Production of a molybdophore during metal-targeted dissolution of silicates by soil bacteria

Although many bioessential metals are scarce in natural water and rock systems, microbial secretion of high-affinity ligands for metal extraction from solid phases has only been documented for Fe. However, we have discovered that Mo is extracted from a silicate by a high-affinity ligand (a possible “molybdophore”) secreted by an N₂-fixing soil bacterium. The putative molybdophore, aminochelin, is secreted as a siderophore under Fe-depleted conditions, but is also secreted under Fe-sufficient, Mo-depleted conditions. Presumably, molybdophore production facilitates uptake of Mo for use in Mo enzymes. In contrast, an Fe-requiring soil bacterium without a special Mo requirement only enhances the release of Fe from the silicate. Fractionation of Mo stable isotopes during uptake to cells may provide a “fingerprint” for the importance of chelating ligands in such systems. Many such metal-specific ligands secreted by prokaryotes for extraction of bioessential metals, their effects on Earth materials, and their possible utility in the recovery of economic metals remain to be discovered.     

Karst database development in Minnesota: design and data assembly

The Karst Feature Database (KFD) of Minnesota is a relational GIS-based Database Management System (DBMS). Previous karst feature datasets used inconsistent attributes to describe karst features in different areas of Minnesota. Existing metadata were modified and standardized to represent a comprehensive metadata for all the karst features in Minnesota. Microsoft Access 2000 and ArcView 3.2 were used to develop this working database. Existing county and sub-county karst feature datasets have been assembled into the KFD, which is capable of visualizing and analyzing the entire data set. By November 17 2002, 11,682 karst features were stored in the KFD of Minnesota. Data tables are stored in a Microsoft Access 2000 DBMS and linked to corresponding ArcView applications. The current KFD of Minnesota has been moved from a Windows NT server to a Windows 2000 Citrix server accessible to researchers and planners through networked interfaces.     

Beobachtungsergebnisse der Berliner Arbeitsgemeinschaft für veränderliche Sterne e. V. (BAV)

In this 8th compilation, the following results of observations are given: 207 observed minima of 56 eclipsing binaries, 100 maxima of 21 RR Lyrae- and δ Cephei-stars, 82 results of 32 Mira stars and long period variables, and 47 results of 9 RV Tauri stars, semiregular, and irregular variables, from the years 1966 up to 1968.     

The ordovician and other post-rosslare series Rocks in Southeast Co. Wexford

Ordovician sediments at Tagoat and Rosslare Harbour are re-described and their relationship to the underlying Rosslare Series discussed. A brief outline of their petrology is given, but it is shown that the fauna is in need of revision before reliable correlations can be made. Similar rocks are recorded near Tomhaggard; amongst these, spotted mudstones imply Ordovician or later intrusions. Undeformec dykes intrusive into the Rosslare Series are believed to be representatives of this phase.     

Copper(II) humate mobility in kaolinite soil

An investigation of the influence of humate on the mobility of copper(II) ions in a kaolinite soil using leaching tests and electrokinetic experiments is reported. The data are interpreted in terms of humate–copper–clay interactions and humate electrical charge. Humate is mostly immobile below pH8 but is more mobile in alkaline conditions (sorption to kaolinite reduces its mobility in neutral conditions). Copper humate complexes are mobile in both acidic and alkaline conditions, but not in neutral conditions where they are sorbed. The dissolved copper humate complexes that form in acidic conditions are positively charged. The net effect of humate is to increase cupric ion mobility in kaolinite soil, especially in alkaline conditions.     

Changes in American urban floodplain occupancy since 1958: the experiences of nine cities

In 1958, researchers from the University of Chicago documented increases in the number of structures in the floodplains of 17 American cities, a phenomenon attributed to the prevalence of flood control structures. Because federal policies have shifted to managing floodplains, this paper updates the 1958 study for nine of the cities. Several trends are apparent. Development pressures determine flood-plain encroachment; floodplain management regulations have been implemented where it was easiest to do so. Further, structural measures continue to dominate. Thus, while many local officials are becoming more aware of advantages of flood-plain regulation, implementation and enforcement are inconsistent and uneven.     

Reconstruction of palaeosalinity using carbon isotopes and benthic associations: a comparison

Carbon and oxygen isotopes were determined on 40 recrystallized shells of Late Jurassic bivalves from the Lusitanian Basin of Portugal. In contrast with the oxygen isotopes, which exhibited considerable diagenetic distortion, the carbon isotopes are thought to preserve a record of the salinity of the Jurassic marginal marine seas in which these bivalves lived. The reconstructed palaeosalinities range from 35%o (euhaline) to 5% (oligohaline). Comparing these values with the palaeosalinity reconstructed from a palaeoecological analysis of 17 stratigraphic levels within the basin, the independently derived values agree in most cases. Strongly differing values are explained as being due to biotic factors and to diagenetic distortion of the isotopic signal; they are less likely to be due to smallscale time-averaging or insufficient microstratigraphic sampling. On the whole, the carbon isotope analyses are thought to produce reasonable palaeosalinity values, although data from infaunal, originally aragonitic bivalves appear to be less reliable than those from epifaunal bivalves with a predominantly or exclusively calcitic shell. As diagenetic alteration of the carbon isotope signal is, however, unpredictable and biotic effects on the isotopic composition are insufficiently known, palaeosalinity reconstructions based on stable isotope data should be supported by palaeoecological data.