Phenanthrene biomarkers in the organic matter of Precambrian and Phanerozoic deposits and in the oils of the Siberian Platform

The composition and distribution of phenanthrenes (polyaromatic compounds) have been studied in chloroform extracts from dispersed organic matter (OM) of clayey, siliceous, carbonate, and terrigenous rocks of different ages and facies and from some oils of the Siberian Platform. Phenanthrenes have been analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. High contents of 1,7,8-trimethylphenanthrene and 1,1,7,8-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene are present in the OM of Vendian and Cambrian carbonate-shale deposits and in ancient oils of the Nepa-Botuobiya and Anabar anteclises. The OM of Permian continental deposits and oils of the Vilyui syneclise is dominated by 1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene (retene). A triangular diagram for identification of the types of original OM of rocks and classification of genetically related oils has been constructed based on the assessment of phenanthrene biomarker distribution. Putative pathways of the formation of phenanthrene biomarkers are discussed.     

Evaluating Tidal Wetland Restoration Performance Using National Estuarine Research Reserve System Reference Sites and the Restoration Performance Index (RPI)

Evaluations of tidal wetland restoration efforts suffer from a lack of appropriate reference sites and standardized methods among projects. To help address these issues, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) and the NOAA Restoration Center engaged in a partnership to monitor ecological responses and evaluate 17 tidal wetland restoration projects associated with five reserves. The goals of this study were to (1) determine the level of restoration achieved at each project using the restoration performance index (RPI), which compares change in parameters over time between reference and restoration sites, (2) compare hydrologic and excavation restoration projects using the RPI, (3) identify key indicator parameters for assessing restoration effectiveness, and (4) evaluate the value of the NERRS as reference sites for local restoration projects. We found that the RPI, modified for this study, was an effective tool for evaluating relative differences in restoration performance; most projects achieved an intermediate level of restoration from 2008 to 2010, and two sites became very similar to their paired reference sites, indicating that the restoration efforts were highly effective. There were no differences in RPI scores between hydrologic and excavation restoration project types. Two abiotic parameters (marsh platform elevation and groundwater level) were significantly correlated with vegetation community structure and thus can potentially influence restoration performance. Our results highlight the value of the NERRS as reference sites for assessing tidal wetland restoration projects and provide improved guidance for scientists and restoration practitioners by highlighting the RPI as a trajectory analysis tool and identifying key monitoring parameters.     

Formation Mechanism of Mud Bank Along the Southwest Coast of India

Mud bank formation during the southwest monsoon along the southwest coast of India remains an enigma to the researchers and coastal community in spite of several earlier studies. The present study attempts to unravel the mystery through a high-frequency, season-long time-series observation at Alappuzha, located at the southern part of the west coast of India, a region of frequent occurrence of mud bank. Using 7-month-long weekly time-series observation, we identified strong winds and high waves associated with onset of the southwest monsoon and subsequent three episodic atmospheric low-pressure events (LPEs).With the help of in situ time-series data, we show that the strong winds and high waves associated with southwest monsoon pre-conditions the near shore bottom sediment to bring it into suspension. The high amplitude waves associated with the southwest monsoon, while propagating from the deep water to shallow water region, interact with the bottom initiating bottom-sediment movement and its suspension due to wave refraction and shoaling. The sporadic occurrence of the atmospheric LPEs enhances the process of suspension of bottom sediment in the near shore region leading to the formation of fluid mud. Simulations with a cohesive sediment transport model yielded realistic estimates of sediment transport, in the presence of an onshore current, a pre-requisite for transporting the fluid mud toward the coast. The prevailing onshore upwelling current during the southwest monsoon provides the favorable pre-requisite conditions for transporting the fluid mud through depression channel network towards the coast. Once sufficient quantity and thickness of fluid mud is accumulated in the near shore region, it acts as a wave damper for subsequent high monsoon waves, as indicated by the time-series wave data, leading to the formation of tranquil mud bank region. Depression channel networks extending from the shelf to the coast off Alappuzha, Kochi, Ponnani, Beypore, and Ullal were found in the bathymetric charts, thus explaining why mud banks occur only at few locations in spite of the prevalence of similar monsoon conditions.     

Assessing rockfall susceptibility in steep and overhanging slopes using three-dimensional analysis of failure mechanisms

Rockfalls strongly influence the evolution of steep rocky landscapes and represent a significant hazard in mountainous areas. Defining the most probable future rockfall source areas is of primary importance for both geomorphological investigations and hazard assessment. Thus, a need exists to understand which areas of a steep cliff are more likely to be affected by a rockfall. An important analytical gap exists between regional rockfall susceptibility studies and block-specific geomechanical calculations. Here we present methods for quantifying rockfall susceptibility at the cliff scale, which is suitable for sub-regional hazard assessment (hundreds to thousands of square meters). Our methods use three-dimensional point clouds acquired by terrestrial laser scanning to quantify the fracture patterns and compute failure mechanisms for planar, wedge, and toppling failures on vertical and overhanging rock walls. As a part of this work, we developed a rockfall susceptibility index for each type of failure mechanism according to the interaction between the discontinuities and the local cliff orientation. The susceptibility for slope parallel exfoliation-type failures, which are generally hard to identify, is partly captured by planar and toppling susceptibility indexes. We tested the methods for detecting the most susceptible rockfall source areas on two famously steep landscapes, Yosemite Valley (California, USA) and the Drus in the Mont-Blanc massif (France). Our rockfall susceptibility models show good correspondence with active rockfall sources. The methods offer new tools for investigating rockfall hazard and improving our understanding of rockfall processes.     

Diversity of marine and brackish water nitrite-oxidizing consortia developed for activating nitrifying bioreactors in aquaculture

Nitrite is a well-known toxicant in aquaculture, produced as intermediate in nitrification. Two nitrite-oxidizing bacterial consortia, one from marine environment and the other from brackish water, were developed by enrichment technique at National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, for removal of nitrite from recirculating aquaculture systems. In the present study, bacterial diversity of the consortia was assessed based on 16S ribosomal RNA and the functional gene analysis. Clone libraries of 16S ribosomal RNA gene and nitrite oxidoreductase A gene were constructed, and amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis was carried out to cluster the clones. Dendrograms generated through molecular characterization showed 29 and 27 clusters in marine and brackish water consortia, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of representative clones from each cluster depicted profound diversity in the consortia consisting autotrophic nitrifiers belonging to Proteobacteria, anaerobic ammonia oxidizers, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and heterotrophic denitrifiers. Functional gene analysis corroborated with the presence of specific nitrite oxidizers. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed the abundance of nitrite oxidizers in the order of 1.51 ± 0.38 × 10⁹/g and 4.88 ± 0.42 × 10⁷/g in marine and brackish water consortia, respectively. Diversity indices and pattern of distribution of organisms within the consortia were analyzed using Geneious, VITCOMIC, Mega 5 and Primer software. The marine nitrite-oxidizing consortium showed higher Shannon–Wiener diversity and mean population diversity than brackish water consortium, suggesting that the former was having more diverse flora and higher potential to be used as startup cultures for activating nitrifying bioreactors subsequent to acclimatization to the required salinity.     

Anaerobic digestion of residual liquid effluent (brown juice) from a green biorefinery

This work studied the anaerobic digestion of brown juice, a liquid residual stream generated from biomass fractionation in a green biorefinery. Biomethane potential batch tests and inhibition studies of brown juice were performed during continuous processing in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. Prolongation of the lag phase in the batch tests with increasing substrate/inoculum ratio suggested initial inhibition, which was, however, overcome by adaptation. This was indicated by high final methane yields, which were close to the theoretical maximum of up to 500 L-CH₄ kg-VS^?1, achieved after 15 days for most of the set-ups. Reactor operation at the organic loading rate of 13.9 g-COD L^?1 day^?1 and hydraulic retention time of 3 days revealed methane yields of 202 L-CH₄ kg-COD^?1 (307 L-CH₄ kg-VS^?1). Particle size analysis of the granules used in the reactor showed disintegration of the larger granules.     

Determining ammonia nitrogen decay rate of Malaysian river water in a laboratory flume

There is lack of information regarding ammonia nitrogen (AN), (i.e. NH₃-N) decay rate of river water in tropical regions like Malaysia. AN decay rate is a very important kinetic parameter to estimate NH₃-N, nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N) and dissolved oxygen concentrations of river water by using computer models. This study presents determination of ammonia nitrogen decay rate of river water in the tropical environment of Malaysia. A laboratory flume was used to conduct twelve experiments. The flume was used to represent the turbulent condition of a typical river. Ammonia nitrogen decay rate for the tropical environment of Malaysia was observed to be between 0.194 and 0.554 per day. Median value of AN decay rate was 0.26 per day, which is slightly lower than the global median value of 0.295 per day. To check the accuracy of flume experiments, the AN decay rate of Pusu River obtained from the flume experiment was used to calibrate and validate ammonia nitrogen concentration of the river by using water quality analysis and simulation program (WASP). Very good calibration and validation results were achieved, which substantiated the accuracy of the flume experiments.     

Factors influencing undrained strength of fine-grained soils at high water contents

Understanding the undrained strength of fine-grained soils has been of interest to geotechnical researchers from many practical considerations. In several civil engineering applications, water content of soil is quite high being near or above the liquid limit of soils, and understanding the factors responsible for imparting the strength of soil at high water contents is of great significance. Recently, it has been reported in the literature that the shear strength of soils at these limiting water contents has significant variation. However, the reasons and the factors that probably influence for this variation have not been reported in the literature. This experimental investigation is an attempt in the direction of understanding the reasons for the variation in the undrained strength at higher limiting water content, namely liquid limit considering the various influencing factors like clay mineralogy and fine-sand content present in soil used for determining liquid limit. The results from this study are quite revealing and have been explained based on the mechanisms controlling the undrained strength at liquid limit.     

Paleogene–Neogene Boundary of Primorye,Russian Far East

Complex geological and paleobotanic analysis of sections of the boundary Oligocene–Miocene sediments of southern Primorye is conducted. The presence of a stratigraphic hiatus is identified in the transitional complexes of the Pushkino and Pavlovka depressions but not in the sections of the Rakovka depression; thus, it is suggested to use one of them (borehole no. 15) to choose the stratotype of the Paleogene–Neogene boundary. The previous conclusion on the presence of economic coal deposits of Primorye within the Paleogene part of the Tertiary complex is supported. It is suggested to use the section which is exposed by the Rakovka brown coal open pit (point 9209) as a stratotype of the upper subformation of the Pavlovka Formation.