Bioremediation and toxicity determination of natural seawater polluted with weathered crude oil by salt-tolerant consortia in a SBR

The aim of this research was to compare the bioremediation treatment of seawater polluted with two different concentrations of weathered crude oil (0.2 for experiment (a) and 1.14% for experiment (b), v/v) by salt-tolerant consortia enriched from the sludge of a refinery wastewater treatment facility, in a SBR. The use of a commercial bioremediation stimulant (S200) was also evaluated as an alternative to the traditional nitrogen and phosphorus supplement.     

The iron-nickel-phosphorus system: Effects on the distribution of trace elements during the evolution of iron meteorites

To better understand the partitioning behavior of elements during the formation and evolution of iron meteorites, two sets of experiments were conducted at 1 atm in the Fe-Ni-P system. The first set examined the effect of P on solid metal/liquid metal partitioning behavior of 22 elements, while the other set explored the effect of the crystal structures of body-centered cubic (α)- and face-centered cubic (γ)-solid Fe alloys on partitioning behavior. Overall, the effect of P on the partition coefficients for the majority of the elements was minimal. As, Au, Ga, Ge, Ir, Os, Pt, Re, and Sb showed slightly increasing partition coefficients with increasing P-content of the metallic liquid. Co, Cu, Pd, and Sn showed constant partition coefficients. Rh, Ru, W, and Mo showed phosphorophile (P-loving) tendencies. Parameterization models were applied to solid metal/liquid metal results for 12 elements. As, Au, Pt, and Re failed to match previous parameterization models, requiring the determination of separate parameters for the Fe-Ni-S and Fe-Ni-P systems.Experiments with coexisting α and γ Fe alloy solids produced partitioning ratios close to unity, indicating that an α versus γ Fe alloy crystal structure has only a minor influence on the partitioning behaviors of the trace element studied. A simple relationship between an element’s natural crystal structure and its α/γ partitioning ratio was not observed. If an iron meteorite crystallizes from a single metallic liquid that contains both S and P, the effect of P on the distribution of elements between the crystallizing solids and the residual liquid will be minor in comparison to the effect of S. This indicates that to a first order, fractional crystallization models of the Fe-Ni-S-P system that do not take into account P are appropriate for interpreting the evolution of iron meteorites if the effects of S are appropriately included in the effort.     

A procedure for modelling asymptotic g‐mode pulsators: The case of γ Doradus stars

Mode identification is one of the first and main problems we encounter in trying to develop the complete potential of asteroseismology. In the particular case of g‐mode pulsators, this is still an unsolved problem, from both the observational and theoretical points of view. Nevertheless, in recent years, some observational and theoretical efforts have been made to find a solution. In this work we use the latest theoretical and computational tools to understand asymptotic g‐mode pulsators: 1) the Frequency Ratio Method, and 2) Time Dependent Convection. With these tools, a self‐consistent procedure for mode identification and modelling of these g‐mode pulsators can be constructed. This procedure is illustrated using observational information available for the γ Doradus star 9Aurigae. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The limits of validity of the Frequency Ratio Method: The particular case of γ Doradus stars

This work provides a general vision of the limits of validity of the Frequency Ratio Method applied to the g‐mode pulsators in asymptotic regime, the γ Doradus stars. In particular, the work is mainly focused on the role of rotation which is found one of the most important source of uncertainty of the method. The particular case of the moderately rotating γ Doradus star HD48501 is discussed. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Subsidence and thermal history of an inverted Late Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous extensional basin (Cameros,North‐central Spain) affected by very low‐ to low‐grade metamorphism

The Cameros Basin (North Spain) is a Late Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous extensional basin, which was inverted during the Cenozoic. It underwent a remarkable thermal evolution, as indicated by the record of anomalous high temperatures in its deposits. In this study, the subsidence and thermal history of the basin is reconstructed, using subsidence analysis and 2D thermal modelling. Tectonic subsidence curves provide evidence of the occurrence of two rapid subsidence phases during the syn‐extensional stage. In the first phase (Tithonian‐Early Berriasian), the largest accommodation space was formed in the central sector of the basin, whereas in the second (Early Barremian‐Early Albian), it was formed in the northern sector. These rapid subsidence phases could correspond to relevant tectonic events affecting the Iberian Plate at that time. By distinguishing between the initial and thermal subsidence and defining their relative magnitudes, Royden's (1986) method was used to estimate the heat flow at the end of the extensional stage. A maximum heat flow of 60–65 mW/m² is estimated, implying only a minor thermal disturbance associated with extension. In contrast with these data, very high vitrinite reflectance, anomalously distributed in some case with respect to the typical depth‐vitrinite reflectance relation, was measured in the central‐northern sector of the basin. Burial and thermal data are used to construct a 2D thermal basin model, to elucidate the role of the processes involved in sediment heating. Calibration of the thermal model with the vitrinite reflectance (%Ro) and fluid inclusion (FI) data indicates that in the central and northern sectors of the basin, an extra heat source, other than a typical rift, is required to explain the observed thermal anomalies. The distribution of the %Ro and FI values in these sectors suggests that the high temperatures and their distribution are related to the circulation of hot fluids. Hot fluids were attributed to the hydrothermal metamorphic events affecting the area during the early post‐extensional and inversion stages of the basin.     

The influence of elevation on soil properties and forest litter in the Siliceous Moncayo Massif,SW Europe

Understanding the effects of elevation and related factors (climate, vegetation) on the physical and chemical soil properties can help to predict changes in response to future climate or afforestation forcings. This work aims to contribute to the knowledge of soil evolution and the classification of forest soils in relation to elevation in the montane stage, with special attention to podzolization and humus forms. The northern flank of the Moncayo Massif (Iberian Range, SW Europe) provides a unique opportunity to study a forest soils catena within a consistent quartzitic parent material over a relatively steep elevation gradient. With increasing elevation, pH, base saturation, exchangeable potassium, and fine silt-sized particles decrease significantly, while organic matter, the C/N ratio, soil aggregate stability, water repellency and coarse sand-sized particles increase significantly. The soil profiles shared a set of properties in all horizons: loamy-skeletal particle-size, extreme acidity (pH-H₂O<5.6) and low base saturation (<50%). The most prevalent soil forming processes in the catena include topsoil organic matter accumulation and even podzolization, which increases with elevation. From the upper to lower landscape positions of wooded montane stage of the Moncayo Massif, mull-moder-mor humus and an Umbrisol-Cambisol-Podzol soil unit sequences were found.     

Eminent domain destroys a community: leveling East Arlington to make way for the Pentagon

This study examines the eminent domain action in 1942 where the federal government took 411 acres of land, including an African American neighborhood, to construct the Pentagon building in Arlington County, Virginia. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution acknowledges the right of the federal government to exercise eminent domain where needed for the common good, but requires that property owners be given just compensation. This study explores the issue of compensation: what the residents lost when they were forced to move, how that loss was compensated, and whether the compensation was “just.” The study data include interviews with former residents of the neighborhood, oral histories, land records, census data, photographs, and newspaper articles. The study concludes that the federal government compensated the residents for land and buildings, but was unable to compensate for a lost community. For many residents, that community is mourned even 72 years later.     

The Discovery of the Chemical Composition - Kinematics Connection in the 1950's

This paper reviews the recognition that kinematic characteristics of stars are related to their spectroscopic appearance on low and intermediate dispersion spectra. These differences result from the differences in the abundances of metals as determined from high dispersion spectra. Presumably, these abundance differences reflect differences in age. The high-velocity carbon stars share the molecular peculiarities of the high-velocity oxygen giants but, because of the greater strength of the bands of carbon-containing molecules, exhibit them to a greater degree. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bivalves,Tributyltin and Green Tides: Ecosystem-Level Impact?

Filter feeders such as bivalves are increasingly being shown to control phytoplankton blooms in eutrophic estuaries. The possibility of such a top-down effect on macroalgae, however, has not been considered previously even though most green tide algal species reproduce by pelagic swarmers that are equivalent to phytoplankton. This work presents circumstantial evidence from an oyster-culturing French embayment where, despite eutrophication since the mid-1970s, macroalgae did not proliferate until 1982. This was also the year when tributyltin pollution from antifouling paints dropped substantially following a world-wide prime ban that was implemented to save the shellfish industry. From the recorded evolution of the oyster stock, it is shown how tributyltin reduced the bivalve filter capacity within those years and resulted in Enteromorpha swarmers being much more likely to germinate and bloom. This suggests that the green tides had been successively contained by the biological activity and the chemical pressure. The effects of the latter on the former would thus have cascaded to ecosystem-level changes, and so the functional role of bivalves should be evaluated and preserved wherever relevant.     

Changes in beach water table elevation during neap and spring tides on a sandy estuarine beach, Delaware Bay, New Jersey

A field investigation of temporal and spatial changes in wind and wave characteristics, runup and beach water table elevation was conducted on the foreshore of an estuarine beach in Delaware Bay during neap (April 9, 1995) and spring (April 16, 1995) tides under low wave-energy conditions. The beach has a relatively steep, sandy foreshore and semi-diurnal tides with a mean range of 1.6 m and a mean spring range of 1.9 m. Data from a pressure transducer placed on the low tide terrace reveal a rate of rise and fall of the water level on April 16 of 0.09 mm s⁻¹ resulting in a steeper tidal curve than the neap tide on April 9. Data from three pressure transducers placed in wells in the intertidal foreshore reveal that the landward slope of the water table during the rising neap tide was lower than the slope during spring tide, and there was a slower rate of fall of the beach water table relative to the fall of the tide. Wave heights were lower on April 9 (significant height from 17.1 min records <0.16 m). The water table elevation was 0.08 m higher than the water in the bay at the time of high water, when maximum runup elevation was 0.29 m above high water and maximum runup width was 2.0 m. The elevation of the water table was 0.13 m higher than the maximum elevation of water level in the bay 74 min after high water, when wave height was 0.12 m and wave period was 2.7 s. The use of mean bay water level at high tide will underpredict the elevation of the water table in the beach, and demarcation of biological sampling stations across the intertidal profile based on mean tide conditions will not accurately reflect the water content of the sandy beach matrix.