Quantitative morphometric analysis of the Jama River profile in a tectonically active margin (Northwestern Ecuador)

The longitudinal profile of a river channel can be described in function of mathematical expressions. The logarithmic fit is the most used method to describe the relative equilibrium of a channel elevation profile. Rivers showing zones of high channel gradient and convex-upward profiles can be evaluated in function of the offset distance with respect to the logarithmic curve. The Jama River profile has been constructed using differential GPS data for the downstream reach and 4-m-grid DEM data base for the remaining headward profile. The resulting longitudinal profile shows a prominent knickpoint of about 80 m in elevation characterized by sharp local convexity. The offset distance in vertical direction from the logarithmic plot is interpreted as the successive accumulation of multiple uplift episodes associated with the Jama Fault System activity. The horizontal offset is suggested to represent the remaining retreated distance for the upstream propagation of the Jama knickpoint. The highly resistant Cretaceous rocks outcropping along the Jama knickpoint reach acts as an inflection point between two subprofiles that show well-fitted logarithmic curves, thereby representing a temporary partitioned equilibrium along the Jama River profile.     

Low-salinity plumes in the oceanic region of the Basque Country

Low-salinity waters, within the upper layers of the water column, have been observed in the oceanic region of the southeastern limit of the Bay of Biscay (in March, 2007). This contribution assesses the potential role of large surface freshwater discharges from the Adour (France), Nervión, Oria, Deba, Urola, Urumea and Bidasoa (Basque Country) rivers, to explain the presence of these low-salinity waters. Such discharges, within the offshore waters, reached to at least 50 m in depth; likewise, extending over 15–20 km, in the horizontal. This pattern is confirmed by field data collected by offshore buoys, model results, and the analysis of satellite images. The presence of the low-salinity waters is corroborated by numerical simulations, performed by the ROMS (Regional Ocean Modeling System) hydrodynamic model, with the incorporation of river discharges. In order to simulate the freshwater movements and to identify their origin, particles were released at the river mouths and dispersed (by a Lagrangian particle-tracking model, LPTM), supplied by 3-hourly current fields derived from the ROMS model. The plumes of the Nervión, Oria, Urola and Urumea rivers appear to be the main factors contributing to the low-salinity field, at the offshore locations of the buoys. This pattern is related mainly to the prevailing oceano-meteorological conditions, over the period of analysis.     

Observations of the Ushant tidal front in September 2007

The Ushant tidal front is the dominant feature of the summer season hydrological structure of the Iroise Sea. It separates tidally mixed coastal waters from thermally stratified open Celtic Sea waters. This article reports on observations made in September 2007 during two short cruises that took place aboard R/V “Côtes de la Manche”, and gives a general account of the physical structure of the front along one cross-frontal transect. The data set comprises data from a 4 month ADCP mooring, short CTD/fluorescence/nutrients transects, Lagrangian drifter trajectories, and HF radar surface current measurements. One finding is that the surface and bottom fronts, being affected by different dynamical influences, are not necessarily coincident in the vertical. This entails that the opposite density gradients located above and below the thermocline depth do not necessarily compensate, and can each be associated with a significant surface geostrophic expression. A second finding is that mixing effects bear a very strong influence on the thermal structure of the warm-water intrusions associated with frontal cyclonic eddies of the kind described by Pingree [1978. Cyclonic eddies and cross-frontal mixing. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 58 (4), 955–963].     

Numerical simulation of the circulation within the Perth Submarine Canyon,Western Australia

Surface and sub-surface currents along the ocean boundary of Western Australia were simulated using Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) to examine the circulation within the Perth Canyon. Two major current systems influenced the circulation within the canyon: (1) The Leeuwin current interacted weakly with the canyon as the majority of the canyon was below the depth of the Leeuwin current and (2) Leeuwin undercurrent interacted strongly with the canyon, forming eddies within the canyon at depths of 400–800 m. The results indicated that within the canyon, the current patterns changed continuously although there were some repeated patterns. Recurrent eddies produced regions where upwelling or downwelling dominated during the model runs. Deep upwelling was stronger within the canyon than elsewhere on the shelf, but vertical transport in the upper ocean was strong everywhere when wind forcing was applied. Upwelling alone appeared to be insufficient to transport nutrients to the euphotic zone because the canyon rims were deep. Increased upwelling, combined with entrapment within eddies and strong upwelling-favourable winds, which could assist mixing, may account for the high productivity attributed to the canyon. The Leeuwin current is otherwise a strong barrier to the upwelling of nutrients.     

Evaluation of Estrogenic Activity and Measurement of EDCs in Wastewater Treatment Plants

1IntroductionDuringthe past several years,concern hasincreasedover the potential pollution of watershed by estrogeniccompounds,including steroidal hormones fromhumanand ani mal sources.Effluents from wastewater treat-ment plants are sources of endocrine-d…     

Early Norian flora from Partizansk River Basin of Primorye, Russia

IntroductionThe Late Triassic strata andflora developed andwell outcropped in southern Pri morye,Russia.Thestrata are marine and non-marine alternate for eachother and yield abundant mollusk and plant fossilsinwhich the Late Triassic Mongugai flora is well-known in the world.Kryshtofovich(1910,1921,1924)and Kryshtofovich&Prynada(1932)studiedthis florainthe earlier ti me,and consequently,Sre-brodolyskaja(1958,1961,1968),Schorokhova(1975,1977,1997,2004)and Krassilov&Schorokhova(1970,1975)ma…     

Multicomponent reactive transport modeling of uranium bioremediation field experiments

A reaction network integrating abiotic and microbially mediated reactions has been developed to simulate biostimulation field experiments at a former Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) site in Rifle, Colorado. The reaction network was calibrated using data from the 2002 field experiment, after which it was applied without additional calibration to field experiments performed in 2003 and 2007. The robustness of the model specification is significant in that (1) the 2003 biostimulation field experiment was performed with 3 times higher acetate concentrations than the previous biostimulation in the same field plot (i.e., the 2002 experiment), and (2) the 2007 field experiment was performed in a new unperturbed plot on the same site. The biogeochemical reactive transport simulations accounted for four terminal electron-accepting processes (TEAPs), two distinct functional microbial populations, two pools of bioavailable Fe(III) minerals (iron oxides and phyllosilicate iron), uranium aqueous and surface complexation, mineral precipitation and dissolution. The conceptual model for bioavailable iron reflects recent laboratory studies with sediments from the UMTRA site that demonstrated that the bulk (∼90%) of initial Fe(III) bioreduction is associated with phyllosilicate rather than oxide forms of iron. The uranium reaction network includes a U(VI) surface complexation model based on laboratory studies with Rifle site sediments and aqueous complexation reactions that include ternary complexes (e.g., calcium-uranyl-carbonate). The bioreduced U(IV), Fe(II), and sulfide components produced during the experiments are strongly associated with the solid phases and may play an important role in long-term uranium immobilization.     

Survey on PCDDs and PCDFs in sediments and soils in Ya-Er Lake area, China

INTRODUCTIONOverthepastseveralycars,considerableinteffethasbocenteIdontheenvir0nmentalbehaviouroftoxicandpersistritcomP0undssuchashalogenatalaromat-ies,inparticularthepolychiorinataldibopdioxins(PCDDe)andpolydil0rinateddi~fUtansrpCDFs).ManyofthesecomPounds,espedllythosewithahighdegere0fchiorinesubstitution,arehighlylipophiliccontawhnantSwithlowWhtersolubility,highre-sistancet0chdricaltransformationsandlowwhcrobiologhaldegradatfonpeatnnann,l988,Bromanetal.,l989,Hites,l990)whichexplain…     

Drainage beneath ice sheets: groundwater–channel coupling,and the origin of esker systems from former ice sheets

The nature of the drainage system beneath ice sheets is crucial to their dynamic behaviour but remains problematic. An experimentally based theory of coupling between groundwater and major channel systems is applied to the esker systems in the area occupied the last ice sheet in Europe, which we regard as a fossil imprint of major longitudinal drainage channels. We conclude that the large-scale distribution and spacing of major eskers is consistent with the theory of groundwater control, in which esker spacing is partly controlled by the transmissivity of the bed.It is concluded that esker patterns reflect the large-scale organisation of the subglacial drainage pattern in which channel development is coupled to groundwater flow and to the ice sheet's dynamic regime. The theory is then used to deduce: basal meltwater recharge rates and their spatial variability from esker spacing in an area in which the ice sheet was actively streaming during its final retreat; patterns of palaeo-groundwater flow and head distribution; and the seasonally varying magnitude of discharge from stream tunnels at the retreating ice sheet margin. Major channel/esker systems appear to have been stable at least over several hundred of years during the retreat of the ice sheet, although major dynamic events are demonstrably associated with major shifts in the hydraulic regime.Modelling suggests: that glaciation can stimulate deep groundwater circulation cells that are spatially linked to channel locations, with groundwater flow predominantly transverse to ice flow; that the circulation pattern has the potential to create large-scale anomalies in groundwater chemistry; and that the spacing of channels will change through the glacial cycle, influencing water pressures in stream tunnels, subglacial hydraulic gradients and effective pressure. If the latter is reduced sufficiently, it could trigger enhanced bed deformation, thus coupling drainage to ice sheet movement. It suggests the possibility of distinctive phases of sediment deformation and drumlin mobilisation during a glacial cycle.