Photoinduced toxicity single and binary mixtures of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum

Diatom Skeletonema costatum Cleve is one of the main predominant phytoplankton species in the Changjiang Estuary in China. In order to provide some basic information for future assessment of the potential risk on phytoplankton communities in this estuary caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), this alga was selected as a representative to investigate the photoinduced toxicity of PAHs, in single and mixture. Four PAHs including three-ring phenanthrene and anthracene, four-ring fluoranthene and pyrene were tested in the laboratory. The single toxicity of each PAH on this microalga was compared with and without the simulated solar UV radiation. The results showed that this microalga was sensitive to PAH's photoinduced toxicity. Ratios of the 72 h median effect concentration obtained for fluorescent and UV light tests were about 8.4 for phenanthrene, 13.0 for anthracene, 6.5 for fluoranthene, and 5.7 for pyrene, indicating that UV light enhanced the PAH toxicity to this alga significantly. Under the fluorescent radiation (lacking UV), the dose-response curves based on chemical concentrations revealed that the order of toxic strength was fluoranthene greater than pyrene greater than anthracene greater than phenanthrene; while under the UV radiation (476 μW/cm2 for UVA, 6.5 μW/cm2 for UVB) it became fluoranthene approximately equaling anthracene greater than pyrene greater than phenanthrene, indicating that the UV light also changed its relative toxicity to this alga. The photoinduced toxicity of PAHs to the marine diatom S. costatum might be a synergistic effect of photosensitization reactions (e.g., generation of single-state oxygen) and photomodification (photooxidation and/or photolysis).The combined effects of six binary mixtures on the marine diatom S. costatum were investigated using the additive-index method. Four binary-mixtures (phenanthrene plus anthracene; phenanthrene plus pyrene; anthracene plus fluoranthene; anthracene plus pyrene) were found to be synergistic joint action mode, while two binary-mixtures (phenanthrene plus fluoranthene; fluoranthene plus pyrene) displayed antagonist, revealing a complex pattern of possible interactions. The combined action mode of PAHs might be related to various factors such as the mixture compounds, mixture ratios and test conditions, etc.     

Solution of an unstable axisymmetric Cauchy–Poisson problem of dispersive water waves for a spectrum with compact support

 It has been known that the axisymmetric Cauchy–Poisson problem for dispersive water waves is well posed in the sense of stability. Thereby time evolution solutions of wave propagation depend continuously on initial conditions. However, in this paper, it is demonstrated that the axisymmetric Cauchy–Poisson problem is ill posed in the sense of stability for a certain class of initial conditions, so that the propagating solutions do not depend continuously on the initial conditions. In order to overcome the difficulty of the discontinuity, Landweber–Fridman's regularization, famous and well known in applied mathematics, are introduced and investigated to learn whether it is applicable to the present axisymmetric wave propagation problem. From the numerical experiments, it is shown that stable and accurate solutions are realized by the regularization, so that it can be applicable to the determination of the ill-posed Cauchy–Poisson problem.     

Organic matter origin and distribution in suspended particulate materials and surficial sediments from the western Adriatic Sea (Italy)

In this study, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), stable carbon isotopic (δ¹³C_OC) and CuO reaction product compositions were used to identify the sources of organic matter (OM) and to quantify the relative importance of allochthonous and autochthonous contributions to the western Adriatic Sea, Italy. Suspended particulate material (195 samples) and surficial sediments (0–1 cm, 70 samples) from shallow cross-shelf transects were collected in February and May 2003, respectively. Vertical water column profiles were acquired along the same transects. Data include depth, potential temperature, salinity, density and chlorophyll fluorimetry.Along the western Adriatic shelf in the near-shore region, the phytoplankton growth was influenced by dynamics of the buoyant plumes from the Po and Appennine rivers. A small amount of very fine terrigenous material remained suspended within the coastal current and was exported southward along the shelf to the slope. High variability in the bulk composition was detected in the Po prodelta surficial sediments, whereas the western Adriatic shelf, although a larger area, exhibited a narrower range of values.A significant decoupling was observed between suspended particles in the water column and surficial deposits. The organic material collected in the water column was compositionally heterogeneous, with contributions from marine phytoplankton, riverine–estuarine phytoplankton and soil-derived OM. Frequent physical reworking of surficial sediments likely leads to the efficient oxidation of marine OC, resulting in the observed accumulation and preservation of refractory soil-derived OC delivered by the Po and Appennine rivers.     

First results from the North Iceland experiment

Between June 2004 and September 2004 a temporary seismic network was installed on the northern insular shelf of Iceland and onshore in north Iceland. The seismic setup aimed at resolving the subsurface structure and, thus, the geodynamical transition from Icelandic crust to typical oceanic crust along Kolbeinsey Ridge. The experiment recorded about 1,000 earthquakes. The region encloses the Tjörnes Fracture Zone containing the Husavik–Flatey strike-slip fault and the extensional seismic Grimsey Lineament. Most of the seismicity occurs in swarms offshore. Preliminary results reveal typical mid-ocean crust north of Grimsey and a heterogeneous structure with major velocity anomalies along the seismic lineaments and north–south trending subsurface features. Complementary bathymetric mapping highlight numerous extrusion features along the Grimsey Lineament and Kolbeinsey Ridge. The seismic dataset promises to deliver new insights into the tectonic framework for earthquakes in an extensional transform zone along the global mid-ocean ridge system.     

Oceanographic influences on seabirds and cetaceans of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

This paper is part of a comprehensive review of the oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific, the oceanic region centered on the eastern Pacific warm pool, but also including the equatorial cold tongue and equatorial current system, and summarizes what is known about oceanographic influences on seabirds and cetaceans there. The eastern tropical Pacific supports on the order of 50 species of seabirds and 30 species of cetaceans as regular residents; these include four endemic species, the world’s largest populations for several others, three endemic sub-species, and a multi-species community that is relatively unique to this ecosystem. Three of the meso-scale physical features of the region are particularly significant to seabirds and cetaceans: the Costa Rica Dome for blue whales and short-beaked common dolphins, the Equatorial Front for planktivorous seabirds, and the countercurrent thermocline ridge for flocking seabirds that associate with mixed-species schools of spotted and spinner dolphins and yellowfin tuna. A few qualitative studies of meso- to macro-scale distribution patterns have indicated that some seabirds and cetaceans have species-specific preferences for surface currents. More common are associations with distinct water masses; these relationships have been quantified for a number of species using several different analytical methods. The mechanisms underlying tropical species–habitat relationships are not well understood, in contrast to a number of higher-latitude systems. This may be due to the fact that physical variables have been used as proxies for prey abundance and distribution in species–habitat research in the eastern tropical Pacific.Though seasonal and interannual patterns tend to be complex, species–habitat relationships appear to remain relatively stable over time, and distribution patterns co-vary with patterns of preferred habitat for a number of species. The interactions between seasonal and interannual variation in oceanographic conditions with seasonal patterns in the biology of seabirds and cetaceans may account for some of the complexity in species–habitat relationship patterns.Little work has been done to investigate effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycles on cetaceans, and results of the few studies focusing on oceanic seabirds are complex and not easy to interpret. Although much has been made of the detrimental effects of El Niño events on apex predators, more research is needed to understand the magnitude, and even direction, of these effects on seabirds and cetaceans in space and time.     

软粘土中插入式大直径薄壁圆筒结构的一种极限状态分析模型

根据插入式大直径薄壁圆筒结构的工作特点建立了其合理的破坏机制，以此为基础建立了受横向荷载作用的插入式大直径薄壁圆筒结构的上限法极限分析模型，从中可以得到作用于插入式大直径薄壁圆筒结构上的横向极限荷载近似的上限解；并根据上限法模型计算结果，提出了计算受横向荷载作用的插入式大圆筒结构侧壁极限抗力的简化修正模型，利用此修正模型，基于极限平衡法，可以求解作用于插入式大直径薄壁圆筒结构上的横向极限荷载。     

Application of LICOM to the numerical study of the water exchangebetween the South China Sea and its adjacent oceans

1 IntroductionThe South China Sea (SCS) is the largestmarginal sea in the western Pacific (see Fig. 1). It con-nects with the SCS through the Taiwan Strait, with thePacific through the Luzon Strait, with the Sulu Seathrough the Mindoro and Balabac Straits and with theJava Sea and Andaman Sea through the Sunda Shelf(For convenience, here we refer to the section at 1.5°N,Fig. 2). It is shown that the seasonal SCS circulation ismostly affected by the summer/winter monsoon, andthe no…     

Maternal transfer of bioactive polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons in spawning chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha)

The biological potency (relative to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. TCDD) of planar polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (PCHs) in extracts of eggs and flesh from spawning female chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) from Lake Michigan was determined by measuring the induction of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity in H-4-II-E rat hepatoma cells. TCDD-equivalents in flesh and egg samples ranged from 0 to 115·8 pg/g, and were approximately 5-fold greater in eggs than in flesh. These results suggest that the maternal transfer of PCHs may play a role in determining the reproductive success of Lake Michigan chinook salmon.     

The method of calculating the current velocity's verticla component in problems of fluid dynamics in reservoirs

A new algorithm for calculating the vertical velocity is suggested. Horizontal current velocity components are expressed through level inclination and wind/temperature forcing. The acquired relations are given in the difference form, with the accuracy being sufficiently high. The algorithm is tested using cases where a numerical solution is matched up with an exact one. The derived data are subsequently analysed. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.