The distribution of tritium and CFCs in the Weddell Sea during the mid-1980s

Transient tracer data (tritium, CFC11 and CFC12) from the southern, central and northwestern Weddell Sea collected during Polarstern cruises ANT III-3, ANT V-2/3/4 and during Andenes cruise NARE 85 are presented and discussed in the context of hydrographic observations. A kinematic, time-dependent, multi-box model is used to estimate mean residence times and formation rates of several water masses observed in the Weddell Sea.Ice Shelf Water is marked by higher tritium and lower CFC concentrations compared to surface waters. The tracer signature of Ice Shelf Water can only be explained by assuming that its source water mass, Western Shelf Water, has characteristics different from those of surface waters. Using the transient nature of tritium and the CFCs, the mean residence time of Western Shelf Water on the shelf is estimated to be approximately 5 years. Ice Shelf Water is renewed on a time scale of about 14 years from Western Shelf Water by interaction of this water mass with glacial ice underneath the Filchner-Ronne Ice shelf. The Ice Shelf Water signature can be traced across the sill of the Filchner Depression and down the continental slope of the southern Weddell Sea. On the continental slope, new Weddell Sea Bottom Water is formed by entrainment of Weddell Deep Water and Weddell Sea Deep Water into the Ice Shelf Water plume. In the northwestern Weddell Sea, new Weddell Sea Bottom Water is observed in two narrow, deep boundary currents flowing along the base of the continental slope. Classically defined Weddell Sea Bottom Water (θ ≤ −0.7°C) and Weddell Sea Deep Water (−0.7°C ≤ θ ≤ 0°C) are ventilated from the deeper of these boundary currents by lateral spreading and mixing. Model-based estimates yield a total formation rate of 3.5Sv for new Weddell Sea Bottom Water (θ = −1.0°C) and a formation rate of at least 11Sv for Antarctic Bottom Water (θ = −0.5°C).     

Photoadaptation of carboxylating enzymes and photosynthesis during a spring bloom

Properties of the light saturation curve of photosynthesis and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC) activity are shown to change qualitatively in a natural population of marine phytoplankton during a spring bloom. Evidence is presented to show that these changes constitute photoadapative responses to increasing irradiance. As irradiance increased during the bloom, both the level of light-saturated photosynthesis (P_m) and the initial slope of the light saturation curve (α = photosynthetic efficiency) increased whether those parameters were normalized to chlorophyll a concentration (P_m^b, α^b) or to cell numbers (P_m^c, α^c). The magnitudes of these changes were such that I_k (= P_m/α, the photoadaptation parameter) did not change, but I_m, the light intensity at which photosynthesis becomes saturated, increased. RuBPC activity, both chlorophyll a (RuBPC^b) and cell number normalized (RuBPC^c), also increased during the bloom. We suggest that these adaptations were achieved by simultaneously increasing the number of photosynthetic units, proportionately decreasing the photosynthetic unit size, and increasing both the concentrations of the enzymes of the dark reactions and possibly also of photosynthetic electron transport components.We also observed diminished levels of photoinhibition in the high light adapted cells late in the bloom and have suggested that this was a consequence of the same suite of physiological changes.In situ carbon fixation per cell increased during the bloom whereas no change occurred in this parameter when normalized to chlorophyll a concentration. Although these photoadaptive responses thus permitted carbon to be fixed in situ more rapidly per cell, at a constant efficiency with respect to investment of energy in the photosynthetic apparatus, they did not result in a change in growth rate. Based on consideratios of the role of time scale in physiological adaptation, however, it is suggested that the observed alterations in photosynthesis with increasing irradiance might permit a cell to more rapidly fill an energy quota for division, possibly an advantage in a mixing environment in which energy is patchily distributed, both spatially and temporalyy.Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity when normalized to chlorophyll a (PEPC^b) did not change during the bloom while chlorophyll a normalized dark carbon fixation decreased sharply and was quantitatively small compared to PEPC^b. On this basis and considering that RuBPC^b increased during the bloom, it is suggested that, although PEPC may be involved in dark carbon fixation, its most important quantitative role is probably an indirect one in light dependent photosynthesis.We have also considered the relevance of laboratory results on photoadaptation to interpretations of field studies and have suggested that batch culture studies must be treated with caution but that turbidistat and semi-continuous methods provide reasonable simulations of natural conditions.     

Simultaneous exposure of English sole (Parophrys vetulus) to sediment-associated xenobiotics: Part 1—uptake and disposition of 14C-polychlorinated biphenyls and 3H-benzo[a]pyrene

English sole (Parophrys vetulus) were exposed to environmentally realistic levels of sediment-associated ³H-benzo[a]pyrene (3 μg BaP/g sediment, dry weight) and ¹⁴C-Aroclor 1254 (1 μg PCBs/g), separately and together, for up to 10 days. BaP and its metabolites in tissues reached steady-state concentrations by the first day of the exposure, whereas PCBs did not approach steady-state concentrations until the tenth day of exposure. Simultaneous exposure of sole to BaP and PCBs, relative to separate exposure to the xenobiotics, significantly increased the concentrations of BaP-derived radioactivity and decreased the concentrations of PCB-derived radioactivity in some tissues and bile. Accumulation of PCB-derived radioactivity, estimated as the burden in tissues, was significantly greater (4- to 13-fold) than that of BaP-derived radioactivity throughout the experiments and regardless of the type of exposure. The rank of the concentrations of PCB-derived radioactivity in tissues and bile was: bile ～ liver > brain > kidney ～ gill > skin ～ blood ～ muscle and for BaP-derived radioactivity the order was: bile > liver > gill > kidney > skin ～ blood > muscle > brain. BaP-derived radioactivity in liver and bile was present primary (85–99%) as metabolites, whereas PCB-derived radioactivity was present equally as parent compounds and metabolites in bile and primarily (98 %) as parent compounds in liver. Hydrolysis of bile from PCB/BaP-exposed sole with β-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase released 35 % of the BaP-derived radioactivity and 32 % of the PCB-derived radioactivity as primary metabolites. A much higher proportion of the BaP-derived radioactivity (64 %) than the PCB-derived radioactivity (13 %) in bile was unaffected by the enzyme treatment, indicating differences in the conjugation of the primary metabolites of PCBs and BaP. The results suggest that in contaminated environments the tissue to sediment concentration ratios for PCBs would exceed that for BaP and its metabolites; however, BaP would be continually absorbed and metabolized by sole to potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds. In addition, the tissue levels of these toxic compounds may be increased by simultaneous exposure to PCBs.     

A fish hepatocyte model for the investigation of the effects of environmental contaminants

An isolated fish hepatocyte culture system was developed as a models ystem to investigate the mechanisms of action of environmental contaminants. Hepatocytes were isolated from striped bass (Morone saxatilis) by an adaptation of the two stage perfusion technique of Seglen.¹ The system was used to evaluate metal binding protein (MBP) induction in response to cadmium, a primary inducer of metallothionein (MT) in rat hepatocytes. Striped bass hepatocytes appeared to be refractory to the induction of MBP by cadmium, since there was no significant increase in the synthesis of MBP for any of the doses at any of the time points investigated. However, when a similar experiment was performed using rat hepatocytes there was induction of MBP that was related to both dose and time. These comparative experiments indicate that although there are similarities between the hepatocytes of the two species in regard to ³⁵S incorporation into low molecular weight metal-binding proteins, there appear to be significant quantitative differences as well in regard to MBP kinetics. This in vitro model system could potentially be utilized to investigate the toxicological properties of other environmental contaminants.     

东亚和东南亚第四系时间界面的建议

在东亚和东南亚第四系对比中,有关的几条界限,本文建议如后。采用Globorotalia truncatulinoides的初现位作为本区海相第四系的下界,其位置大致在古地磁Olduvai亚时的下界,时间约为距今1.9Ma。在南中国海、东海及沿岸地区,发现了以G.truncatulinoides的初现位为代表的一系列有意义的生物事件,如Pulleniatina finalis的初现位,Globigerinoides obliquus和Globoquadrina altispira的灭绝位,以及Globorotalia menardii和Pulleniatina obliquloculata壳体旋向的变化。此界限在东亚和东南亚也是相当稳定的。在陆相地层中,以泥河湾组为代表,狭义的泥河湾动物群(相当于晚维拉方动物群)所在地层的底界,其古地磁位置为Olduvai亚时的底界。以此作为陆相第四系的下界,与上述海相第四系底界一致。 以古地磁布容/松山界线作为中更新世和早更新世的界限,其年代为0.73MaB.P.。中国中更新世的标准地层周口店组,其底界恰为布容/松山的转换面,北京猿人的年代为0.60—0.23MaB.P.。在洛川黄土剖面上,布容/松山界线为古土壤S_7的底界。雷琼地区中更新统下部的北海组的底界也是布容/松山界线,所产的玻璃陨石的裂变径迹年龄为0.687—0.733MaB.P.。在黄海,布容/松山界线是第Ⅶ海侵层的顶界。通过岩石地层标志,以及动物群、古人     

Ensuring confidence in radionuclide-based sediment chronologies and bioturbation rates

Sedimentary records of naturally occurring and fallout-derived radionuclides are widely used as tools for estimating both the ages of recent sediments and rates of sedimentation and bioturbation. Developing these records to the point of data interpretation requires careful sample collection, processing, analysis and data modeling. In this work, we document a number of potential pitfalls that can impact sediment core records and their interpretation. This paper is not intended as an exhaustive treatment of these potential problems. Rather, the emphasis is on potential problems that are not well documented in the literature, as follows: (1) the mere sampling of sediment cores at a resolution that is too coarse can result in an apparent diffusive mixing of the sedimentary record at rates comparable to diffusive bioturbation rates observed in many locations; (2) ²¹⁰Pb profiles in slowly accumulating sediments can easily be misinterpreted to be driven by sedimentation, when in fact bioturbation is the dominant control. Multiple isotopes of different half lives and/or origin may help to distinguish between these two possible interpretations; (3) apparent mixing can occur due simply to numerical artifacts inherent in the finite difference approximations of the advection diffusion equation used to model sedimentation and bioturbation. Model users need to be aware of this potential problem. Solutions to each of these potential pitfalls are offered to ensure the best possible sediment age estimates and/or sedimentation and bioturbation rates can be obtained.     

Robust Range-Only Beacon Localization

In this paper, we present a system capable of simultaneously estimating the position of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and the positions of stationary range-only beacons. Notably, our system does not require beacon positions a priori, and our system performs well even when range measurements are severely degraded by noise and outliers. We present a powerful outlier rejection method that can identify groups of range measurements that are consistent with each other, and a method for initializing beacon positions in an extended Kalman filter (EKF). We have successfully applied our algorithms to real-world data and have demonstrated a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system whose navigation performance is comparable to that of systems that assume known beacon locations     

薛家岛湾沉积动力学特征及海港开发研究

于１９９０年秋对胶州湾内的薛家岛湾进行海洋水动力条件及积动力学特征,泥沙运动规律研究,为开发建设港口提供科学依据。结果表明,湾内深大于１ｍ的海底泥沙发生“全面移动”的时间,一年内仅有１－２ｄ,其余处于稳定状态或“表面移动”状态。湾内泥沙来源很少,预计建港后,港池和航道年平均回淤量分别小于１６ｃｍ,１０ｃｍ对于开发中小型港口十分有利。     

中华半管藻繁殖生物学研究──Ⅱ.营养细胞和休眼孢子的形态结构

通过扫描电镜观察中华半管藻的营养细胞和休眠孢子的形态结构显示：营养细胞上下壳各具一个线性裂口而不外突的唇形突,壳壁上的眠纹放射状,爪状连接刺上有零散的单孔,从单孔分泌胶质与相邻细胞连接;休眠孢子双凸透镜形或近球形,壳厚,表面平滑无纹饰,上壳面边缘具8～16根分叉长刺,下壳面具微刺,外围有一裙状物,其上有微孔。两类细胞不同的形态特征反映其不同的生态适应。     

南海地区海气环境场的季节和年际变化

本文对南海地区(0—20°N,105—135°E)海气环境场进行EOF分析。其结果除了深入了解南海地区气候的基本场外,还揭示了叠加在基本场上的各种扰动场与热带天气系统的联系,为研究南海ITCZ等热带天气系统以及南海环境场对EL—Ni(?)o现象的反映提供了研究依据。