Relationship of metal content and bioavailability with benthic macrofauna in Camamu Bay (Bahia, Brazil)

Camamu Bay (Bahia, Brazil) is an Environmental Protected Area with mangroves of economic and ecological importance. The objective of this study was to elucidate, through the distribution of the benthic macrofauna and its relationships with trace metals and bioavailabilty, if the current quality of the mangrove sediments of Camamu Bay is acceptable for the protection of aquatic life. Seven sampling stations were selected as representative of the meso-littoral region of Camamu Bay. It was found 581 macrobenthic organisms distributed in 38 species. The highest values of metals occurred at stations located in areas that influenced by barite extraction, while the lowest concentrations were found in areas with relatively lower anthropogenic influence. Analysis of acid volatile sulphide and simultaneously extracted metals showed the occurrence of the ratio SEM/AVS >1, indicative of possible bioavailability of metals, at only one station. The results suggested that Camamu Bay is a nearly pristine area.     

Andean subduction-related mantle xenoliths: Isotopic evidence of Sr–Nd decoupling during metasomatism

Sr–Nd isotopic analyses on some mantle xenolith samples from the Northern, Southern and Austral Andean volcanic zones exhibit radiogenic Sr enrichment without dramatic changing of the Nd isotopic composition. This anomalous effect (Sr–Nd decoupling) makes these samples plot displaced to the right side of the “mantle array” trend (here called the “MORB–OIB–BSE trend”) in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr vs. ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotopic diagram. Such behavior reflects processes that took place in the mantle and can be related to: i) the mixture of a depleted mantle and an enriched source (enriched mantle II—EMII); ii) the mixture of a depleted mantle and a mixture of mantle-derived and slab-derived melts; and iii) a chromatographic process that occurs during the percolation of a metasomatic agent through the mantle.     

Evolution of exhumation and erosion in western West Gondwanaland as recorded by detrital zircons of late Neoproterozoic and Cambrian sedimentary rocks of NW and Central Argentina

The evolution of the provenance areas for Late Neoproterozoic, Cambrian and Early Ordovician sedimentary and meta-sedimentary rocks of north central and northwest Argentina is discussed using 123 maximum ages of detrital zircons from 42 samples from this and previously published studies. Most detrital zircon ages fall into two groups: 1,200–900 Ma and 670–545 Ma. These ages are essentially identical for the non- to very low grade metamorphic late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian Puncoviscana Formation and the low to high grade metamorphic rocks of Eastern Sierras Pampeanas. Hence, both units are related to similar provenance areas at the same time of sedimentation. The time span from zircon crystallization in the Earth’s crust to exhumation and erosion may be very long. This is important when determining maximum ages of sedimentary rocks. Variation of zircon maxima may also be influenced by concurrent sedimentary cover of proposed provenance areas. For the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic zircon age group, an active mountain range of the southwest Brazilian Sunsás orogen is the most probable provenance area. The younger, late Neoproterozoic zircons are related to the continuously developing mountains of the Brasiliano orogen of southwest and south central Brazil. Young zircons, up to 514 Ma, from fossil-bearing Puncoviscana and Suncho Formation outcrops are related to late Early Cambrian volcanism contemporaneous with sedimentation. This situation continues through the Late Cambrian to the Early Ordovician, but the Sunsás orogen provenance diminishes as possible Río de la Plata craton origins become important.     

Simultaneous nitrification–denitrification of wastewater: effect of zeolite as a support in sequential batch reactor with step-feed strategy

One of the technologies used for wastewater nitrogen removal consists in simultaneous nitrification–denitrification. The low microbial growth rate and the low availability of organic material for the denitrification stage make it necessary to study new operational conditions and the use of microbial supports. The aim of this study was to evaluate the operational behavior of a simultaneous nitrification–denitrification process in a sequential batch reactor utilizing zeolite as a biomass support and step-feed strategy. Two reactors of 2 L were used, one with zeolite and another without zeolite, both operated at constant temperature (31 °C), varying nitrogen loading rate (NLR) from 0.041 to 0.113 kg total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN/m³/day). After 209 days, removals higher than 86 and 96 % in nitrogen compounds and organic matter were obtained, respectively. There was not accumulation of nitrate and nitrite in any case; this means that there was a simultaneous nitrification–denitrification in the reactors. The incorporation of zeolite in the system held higher concentration of biomass in the reactor; this led to reduce start-up to 21 days and to improve 11.31 % removal kinetic. The use of a step-feed strategy prevents events of inhibition by substrate, even duplicating tolerance to higher NLR for the same operation time.     

The role of hybridization in the genesis of Hercynian granitodis in the gredos massif,Spain: inferences from Sr-Nd isotopes

The Gredos massif is one the better exposed granitoid complexes of the Iberian massif. It is composed mainly of peraluminous granitoids with subordinate basic and ultrabasic complexes. The massif also contains mega-enclaves of migmatites with which the granitoids show transitional contacts. Two major magmatic associations have been distinguished in this study: (1) One comprises the granitoids with microgranular enclaves, the enclaves, and basic rocks; (2) the other is formed by leucogranites, intrusive into the former series and free of microgranular enclaves. Field relationships and microstructures indicate that the rocks of the first series are related by a dominant hybridization process. The Sr-Nd isotopic study reveals that this process is complex, relating different end-members of mantle and crustal affinities, and occurred around 295 Ma ago, late with respect to the main deformation phases of the Hercynian orogeny. The granitoids with microgranular enclaves (GME) are part of an overall mixing trend involving Palaeozoic mantle-derived magma and melts of older crustal material. Amphibole-bearing GME, in general, contain greater proportions of the mantle-derived component than the cordierite-bearing GME. The actual mixing processes took place on a variety of scales, sometimes between melts which were themselves hybrids. On a local scale this hybridization process can be modelled by simple binary mixing as documented in the case of a composite dyke. The isotopic signatures of the basic rocks are probably, to a large degree, the result of interaction with crustal melts, though additionally the presence of an enriched mantle source cannot be elmininated. Microgranular enclaves and their immediate hosts have differing initial Sr and Nd isotopic signatures, indicating that isotopic equilibrium was not attained. This suggests that the enclaves did not reside in their final granitic melt for long before cooling of the whole system. The enclaves are considered to have been derived from basaltic melts which had fractionated and hybridised to varying degrees. Late-stage peraluminous leucogranites have similar initial Nd isotopic compositions to the evolved GME; a crustal source with a radically different Nd isotopic composition or age does not need to be invoked in their petrogenesis.     

Determination of Carbon,Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Sulfur in Geological Materials Using Elemental Analysers

This article describes a series of methods developed for the determination of total carbon (C_Total), organic carbon (C_org), hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur. The following elemental analysers were used: LECO model RC‐412 for the determination of organic carbon, total carbon and hydrogen; LECO model CS‐200 for the determination of total carbon and sulfur; LECO model TN‐400 for the determination of nitrogen; and LECO model TruSpec CHNS for the determination of organic carbon, total carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur. Uncertainty and limits of detection and quantification were calculated for each method, as well as the running costs to define the most effective instrument for each material and each analyte. Accuracy was checked by the application of the Sutarno–Steger test. Finally, a compilation of the results obtained in the determination of C_Total, C_org, H, N and S in forty‐nine reference materials is presented.     

Loss on ignition: a qualitative or quantitative method for organic matter and carbonate mineral content in sediments?

Since the publication of the paper of , loss on ignition (LOI) has been widely used as a method to estimate the amount of organic matter and carbonate mineral content (and indirectly of organic and inorganic carbon) in sediments. The relationships between LOI at 550 °C (LOI₅₅₀) and organic carbon (OC) content and between LOI at 950 °C (LOI₉₅₀) and inorganic carbon (IC) content are currently accepted as a standard. However, the comparison of 150 analyses of samples of diverse lithologies, collected from a single core, reveals that these relationships are affected by sediment composition (presence of clays, salts, and the variable content of organic carbon). This results in an incremental error on the estimation of carbon content from LOI values that invalidates the use of LOI values as a quantitative method for estimating carbon content. Conversely, the general trends of LOI₅₅₀ and LOI₉₅₀ show a good correlation with carbon content (both organic and inorganic) allowing use of LOI as a qualitative test for carbon content. Similarly, in our case, LOI at 105 °C (LOI₁₀₅) is a good qualitative proxy for the trends in gypsum content.     

Gravitational collapse of gas clouds with spherical,cylindrical or plane symmetry in the linear wave flow approximation

The equations of gas dynamics are solved, quasi-analytically by applying McVittie's method for spherical, cylindrical and plane configurations. The hypothesis of linear wave flow is applied and it is assumed that the final state of collapsing clouds is a hydrostatic equilibrium state, determined by complete polytropes. Complete analytical solutions are found when the generalized (to the three symmetries) Emden equation admits of analytical solutions. Otherwise the solutions are left in terms of the numerical solutions of the Emden equation. Numerical solutions to the Emden equation in the plane case are found and tabulated. A strong dependence of amplification, of density, pressure and temperature of the gas, on the symmetry is found. In addition, it is conclude that the flow remains subsonic, during the collapse, except toward the boundaries of the collapsing clouds.