Phytoplankton and particulate matter in Carlingford Lough, Ireland: An assessment of food availability and the impact of bivalve culture

In an attempt to assess the impact of bivalve culture in Carlingford Lough, Ireland, the seasonal cycles of nutrients, particulate matter, chlorophylla, and phytoplankton in the lough was investigated in 1992. Chlorophyll levels showed an increase in April, corresponding to the annual spring bloom, and levels remained relatively high (2–12 mg m^?3) throughout the summer before dropping to a winter minimum by December. Throughout the summer the phytoplankton community was dominated by diatoms, with microflagellates becoming an increasingly larger fraction of the biomass in autumn and winter. Dinoflagellates were only present on occasion in low numbers during the summer months. Seasonal variations in nitrate, phosphate, and silicate concentrations at all stations showed characteristic winter maxima and summer minima. Nitrate concentrations had reached a minimum undetectable level by June, at a time when the main freshwater input from the Clanrye River had dropped to <0.3 m³ s^?1. Particulate organic carbon (POC) composed approximately 5% of the suspended matter, with highest values in winter due to resuspension. Levels of biologically available POC, as determined by a modified BOD technique, were greatest in summer, and an inverse relationship was observed between total POC and its fraction that was biologically available. Most of the labile fraction was considered to be phytoplankton, and remineralization during the summer is suggested as a mechanism for maintaining high productivity during the summer months. Although the phytoplankton biology was uncoupled with that outside the lough, it is concluded that there is scope for expansion of the local bivalve mariculture industry without altering the ecosystem of the lough. The upper limit on such expansion would be set by practical considerations such as availability of space and site suitability due to water quality.     

Upper ocean export of particulate organic carbon and biogenic silica in the Southern Ocean along 170°W

Upper-ocean fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) and biogenic silica (bSi) are calculated from four US JGOFS cruises along 170°W using a thorium-234 based approach. Both POC and bSi fluxes exhibit large variability vs. latitude during the seasonal progression of diatom dominated blooms. POC fluxes at 100 m of up to 50 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ are found late in the bloom, and farthest south near the Ross Sea Gyre. Biogenic Si fluxes also peak late in the bloom as high as 15 mmol Si m⁻² d⁻¹, but this flux peak occurs at a different latitude, just south of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF), which is centered around 60°S along this cruise track. The ratios of both POC and bSi export relative to their production rates are large, suggesting an efficient biological pump at these latitudes. The highest relative bSi/POC flux ratios at 100 m are found just south of the APF, coincident with a bSi/POC flux peak seen in 1000 m traps during this same program by Deep-Sea Research II (Honjo et al., Deep-Sea Research II 47, 3521–3548). These data suggest that efficient export at these latitudes can support the high accumulation rates of bSi found in the sediments under and south of the APF, despite the generally low biomass and productivity levels in this region.     

The mid-IR radio correlation at high angular resolution: NGC253

We present high angular resolution (1.2), narrow band (/=0.1) images of the nucleus of NGC253 at three wavelengths in the mid-IR (8.5, 10.0, and 12.5 m). We find that most of the mid-IR flux in the nucleus of NGC253 derives from a very small region 120 pc in diameter. Within this small region there are three spatially and spectrally distinct IR components: two bright compact sources, and a surrounding envelope of low level, diffuse emission. The mid-IR and 6cm radio are loosely correlated in position but not in brightness. The implication is that the mid-IR - radio correlation may begin to break down on small spatial scales relevant to individual star forming regions and large individual sources. These variations in the mid-IR spectra and in the radio-IR correlation imply that the nuclear emission is excited by more than one mechanism and source type.     

The influence of biogeochemical conditions and level of model complexity when simulating cometabolic biodegradation in sorbent-water systems

Eighteen models with different levels of complexity for representing sorption, mass transfer, and biodegradation are used to simulate the biodegradation of toluene (primary substrate) and TCE (cometabolic substrate). The simulations are conducted for hypothetical completely mixed systems of various scenarios with regard to sorbent, microbial composition, and solute concentrations. The purpose of the suite of simulations is to investigate the sensitivity of different modeling approaches in simulating the bio-attenuation of co-existing solutes in sorbent-water systems. The sensitivity of results to the modeling approach depends on the biogeochemical conditions of the system. For example, the results are insensitive to the type of sorption model in systems with low sorption strength and slow biodegradation rates, and insensitive to the biodegradation rate model if mass transfer controlled. Differences among model results are generally greater when evaluated in terms of total mass removal rather than aqueous phase concentration reduction. The fate of the cometabolite is more sensitive to the proper consideration of co-solute effects than is the fate of the primary substrate. For a given system, graphical comparison of a characteristic mass transfer rate coefficient (α_mt) versus a characteristic biodegradation rate coefficient (α_bio) provides an indication of how sensitivity to the different processes may be expected to change with time and can guide the selection of an appropriate level of model complexity.     

Application of Artificial Neural Networks to Complex Groundwater Management Problems

As water quantity and quality problems become increasingly severe, accurate prediction and effective management of scarcer water resources will become critical. In this paper, the successful application of artificial neural network (ANN) technology is described for three types of groundwater prediction and management problems. In the first example, an ANN was trained with simulation data from a physically based numerical model to predict head (groundwater elevation) at locations of interest under variable pumping and climate conditions. The ANN achieved a high degree of predictive accuracy, and its derived state-transition equations were embedded into a multiobjective optimization formulation and solved to generate a trade-off curve depicting water supply in relation to contamination risk. In the second and third examples, ANNs were developed with real-world hydrologic and climate data for different hydrogeologic environments. For the second problem, an ANN was developed using data collected for a 5-year, 8-month period to predict heads in a multilayered surficial and limestone aquifer system under variable pumping, state, and climate conditions. Using weekly stress periods, the ANN substantially outperformed a well-calibrated numerical flow model for the 71-day validation period, and provided insights into the effects of climate and pumping on water levels. For the third problem, an ANN was developed with data collected automatically over a 6-week period to predict hourly heads in 11 high-capacity public supply wells tapping a semiconfined bedrock aquifer and subject to large well-interference effects. Using hourly stress periods, the ANN accurately predicted heads for 24-hour periods in all public supply wells. These test cases demonstrate that the ANN technology can solve a variety of complex groundwater management problems and overcome many of the problems and limitations associated with traditional physically based flow models.     

Bioavailability of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants: Effects and Implications of Sorption-Related Mass Transfer on Bioremediation

The low bioavailability of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) is one of the key sources of uncertainty in the implementation of in situ bioremediation. Bioavailability of HOCs in the subsurface is affected by sorption/desorption processes in two important ways. First, sorption causes high organic concentrations in microporous regions and impermeable zones to which bacterial access is obstructed. Second, because desorption and immobile zone diffusion must occur before biodegradation can proceed, the overall rate of bioremediation can be limited or even controlled by these mass transfer processes, not by the activity of the degrading microorganisms. Rate models that couple sorption/desorption—related mass transfer processes and biodegradation have been successfully applied to laboratory results and are beginning to offer some insight into the problem. Specifically, the influence of sorption on biodegradation is quantified here by defining a bioavailability factor, B_f. However, many questions remain and predictive modeling is elusive, especially in the context of complicated heterogeneous natural systems. Challenges facing environmental engineers are to develop a better understanding of these processes at both laboratory and field scales and ultimately to use such understanding toward the development of more effective and economical remediation technologies.     

Mineralisation at the Carrock Fell Tungsten Mine,N. England: Paragenetic,fluid inclusion and geochemical study

Tungsten ore at Carrock Fell Mine comprises wolframite and scheelite in polyminerallic quartz veins which traverse the Grainsgill Granite cupola and surrounding country rocks. In the veins, a wolframite-scheelite-apatite assemblage pre-dates a scheelite-arsenopyrite-pyrite (plus other sulphides) assemblages. Temperatures of mineralisation declined from a peak near 350°C to 170°C, and the hydrothermal fluid contained about 6 weight% NaCl and 3 wt% NaHCO₃. Contemporaneous greisenisation involved loss of Na, Cr, Ca and Ba from granite, but Si and K were retained while B, Be and Al increased slightly. Sn also increased but is always a trace constituent, and F appears to have decreased. Zones of intense alteration contain high concentrations of quartzhosted fluid inclusions resulting from penetration of the granite by fluid chemically similar to that in the vein quartz. The W-rich, Sn-poor nature of the mineralisation may relate to the weakly saline, F-deficient but CO₂-rich fluid chemistry. The alteration and mineralisation processes took place during late cooling of the Lower-Devonian Skiddaw Granite. Cross-cutting quartz-ankerite veins and argillitic zones which may be considerably younger than those producing the tungsten ore, have a distinct mineral suite lacking W and As and including major Pb and Zn. Temperatures at this late stage were below 150°C, and the fluid is estimated to have contained approximately 12 wt% NaCl and 15 wt% CaCl₂.     

Where Are Porphyry Copper Deposits Spatially Localized? A Case Study in Benguet Province,Philippines

To provide guides for exploration of porphyry copper mineralization at a district scale, we examine the spatial association between known porphyry copper deposits and geologic features in Benguet, Philippines. The spatial associations between the porphyry copper deposits and strike-slip fault discontinuities, batholithic pluton margins and porphyry plutons are quantified using weights of evidence modeling. In the training and testing district, the porphyry copper occurrences are associated spatially with strike-slip fault discontinuities, batholithic pluton margins and contacts of porphyry plutons within distances of 3 km, 2.25 km, and 1 km, respectively. In addition, the porphyry plutons are associated spatially with strike-slip fault discontinuities and contacts of batholithic plutons within a distance of 2.25 km and 3 km, respectively. Based on these significant spatial associations, predictive maps are generated to delineate zones favorable for porphyry copper mineralization and zones favorable for emplacement of porphyry plutons in Benguet province, Philippines. Validations of the predictive models demonstrate their efficacy in pointing to zones for subsequent follow-up exploration work.