Modeling the changes in the concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons from an oil-coated gravel column

The performance of a lab-scale flow-through exposure system designed for the evaluation of ecotoxicity due to oil spills was evaluated. The system simulates a spill event using an oil-coated gravel column through which filtered seawater is passed and flows into an aquarium containing fish embryos of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) and spotted sea bass (Lateolabrax maculates). The dissolved concentrations of individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the column effluent were monitored and compared with theoretical solubilities predicted by Raoult’s law. The effluent concentrations after 24 and 48 h were close to the theoretical predictions for the higher molecular weight PAHs, whereas the measured values for the lower molecular weight PAHs were lower than predicted. The ratios of the concentration of PAHs in flounder embryos to that in seawater were close to the lipid-water partition coefficients for the less hydrophobic PAHs, showing that equilibrium was attained between embryos and water. On the other hand, 48 h were insufficient to attain phase equilibrium for the more hydrophobic PAHs, indicating that the concentration in fish embryos may be lower than expected by equilibrium assumption. The results indicate that the equilibrium approach may be suitable for less hydrophobic PAHs, whereas it might overestimate the effects of more hydrophobic PAHs after oil spills because phase equilibrium in an oil-seawater-biota system is unlikely to be achieved. The ecotoxicological endpoints that were affected within a few days are likely to be influenced mainly by moderately hydrophobic components such as 3-ring PAHs.     

Global spectral energy distributions of the Large Magellanic Cloud with interstellar dust

The effects of dust on infrared emission vary among galaxies of different morphological types. We investigated integrated spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in infrared and submillimeter/millimeter emissions from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) based on observations from the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) and near- to mid-infrared observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST). We also used IRAS and WMAP observations to constrain the SEDs and present the results of radiative transfer calculations using the spectrophotometric galaxy model. We explain the observations by using dust models with different grain size distributions in the interstellar medium of the LMC, noting that the LMC has undergone processes that differ from those in the Milky Way. We determined a spectral index and a normalization factor in the range of ?3.5 to ?3.45 with grain radii in the range of 1 nm–300 nm for the silicate grain and 2 nm–1 μm for the graphite grain. The best fit to the observed SED was obtained with a spectral index of ?3.47, similar to the value derived by Piovan et al. (Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 366(3):923, 2006a). The grain size distribution is described using a power law but with a break that is introduced below a _b , where a larger exponent is used. Changing the graphite grain size distribution significantly changed the SED pattern within the observational uncertainties. Based on the SED fits to the observations from submillimeter wavelengths to infrared radiation from the LMC using GRASIL (Silva et al., Astrophys. J. 509(1):103, 1998), we obtained a reasonable set of parameter values in chemical and geometric space together with the grain size distributions (Weingartner and Draine, Astrophys. J. 548(1):296, 2001) and a modified MRN model with the LMC extinction curve (Piovan et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 366(3):923, 2006a). For a given set of parameters including the disc scale height, synthesis of the starlight spectrum, optical depth, escape time scale, dust model, and star formation efficiency, the adopted dust-to-gas ratio for modeling the observed SEDs, ～1/300 (from the literature) yields a reasonable fit to the observed SEDs and similar results with the metallicity of the LMC as those reported in Russell and Bessell (Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 70:865, 1989). The dust-to-gas ratios that are given as the metallicity caused the variation in the model fits. The difference mainly appears at the wavelengths near 100 μm.     

Effects of environmental and biological conditions on the recruitment and growth of the Manila clam <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ruditapes philippinarum</Emphasis> on the west coast of Korea

The distribution of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum, which is often dominant in intertidal zones, is influenced by both environmental and biological conditions. However, there have been few comprehensive studies on the interactive effects of these two groups of factors. The present study examined the environmental and biological parameters determining the population dynamics of the clams that is a dominant component of the intertidal communities of Euhangri and Padori on the west coast of Korean peninsula. We collected R. philippinarum and other members of the macrobenthos (> 1 mm long) monthly from 0.25 m² quadrats deployed in the intertidal zones at Euhangri, Taean, and Padori during the period from August 2013 to January 2015. Physicochemical parameters of the water and sediment were measured at the same time. Water temperature and salinity is high and low in the summer to winter, respectively. While mean grain size of the sediment was higher at Euhangri than at Padori, total mean density of R. philippinarum was higher at Euhangri (325 ind./ 0.25 m² at Padori vs. 194 ind./0.25 m² at Euhangri). Settled spat (< 10 mm in length) density was much higher at Euhangri than at Padori (132 vs. 12 individuals/0.25m², respectively). R. philippinarum spats settled down on the sediment at Euhangri in October and grew continually until the following May, when they reached adult size. Spats that settled down at Padori between March and April were not able to reach the adult stage. As the density of the adult population increased, the condition index of individual clams decreased, but as the population density of the spat increased the body condition index increased. The chlorophyll a content of the sediments at Padori exceeded that at Euhangri and decreased as the population of R. philippinarum increased. The shapes of R. philippinarum shells at Euhangri were more prolate than those at Padori, and the condition index at Euhangri exceeded that at Padori, indicating better growth conditions at Euhangri. The condition index and density of R. philippinarum were affected by the amount of chlorophyll a in the water column and in the sediment. The recruitment success of spats was negatively influenced by spat density. We suggest that regulation of habitat conditions for R. philippinarum, including the food supply, will optimize production of these commercial clams.     

A scattering-based over-land rainfall retrieval algorithm for South Korea using GCOM-W1/AMSR-2 data

Heavy summer rainfall is a primary natural disaster affecting lives and properties in the Korean Peninsula. This study presents a satellite-based rainfall rate retrieval algorithm for the South Korea combining polarization-corrected temperature (PCT) and scattering index (SI) data from the 36.5 and 89.0 GHz channels of the Advanced microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR-2) onboard the Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM)-W1 satellite. The coefficients for the algorithm were obtained from spatial and temporal collocation data from the AMSR-2 and groundbased automatic weather station rain gauges from 1 July - 30 August during the years, 2012-2015. There were time delays of about 25 minutes between the AMSR-2 observations and the ground raingauge measurements. A new linearly-combined rainfall retrieval algorithm focused on heavy rain for the PCT and SI was validated using ground-based rainfall observations for the South Korea from 1 July - 30 August, 2016. The validation presented PCT and SI methods showed slightly improved results for rainfall > 5 mm h^-1 compared to the current ASMR-2 level 2 data. The best bias and root mean square error (RMSE) for the PCT method at AMSR-2 36.5 GHz were 2.09 mm h^-1 and 7.29 mm h^-1, respectively, while the current official AMSR-2 rainfall rates show a larger bias and RMSE (4.80 mm h^-1 and 9.35 mm h^-1, respectively). This study provides a scatteringbased over-land rainfall retrieval algorithm for South Korea affected by stationary front rain and typhoons with the advantages of the previous PCT and SI methods to be applied to a variety of spaceborne passive microwave radiometers.     

Effects of building-roof cooling on flow and air temperature in urban street canyons

The effects of building-roof cooling on flow and air temperature in 3D urban street canyons are numerically investigated using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The aspect ratios of the building and street canyon considered are unity. For investigating the building-roof cooling effects, the building-roof temperatures are systematically changed. The traditional flow pattern including a portal vortex appears in the spanwise canyon. Compared with the case of the control run, there are minimal differences in flow pattern in the cases in which maximum building-roof cooling is considered. However, as the building roof becomes cooler, the mean kinetic energy increases and the air temperature decreases in the spanwise canyon. Building-roof cooling suppresses the upward and inward motions above the building roof, resultantly increasing the horizontal velocity near the roof level. The increase in wind velocity above the roof level intensifies the secondarily driven vortex circulation as well as the inward (outward) motion into (out of) the spanwise canyon. Finally, building-roof cooling reduces the air temperature in the spanwise canyon, supplying much relatively cool air from the streamwise canyon into the spanwise canyon.     

On the role of Mn(IV) vacancies in the photoreductive dissolution of hexagonal birnessite

Photoreductive dissolution of layer type Mn(IV) oxides (birnessite) under sunlight illumination to form soluble Mn(II) has been observed in both field and laboratory settings, leading to a consensus that this process is a key driver of the biogeochemical cycling of Mn in the euphotic zones of marine and freshwater ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms for the process remain unknown, although they have been linked to the semiconducting characteristics of hexagonal birnessite, the ubiquitous Mn(IV) oxide produced mainly by bacterial oxidation of soluble Mn(II). One of the universal properties of this biogenic mineral is the presence of Mn(IV) vacancies, long-identified as strong adsorption sites for metal cations. In this paper, the possible role of Mn vacancies in photoreductive dissolution is investigated theoretically using quantum mechanical calculations based on spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT). Our DFT study demonstrates unequivocally that Mn vacancies significantly reduce the band-gap energy for hexagonal birnessite relative to a hypothetical vacancy-free MnO₂ and thus would increase the concentration of photo-induced electrons available for Mn(IV) reduction upon illumination of the mineral by sunlight. Calculations of the charge distribution in the presence of vacancies, although not fully conclusive, show a clear separation of photo-induced electrons and holes, implying a slow recombination of these charge-carriers that facilitates the two-electron reduction of Mn(IV) to Mn(II).     

中国东北地区中生代火山岩的大地构造意义

中国东北地区中生代火山岩可划分为西部大兴安岭环状火山岩带、南部火山岩带和东部火山岩带,它们是古亚洲洋构造域向太平洋构造域转换时期不同构造环境的产物。西部大兴安岭环状火山岩带的形成与古亚洲洋闭合过程中壳幔相互作用引起的深部热地幔柱的上升有关,南部火山岩带与构造域转换时期走滑拉伸构造有关,而东部火山岩带则是太平洋板块斜向俯冲作用的产物。