Possible effects of human impacts on epibenthic communities and coral rubble features in the marine Park of Bunaken (Indonesia)

Indo-Pacific coral reefs are considered among the most complex and biodiversified ecosystems in the world. Their existence is threatened by both natural and anthropogenic factors. Therefore, the assessment of anthropogenic disturbances is necessary to protect and manage these marine natural resources. In Bunaken Marine Park (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) epibenthic assemblages and coral rubble features at four impacted sites (each of them located close to villages and frequently exploited as recreational diving spots), and four well preserved sites (far from villages and scarcely frequented by divers), were investigated at 6, 12 and 18 m depth, in order to identify possible reef modifications. The assemblages were sampled by way of photographs. Coral rubble cover was estimated both by way of photographs and along belt transects, while grain size and the living fraction of the coral rubble were assessed by direct samples. The data showed significant differences between the study sites and between depths with regard to human activity. The hard coral cover and the assemblage heterogeneity are higher in control sites than in the impacted site where, especially in shallow water, the mechanical damage can strongly affect the assemblage structure.     

Reduction of pertechnetate [Tc(VII)] by aqueous Fe(II) and the nature of solid phase redox products

The subsurface behaviour of ⁹⁹Tc, a contaminant resulting from nuclear fuels reprocessing, is dependent on its valence (e.g., IV or VII). Abiotic reduction of soluble Tc(VII) by Fe(II)_(aq) in pH 6-8 solutions was investigated under strictly anoxic conditions using an oxygen trap (<7.5 × 10⁻⁹ atm O₂). The reduction kinetics were strongly pH dependent. Complete and rapid reduction of Tc(VII) to a precipitated Fe/Tc(IV) form was observed when 11 μmol/L of Tc(VII) was reacted with 0.4 mmol/L Fe(II) at pH 7.0 and 8.0, while no significant reduction was observed over 1 month at pH 6.0. Experiments conducted at pH 7.0 with Fe(II)_(aq) = 0.05-0.8 mmol/L further revealed that Tc(VII) reduction was a combination of homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction. Heterogeneous reduction predominated after approximately 0.01 mmol/L of Fe(II) was oxidized. The heterogeneous reaction was more rapid, and was catalyzed by Fe(II) that adsorbed to the Fe/Tc(IV) redox product. Wet chemical and Fe-X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy measurements (XANES) showed that Fe(II) and Fe(III) were present in the Fe/Tc(IV) redox products after reaction termination. ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer, extended X-ray adsorption fine structure (EXAFS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements revealed that the Fe/Tc(IV) solid phase was poorly ordered and dominated by Fe(II)-containing ferrihydrite with minor magnetite. Tc(IV) exhibited homogeneous spatial distribution within the precipitates. According to Tc-EXAFS measurements and structural modeling, its molecular environment was consistent with an octahedral Tc(IV) dimer bound in bidentate edge-sharing mode to octahedral Fe(III) associated with surface or vacancy sites in ferrihydrite. The precipitate maintained Tc(IV)_aq concentrations that were slightly below those in equilibrium with amorphous Tc(IV)O₂·nH₂O_(s). The oxidation rate of sorbed Tc(IV) in the Fe/Tc precipitate was considerably slower than Tc(IV)O₂·nH₂O_(s) as a result of its intraparticle/intragrain residence. Precipitates of this nature may form in anoxic sediments or groundwaters, and the intraparticle residence of sorbed/precipitated Tc(IV) may limit ⁹⁹Tc remobilization upon the return of oxidizing conditions.     

Fe-solid phase transformations under highly basic conditions

Hyperalkaline and saline radioactive waste fluids with elevated temperatures from S-SX high-level waste tank farm at Hanford, WA, USA accidentally leaked into sediments beneath the tanks, initiating a series of geochemical processes and reactions whose significance and extent was unknown. Among the most important processes was the dissolution of soil minerals and precipitation of stable secondary phases. The objective of this investigation was to study the release of Fe into the aqueous phase upon dissolution of Fe-bearing soil minerals, and the subsequent formation of Fe-rich precipitates. Batch reactors were used to conduct experiments at 50 °C using solutions similar in composition to the waste fluids. Results clearly showed that, similarly to Si and Al, Fe was released from the dissolution of soil minerals (most likely phyllosilicates such as biotite, smectite and chlorite). The extent of Fe release increased with base concentration and decreased with Al concentration in the contacting solution. The maximum apparent rate of Fe release (0.566 × 10⁻¹³ mol m⁻² s⁻¹) was measured in the treatment with no Al and a concentration of 4.32 mol L⁻¹ NaOH in the contact solution. Results from electron microscopy indicated that while Si and Al precipitated together to form feldspathoids in the groups of cancrinite and/or sodalite, Fe precipitation followed a different pathway leading to the formation of hematite and goethite. The newly formed Fe oxy-hydroxides may increase the sorption capacity of the sediments, promote surface mediated reactions such as precipitation and heterogeneous redox reactions, and affect the phase distribution of contaminants and radionuclides.     

Analysis of State of Stress During The 1997 Earthquake Swarm In Western Bohemia

Focal mechanisms of 70 events of the January 1997 earthquake swarm were analysed using the Gephart and Forsyth method to determine the state of stress in the West Bohemia/Vogtland region and to reveal possible stress variations during the swarm activity. The method was applied to the whole set of 70 focal mechanisms and to several subsets distinguishing magnitudes of events and the spatial and temporal distribution of the swarm. The three representative stress models A ( ₁ ,A: 0/45 (az/dip), ₂ A: 134/35, ₃ A: 243/25), B ( ₁ ,B: 162/38, ₂ B: 263/14, ₃ B: 10/49), and C ( ₁ C: 135/30, ₂ C: 1/50, ₃ C: 239/23) which could characterise the state of stress in the region were found. Model C can be considered to be the most probable stress model because of its consistency with the European stress field. The results of the stress analysis applied to the individual subsets of focal mechanisms indicate that the state of stress was more uniform during the first phase of the swarm. To distinguish between the fault plane and the auxiliary plane of fault plane solutions a statistical approach was used. The results showed that the fault planes striking NW-SE and dipping 45° to NE were activated during the swarm.     

Lava bubble-wall fragments formed by submarine hydrovolcanic explosions on Lō'ihi Seamount and Kīlauea Volcano

 Glassy bubble-wall fragments, morphologically similar to littoral limu o Pele, have been found in volcanic sands erupted on Lō'ihi Seamount and along the submarine east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano. The limu o Pele fragments are undegassed with respect to H₂O and S and formed by mild steam explosions. Angular glass sand fragments apparently form at similar, and greater, depths by cooling-contraction granulation. The limu o Pele fragments from Lō'ihi Seamount are dominantly tholeiitic basalt containing 6.25–7.25% MgO. None of the limu o Pele samples from Lō'ihi Seamount contains less than 5.57% MgO, suggesting that higher viscosity magmas do not form lava bubbles. The dissolved CO₂ and H₂O contents of 7 of the limu o Pele fragments indicate eruption at 1200±300 m depth (120±30 bar). These pressures exceed that generally thought to limit steam explosions. We conclude that hydrovolcanic eruptions are possible, with appropriate pre-mixing conditions, at pressures as great as 120 bar. Received: 22 December 1998 / Accepted: 16 July 1999     

A Tortonian onset for the Algerian margin inversion: Evidence from low‐temperature thermochronology

In North Africa, the Algerian margin is made of basement blocks that drifted away from the European margin, namely the Kabylia, and docked to the African continental crust in the Early Miocene. This young margin is now inverted, as dated Miocene (17 Ma) granites outcrop alongshore, evidencing kilometre‐scale exhumation since their emplacement. Age of inversion is actually unknown, although Pliocene is often considered in the offshore domain. To decipher the exhumation history of the margin between 17 and 5 Ma, we performed a coupled apatite fission track (AFT) and (U–Th–Sm)/He (AHe) study in the Cap Bougaroun Miocene granite. AFT dates range between 7 ± 1 and 10 ± 1 Ma, and mean AHe dates between 8 ± 2 and 10 ± 1 Ma. These data evidence rapid and multi‐kilometre exhumation during Tortonian times. This event cannot be related to slab break‐off but instead to the onset of margin inversion that has since developed as an in‐sequence north‐verging deforming prism.     

Efficacy of Hollow‐Fiber Ultrafiltration for Microbial Sampling in Groundwater

The goal of this study was to test hollow‐fiber ultrafiltration as a method for concentrating in situ bacteria and viruses in groundwater samples. Water samples from nine wells tapping a shallow sandy aquifer in a densely populated village in Bangladesh were reduced in volume approximately 400‐fold using ultrafiltration. Culture‐based assays for total coliforms and Escherichia coli, as well as molecular‐based assays for E. coli, Bacteroides, and adenovirus, were used as microbial markers before and after ultrafiltration to evaluate performance. Ultrafiltration increased the concentration of the microbial markers in 99% of cases. However, concentration factors (CF = post‐filtration concentration/pre‐filtration concentration) for each marker calculated from geometric means ranged from 52 to 1018 compared to the expected value of 400. The efficiency was difficult to quantify because concentrations of some of the markers, especially E. coli and total coliforms, in the well water (WW) collected before ultrafiltration varied by several orders of magnitude during the period of sampling. The potential influence of colloidal iron oxide precipitates in the groundwater was tested by adding EDTA to the pre‐filtration water in half of the samples to prevent the formation of precipitates. The use of EDTA had no significant effect on the measurement of culturable or molecular markers across the 0.5 to 10 mg/L range of dissolved Fe²⁺ concentrations observed in the groundwater, indicating that colloidal iron did not hinder or enhance recovery or detection of the microbial markers. Ultrafiltration appears to be effective for concentrating microorganisms in environmental water samples, but additional research is needed to quantify losses during filtration.     

Zooplankton succession during extraordinary drought–flood cycles: A case study in a South American floodplain lake

We examined the zooplankton abundance and composition of Laguna Grande, a floodplain wetland of the Lower Paraná Basin (Argentina), during an extraordinary drought–flood cycle that affected both the environment and the biological conditions of the lake. Low waters were characterised by remarkably high conductivities and pH values, and high phytoplankton and bacterioplankton abundances with cyanobacterial blooms, while high waters showed opposite features. In relation to zooplankton, the mean abundances of all the taxonomic groups (rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, ciliates, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates) were slightly higher at low waters. Major changes were observed in the specific composition of metazooplankton: the euryhaline species assemblage that dominated in the dry warm period was replaced by several oligohaline littoral and planktonic species characteristic of the Paraná River Basin, when the water level rose. Mean species richness values at high waters doubled those of low waters and were directly correlated to water depth. Most of the rotifers of the genus Brachionus and the cladoceran Moina micrura switched from parthenogenetic to sexual reproduction during low waters, as a response to a harsh environment and crowding. We suggest that the main changes in the environmental conditions in this eutrophic floodplain lake are driven by the hydrology, which regulates the zooplankton succession. The herein described shifts in the zooplankton structure and dynamics of Laguna Grande over an extraordinary drought–flood cycle contribute to the understanding of the processes that might occur under the scenarios predicted by climate change models.     

Application of sulphur isotope ratios to examine weaning patterns and freshwater fish consumption in Roman Oxfordshire, UK

This study investigates the application of sulphur isotope ratios (δ³⁴S) in combination with carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) ratios to understand the influence of environmental sulphur on the isotopic composition of archaeological human and faunal remains from Roman era sites in Oxfordshire, UK. Humans (n = 83), terrestrial animals (n = 11), and freshwater fish (n = 5) were analysed for their isotope values from four locations in the Thames River Valley, and a broad range of δ³⁴S values were found. The δ³⁴S values from the terrestrial animals were highly variable (−13.6‰ to +0.5‰), but the δ³⁴S values of the fish were clustered and ³⁴S-depleted (−20.9‰ to −17.3‰). The results of the faunal remains suggest that riverine sulphur influenced the terrestrial sulphur isotopic signatures. Terrestrial animals were possibly raised on the floodplains of the River Thames, where highly ³⁴S-depleted sulphur influenced the soil. The humans show the largest range of δ³⁴S values (−18.8‰ to +9.6‰) from any archaeological context to date. No differences in δ³⁴S values were found between the males (−7.8 ± 6.0‰) and females (−5.3 ± 6.8‰), but the females had a linear correlation (R² = 0.71; p < 0.0001) between their δ¹⁵N and δ³⁴S compositions. These δ³⁴S results suggest a greater dietary variability for the inhabitants of Roman Oxfordshire than previously thought, with some individuals eating solely terrestrial protein resources and others showing a diet almost exclusively based on freshwater protein such as fish. Such large dietary variability was not visible by analysing only the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and this research represents the largest and most detailed application of δ³⁴S analysis to examine dietary practices (including breastfeeding and weaning patterns) during the Romano-British Period.     

SOUSA: the Swift Optical/Ultraviolet Supernova Archive

This paper studies the motion of an infinitesimal mass in the framework of Robe’s circular restricted three-body problem in two cases; the first case is when the hydrostatic equilibrium figure of the first primary is an oblate spheroid, the shape of the second primary is considered as an oblate spheroid with oblateness coefficients up to the second zonal harmonic, while the first primary is a Roche ellipsoid in the second case and the full buoyancy of the fluid is taken into account. In case one; it is observed that there are two axial libration points on the line joining the centres of the primaries, points on the circle within the first primary are also libration points under certain conditions. It is further found that the first axial point is stable, while the second one is conditionally stable, and the circular points are unstable. It is found in case two that there is exist only one libration point (0,0,0) this point is stable.