Spatio-temporal changes in totally and enzymatically hydrolyzable amino acids of superficial sediments from three contrasted areas

Spatio-temporal changes in totally and enzymatically hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA and EHHA) and EHAA/THAA ratios of superficial sediments were assessed during 1997-1999 in three areas (i.e., the Gulf of Lions, the Bay of Biscay, and Central Chile) differing in their primary productivity. In all three areas, and even off Central Chile where a strong El Niño event took place during 1997-1998, spatial changes were always much greater than temporal ones. The factors affecting the spatial distributions of amino acid concentrations differed among areas. In the Gulf of Lions, sediment granulometry was apparently the most important driving force of THAA, EHAA, and EHAA/THAA, and there was no marked difference between stations located on the open slope and those in submarine canyons. Conversely, in the Bay of Biscay, there were clear differences between the stations located off Cap-Breton, on the open slope, and those in the Cap-Ferret canyon; the latter two featuring lower EHAA and THAA but higher EHAA/THAA. This pattern is likely to result from the predominance of different sources of organic matter and especially from the importance of continental inputs to the Cap-Breton canyon. Off Central Chile, amino acid concentrations and ratios were both maximal around 100 m depth, probably reflecting the interaction between the primary productivity gradient and the presence of an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) reducing the degradation of sedimentary organics. When comparing the average values collected in the three areas studied, THAA and EHAA were highest in Central Chile, intermediate in the Bay of Biscay and lowest in the Gulf of Lions. EHAA/THAA ratios were also highest in Central Chile but were lowest in the Bay of Biscay. Differences between the Gulf of Lions and the Bay of Biscay could have been affected by sampling design. In Central Chile, the use of labile organic carbon to total organic carbon (C-LOM/TOC) and EHAA/THAA as indices of organic matter lability led to very similar results. This was not the case in the Bay of Biscay. It is therefore argued that the use of C-LOM/TOC should be restricted to highly productive areas.     

Evidence for enhanced bioavailability of trace elements in the marine ecosystem of Deception Island, a volcano in Antarctica

This study assessed whether trace elements present at Deception Island, an active submarine volcano in the Antarctic Peninsula, show enhanced biological availability to the local marine community. Using a weak acid extraction method to dissolve organic material and leach associated but not constitutive trace elements of sediments, fifteen elements were measured from seafloor sediment, seawater particulates, and tissues of benthic (bivalves, brittlestars, sea urchins) and pelagic (demersal and pelagic fishes, krill) organisms collected in the flooded caldera. The highest element concentrations were associated with seafloor sediment, the lowest with seawater particulates and organism tissues. In the case of Ag and Se, concentrations were highest in organism tissue, indicating contamination through the food chain and biomagnification of those elements. The elements Al, Fe, Mn, Sr, Ti, and to a lesser extent Zn, were the most concentrated of the trace elements for all sample types. This indicates that the whole ecosystem of Deception Island is contaminated with trace elements from local geothermal activity, which is also reflected in the pattern of element contamination in organisms. Accordingly, element concentrations were higher in organisms collected at Deception Island compared to those from the neighboring non-active volcanic King George Island, suggesting that volcanic activity enhances bioavailability of trace elements to marine organisms. Trace element concentrations were highest in digestive tissue of organisms, suggesting that elements at Deception Island are incorporated into the marine food web mainly through a dietary route.     

A predictive model (ETLM) for As(III) adsorption and surface speciation on oxides consistent with spectroscopic data

Arsenic(III) adsorption reactions are thought to play a critical role in the mobility of arsenic in the environment. It is the nature of the As(III) surface species that must be known on a wide variety of minerals and over a range of pH, ionic strength and surface coverage in order to be able to predict adsorption behavior. EXAFS and XANES spectroscopic studies have identified bidentate, binuclear inner-sphere surface species and/or an outer-sphere species, but only a few oxides have been examined. These results need to be integrated with a predictive surface complexation model in order to ascertain the environmental conditions under which the different surface species may be important on a wide range of solids. In the present study, the surface species information from XAFS and XANES studies has been built into a recent extension of the triple-layer model (ETLM) for the formation of inner-sphere complexes of anions that takes into account the electrostatics of water dipole desorption during ligand exchange reactions. The ETLM has been applied to regress surface titration, proton coadsorption, and As(III) adsorption data over extensive ranges of pH, ionic strength, electrolyte type and surface coverage for magnetite, goethite, gibbsite, amorphous hydrous alumina, hydrous ferric oxide (HFO), ferrihydrite, and amorphous iron oxide. Two principal reactions forming inner- and outer-sphere As(III) surface species,

     

Altimetry and transponder ground simulation experiment

We have designed and built a compact demonstrator unit for the investigation of altimetry and transponder applications. A small light-weight breadboard carries a compact frequency doubled Nd:YAG pulse laser, an afocal beam expansion optics, a small receiver telescope with spectral and spatial filter arrangements and a sensitive photo-detector. The output laser energy can be as high as 45 mJ with a pulse-width of 3 ns and the telescope aperture is 10 cm. Simulations [Degnan, J.J., 2006. Simulating interplanetary transponder and laser communications experiments via dual station ranging to SLR satellites. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Workshop on Laser Ranging, Canberra, Australia, pp. 457-462] suggested that the link margin for low Earth orbiting satellites (LEO) is comfortable. Successful satellite laser ranging from this dual-station experiment in several different configurations was achieved up to the MEO orbit in a 10 day provisional installation.     

Laser guide stars for extremely large telescopes: efficient Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor design using the weighted centre-of-gravity algorithm

Over the last few years increasing consideration has been given to the study of laser guide stars (LGS) for the measurement of the disturbance introduced by the atmosphere in optical and near-infrared (near-IR) astronomical observations from the ground. A possible method for the generation of a LGS is the excitation of the sodium layer in the upper atmosphere at approximately 90 km of altitude. Since the sodium layer is approximately 10 km thick, the artificial reference source looks elongated, especially when observed from the edge of a large aperture. The spot elongation strongly limits the performance of the most common wavefront sensors. The centroiding accuracy in a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor, for instance, decreases proportionally to the elongation (in a photon noise dominated regime). To compensate for this effect, a straightforward solution is to increase the laser power, i.e. to increase the number of detected photons per subaperture. The scope of the work presented in this paper is twofold: an analysis of the performance of the weighted centre of gravity algorithm for centroiding with elongated spots and the determination of the required number of photons to achieve a certain average wavefront error over the telescope aperture.     

Changing hillslope and fluvial Holocene sediment dynamics in a Belgian loess catchment

Floodplain deposition is an essential part of the Holocene sediment dynamics of many catchments and a thorough dating control of these floodplain deposits is therefore essential to understand the driving forces of these sediment dynamics. In this paper we date floodplain and colluvial deposition in the Belgian Dijle catchment using accelerator mass spectrometric radiocarbon and optical stimulated luminescence dating. Relative mass accumulation curves for the Holocene were constructed for three colluvial sites and 12 alluvial sites. A database was constructed of all available radiocarbon ages of the catchment and this database was analysed using relative sediment mass accumulation rates and cumulative probability functions of ages and site‐specific sedimentation curves. Cumulative probability functions of ages were split into different depositional environments representing stable phases and phases of accelerated clastic deposition. The results indicate that there is an important variation between the different dated sites. After an initial stable early and middle Holocene phase with mainly peat growth in the floodplains, clastic sedimentation rates increased from 4000 BC on. This first phase was more pronounced and started somewhat earlier for colluvial deposits then for alluvial deposits. The main part of the Holocene deposits, both in colluvial and alluvial valleys, was deposited during the last 1 ka. The sedimentation pattern of the individual dated sites and the catchment‐wide pattern indicate that land use changes are responsible for the main variations in the Holocene sediment dynamics of this catchment, while the field data do not provide indications for a climatological influence on the sediment dynamics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aspects Of Ring Lasers As Local Earth Rotation Sensors

Ring laser rotation sensors are best known from inertial navigation, wherethey have many advantages over mechanical gyroscopes. They have recentlybeen greatly improved, and show potential as fully independent length-of-daysensors. We discuss some important aspects of current limitations in theirperformance. In particular we demonstrate a novel scheme for thestabilisation of a large ring laser against frequency pulling effectsinduced by backscatter.     

Gravity anomalies and subsurface geology in the Westerwald volcanic area, Germany

The area of the present study constitutes an alkaline volcanic province in the eastern sector of the Rhenish massif. A series of gravity measurements were carried out on the volcanic fields of the Westerwald. Three-dimensional modelling and wavelength filtering processing techniques were used to analyze the gravity data. The filtered Bouguer anomaly maps show two major regional gravity features: (a) Increasing Bouguer values towards the northeastern part of the study area could be caused by lateral lithological variations within the upper crust. (2) Local negative Bouguer values in the southwest correlate with magmatic materials of intermediate type. The modelling results indicate that the volcanics of the Westerwald are underlain by two different magmatic complexes at a depth in the range 3.3–10 km with density values of 2680 and 2750 kg/m³. The densities assigned to the local igneous intrusions are in the range of 2314–2948 kg/m³ and at depths between 0.4 and 1.3 km. In the NE a diabase bed was modelled to a maximum depth of approximately 1.6 km using the assigned density of 2800 kg/m³.