Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Limnobium laevigatum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ludwigia peploides</Emphasis>: their phytoremediation potential in water contaminated with heavy metals

Contamination with heavy metals in surface and groundwater is a threat to human health and ecosystems. Due to this, the need arises to remediate water polluted through ecological and profitable technologies, such as phytoremediation. The objective of the work was to evaluate the concentration of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in the floating macrophytes Limnobium laevigatum and Ludwigia peploides, after being exposed to contaminated water experimentally. In this way to be able to determine if these plants have mechanisms that allow them to accumulate the metals in the roots and to perform the translocation of these to different vegetative organs, L. laevigatum and L. peploides were placed in solutions contaminated with Pb ([Pb]?=?5 mg/l) and Zn ([Zn]?=?20 mg/l). The concentrations of metals in water, root and leaf samples were evaluated as a function of time (0, 1, 2 and 4 days). The determination of the metals was performed by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry technique. After 4 days of exposure to Pb and Zn, the plants showed high metal removal efficiencies of water, more to 70% in all cases. Pb was accumulated fundamentally by roots, while Zn was accumulated more in the leaves. In addition, the bioconcentration and translocation factors for each metal were calculated.     

Vulnerable groups and preliminary insights into intersecting categories of identity in Laamu Atoll,Maldives

The notion of vulnerability has acquired a significant role in discussions around reducing risk and identifying vulnerable groups, which is particularly important for targeting risk‐reducing policy and practice. Through ten semi‐structured interviews with 24 stakeholders, this study collected local perceptions on the following groups considered most vulnerable in Laamu Atoll, Maldives: youth and children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, displaced persons and migrants, and farmers. In doing this, the significance of intersecting categories of identity for understanding vulnerability emerged and was explored; an approach that is often absent or scarcely applied in studies that identify vulnerable groups in the Maldives and elsewhere. Intersections between location, youth and gender or disability, as well as gender and marital status emerged as relevant for the Laamu Atoll context. Although this study acknowledges the incompleteness of its intersectional analysis, these findings provide important preliminary insights into the role of intersectionality in shaping vulnerability experience. To enhance scholarship on vulnerability, future studies could further explore intersectionality in Laamu Atoll and the Maldives using this study as a base and also improve its practical applicability for policy and practice.     

Unique achondrite Northwest Africa 11042: Exploring the melting and breakup of the L chondrite parent body

Northwest Africa (NWA) 11042 is a heavily shocked achondrite with medium‐grained cumulate textures. Its olivine and pyroxene compositions, oxygen isotopic composition, and chromium isotopic composition are consistent with L chondrites. Sm‐Nd dating of its primary phases shows a crystallization age of 4100 ± 160 Ma. Ar‐Ar dating of its shocked mineral maskelynite reveals an age of 484.0 ± 1.5 Ma. This age coincides roughly with the breakup event of the L chondrite parent body evident in the shock ages of many L chondrites and the terrestrial record of fossil L chondritic chromite. NWA 11042 shows large depletions in siderophile elements (<0.01×CI) suggestive of a complex igneous history involving extraction of a Fe‐Ni‐S liquid on the L chondrite parent body. Due to its relatively young crystallization age, the heat source for such an igneous process is most likely impact. Because its mineralogy, petrology, and O isotopes are similar to the ungrouped achondrite NWA 4284 (this work), the two meteorites are likely paired and derived from the same parent body.     

Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.     

Pockmarks in the inner Oslofjord,Norway

Multibeam bathymetric surveys of the Inner Oslofjord, Norway have revealed a high density of pockmarks in the 179-km² inner fjord area, which contains over 500 pockmarks of varying size, typically 20–50 m in diameter and 2–10 m deep. These pockmarks have been investigated with a variety of techniques, including acoustic subbottom profiling, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of cores, remotely operated vehicle observation, and morphometry. Both the distribution and shapes of the pockmarks suggest that they are related to structures in the bedrock underlying relatively thin (<50 m) unconsolidated glacial and postglacial sediments. The data provide no direct indication of a particular mode of pockmark formation, but release of large amounts of biogenic, shallow methane seems unlikely. Several lines of evidence point to a continuous process of pockmark formation followed by inactivity, with some pockmarks recently active whereas others have been inactive for a considerable time. Some pockmarks are characterised by coarse sediment in their centres. The density, variety and easy access make this pockmark field an ideal model area for pockmark research. John S. Gray is deceased.     

Fluid inclusion evidence for impact‐related hydrothermal fluid and hydrocarbon migration in Creataceous sediments of the ICDP‐Chicxulub drill core Yax‐1

Fluid inclusions studies in quartz and calcite in samples from the ICDP‐Chicxulub drill core Yaxcopoil‐1 (Yax‐1) have revealed compelling evidence for impact‐induced hydrothermal alteration. Fluid circulation through the melt breccia and the underlying sedimentary rocks was not homogeneous in time and space. The formation of euhedral quartz crystals in vugs hosted by Cretaceous limestones is related to the migration of hot (>200 °C), highly saline, metal‐rich, hydrocarbon‐bearing brines. Hydrocarbons present in some inclusions in quartz are assumed to derive from cracking of pre‐impact organic matter. The center of the crater is assumed to be the source of the hot quartz‐forming brines. Fluid inclusions in abundant newly‐formed calcite indicate lower cyrstallization temperatures (75–100 °C). Calcite crystallization is likely related to a later stage of hydrothermal alteration. Calcite precipitated from saline fluids, most probably from formation water. Carbon and oxygen isotope compositions and REE distributions in calcites and carbonate host rocks suggest that the calcite‐forming fluids have achieved close equilibrium conditions with the Cretaceous limestones. The precipitation of calcite may be related to the convection of local pore fluids, possibly triggered by impact‐induced conductive heating of the sediments.     

Designation processes for marine protected areas in the coastal wetlands of South Korea

The history of Korean tidal flat management and the process for designating Coastal Wetland Protected Areas (CWPAs) are described. Korean coastal wetlands have a long history of intensive use through reclamation for agricultural and industrial uses in the 20th century. Recently, the management policy is shifting away from intensive use towards the conservation of wetlands. This shift is caused by increasing public awareness of the value of wetlands and strong institutional support from the government. Since the Wetlands Conservation Act was passed in 1999, a total of twelve CWPAs have been designated through both top-down and bottom-up processes. Three designation paths are classified based on the relevant drivers, namely government-driven designations (seven CWPAs), local community driven designations (three CWPAs), and conflict resolution (trade-offs) driven designation (two CWPAs). The lessons learned from the designation of Korean CWPAs is that diversification of designation process could facilitate voluntary participation of local stakeholders and thereby enhance the chance of successful implementation of wise use strategy of tidal flats.     

Should Women Count? A Context for the Debate*

Much recent feminist geographical scholarship emphasizes the utility of qualitative research methods; yet, a significant proportion of feminist research in geography is quantitative. Geographers' engagement with the ideas of feminist theorists has shed new light on the relationship between epistemology, methodology, and objectivity, which in turn has facilitated a reexamination of feminist uses of quantification. In providing a context for the debate over quantitative and qualitative methods, we argue that each has a place in feminist geographical research.     

Jökulhlaup-related Ice Fracture and Supraglacial Water Release During the November 1996 Jökulhlaup, Skeiðarárjökull, Iceland

During the initial stages of the November 1996 jökulhlaup at Skeiðarárjökull, Iceland, floodwaters burst onto the glacier surface via a series of fractures. This supraglacial drainage led to the formation of a number of distinct ice surface depressions, one of which is investigated in detail. The morphology and structural characteristics of this feature are described, as well as the sedimentology of an associated assemblage of debris-filled fractures. This work suggests that debris-charged subglacial floodwaters travelled up to the glacier surface, where supraglacial flow occurred initially via an extensive network of fractures, orientated parallel to the glacier margin. Supraglacial discharge became progressively more focused into a series of discrete outlets, leading to the mechanical erosion of a number of depressions on the glacier surface. The associated transfer of subglacially derived floodwaters to high levels within the glacier resulted in the rapid entrainment of large volumes of sediment which may influence the patterns, processes and products of ice-marginal sedimentation in the future.     

Sources, distribution and storage of heavy metals in the Río Pilcomayo, Bolivia

The Río Pilcomayo rises on the Cerro Rico de Potosí precious metal-polymetallic tin deposits of Bolivia, and flows in a southeasterly direction for ca. 600 km to Bolivia's southern border with Argentina. Mining of the Potosí deposits has occurred continuously since 1545, generating large quantities of waste materials in the headwater of the basin. In addition, a tailings dam breach at the Porco mine in 1996 released an estimated 235 000 m³ of tailings and fluid into the upper reaches of the Río Pilaya, the largest tributary to the Pilcomayo.Concentrations of As, Sb, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, Ag, Tl and Zn in contemporary channel sediments upstream of the Pilaya confluence are significantly elevated above background values. Elevated levels appear to be associated with pyrite- and other sulphide mineral-bearing tailings materials transported more than 200 km downstream of the Potosí mines. Significant downstream declines in elemental concentrations occur within 15 km, and again between 150 and 200 km, from the mines. The initial decrease in concentrations is due to the rapid dilution of nearly pure tailings effluent released to the river from milling facilities near Potosí. The latter decrease results from a combination of geomorphic processes including the storage of sediment-borne metals within the channel bed and the influx of ‘clean’ sediment from several large tributaries. Downstream of the Pilaya confluence, concentrations of Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn are only slightly elevated above background values, and Ag, Cd, Sb and Tl cannot be distinguished from background levels. These data suggest that while the Porco tailings spill may have had a significant short-term impact on sediment and water quality along the lower reaches of the Río Pilcomayo, its longer-term impacts were limited. Metals stored and eroded from alluvial deposits of historical age in upstream reaches appear to be an important source of metals to the river today. An additional, and perhaps more significant source, is the release of tailings effluent to the river from modern milling operations. The transport of these contaminants downstream of Icla (203 km from Potosí) appears to be restricted by aggradational processes occurring in the vicinity of Puente Sucre. In addition, downstream of the confluence of the Río Pilaya, inputs of large amounts of ‘clean’ sediment have caused dilution of the metal contaminants. Data from other studies where similar geomorphic processes have occurred suggest that the metals in the upper Pilcomayo may eventually be moved downvalley as the aggradational processes are reversed and channel stabilisation occurs. Thus, the most significant impacts of metal contamination may not be realised in downstream areas for decades.