Improved approaches to ecotoxicity testing of petroleum products

Crude oils produced in the North West shelf of Western Australia are highly volatile, a characteristic not shared by most of the Northern Hemisphere crude oils on which internationally accepted toxicity test protocols were developed. Because of this volatility and some other factors, the LC50 and EC50 values obtained from acute toxicity tests will be significantly affected by the changes of toxicant concentration in test solutions during the period of exposure. To address these issues all steps of a standard protocol for crude oil toxicity testing have been revised. A systematic study has been performed on factors which affect petroleum hydrocarbon solubilisation in aqueous systems during test solution preparations. The influence of mixing time, agitation energy and volume/interface ratio on a hydrocarbon concentration in a water-soluble fraction (WSF) was studied for heavy, medium and light crude oils. A study of the sensitivity of marine unicellular algae to WSF of crude oils was conducted with Isochrysis sp., Nannochloropsis-like sp. and Nitzchia closterium. Total concentrations of hydrocarbons dissolved in test solutions were estimated by UV-spectrometry and GC/FID chemical analyses. When the toxicant concentration decreased during the exposure period, the EC50 values derived from initial or final concentrations either underestimate or overestimate toxicity, respectively. Therefore, weighted average concentrations (WAC) calculated for the whole test period were recommended for expressing hydrocarbon concentrations in test solutions of crude oils. Toxicity indices calculated from WAC of total hydrocarbons for different crude oils can be compared regardless of the rates of hydrocarbon loss.     

Stream-aquifer interactions: evaluation of depletion volume and residual effects from ground water pumping

Numerical modeling techniques were used to simulate stream-aquifer interactions from seasonal ground water pumping. We used stream-aquifer models in which a shallow stream penetrates the top of an aquifer that discharges ground water to the stream as base flow. Because of the pumping, the volume of base flow discharged to the stream was reduced, and as the pumping continued, infiltration from the stream to the aquifer was induced. Both base-flow reduction and stream infiltration contributed to total stream depletion. We analyzed the depletion rates and volumes of the reduced base flow and induced stream infiltration during pumping and postpumping periods. Our results suggested that for a shallow penetrating stream with a low streambed conductance, base-flow reduction accounts for a significant percentage of the total stream depletion. Its residual effects in postpumping can last very long and may continue into the next pumping season for areas where recharge is nominal. In contrast, the contribution of the induced stream infiltration to the total stream depletion is much smaller, and its effects often become negligible shortly after pumping was stopped. For areas where surface recharge replenishes the aquifer, the residual effects of base-flow reduction and thus its depletion volume will be significantly reduced. A stream of large conductance has a high hydraulic connection to the aquifer, but the relationship between stream conductance and stream depletion is not linear.     

An evaluation of hemolymph cholinesterase activities in the tropical scallop,Euvola (Pecten) ziczac,for the rapid assessment of pesticide exposure

The use of sequential measurements of hemolymph cholinesterase activities as a non-invasive biomarker of seasonal organophosphate/carbamate exposure was investigated for the tropical scallop, Euvola (Pecten) ziczac. Overall activities of both acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase were relatively high compared to studies with bivalve tissues. Acute in vivo experiments showed inhibition of hemolymph acetylcholinesterase activity at concentrations of the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos of 0.1, 1 and 10 ng l(-1). Monthly sampling of hemolymph from scallops at two sites in Bermuda over a 15 month period showed seasonal acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibition. Direct and indirect evidence suggests that this inhibition did not relate to biochemical or physiological changes associated with gonad maturation and spawning, but rather reflected diffuse contamination of the marine environment by cholinesterase inhibitors or increased bioavailability of such inhibitors at these times. Repetitive sampling of scallop hemolymph for cholinesterase activities represents a rapid, sensitive and non-invasive method for assessing seasonal, sublethal pesticide exposure in these commercially important bivalves and suggests a wider use in marine pollution monitoring.     

Mercury uptake by the estuarine species Palaemonetes pugio and Fundulus heteroclitus compared with their parasites,Probopyrus pandalicola and Eustrongylides sp

When exposed to methylmercury in the laboratory, grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, parasitized by the isopod Probopyrus pandalicola, accumulated lower concentrations of mercury than their unparasitized counterparts. The parasitic isopod accumulated far less mercury than the grass shrimp. When exposed to mercury in a contaminated field site, mummichogs, Fundulus heteroclitus, parasitized with the nematode Eustrongylides, similarly accumulated lower concentrations of mercury than unparasitized fish, and the parasite similarly accumulated less than the host. The lower uptake by the parasites compared to their hosts is counter to the general view of biomagnification of methylmercury, since parasites are a trophic level above their hosts. The mechanism whereby parasitized animals accumulate less toxicant than unparasitized ones is unknown, but may be partially due to lower metabolic rate.     

Detection of 33.8 Millisecond X-Ray Pulsations in SAX J0635+0533

Recently, detection of discrete features in the X-ray afterglow spectra of GRB 970508 and GRB 970828 was reported. The most natural interpretation of these features is that they are redshifted Fe K emission complexes. The identification of the line emission mechanism has drastic implications for the inferred mass of radiating material and hence the nature of the burst site. X-ray spectroscopy provides a direct observational constraint on these properties of gamma-ray bursters. We briefly discuss how these constraints arise in the context of an application to the spectrum of GRB 970508.     

Large Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebula Morphology: Probing Stellar Populations and Evolution

Planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) offer the unique opportunity to study both the population and evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars, by means of the morphological type of the nebula. Using observations from our LMC PN morphological survey, and including images available in the Hubble Space Telescope Data Archive and published chemical abundances, we find that asymmetry in PNe is strongly correlated with a younger stellar population, as indicated by the abundance of elements that are unaltered by stellar evolution (Ne, Ar, and S). While similar results have been obtained for Galactic PNe, this is the first demonstration of the relationship for extragalactic PNe. We also examine the relation between morphology and abundance of the products of stellar evolution. We found that asymmetric PNe have higher nitrogen and lower carbon abundances than symmetric PNe. Our two main results are broadly consistent with the predictions of stellar evolution if the progenitors of asymmetric PNe have on average larger masses than the progenitors of symmetric PNe. The results bear on the question of formation mechanisms for asymmetric PNe-specifically, that the genesis of PNe structure should relate strongly to the population type, and by inference the mass, of the progenitor star and less strongly on whether the central star is a member of a close binary system.     

A Measurement of Omega from the North American Test Flight of Boomerang

We use the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background, measured during the North American test flight of the Boomerang experiment, to constrain the geometry of the universe. Within the class of cold dark matter models, we find that the overall fractional energy density of the universe Omega is constrained to be 0.85相似文献   

利用互连网发布海量地震应急信息方案

通过比较几种Internet GIS不同开发方案,详细探讨了ArcIMS地图服务软件平台的特点和功能。在Internet上开发高效的海量地理信息数据发布系统时候,涉及到超大容量的影像/图像数据,提出了解决这个问题的方案,并以构建地震应急指挥系统中的信息发布子系统为例,介绍了使用ArcIMS进行海量信息发布的实现方案。     

典型下垫面风沙流中风速脉动特征研究

通过对流沙、戈壁地表风沙流中风速特征研究发现：对于特定的下垫面, 风沙流中各高度层脉动风速具有很好的相关性; 随不同高度间距离增加, 瞬时风速在时间序列上波动的均一性呈递减趋势; 瞬时风速的波动性主要与其所在高度层的沙粒数量和运动状态有关, 二者存在一种动态的互馈关系; 脉动强度随进口风速的增加而增大, 而脉动风速的相对值与进口风速无关, 只是对应高度的函数.     

北阿尔金巴什考供-斯米尔布拉克花岗杂岩特征及锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年

北阿尔金巴什考供-斯米尔布拉克杂岩体位于巴什考供盆地北缘, 呈东西向展布, 宽约 2~6 km, 长约30 km, 出露面积约140 km². 主要由灰黑色石英闪长岩、灰白色花岗岩、粉红色花岗岩和花岗伟晶岩组成. 围岩为前寒武系片岩、变质泥岩及变质凝灰岩. 岩石地球化学特征表明, 石英闪长岩属钙碱性系列, 具有Ⅰ型花岗岩的属性; 而粉红色和灰白色花岗岩属高钾钙碱性系列, 具有S型花岗岩的属性. 锆石SHRIMP定年结果表明, 石英闪长岩的年龄为(481.6±5.6) Ma, 而灰白色花岗岩和粉红色花岗岩的年龄在误差范围内基本一致, 分别为(437.0±3.0)~(433.1±3.4) Ma 和(443±11)~(434.6±1.6) Ma. 结合区域地质特征, 认为石英闪长岩可能形成于洋壳俯冲环境, 而灰白色和粉红色花岗岩可能形成于碰撞后环境.