Impacts of maintenance dredged material disposal on macrobenthic structure and secondary productivity

The results of a monitoring programme to assess the spatial impacts associated with ongoing dredged material disposal activity at a dispersive, coastal disposal site (southwest UK) are described. Benthic impacts were assessed using benthic community structure and secondary productivity estimates.Analyses of univariate indices (including secondary production) and multivariate community structure revealed differences between stations inside and those outside the disposal site were minimal. Generally, stations within and outside the disposal site were characterised by the same species. Regression models indicated that the variability in biological structure and secondary production was predominantly accounted for by natural variables (e.g., depth, sediment granulometry) with only a small amount of residual variability being due to contaminant variables. Thus, the elevated levels of certain contaminants in the vicinity of the disposal area were not sufficient to result in significant ecological or ecotoxicological changes. We ascribe such findings partly to the dispersive nature of the disposal site.     

ON A COLLECTION OF YANGSHAO CULTURAL REMAINS FROM MIENCHIHHSIEN, HONAN

When surveying the Cenozoic geology between Loyang and Sian, the authors had an opportunity of visiting the famous Aeneolithic sites at Yangshaotsun (仰韶村) and Puchiaochai (不召塞), Mienchihhsien, Honan pro-     

铀和硼分布与变质显微构造的关系——变质流体活动的证据

引言人们早就认识到变质转化时粒间流体的重要,而且在大多数岩石中都有一些流体活动的明显痕迹。然而,流体活动及其在矿物和构造上的分布通过象铀和硼这样非常活泼元素的测定,就能确定。铀和硼是流体的重要成分,而流体是通过交代来源、岩浆来源和渐进变质脱     

Ecotoxicological effects of a semi-submerged municipal dump (Castle harbour, Bermuda) on the Calico scallop Argopecten gibbus

A biomarker study was undertaken using the Calico scallop Argopecten gibbus to assess the ecotoxicological effects of a semi-submerged municipal dump on the adjacent patch reef lagoon ecosystem (Castle harbour, Bermuda). Caged scallops were deployed in situ for 2 months at various distances from the dump (50 m, 900 m and 2.7 km) and at a reference site (14 km). A suite of biomarkers comprising metallothionein (MT), lipid peroxidation (LPO), vitellin-like proteins (Vn), glutathione S-transferase (GST), DNA strand breaks and condition factor (CF) were investigated in various tissues of the scallop (gill, digestive gland and gonad). Levels of heavy metals were also measured in the whole scallop soft tissue. While there was some variation in response between tissues, in general the results indicated that the dump was negatively impacting scallops deployed in the adjacent marine environment: elevated levels of MT, DNA strand breaks, Vn and GST and reduced condition factor were found for scallops deployed nearest to the dump and at the site 1.5 km from this point source of contamination (Tuckers town) in Castle harbour, with respect to the reference site, North Rock (although this exhibited some degree of metal contamination). The gills from scallops deployed at the dump site were the most responsive tissue, with the highest expression of MT, LPO and DNA damage. This study indicates the potential of the Calico scallop as a convenient bioindicator species in the marine tropical benthos.     

海洋资源环境承载力评价算法设计与系统实现

分析了我国开展海洋资源环境承载力评价的任务要求和技术指标体系以及指标计算方法,利用Arc GIS Engine二次开发组件技术,设计了指标计算方法,并对评价指标体系、评价模型和所用的数据库进行系统集成设计,实现了模块化功能配置的高度集成自动处理计算模式的软件系统。该软件对指标计算、成果可视化、成果归档、报告形成等采用了模块化、标准化处理,适用于按照一致性的技术标准开展持续性常态化的海洋资源环境承载力评价工作。实验测试表明,该软件具有自动化程度高、容易操作和处理速度快等特点。     

Maneuvering modeling and simulation of AUV dynamic systems with Euler-Rodriguez quaternion method

The purpose of this study is to develop maneuvering models and systems of a simulator to improve the motion performance of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) at the preliminary design stages in advance. The AUVs simulation systems based on the standard submarine equations of motion in six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) integrated with the Euler-Rodriguez quaternion method for representing singularity-free AUV attitude and time-saving calculation, and with a nonlinear control model for maneuvering and depth control simulations, time-marching in the fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme. For validation of the simulation codes, results of the ISiMI AUV open-loop tests including turning test and zigzag test as well as an AUV simulator on the basis of Euler-angle method were used to compare with the quaternion-based AUV simulator. The computational results from the proposed simulator agree well with those from both the ISiMI AUV experiments and the Euler-angle based simulations. Additionally, a new maneuvering procedure, namely "put-out" was implemented to test directional stability for a large-scale AUV in the proposed AUV simulator that can be considered for vehicles in space as well as in constrained planes.