St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines conjures up images of a yachting haven and a quiet tourists' paradise. The conflicting demands of a growing population, a middle-income economy dominated by fishing, plantation agriculture and tourism, and environmental and social concerns, all contribute to marine stress on the limited, precious, but internationally important resources. While the vision exists to manage effectively coastal and offshore resources, the institutional, financial and social capital to achieve that vision is limited. Development of the fledgling partnerships between local communities, national governmental structures and the international research, government and donor organisations seems the best hope to conserve the environment and coastal livelihoods of the islands.     

地质工作的社会化（上）——从加拿大地质机构看全球地质调查工作的发展趋势

本文在介绍加拿大联邦地质调查局和布列颠哥伦比亚省地质调查所的职能,任务,机构运作和管理方式的基础上,指出地质工作社会化是国外地质调查机构职能发生重大转变的共同趋势,文末对组建中国地质调查机构提出了探讨。     

A critical review of approaches to aquatic environmental assessment

As demands on aquatic resources increase, there is a growing need to monitor and assess their condition. This paper reviews a variety of aquatic environmental assessments, at local, national, international and global scales and finds confusion in the terminology used to describe assessments. In particular the terms 'ecosystem' and 'integrated' are often misused resulting in lack of clarity. Therefore, definitions of some assessment terminology are suggested, consolidating existing proposals and simplifying future applications. A conclusion from the review is that a new classification system is required. The categorisation system proposed builds on preliminary work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Assessment classification is based on the environmental components considered, methodologies and nature of the linkages between components, and the inclusion or exclusion of socio-economic factors. The assessment terminology and categorisation system provided could in future simplify the way that assessments are defined and used to inform development of management strategies.     

Inhibition of coral fertilisation and larval metamorphosis by tributyltin and copper

Fertilisation and larval metamorphosis of reef-building corals are important life history events leading to recruitment of juvenile corals to reef populations. Little is known of the sensitivity of these early life phases to pollution, or their relative susceptibility to certain toxicants compared with established coral colonies. Inhibition of fertilisation and larval metamorphosis of the coral Acropora millepora (Ehrenberg, 1834) was assessed in response to solutions of the antifoulants tributyltin (TBT) and copper (Cu) using laboratory-based bioassays. Nominal concentrations that inhibited 50% fertilisation and metamorphosis (IC50) were calculated from 4 h fertilisation and 24 h metamorphosis assays and were based on introduced dose. Cu was most potent towards fertilisation with an IC50 of 17.4 micrograms/l. TBT however, proved more toxic to larval metamorphosis having an IC50 of 2.0 micrograms/l. Inert surfaces coated with either Cu- or TBT-based antifouling paint also inhibited fertilisation and metamorphosis. The degree of inhibition was correlated with surface area of the paint coating. These results indicate fertilisation and metamorphosis of coral can be sensitive to active components of antifouling paints.     

当代世界地质调查工作发展趋势

20世纪80年代以来，经济全球化的发展、高新技术的广泛应用、世界人口的迅速增长和环境问题的日益严峻，对地质调查工作产生了巨大的冲击，地质调查的驱动机制、主要任务和工作内容、技术手段、服务意识等都发生了很大的变化。总体趋势为：需求驱动——地质调查工作的驱动机制由传统的供给驱动型向需求驱动型转变；领域拓宽——地质调查的研究领域不断拓展，从以寻找、发现矿产资源为主的矿产资源型转变为兼顾资源与环境保护、灾害减轻的资源与环境并重的社会型；技术先导——地质调查的技术手段发生了根本性变化，地质调查传统的“老三件”正逐渐被“新三件”所替代；服务优先——地质调查的服务意识不断增强。     

Use of fluorescein as a ground water tracer in brackish water aquifers

A drift and pumpback experiment was conducted in a brackish water sandfill. The sandfill was reclaimed from the sea in the eastern part of Singapore and contains sands with low organic and clay/silt contents. The high salinity in the ground water precludes the use of chloride and bromide as tracers in such an environment, and a field experiment was conducted to assess the viability of using fluorescein as a tracer in brackish water aquifers. Nitrate was used as a second tracer to serve as a check. Initial laboratory studies showed that fluorescence was unaffected over the range of electrical conductivity and pH of the ground water. Results from the field experiment show that fluorescein appears to behave conservatively.