Impact of environmental variables on spatial and seasonal internal phosphorus loading in a mesoeutrophic lake

Strzeszynskie Lake was formerly a slightly eutrophic (meso-eutrophic) water body. The aim of the current research was to define variables on both spatial and seasonal internal phosphorus loading from bottom sediments at five stations located in zones varying in depth, oxygenation, macrophyte presence, and uses of the neighboring catchment area. Ex situ experiments done with the use of intact bottom sediment cores have shown that the highest phosphorus release occurred in the deepest part of the lake and reached 3.6?mg?P/m²d under anoxic conditions during summer thermal stratification. In turn, the internal loading from littoral sediments, which were well aerated all year round, was clearly lower. Furthermore, phosphorus accumulation in the bottom sediment was observed to reach a maximum of 1.45?mg?P/m² d in autumn. A comparison of the internal loading intensity in lake zones with different land uses of the neighboring catchment area has shown slightly higher values at stations adjacent to the forest catchment area than those used for recreation. Changes in the land use of the catchment area of Strzeszynskie Lake, especially the increase in impermeable surfaces, have led to an increased inflow of external loads after heavy rains, resulting in deterioration in water quality and a delayed increase in internal loading.     

Predicting site-specific storm wave run-up

Natural Hazards - Storm wave run-up causes beach erosion, wave overtopping, and street flooding. Extreme runup estimates may be improved, relative to predictions from general empirical formulae...     

Behavioural responses of the bivalve Scrobicularia plana (da Costa) subjected to short-term copper (Cu II) concentrations

Short-term (6 h) behavioural responses and mortality of Scrobicularia exposed to low concentrations of copper in sea water (31%, S) have been investigated.Scrobicularia can detect copper at a concentration of 0·01 ppm. The initial response is valve closure resulting in a rapid drop in heart rate. In concentrations of 0·05, 0·01 and, to a lesser extent, 0·1 ppm copper added to sea water, the clams begin to interact with the polluted water after 2–3 h. In 0·5 ppm, the valves remain closed and the heart rate is maintained at a low level over the 6-h exposure period.Mortality increases with time in 0·5 ppm copper concentration, reaching 50% in 5–7 days. In 0·05 and 0·01 ppm, no mortality was recorded over this period.There is an increase in mantle cavity water calcium concentration after 6 h in 0·5 ppm, in contrast to 0·1, 0·05 and 0·01 ppm. Aspects of anaerobiosis, accumulation of heavy metals and survival are discussed in relation to the behaviour of Scrobicularia exposed to various copper concentrations.     

3D non-hydrostatic modelling of bottom stability under impact of the turbulent ship propeller jet

New three-dimensional numerical non-hydrostatic model with a free surface that was designed for modelling the bottom and bank stability subjected by ship propeller jets is presented. Unlike all known models, it describes three-dimensional fields of velocities generated by ship propellers, turbulence intensity and length scale in the given domain of arbitrary bottom and coastal topography. Results of simulations are compared with the laboratory experiments.     

The Southern Region of Peru Earthquake of June 23rd, 2001

The western border of South America is one of the most important seismogenic regions in the world. In this region the most damaging earthquake ever recorded occurred. In June 23rd, 2001, another very strong earthquake (Mw = 8.1–8.2) occurred and produced death and damages in the whole southern region of Peru. This earthquake was originated by a friction process between Nazca and South American plates and affected an area of about 300 km × 120 km defined by the distribution of more than 220 aftershocks recorded by a local seismic network that operated 20 days. The epicenter of the main shock was localized in the northwestern extremity of the aftershock area, which suggests that the rupture propagated towards the SE direction. The modeling of P-wave for teleseismic distances permitted to define a focal mechanism of reverse type with NW-SE oriented nodal planes and a possible fault plane moving beneath almost horizontally in NE direction. The source time function (STF) suggests a complex process of rupture during 85 sec with 2 successive sources. The second one of greater size, and located approximately 100–120 km toward the SE direction was estimated to have a rupture velocity of about 2 km/sec on a 28°-dipping plane to the SE (N135°). A second event happened 45 sec after the first one with an epicenter 130km farther to the SE and a complex STF. This event and the second source of the main shock caused a Tsunami with waves from 7 to 8 meters that propagated almost orthogonally to the coast line, by affecting mainly the Camaná area.Three of all the aftershocks presented magnitudes greater or equal to Mw = 6.6, two of them occurred in front of the cities of Ilo and Mollendo (June 26th and July 7th) with focal mechanisms similar to the main seismic event. The aftershock of July 5th shows a normal mechanism at a depth of 75 km, and is therefore most likely located within the subducting Nazca plate and not in the coupling. The aftershocks of June 26th (Mw = 6.6) and July 5th (Mw = 6.6) show simple short duration STF. The aftershock of July 7th (Mw = 7.5) with 27-second duration suggests a complex process of energy release with the possible occurrence of a secondary shock with lower focal depth and focal mechanism of inverse type with a great lateral component. Simple and composed focal mechanisms were elaborated for the aftershocks and all have similar characteristics to the main earthquake.The earthquake of June 23rd caused major damages in the whole southern Peru. The damage in towns of Arequipa, Moquegua allow to consider maximum intensities from 6 to 7 (MSK79). In Alto de la Alianza and Ciudad Nueva zones from Tacna, the maximum intensity was of 7⁻ (MSK79).     

A mid-twentieth century reduction in tropical upwelling inferred from coralline trace element proxies

The Cariaco Basin is an important archive of past climate variability given its response to inter- and extratropical climate forcing and the accumulation of annually laminated sediments within an anoxic water column. This study presents high-resolution surface coral trace element records (Montastrea annularis and Siderastrea siderea) from Isla Tortuga, Venezuela, located within the upwelling center of this region. A two-fold reduction in Cd/Ca ratios (3.5–1.7 nmol/mol) is observed from 1946 to 1952 with no concurrent shift in Ba/Ca ratios. This reduction agrees with the hydrographic distribution of dissolved cadmium and barium and their expected response to upwelling. Significant anthropogenic variability is also observed from Pb/Ca analysis, observing three lead maxima since 1920. Kinetic control of trace element ratios is inferred from an interspecies comparison of Cd/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios (consistent with the Sr/Ca kinetic artifact), but these artifacts are smaller than the environmental signal and do not explain the Cd/Ca transition. The trace element records agree with historical climate data and differ from sedimentary faunal abundance records, suggesting a linear response to North Atlantic extratropical forcing cannot account for the observed historical variability in this region.     

Ice cover variability in the Caspian and Aral seas from active and passive microwave satellite data

The paper discusses time and space variations of ice extent in the Caspian and Aral seas during the last decade (1992-2002). It uses synergy of data from active (radar altimeter) and passive (radiometer) microwave nadir-looking instruments onboard the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. The proposed approach is substantiated and validated using both in situ and satellite imagery data for the Caspian Sea. The results indicate significant spatial and temporal variability of ice conditions, with a significant decrease of both the duration of ice season and ice extent during the last four winters (1998-2002). The TOPEX/Poseidon-derived time series of sea ice extent are very valuable in view of the fragmentary and mostly unpublished data on ice conditions on the Caspian and Aral seas since the mid-1980s.     

Total particulate and reactive gaseous mercury in ambient air on the eastern slope of the Mt. Gongga area,China

Total particulate mercury (TPM) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) concentrations in ambient air on the eastern slope of the Mt. Gongga area, Sichuan Province, Southwestern China were monitored from 25 May, 2005 to 29 April, 2006. Simultaneously, Hg concentrations in rain samples were measured from January to December, 2006. The average TPM and RGM concentrations in the study site were 30.7 and 6.2 pg m⁻³, which are comparable to values observed in remote areas in Northern America and Europe, but much lower than those reported in some urban areas in China. The mean seasonal RGM concentration was slightly higher in spring (8.0 pg m⁻³) while the minimum mean concentration was observed in winter (4.0 pg m⁻³). TPM concentrations ranged across two orders of magnitude from 5.2 to 135.7 pg m⁻³ and had a clear seasonal variation: winter (74.1 pg m⁻³), autumn (22.5 pg m⁻³), spring (15.3 pg m⁻³) and summer (10.8 pg m⁻³), listed in decreasing order. The annual wet deposition was 9.1 μg m⁻² and wet deposition in the rainy season (May–October) represented over 80% of the annual total. The temporal distribution of TPM and RGM suggested distinguishable dispersion characteristics of these Hg species on a regional scale. Elevated TPM concentration in winter was probably due to regional and local enhanced coal burning and low wet deposition velocity. The RGM distribution pattern is closely related to daily variation in UV radiation observed during the winter sampling period indicating that photo-oxidation processes and diurnal changes in meteorology play an important role in RGM generation.     

Holocene climate and glacial history of the northeastern Antarctic Peninsula: the marine sedimentary record from a long SHALDRIL core

A high-resolution record of Holocene deglacial and climate history was obtained from a 77 m sediment core from the Firth of Tay, Antarctic Peninsula, as part of the SHALDRIL initiative. This study provides a detailed sedimentological record of Holocene paleoclimate and glacial advance and retreat from the eastern side of the peninsula. A robust chronostratigraphy was derived from thirty-three radiocarbon dates on carbonate material. This chronostratigraphic framework was used to establish the timing of glacial and climate events derived from multiple proxies including: magnetic susceptibility, electric resistivity, porosity, ice-rafted debris content, organic carbon content, nitrogen content, biogenic silica content, and diatom and foraminiferal assemblages. The core bottomed-out in a stiff diamicton interpreted as till. Gravelly and sandy mud above the till is interpreted as proximal glaciomarine sediment that represents decoupling of the glacier from the seafloor circa 9400 cal. yr BP and its subsequent landward retreat. This was approximately 5000 yr later than in the Bransfield Basin and South Shetland Islands, on the western side of the peninsula. The Firth of Tay core site remained in a proximal glaciomarine setting until 8300 cal. yr BP, at which time significant glacial retreat took place. Deposition of diatomaceous glaciomarine sediments after 8300 cal. yr BP indicates that an ice shelf has not existed in the area since this time.The onset of seasonally open marine conditions between 7800 and 6000 cal. yr BP followed the deglacial period and is interpreted as the mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum. Open marine conditions lasted until present, with a minor cooling having occurred between 6000 and 4500 cal. yr BP and a period of minor glacial retreat and/or decreased sea ice coverage between 4500 and 3500 cal. yr BP. Finally, climatic cooling and variable sea ice cover occurred from 3500 cal. yr BP to near present and it is interpreted as being part of the Neoglacial. The onset of the Neoglacial appears to have occurred earlier in the Firth of Tay than on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age were not pronounced in the Firth of Tay. The breadth and synchroneity of the rapid regional warming and glacial retreat observed in the Antarctic Peninsula during the last century appear to be unprecedented during the Holocene epoch.