermata: Echinoidea: Echinometridae) as a Microhabitat in Tropical South America*

Abstract. Members of the genus Echinometru (Echinoideu: Echinometridue) inhabit hard substrata in shallow waters where they live in self-excavated dwellings. Boring by Echinometru spp. causes a secondary structure of the surface, thus forming additional microhabitats. In this study the effects of boring activities of Echinometru lucunter (L.) along the Caribbean coast of Colombia and of Echinometra vunbrunri A. Agassu in the Colombian Pacific is examined. Several species inhabit the boreholes occupied by these urchins. The associates live underneath the echinoid on the bottom of the borehole, where they find shelter from exposure and predators. The co-inhabitants of E. lucunter include the porcellanid Clusroroechus vunderhorsri (Schmitt ), the recently described brit-tlestar Ophiorhrix synoecim (Schoppe ), and the clingfish Acyrrus rubiginosus (Poey ). The species co-occumng with E. vunbrunti include the porcellanid crab Clusroroechus gorgonensis Werding amp; Haig and the clingfish Arcos decoris Briggs . With the exception of A. decoris, all of these species are obligatorily associated with the Echinomerra host.     

Fluvial transport of suspended sediment and organic carbon during flood events in a large agricultural catchment in southwest France

Water draining from a large agricultural catchment of 1 110 km² in southwest France was sampled over an 18‐month period to determine the temporal variability in suspended sediment (SS) and dissolved (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) transport during flood events, with quantification of fluxes and controlling factors, and to analyze the relationships between discharge and SS, DOC and POC. A total of 15 flood events were analyzed, providing extensive data on SS, POC and DOC during floods. There was high variability in SS, POC and DOC transport during different seasonal floods, with SS varying by event from 513 to 41 750 t; POC from 12 to 748 t and DOC from 9 to 218 t. Overall, 76 and 62% of total fluxes of POC and DOC occurred within 22% of the study period. POC and DOC export from the Save catchment amounted to 3090 t and 1240 t, equivalent to 1·8 t km^?2 y^?1 and 0·7 t km^?2 y^?1, respectively. Statistical analyses showed that total precipitation, flood discharge and total water yield were the major factors controlling SS, POC and DOC transport from the catchment. The relationships between SS, POC and DOC and discharge over temporal flood events resulted in different hysteresis patterns, which were used to deduce dissolved and particulate origins. In both clockwise and anticlockwise hysteresis, POC mainly followed the same patterns as discharge and SS. The DOC‐discharge relationship was mainly characterized by alternating clockwise and anticlockwise hysteresis due to dilution effects of water originating from different sources in the whole catchment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecological stability during the LGM and the mid-Holocene in the Alpine Steppes of Tibet?

Arid and Alpine ecosystems are known for extreme environmental changes during the Late Quaternary. We hypothesize that the world's largest Alpine arid ecosystem however, the Alpine Steppes of the Tibetan highlands, remained ecologically stable during the LGM and the mid-Holocene. This hypothesis is tested by distributional range of plant species, plant life forms and rate of endemism. The set of character species has a precipitation gradient between 50 and 350 mm/a, testifying for resilience to precipitation changes. 83% of the species have a wider vertical range than 1000 m used as a proxy for resilience to temperature changes. 30% of the species are endemic with 10 endemic genera, including plate-shaped cushions as a unique plant life form. These findings are in line with palaeo-ecological proxies (δ¹⁸O, pollen) allowing the assumption that Alpine Steppes persisted during the LGM with 3 to 4 K lower summer temperatures.During the mid-Holocene, forests could have replaced Alpine Steppes in the upper catchments of the Huang He, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yarlung Zhangbo, but not in the interior basins of the north-western highlands, because the basins were then flooded, suppressing forests and supporting the environmental stability of this arid Alpine grassland biome.     

Insights into cation exchange selectivity of a natural clinoptilolite by means of dielectric relaxation spectroscopy

Purified natural clinoptilolite from the Tasajeras deposit, Cuba, and some of its metal exchanged forms are studied, at the dehydrated state, by means of dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) using two different modus operandi: complex impedance spectroscopy and dielectric dynamic thermal analysis. Data analysis yields the determination of the extra-framework cation (EFC) population into the various possible crystallographic sites of the zeolitic framework as well as of the activation energy characterizing the localized hopping mechanism of EFC. First, it is shown that the DRS responses obtained here match well with the previous reported data, which were previously localized EFCs in positions close to M1 and M2 sites when the clinoptilolite is modified to almost homoionic form. From this outcome, it can be concluded that all EFCs are in the same crystallographic situation regarding solvation or, in other terms, that no steric effect can be taken into account to explain cationic selectivity. Second, based on the assumption that the activation energy for EFC hopping is directly connected to the EFC/framework interaction and on simple thermodynamics consideration, we show this interaction does not govern the EFC exchange reaction. So, it is emphasized that EFC/H₂O interaction is the key factor for cation exchange selectivity.     

The effect of dispersion on the stability of density-driven flows in saturated homogeneous porous media

This work is a continuation of Musuuza et al. [37] in which a stability criterion for density-driven flow in a saturated homogeneous medium was derived. The criterion predicted the stability of a system as a function of the density and viscosity contrasts, the magnitude of the flow velocity and the concentration gradients for flow aligned orthogonal to gravity. It could not accurately predict stability transition with increasing velocity, a failure we attributed to dispersion effects that were not included. Small-scale dispersion and molecular diffusion, the main stabilising mechanisms in homogeneous media can stabilise flow if the instability wavelengths are below a certain cutoff. The width of the mixing zone is also central in controlling the range of wavelengths that persist into fingers. We propose a method of quantifying the cutoff wavelength and the width of the mixing zone, which are incorporated into the earlier criterion as constituents of the dispersive part. The earlier criterion is reformulated in terms of the Rayleigh number and with the dispersive part added, we attempt to predict the number of fingers formed which is directly related to the physical stability of the system. The inclusion of the Rayleigh number and dispersion into a single stability criterion provides new insight in the way dispersion affects vertical flow systems. Stability numbers computed with the new criterion are in reasonable agreement with numerical simulations for a range of physical variables. The numerical computations are performed with the software package d³f, which uses the cell-centred finite volume and the implicit Euler methods for the spatial and temporal discretisations, respectively. The admission of the density and dispersivities as inputs into the criterion makes it usable in practical problems.     

Polychaetes from Jan Mayen (Annelida, Polychaeta)

A thorough literature review has been undertaken to establish the first complete account of polychaetes recorded from the area around the volcanic island of Jan Mayen. The annotated checklist lists 121 species-level taxa, representing an increase from the 75 species previously recorded. The checklist is based on existing records, supplemented with material sampled in 1999, from which 42 species new to the area were reported. Some previously reported species from the area have been excluded because of inadequate documentation. The polychaete fauna of Jan Mayen is comparable with that of the mainland Norwegian coast and the Svalbard area. No taxa unique to the island were found. However, knowledge of the marine invertebrate fauna in general at Jan Mayen is sparse because few surveys have been undertaken there. It is expected that future expeditions will reveal further new taxon records for the area.