Indicators of sediment and biotic mercury contamination in a southern New England estuary

Total mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were analyzed in near surface sediments (0-2 cm) and biota (zooplankton, macro-invertebrates, finfish) collected from Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island/Massachusetts, USA) and adjacent embayments and tidal rivers. Spatial patterns in sediment contamination were governed by the high affinity of Hg for total organic carbon (TOC). Sediment MeHg and percent MeHg were also inversely related to summer bottom water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, presumably due to the increased activity of methylating bacteria. For biota, Hg accumulation was influenced by inter-specific habitat preferences and trophic structure, and sediments with high TOC and percent silt-clay composition limited mercury bioavailability. Moreover, hypoxic bottom water limited Hg bioaccumulation, which is possibly mediated by a reduction in biotic foraging, and thus, dietary uptake of mercury. Finally, most biota demonstrated a significant positive relationship between tissue and TOC-normalized sediment Hg, but relationships were much weaker or absent for sediment MeHg. These results have important implications for the utility of estuarine biota as subjects for mercury monitoring programs.     

地壳形变与分形

众所周知,地震的频度-震级统计关系满足古登堡-里克特关系式。易知,这一关系是分形的,分维数D=1.8～2.0。既然每条断层都有其特征地震这一观点已被普遍接受,那么断层的频数-尺度统计关系也将是分形的。有限的野外研究表明,断层的出露部分是D≈1.6的二维分形(地震和断层的分维数并不要求一定相等,因为地震的复发时间亦具有依赖于标度的幂律关系)。断块在很宽的尺度范围内具有D≈2.5的分形频数-尺度关系。关于构造形变的一个模型就是碎裂,这样一个标度不变的模型似乎与上述讨论的分形关系是一致的。地震活动性具有许多“自组织临界现象”的显著特性,能量(应变)被持续不断地施加于地壳上,又以离散事件的形式(地震)被释放掉,而这些离散的事件具有分形的频数-尺度分布。这样,认为大陆地壳的所有地方均处于这样一种临界状态似乎是有道理的(类似于与完全塑性有关的临界应力),其证据来源于板内地震的分布,以及差不多是任何一个地方的人工水库蓄水后所发生的诱发地震。     

Well vulnerability: a quantitative approach for source water protection

The concept of vulnerability of drinking water sources is reviewed, and a quantitative approach for assessing well vulnerability for complex three-dimensional ground water systems is developed. The approach focuses on the relative expected impact of potential contaminant sources at unknown locations within a well capture zone, providing relative measures of intrinsic well vulnerability, including the expected times of arrival of a contaminant, the dispersion-related reduction in concentration, the time taken to breach a certain quality objective, and the corresponding exposure times. Thus, the result of the analysis includes the usual advective travel time information used in conventional wellhead protection analysis, plus a set of selected quantitative measures expressing the expected impact. The technique is based on adjoint theory and combines forward- and backward-in-time transport modeling using a standard numerical flow and transport code. The methodology is demonstrated using the case study of a complex glacial multiaquifer system in Ontario. The new approach will be useful in helping water managers develop more physically based and quantitative wellhead protection strategies.     

应用Rietveld全图谱拟合法进行矿物定量分析

采用Ｒｉｅｔｖｅｌｄ法对一些多组分标准物相及天然矿物混合物进行定量相分析已成现实。对刚玉与石英、刚玉与赤铁矿，刚玉与钛铁矿，刚玉与磁铁矿。刚玉与黑云母，刚玉与沸石，刚玉与发光沸石或刚玉与斜发沸石的二元混合物（这些二元混合物的重量比均为５０：５０）通过数字Ｘ射线粉晶衍射（ＸＲＤ）资料进行分析。     

利用固体点阵模型进行加卸载响应比的统计研究--兼论潮汐诱发与地震预测

为了验证Mora等人利用固体点阵模型研究加卸载响应比结果的统计稳定性，本文进行了统计实验。每种情况使用24组试件，每一个试件具有相同的宏观参数（潮汐扰动应力的振幅A、周期T、构造应力加载率k），但是粒子的排列方式不同。单轴压缩实验的结果表明：在灾变破坏发生以前的一定时间内，整体平均的加卸载响应比值明显升高，与大地震发生前观察到的加卸载响应比值异常升高是一致的。在剪切实验中，我们发现有两个参数控制着地震与潮汐应力的相关性。一个参数是A／（kT），该参数控制着最大地震率与扰动应力最大振幅的相角差。当该参数增加时，该相角差降低。另一个参数是AT／k，该参数控制着模型地震概率密度函数的高度。当这个参数增加时，概率密度函数变得又尖又狭窄，表明潮汐应力有很强的诱发作用。剪切实验中加卸载响应比的统计研究结果也表明，除了在潮汐诱发作用很强的情况下，卸载周期中数据缺乏导致加卸载响应比不能计算外，较大事件更容易出现在加卸载响应比的较高阶段，该结论更进一步支持加卸载响应比理论。     

Evaluation of two direct immunoassays for rapid detection of petroleum products on marine birds

To reduce rehabilitation time and improve survival, a practical, objective test is needed to determine if marine birds are contaminated with oil before they enter captivity. The RaPID Assays and EnviroGard immunoassays for detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil were evaluated for their ability to detect petroleum on feather samples from 30 intermediate fuel oil contaminated and 30 uncontaminated common murres (Uria aalge). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, precision, and time required to run each assay were determined. The RaPID Assays was 96.7% sensitive and specific, while the EnviroGard assay was 93.3% sensitive, and 90.0% specific. Sensitivity decreased at higher dilutions for both assays. Intra-replicate variation was less than 20%. Our evaluation showed that these immunoassays are rapid and cost-effective methods for detecting oil-contamination on the plumage of seabirds, with the EnviroGard assay being more practical in most oil spill response situations due to ease of use and rapidity of results.     

区域变质多相方解石大理岩中次生相颗粒对稳定颗粒粒度的效应研究

在马萨诸塞州亚当斯市Ｐｆｉｚｅｒ采石场采集的富方解石Ｓｅｈｌｂｕｒｎｅ大理岩样品，在颗粒粒度上呈现量级变化序列。方解石的颗粒粒度范围为９４￣１１０１μｍ。由于这些方解石大理岩都是同温、同压、同应变条件下生成的，因此肯定有一些其它因素导致了颗粒粒度的不同。颗粒粒度显示出受杂质密集度或次生相颗粒控制。在次生相颗粒体积分数小的地方出现大的方解石颗粒，且其粒度随次生相体积分数的增大而减小。方解石颗粒粒度（