Heavy element affinities in Apollo 17 samples

²⁰⁴Pb, Bi, Tl and Zn in samples from Apollo 17 exhibit relationships not found in samples from other sites.²⁰⁴Pb, Tl and Zn in residues remaining after dilute acid leaching are correlated with one another. Orange soil 74220, which is enriched in²⁰⁴Pb, Tl and Zn, is included in these relationships. In addition the submicron metallic phase generally associated with agglutinate formation is correlated with all three of these elements; this relationship has already been reported for²⁰⁴Pb in other samples. Thus, orange soil and agglutinates appear to be involved in concentrating heavy volatile metals. A process other than mixing is required to account for this. As a consequence of the isolation of the landing site by the surrounding massifs, local supply and recycling of volatile trace elements in soils may account for some of the interelement relations.     

The benthos of a portion of the Sacramento River (San Francisco Bay Estuary) during a dry year

Early in 1976 benthic studies were initiated in a 20 kilometer long portion of the Western Sacramento-San Joaquin River Estuary. Water quality determinations indicated little vertical or horizontal differences in pH, temperature, or dissolved oxygen concentration within the study area. Low river outflows allowed the encroachment of seawater into the study area, an area normally exposed to fresh or slightly brackish water. The sediment composition changed dramatically at most stations during the year, being dominated by sands early in the year but by silts and clays in late summer. The shift in sediment composition was accompanied by an increase in grease and oilland metals content. The benthic community of the study area was generally dominated by the Asiatic clam (Corbicula manilensis), Macoma balthica, oligochaetes, the amphipods Corophium stimpsoni and C. spinicorne, nematodes, and a spionid polychaete, Boccardia ligerica. These taxa comprised 98% on average of the total benthic macroinvertebrates collected at each study site. The benthic assemblages of each of the stations were generally very similar to one another. Faunal similarities and changes in benthos composition were related to substrate composition and salinity incursion. In general, the upstream-channel stations had higher abundance of benthos than the other stations in the study area. Total benthic abundance was lowest at the downstream end of the study area. Total standing crop peaked in June and was lowest in November. Our studies indicate that the most important factors controlling the size and species composition of the benthos of the study area are salinity and sediment composition.     

Lessons learned from public participation in hydrologic engineering projects

ABSTRACT

Public participation in engineering projects has been minimal to date, whereas it is growing in other fields. This paper assesses the lessons learned from public participation in two hydrologic engineering projects, as citizen scientists or through participatory mapping. The two projects were conducted in communities that faced a common problem of flooding due to sea-level rise. The lessons learned include the need to invest time at the beginning of a project to get an idea of what knowledge the public can contribute and have a plan in place to sustain participation at the level needed for the project to be successful. Our cost comparison shows that public participation should be encouraged when the project area is large enough to make travel for data collection cost prohibitive, or when extensive interaction with the public will already be required.     

An intercomparison of single and dual-source vegetation-atmosphere transfer models applied to transpiration from sahelian savannah

Three models of the partitioning of net radiation into latent and sensible heat fluxes over Sahelian savannah are described. Each model has a different configuration of stomatal and aerodynamic resistances. Their performance was assessed by comparison against field measurements of latent heat flux over savannah vegetation consisting of bushes interspersed with a herbaceous understorey. The modelled results indicate that in dry conditions, a Penman-Monteith based single source model performs adequately when predicting the latent heat flux. However, the models with two sources demonstrate that the bushes and herbs have very different responses to local climate. In all the models, evaporation is highly sensitive to stomatal resistance, suggesting that a better understanding of stomatal response would improve the accuracy of the models.     

A comparison of lead-isotope measurements on exploration-type samples using inductively coupled plasma and thermal ionization mass spectrometry

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TI-MS) has long been the method of choice for Pb-isotope determinations. More recently, however, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used to determine Pb-isotope ratios for mineral exploration. The ICP-MS technique, although not as precise as TI-MS, may promote a wider application of Ph-isotope ratio methods because it allows individual isotopes to be determined more rapidly, generally without need for chemical separation (e.g., Smith et al., 1984; Hinners et al., 1987). To demonstrate the utility of the ICP-MS method, we have conducted a series of Pb-isotope measurements on several suites of samples using both TI-MS and ICP-MS.     

Diatom assemblages from Adirondack lakes (New York,USA) and the development of inference models for retrospective environmental assessment

Detrended canonical coreespondence analysis (DCCA) was used to examine the relationships between diatom species distributions and environmental variables from 62 drainage lakes in the Adirondack region, New York (USA). The contribution of lakewater pH, Al_m (monomeric Al), NH₄, maximum depth, Mg, and DOC (dissolved organic carbon) were statistically significant in explaining the patterns of variation in the diatom species composition. Twenty-three and sixteen diatom taxa were identified as potential indicator species for pH and Al_m, respectively (i.e. a taxon with a strong statistical relationship to the environmental variable of interest, a well defined optimum, and a narrow tolerance to the variable of interest). Using weighted-averaging regression and calibration, predictive models were developed to infer lakewater pH (r ²=0.91), Al_m (r ²=0.83), DOC (dissolved organic carbon) (r ²=0.64), and ANC (acid neutralizing capacity; r ²=0.90). These variables are of key importance in understanding watershed acidification processes. These predictive models have been used in the PIRLA-II (Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification-II) project to answer policy-related questions concerning acidification, recovery, and fisheries loss.     

Interactions among some dominant estuarine nekton species

Interactions between pairs of numerically dominant species collected at inlet and creek shorezone and channel habitats within a high salinity estuary in northeastern South Carolina were examined using two-way contingency tables and binomial tests. Of the significant species interactions, over 71% were positive and these primarily occurred within shorezone habitats. The strongest positive interactions were between young-of-the-year spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) and blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) juveniles in both shorezone habitats, and between striped killifish (Fundulus majalis), white mullet (Mugil curema), and striped anchovies (Anchoa hepsetus) in the inlet shorezone habitat. One of the most positive species associations in channel habitats was between the bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) and the Atlantic brief squid (Lolliguncula brevis). These positive relationships between species may be explained by one species enhancing the habitat for another, both species responding to similar environmental conditions, cooperative social interactions such as mixed schooling, or the attraction of predators to prey. Negative interactions were found between schools of Atlantic silversides (Menidia menidia) and striped killifish in the inlet shorezone and between schools of Atlantic silversides and bay anchovies in the creek shorezone. Schools of Atlantic silversides may either displace or compete with other common shorezone species. Positive and negative interactions suggest that relationships between some species pairs did not occur randomly within certain habitats and may have contributed to the organization of the estuarine nekton community. Differences in the strengths and direction of interactions of certain species pairs among habitats and seasons were probably related to the differences in the physical characteristics of those habitats and/or changes in the relative abundance of dominant species and life stages over time.     

Cenozoic tectonics in the Urumgi-Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan

Cenozoic deformation within the Tien Shan of central Asia has accommodated part of the post-collisional indentation of the Indian plate into Asia. Within the Urumgi—Korla region of the Chinese Tien Shan this occurred dominantly on thrusts, with secondary strike-slip faulting. The gross pattern of deformation is of moderate to steeply dipping thrusts that have overthrust foreland basins to the north and south of the range, the Junggar and Tarim basins, respectively. Smaller foreland basins lie within the margins of the range itself (Turfan, Chai Wo Pu, Korla and Qumishi basins); these lie in the footwalls of local thrust systems. Both the Turfan and the Korla basins contain major thrusts within them; they are complex foreland basins. Deformation has progressively affected regions further into the interior of the Junggar Basin, and propagated into the interiors of the intermontane basins. No unidirectional deformation front has passed across the Tien Shan in the Neogene and Quaternary. An Oligocene unconformity may indicate the time of the onset of the Cenozoic deformation, but most of the Cenozoic molasse has been deposited after the Palaeogene. The rate of deposition in basins next to the uplifted ranges has increased since the onset of deformation. There has been at least about 80 km of Cenozoic shortening across this part of the Tien Shan. Cenozoic shortening is greater in sections of the range further west; these are nearer to the northern margin of the Indian indenter. Cenozoic compression has reactivated structures created by the two late Palaeozoic collisions that created the ancestral Tien Shan. These Palaeozoic structures have exerted a strong control over the style and location of the Cenozoic deformation.     

Metal speciation (Cu, Zn, Pb) and organic matter in an oxic salt marsh, Severn Estuary, southwest Britain

Predominantly anthropogenic Cu, Zn, and Pb present in an approximately 100 yr old mud flat and salt marsh deposit at a high intertidal, oxic site are bound chiefly in the Fe---Mn oxide-hydroxide, organic and residual phases. The amount of each metal in the organic phase is significant and declines with increase in the age of the buried sediment, in harmony with the total amount of organic matter remaining. Application of a quantitative geochemical model provides evidence that those metals remobilized by the progressive oxic degradation of the organic matter do not swell the oxide phase also present in the deposit, but are free to be flushed back into the estuary.