Using benthic macrofauna to assess environmental quality of four intertidal mudflats in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Coast

Abstract-Intertidal zone is a significant wetland between land and ocean. It plays an important rolein maintaining local ecological balance. Both Mai Po and Futian intertidal mudflats are located in Shen-zhen Bay and are important "refueling" point along the East Asian/Australian flyway of migratory birds.The environmental quality of Mai Po and Futian mudflats have aroused great concern due to rapid eco-nomic developments in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in recent decades. Microinfauna of Mai Po and Futianmudflats was investigated in December 2000 and the faunal data were used to assess their environmentalquality. Two other mudflats, namely Ma Wan Typhoon Shelter (a more disturbed area) and Luk Kengintertidal mudflat (a place with relatively less human disturbance), were also sampled for macroinfaunaand used as reference mudflats. Shannon-Weaver species diversity index (I_(sd)), biotic coefficient (C_b)and macrofaunal pollution index (I_(mp)) of the macrofauna community on four intertidal mudflats wereused to     

A comparison of the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: deep atmospheric composition, cloud structure, vertical mixing, and origin.

We present our current understanding of the composition, vertical mixing, cloud structure and the origin of the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. Available observations point to a much more vigorous vertical mixing in Saturn's middle-upper atmosphere than in Jupiter's. The nearly cloud-free nature of the Galileo probe entry site, a 5-micron hotspot, is consistent with the depletion of condensable volatiles to great depths, which is attributed to local meteorology. Somewhat similar depletion of water may be present in the 5-micron bright regions of Saturn also. The supersolar abundances of heavy elements, particularly C and S in Jupiter's atmosphere and C in Saturn's, as well as the progressive increase of C from Jupiter to Saturn and beyond, tend to support the icy planetesimal model of the formation of the giant planets and their atmospheres. However, much work remains to be done, especially in the area of laboratory studies, including identification of possible new microwave absorbers, and modelling, in order to resolve the controversy surrounding the large discrepancy between Jupiter's global ammonia abundance, hence the nitrogen elemental ratio, derived from the earth-based microwave observations and that inferred from the analysis of the Galileo probe-orbiter radio attenuation data for the hotspot. We look forward to the observations from Cassini-Huygens spacecraft which are expected to result not only in a rich harvest of information for Saturn, but a better understanding of the formation of the giant planets and their atmospheres when these data are combined with those that exist for Jupiter.     

A meteoroid stream survey using the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar: II: Identification of minor showers using a 3D wavelet transform

A 7 year survey using the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR), a specular backscattering orbital radar, has produced three million individually measured meteoroid orbits for particles with mean mass near 10⁻⁷ kg. We apply a 3D wavelet transform to our measured velocity vectors, partitioning them into 1° solar longitude bins while stacking all 7 years of data into a single “virtual” year to search for showers which show annual activity and last for at least 3 days. Our automated stream search algorithm has identified 117 meteor showers. We have recovered 42 of the 45 previously described streams from our first reconnaissance survey (Brown, P., Weryk, R.J., Wong, D.K., Jones, J. [2008]. Icarus 195, 317-339). Removing possible duplicate showers from the automated results leaves 109 total streams. These include 42 identified in survey I and at least 62 newly identified streams. Our large data sample and the enhanced sensitivity of the 3D wavelet search compared to our earlier survey have allowed us to extend the period of activity for several major showers. This includes detection of the Geminid shower from early November to late December and the Quadrantids from early November to mid-January. Among our newly identified streams are the Theta Serpentids which appears to be derived from 2008 KP and the Canum Venaticids which have a similar orbit to C/1975 X1 (Sato). We also find evidence that nearly 60% of all our streams are part of seven major stream complexes, linked via secular invariants.     

Jovian temperature and cloud variability during the 2009-2010 fade of the South Equatorial Belt

Mid-infrared 7-20 μm imaging of Jupiter from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT/VISIR) demonstrate that the increased albedo of Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt (SEB) during the ‘fade’ (whitening) event of 2009-2010 was correlated with changes to atmospheric temperature and aerosol opacity. The opacity of the tropospheric condensation cloud deck at pressures less than 800 mbar increased by 80% between May 2008 and July 2010, making the SEB (7-17°S) as opaque in the thermal infrared as the adjacent equatorial zone. After the cessation of discrete convective activity within the SEB in May 2009, a cool band of high aerosol opacity (the SEB zone at 11-15°S) was observed separating the cloud-free northern and southern SEB components. The cooling of the SEBZ (with peak-to-peak contrasts of 1.0 ± 0.5 K), as well as the increased aerosol opacity at 4.8 and 8.6 μm, preceded the visible whitening of the belt by several months. A chain of five warm, cloud-free ‘brown barges’ (subsiding airmasses) were observed regularly in the SEB between June 2009 and June 2010, by which time they too had been obscured by the enhanced aerosol opacity of the SEB, although the underlying warm circulation was still present in July 2010. Upper tropospheric temperatures (150-300 mbar) remained largely unchanged during the fade, but the cool SEBZ formation was detected at deeper levels (p > 300 mbar) within the convectively-unstable region of the troposphere. The SEBZ formation caused the meridional temperature gradient of the SEB to decrease between 2008 and 2010, reducing the vertical thermal windshear on the zonal jets bounding the SEB. The southern SEB had fully faded by July 2010 and was characterised by short-wave undulations at 19-20°S. The northern SEB persisted as a narrow grey lane of cloud-free conditions throughout the fade process.The cool temperatures and enhanced aerosol opacity of the SEBZ after July 2009 are consistent with an upward flux of volatiles (e.g., ammonia-laden air) and enhanced condensation, obscuring the blue-absorbing chromophore and whitening the SEB by April 2010. These changes occurred within cloud decks in the convective troposphere, and not in the radiatively-controlled upper troposphere. NH₃ ice coatings on aerosols at p < 800 mbar are plausible sources of the suppressed 4.8 and 8.6-μm emission, although differences in the spatial distribution of opacity at these two wavelengths suggest that enhanced attenuation by a deeper cloud (p > 800 mbar) also occurred during the fade. Revival of the dark SEB coloration in the coming months will ultimately require sublimation of these ices by subsidence and warming of volatile-depleted air.     

Molecular line mapping of the giant molecular cloud associated with RCW 106 – II. Column density and dynamical state of the clumps

We present a fully sampled C¹⁸O (1–0) map towards the southern giant molecular cloud (GMC) associated with the H  ii region RCW 106, and use it in combination with previous ¹³CO (1–0) mapping to estimate the gas column density as a function of position and velocity. We find localized regions of significant ¹³CO optical depth in the northern part of the cloud, with several of the high-opacity clouds in this region likely associated with a limb-brightened shell around the H  ii region G333.6−0.2. Optical depth corrections broaden the distribution of column densities in the cloud, yielding a lognormal distribution as predicted by simulations of turbulence. Decomposing the ¹³CO and C¹⁸O data cubes into clumps, we find relatively weak correlations between size and linewidth, and a more sensitive dependence of luminosity on size than would be predicted by a constant average column density. The clump mass spectrum has a slope near −1.7, consistent with previous studies. The most massive clumps appear to have gravitational binding energies well in excess of virial equilibrium; we discuss possible explanations, which include magnetic support and neglect of time-varying surface terms in the virial theorem. Unlike molecular clouds as a whole, the clumps within the RCW 106 GMC, while elongated, appear to show random orientations with respect to the Galactic plane.     

U–Pb and Hf isotopic study of zircons from migmatised amphibolites in the Cathaysia Block: Implications for the early Paleozoic peak tectonothermal event in Southeastern China

Amphibolites occur in a number of localities in the Cathaysia Block, some of them have been migmatised and their protoliths represent basaltic magmas erupted in various tectonic settings. Four migmatised amphibolites were collected from Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces. Cathodo-luminescence images of zircons extracted from the representative amphibolites show unzoned or sector-zoned structure. LA-ICP-MS analysis indicates that most zircons have high Th/U ratios and yield U–Pb zircon ages of 446 ± 5, 435 ± 2, 434 ± 4 and 423 ± 2 Ma, respectively. Lu–Hf isotopic analysis on these zircons gives Hf model ages ranging from 900 to 1200 Ma. Based on lithological observations and previously published geochronological data, we interpret that these U–Pb ages record an important tectonothermal event that led to the migmatization. This early Paleozoic (Caledonian) tectonothermal event in the Southeastern China has a great tectonic implication for the evolutionary history of the Cathaysia Block.     

Hydrofracture mechanisms in rock during pressure grouting

Summary Hydrofracture Mechanisms in Rock During Pressure Grouting. The paper examines the basic meachnisms controlling the initiation of fractures in rocks and layered soils during pressure grouting, and their subsequent propagation into the ground mass. Previous analyses of fracture initiation have tended to concentrate on simplified models in which the ground is treated as an impervious elastic or Mohr-Coulomb continuum. The present method allows for the porous or fissured nature of the ground by considering the effect of seepage forces induced by the pore pressure gradient. The effect is quantified by use of a parameterN such that the ratio of fluid force used in expanding the injection hole, to that used in forcing fluid through void spaces, isN to (1—N).Analysis of hydrofracture propagation is based on stress analysis of a borehole in an elastic continuum, the propagating fracture zone around the borehole being represented as a non-elastic material governed by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. This is supplemented by an energy approach which equates the energy supplied to the ground from the injection pump, with the energy stored in the ground and the energy necessary to fracture it.

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Zusammenfassung Brucherscheinungen im Fels bei Verprearbeiten. In der Arbeit wird der grundlegende Mechanismus untersucht, welcher bei Verpreßarbeiten in Fels und geschichtetem Boden zur Einleitung und Ausbreitung von Brüchen führt. Frühere Untersuchungen des Bruchbeginns stützten sich im wesentlichen auf vereinfachte Modelle, in denen der Untergrund als undurchlässiges Kontinuum angesehen wird, das entweder elastisch ist oder der Mohr-Coulombschen Bruchbedingung genügt. Die neue Methode berücksichtigt dagegen eine Porosität oder Klüftung des Untergrundes durch Ansatz der vom strömenden Medium auf das Gebirge ausgeübten Belastung. Diese Belastung wird aufgeteilt in einen Druckverlust an der Bohrlochwand (gleich ParameterN mal Verpreßdruck) und die entsprechende, über den gesamten durchströmten Bereich verteilte Belastung.Die Untersuchung der Bruchausbreitung geht von der Spannungsermittlung um ein Bohrloch in einem elastischen Kontinuum aus, wobei in der sich ausbreitenden Bruchzone um das Bohrloch herum nichtelastisches Material angenommen wird, das dem Mohr-Coulombschen Bruchkriterium genügt. Zur Ergänzung dient eine Energie-Betrachtung, bei der die von der Injektionspumpe abgegebene Energie gleichgesetzt wird der im Untergrund gespeicherten Energie und der aufgewendeten Brucharbeit.

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Résumé Les mécanismes de la fracturation hydraulique dans les roches pendant les injections sous pression. Le mémoire examine les mécanismes fondamentaux qui gouvernent l'initiation des ruptures dans les roches et les sols stratifiés, au cours des injections et leur propagation dans les massifs. Les analyses antérieures de l'initiation de la rupture, se sont concentrées sur des modèles simplifiés où l'on considérait la roche comme un milieu élastique et imperméable, ou comme un milieu de Mohr-Coulomb. La présente méthode admet que le massif est poreux ou fissuré, en considérant l'action des forces de percolation engendrées par le gradient de pression interstitielle. Cette action est quantifiée par un paramètreN, tel que le rapport de la force du liquide employée à dilater le forage d'injection, à celle employée pour forcer le coulis à travers les vides soitN/(1—N). L'analyse de la propagation des ruptures se base sur l'analyse des contraintes autour d'un forage dans un milieu élastique, alors que la zone de la rupture qui se propage autour du forage est représentée par un milieu non-élastique admettant le critère de rupture de Mohr-Coulomb. Cette analyse est complétée par une approche énergétique, où l'énergie qui est fournie au massif par la pompe d'injection est égalée à l'énergie emmagasinée dans la roche et à l'énergie de rupture.

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Nomenclature A area of new cracks created per unit volume of time t - E total work done by injection fluid - E _i irrecoverable component of energy - E _{i c} work done in fracturing rock or soil - E _{i l} work done to overcome various frictional forces in grouting system - E _{i p} work done to cause plastic deformation of fractured zone - E _{i s} work done to overcome shear strength of fluid during flow - E _{i v} work done to overcome frictional drag between fluid and rock in soil surfaces during flow - E _r recoverable component of energy - E _{r f} elastic strain energy stored in fluid - E _{r s} elastic strain energy stored in rock or soil - h height of overburden - i j 1, 2, 3 - K ₀ coefficient of horizontal earth pressure - k permeability of ground to grout - L length of cylindrical grout source - n rock or soil porosity - p average fluid pressure between timet and (t + t) - p ₀ injection pressure - R radius of grout front - r radial distance from borehole axis - r ₀ radius of borehole - r ₁ radius of fractured zone - S specific surface area of rock or soil - S _T tensile strength of rock or soil - t time - u grout seepage velocity - V volume of grout injected - v volumetric strain - specific surface energy of rock - bulk density of rock or soil - _{i j} ^e elastic strain increment tensor - _{i j} plastic strain increment tensor - v Poisson's ratio - _{i j} average stress tensor in the ground during timet and (t + t) - _R , _T, _Z radial, tangential and vertical stresses induced by grouting - _r , _t , _z radial, tangential and vertical stress around borehole before grouting - grout shear strength - angle of internal friction of rock or soil With 7 Figures     

Effects of bottom sediments on the survival of Enterobacter aerogenes in seawater

The survival of the coliform bacterium Enterobacter aerogenes in seawater was greatly affected by the underlying bottom sediments. The presence of sediments which contained higher concentrations of organic nutrients than the overlaying seawater prolonged the survival and even enabled growth of the bacterial cells. Results obtained from chemical analysis indicated that sediments of fine-grained, silt-clay type contained highest amounts of organic nutrients as compared with sediments with larger particle sizes such as silt and sand grains. Thus, nutrient contents of the sediments were found to be inversely proportional to sediment particle size. The degree of prolonged survival of E. aerogenes was also found to be inversely proportional to the size of the sediment particles presented. Release of the bound nutrients which became available to cells of E. aerogenes from sediments by action of waves and human activities can explain, at least in part, why high counts of coliform bacteria are obtained in coastal and beach waters.     

Cracking Processes in Rock-Like Material Containing a Single Flaw Under Uniaxial Compression: A Numerical Study Based on Parallel Bonded-Particle Model Approach

Cracking processes have been extensively studied in brittle rock and rock-like materials. Due to the experimental limitations and the complexity of rock texture, details of the cracking processes could not always be observed and assessed comprehensively. To contribute to this field of research, a numerical approach based on the particle element model was used in present study. It would give us insights into what is happening to crack initiation, propagation and coalescence. Parallel bond model, a type of bonded-particle model, was used to numerically simulate the cracking process in rock-like material containing a single flaw under uniaxial vertical compression. The single flaw’s inclinations varied from 0° to 75° measured from the horizontal. As the uniaxial compression load was increased, multiple new microcracks initiated in the rock, which later propagated and eventually coalesced into longer macrocracks. The inclination of the pre-existing flaw was found to have a strong influence on the crack initiation and propagation patterns. The simulations replicated most of the phenomena observed in the physical experiments, such as the type, the initiation location and the initiate angle of the first cracks, as well as the development of hair-line cracks, which later evolved to macrocracks. Analyses of the parallel bond forces and displacement fields revealed some important mechanisms of the cracking processes. The first cracks typically initiated from the tensile stress concentration regions, in which the tensile stress was partially released after their initiation. The tensile stress concentration regions subsequently shifted outwards close to the propagating tips of the first cracks. The initiation and propagation of the first cracks would not significantly influence the compressive stress singularity at the flaw tips, which was the driving force of the initiation of secondary cracks. The initiation of microcracking zone consisting almost exclusively of micro-tensile cracks, and that of microcracking zone consisting of micro-tensile cracks and mixed micro-tensile and shear cracks, were found to be correlated with two distinct types of displacement fields, namely type I (DF_I) and type II (DF_II), respectively.