Pathologic survey on the Manila clam <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ruditapes philippinarum</Emphasis> (Adams and Reeve 1850) from Haeju off the western coastal Yellow Sea

Pathologic condition of Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum collected from Haeju off the west coast of North Korea in February and March 2007 was investigated in this study. The diagnostics included a protozoan parasite, Perkinsus olseni, the brown ring disease (BRD) caused by bacteria Vibrio tapetis and metazoan parasites Trematod and Cestod. P. olseni infection was examined using histology and Ray’s fluid thioglycollate medium (RFTM) assay along with Choi’s NaOH digestion technique. Trematode and cestode infection was also examined from the histology. A total of 140 clams with 35–45 mm in shell length (2–3 years old) were analyzed. Condition factor (CF), a ratio of the wet tissue weight to the shell dry weight, ranged from 0.445±0.074 (February) to 0.544±0.132 (March). Total body burden of P. olseni (i.e. infection intensity) ranged from 18,644±37,755 (February) to 26,933±80,611 cells/g wet tissue (March) with the prevalence of 76.7–43.3% (March) respectively. Prevalence of trematode and cestode infection in February and March varied 22.5–25.0 and 15.0–22.5% respectively. Infection intensity of V. tapetis ranged 1–2 and the prevalence was 1.4 (February) and 5.7% (March). Prevalence and infection intensity of P. olseni in clams from Haeju was comparatively lower than those of clams reported on the west coast of Korea. BRD and the other metazoan parasite infection were also relatively lower or similar to the condition of the clams reported previously. CF of Haeju clams was also relatively higher than the clams in Gyeonggi Bay and Taean, suggesting that Haeju clams had relatively better pathologic and health condition.     

Elemental characteristics and paleoenvironment reconstruction: a case study of the Triassic lacustrine Zhangjiatan oil shale,southern Ordos Basin,China

Using trace elements to reconstruct paleoenvironment is a current hot topic in geochemistry. Through analytical tests of oil yield, ash yield, calorific value, total sulfur, major elements, trace elements, and X-ray diffraction, the quality, mineral content, occurrence mode of elements, and paleoenvironment of the Zhangjiatan oil shale of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the southern Ordos Basin were studied. The analyses revealed relatively high oil yield (average 6.63%) and medium quality. The mineral content in the oil shale was mainly clay minerals, quartz, feldspar, and pyrite; an illite–smectite mixed layer comprised the major proportion of clay minerals. Compared with marine oil shale in China, the Zhangjiatan oil shale had higher contents of quartz, feldspar, and clay minerals, and lower calcite content. Silica was mainly in quartz and Fe was associated with organic matter, which is different from marine oil shale. The form of calcium varied. Cluster analyses indicated that Fe, Cu, U, V, Zn, As, Cs, Cd, Mo, Ga, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr, Sc, P, and Mn are associated with organic matter while Ca, Na, Sr, Ba, Si, Zr, K, Al, B, Mg, and Ti are mostly terrigenous. Sr/Cu, Ba/Al, V/(V + Ni), U/Th, AU, and δU of oil shale samples suggest the paleoclimate was warm and humid, paleoproductivity of the lake was relatively high during deposition of the shale—which mainly occurred in fresh water—and the paleo-redox condition was dominated by reducing conditions. Fe/Ti ratios of the oil shale samples suggest clear hydrothermal influence in the eastern portion of the study area and less conspicuous hydrothermal influence in the western portion.     

Experimental study on the energy dissipation characteristics of debris flow deceleration baffles

Debris flow can cause serious damages to roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructures.Arranging several rows of deceleration baffles in the significant influence on the mobility and deposition characteristic of debris flow. The deposit amount first increased then decreased when the flow density rises,flow path can reduce the flow velocity and ensure better protection of life and property. In debris flow prevention projects, deceleration baffles can effectively reduce the erosion of the debris flow and prolong the running time of the drainage channel.This study investigated the degree to which a 6 m long flume and three rows of deceleration baffles reduce the debris flow velocity and affect the energy dissipation characteristics. The influential variables include channel slope, debris flow density, and spacing between baffle rows. The experimental results demonstrated that the typical flow pattern was a sudden increase in flow depth and vertical proliferation when debris flow flows through the baffles. Strong turbulence between debris flow and baffles can contribute to energy dissipation and decrease the kinematic velocity considerably. The results showed that the reduction ratio of velocity increased with the increase in debris flow density,channel slope and spacing between rows. Tests phenomena also indicated that debris flow density hasand the deposit amount of debris flow density of 1500kg/m~3 reached the maximum when the experimental flume slope is 12°.     

Metagenomic approach revealed effects of forest thinning on bacterial communities in the forest soil of Mt. Janggunbong,South Korea

The soil microbiome that plays important ecological roles in mountains and forests is influenced by anthropogenic and natural causes. Human activity, particularly harvesting or thinning, affects the soil microbiome in forests by altering environmental conditions, such as vegetation, microclimate, and soil physicochemical properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on forest thinning on the diversity and composition of the soil bacterial community. From next-generation sequencing results of the 16S rRNA gene, we examined differences in soil bacterial diversity and community composition before and after thinning at Mt. Janggunbong, South Korea. We identified 40 phyla, 103 classes, 192 orders, 412 families, 947 genera, and 3,145 species from the soil samples. Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria were the most dominant bacterial phyla in the forest soil of Mt. Janggunbong. Soil bacterial diversity measures (richness, Shannon diversity index, and evenness) at the phylum level increased after thinning, whereas species-level taxonomic richness decreased after thinning. Thinning provided new opportunities for bacterial species in Chloroflexi, Verrucomicrobia, Nitrospirae, and other nondominant bacterial taxa, especially for those not found in Mt. Janggunbong before thinning, to settle and adapt to the changing environment. Our results suggested that thinning affected the diversity and composition of soil bacterial communities in forests and mountains.     

Scour at the head of a vertical-wall breakwater

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the near-bed flow patterns, the bed shear stress amplification and scour around the head of a vertical-wall breakwater, using regular waves. The Keulegan-Carpenter number (KC), based on the diameter of the breakwater head, is found to be the major parameter that governs the flow and the equilibrium scour depth. Basic flow structures are identified as function of KC. The scour depth is found to increase with increasing the Keulegan-Carpenter number. The necessary extent of the conventional stone protection is studied. An empirical formula is worked out for the width of the protection layer as function of KC. Also, the effects of head shape, the angle of attack and the presence of a co-directional current are investigated. The results indicate that the scour depth is increased considerably in the presence of a current. Likewise, the scour depth is increased when the head shape is changed from a round shape to a sharp-edged one. It is found that the angle of attack is also an influencing factor as regards the scour depth.     

Crossing Filaments

Solar filaments show the position of large-scale polarity-inversion lines and are used for the reconstruction of large-scale solar magnetic field structure on the basis of Hα synoptic charts for the periods that magnetographic measurements are not available. Sometimes crossing filaments are seen in Hα filtergrams. We analyze daily Hα filtergrams from the archive of Big Bear Solar Observatory for the period of 1999 – 2003 to find crossing and interacting filaments. A number of examples are presented and filament patterns are compared with photospheric magnetic field distributions. We have found that all crossing filaments reveal quadrupolar magnetic configurations of the photospheric field and presume the presence of null points in the corona.     

Evaluation of sampling devices for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface microlayer coastal waters

The sea surface microlayer (SML) may play an important role on the transport and fate of persistent organic pollutants in the marine environment. In order to evaluate the appropriateness of a number of sampling devices for the analysis of 14 parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (3-5 aromatic rings), marine SML waters were sampled using a glass plate, a rotating drum/roller, a metal screen and a surface slick sampler. The underlying waters were also sampled for the determination of the corresponding enrichment factors (EF = [C](microlayer)/[C](underlying water)). The EFs were phase dependent, ranging from 1 to 3 for the dissolved phase and between 4 and 7 for the particulate phase. In order to better assess the performance of the different sampling methods, in terms of phase partitioning, the truly dissolved and colloidal phases were also estimated. Generally, no significant differences were found for the enrichment factors provided by the different methods, due to the observed large variability in concentrations that can be attributed to small-scale coastal processes. However, the metal screen is recommended as the most efficient sampling method for the study of PAHs taking into account the amount of water collected versus time.     

Mapping the thickness of sediments in the Ljubljana Moor basin (Slovenia) using microtremors

The Ljubljana Moor basin is characterized by moderate bedrock topography and thicknesses of Quaternary lacustrine and fluvial sediments ranging from 0 to 200 m. More than 65 boreholes which reached the bedrock were drilled in the area, but their distribution in the basin is very uneven and some data from the boreholes uncertain. There are also no data on S-velocity distribution within the basin, but seismic refraction measurements pointed out a rather uniform increase of P-velocity with depth, great impedance contrast with the bedrock and relatively small lateral velocity variations. The microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method was therefore applied as a complementary tool to seismic refraction survey to map the thickness of sediments. First, microtremors were measured at the locations of boreholes which reached the bedrock and the resonance frequencies determined. The inverse power relationship between the resonance frequency and the thickness of sediments was then determined from 53 data pairs. The quality of the correlation is moderate due to possible heterogeneities in sediments and possible 3D effects in some minor areas, but the obtained parameters correspond well to the values obtained in six other European basins. Secondly, a 16 km-long discontinuous seismic refraction profile was measured across the whole basin, leaving uncovered some larger segments where active seismic measurements were not possible. Microtremors were then measured at 64 locations along the same profile, using 250 m point spacing, without leaving any gaps. The frequency–thickness relationship was used to invert resonance frequencies to depths. These were first validated using the results of the seismic refraction survey, which showed good agreement, and finally used for interpolation in the segments of missing refraction data to obtain a continuous depth profile of the bedrock. The study has shown that the microtremor method can be used as a complementary tool for mapping the thickness of unconsolidated sediments also in areas characterized by moderate bedrock topography. As the input data are always to some extent uncertain, it is important to have a sufficiently large number of borehole data to establish a frequency–thickness relationship, as well as some additional independent geophysical information for its validation.     

Temporal and spatial variation of soil erosion in wooded rangelands of southwest Spain

Changes in land use are common in Mediterranean areas and are reported as having produced changes in the intensity of soil erosion. Dehesas are rangelands with a disperse tree cover, widespread in the south-western part of the Iberian Peninsula and similar ecosystems are also common in other areas with a Mediterranean climate. The aim of the present study is to analyse temporal and spatial variations of soil erosion rates estimated along three hillsides, located in two farms (Buitrera and Parapuños) in southwest Spain. To understand the temporal variation, soil erosion rates were studied in light of land use-management changes that took place during the last few centuries. Results indicate very low erosion rates prior to the 18^th century in both farms. In Buitrera, a first increase of soil loss rates was identified during the period 1831-1897, amounting to 7.4 t ha^-1 y^-1. A further increase took place during the 20^th century, reaching a mean erosion rate of 29.1 t ha^-1 y^-1. In Parapuños, data points to a significant increase from 1881 onwards, with an estimated mean erosion rate of 18.5 t ha^-1 y^-1. Those increases were presumably connected with an intensification of land use, such as cultivation and excessive livestock populations. Regarding spatial variation, the bare surface and the erosive power of run-off along the hillsides accounts for 76% of the soil erosion rates dispersion. At a local scale, the variability of erosion rates could not be explained, because of (i) uncertainty related to the micromorphology of the past soil surface and (ii) the role of tillage erosion in the past. However, the results obtained offer valuable data on the temporal and spatial variation of erosion rates in dehesas at the hillslope scale and a similar approach could be used for other rangelands with a disperse tree cover. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.