Hot Spots of Nitrification in the Elbe Estuary and Their Impact on Nitrate Regeneration

Estuaries act as an organic matter and nutrient filter in the transition between the land, rivers and the ocean. In the past, high nutrient and organic carbon load and low oxygen concentration made the Elbe River estuary (NW Europe) a sink for dissolved inorganic nitrogen. A recent reduction in loads and subsequent recovery of the estuary changed its biogeochemical function, so that nitrate is no longer removed on its transition towards the coastal North Sea. Nowadays in the estuary, nitrification appears to be a significant nitrate source. To quantify nitrification and determine actively nitrifying regions in the estuary, we measured the concentrations of ammonium, nitrite and nitrate, the dual stable isotopes of nitrate and net nitrification rates in the estuary on five cruises from August 2012 to August 2013. The nitrate concentration increased markedly downstream of the port of Hamburg in summer and spring, accompanied by a decrease of nitrate isotope values that was clearest in summer exactly at the location where nitrate concentration started to increase. Ammonium and nitrite peaked in the Hamburg port region (up to 18 and 8 μmol L^?1, respectively), and nitrification rates in this region were up to 7 μmol L^?1 day^?1. Our data show that coupled re-mineralization and nitrification are significant internal nitrate sources that almost double the estuary’s summer nitrate concentration. Furthermore, we find that the port of Hamburg is a hot spot of nitrification, whereas the maximum turbidity zone (MTZ) only plays a subordinate role in turnover of nitrate.     

Pico- and Nanophytoplankton Dynamics in Two Coupled but Contrasting Coastal Bays in the NW Mediterranean Sea (France)

Due to its ecological context, the Toulon bay represents a site of scientific interest to study temporal plankton distribution, particularly pico- and nanophytoplankton dynamics. A monthly monitoring was performed during a two-year cycle (October 2013–December 2015) at two coupled sampling sites, referred to as Little and Large bays, which had different morphometric characteristics and human pressures. Flow cytometry analyses highlighted the fact that pico- and nanophytoplankton were more abundant in the eutrophic Little bay. Furthermore, it evidenced two community structures across the Toulon bays: at times, a co-dominance of picoeukaryotes, nanoeukaryotes, Synechococcus 1-like cells and Prochlorococcus-like cells was found, and at other times, a Synechococcus 1-like dominated community existed. The alternation of one structure or the other can be explained by a combined action of temperature regime, nutrient conditions and degree of contamination. This study showed that pico- and nanophytoplankton dynamics were mainly driven by temperature in both sites, as in other temperate Mediterranean regions. Thus, the community was mainly composed of picoeukaryotes and Prochlorococcus-like cells in the winter (<?15 °C), while it was dominated by Synechococcus 1-like cells in the summer (>?20 °C). Additionally, the multiple human stressors in the Little bay seemed to affect the increase in abundance of Synechococcus 1-like cells as they were preferentially observed in the Large bay.     

Accessing effects and signals of leakage from a CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> reservoir to a shallow freshwater aquifer by reactive transport modelling

CO₂ geological storage is a transitional technology for the mitigation of climate change. In the vicinity of potential CO₂ reservoirs in Hungary, protected freshwater aquifers used for drinking water supplies exist. Effects of disaster events of CO₂ escape and brine displacement to one of these aquifers have been studied by kinetic 1D reactive transport modelling in PHREEQC. Besides verifying that ion concentrations in the freshwater may increase up to drinking water limit values in both scenarios (CO₂ or brine leakage), total porosity of the rock is estimated. Pore volume is expected to increase at the entry point of CO₂ and to decrease at further distances, whereas it shows minor increase along the flow path for the effect of brine inflow. Additionally, electrical conductivity of water is estimated and suggested to be the best parameter to measure for cost-effective monitoring of both worst-case leakage scenarios.     

Bioerosion and encrustation rates in recent mollusk death assemblages on a supratidal siliciclastic setting,Playa Norte,Veracruz State,Mexico

This study presents both qualitative and quantitative data regarding marine mollusk (gastropods and bivalves) shell bioerosion and encrustation based on death assemblages obtained from a recent supratidal environment in Playa Norte, Veracruz State. The objectives of this study were to assess the nature of bioerosion and encrustation processes and to investigate the role of these taphonomic features contributing to the deterioration of natural shell accumulations within a tropical siliciclastic tidal environment. The assemblage comprises 31 species: 13 gastropods and 18 bivalves. The bioerosion and encrustation degrees were low to moderate for both types. The most abundant traces were predatory gastropod structures (Oichnus paraboloides and O. simplex), whereas sponge borings (Entobia isp.), polychaete dwellings (Caulostrepsis taeniola), and echinoid raspings (Gnatichnus isp.) were less frequent. The encrusting organisms include polychaete serpulids, bryozoans, and rare foraminifers (Homotrema rubrum). Because of the low bioerosion and encrustation degrees occurring in this area, accumulation is expected to predominate over biotic destruction. As deposition conditions (richly fossiliferous carbonate sandstone beds) were similar to those prevailing in the Tuxpan Formation during the Miocene (Langhian), it is suggested that this study provides an equivalent reference to interpret mollusk fossil assemblages located in this site.     

Synthesis of monticellite–forsterite and merwinite–forsterite symplectites in the CaO–MgO–SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> model system: influence of temperature and water content on microstructure evolution

Homogeneous single crystals of synthetic monticellite with the composition \({\text{Ca}}_{0.88}{\text{Mg}}_{1.12}{\text{SiO}}_4\) (Mtc I) were annealed in a piston-cylinder apparatus at temperatures between 1000 and \(1200\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\), pressures of 1.0–1.4 GPa, for run durations from 10 min to 24 h and applying bulk water contents ranging from 0.0 to 0.5 wt% of the total charge. At these conditions, Mtc I breaks down to a fine-grained, symplectic intergrowth. Thereby, two types of symplectites are produced: a first symplectite type (Sy I) is represented by an aggregate of rod-shaped forsterite immersed in a matrix of monticellite with end-member composition (Mtc II), and a second symplectite type (Sy II) takes the form of a lamellar merwinite–forsterite intergrowth. Both symplectites may form simultaneously, where the formation of Sy I is favoured by the presence of water. Sy I is metastable with respect to Sy II and is successively replaced by the latter. For both symplectite types, the characteristic spacing of the symplectite phases is independent of run duration and is only weeakly influenced by the water content, but it is strongly temperature dependent. It varies from about 400 nm at \(1000\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\) to 1200 nm at \(1100\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\) in Sy I, and from 300 nm at \(1000\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\) to 700 nm at \(1200\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}\) in Sy II. A thermodynamic analysis reveals that the temperature dependence of the characteristic spacing of the symplectite phases is due to a relatively high activation energy for chemical segregation by diffusion within the reaction front as compared to the activation energy for interface reactions at the reaction front. The temperature dependence of the characteristic lamellar spacing and the temperature-time dependence of overall reaction progress have potential for applications in geo-thermometry and geo-speedometry.     

断裂应力特征及其转折控油气规律研究——以南堡凹陷为例

为了分析断裂对油气宏观分布规律的控制作用,寻找有勘探潜力的油气富集带,文中以地质力学理论为指导,对南堡凹陷断裂组合应力特征、断裂转折及成因进行解析,并结合砂体分布和古今构造应力场分布特征,对南堡凹陷东营组油气分布规律和有利勘探区带做了研究。结果表明:断裂转折部位对油气分布有着控制作用,东营组已探明的油气主要在帚状断裂系、入字形断裂系、交织式断裂系转折轴部高曲率附近呈环带状分布;断裂转折凹面一侧控油性明显,从宏观上来看,油气具有沿沉积相带由细到粗的构造脊高点以及弧形断裂转折凹面一侧的选择性运移的特征,断裂转折轴部高曲率高孔、高渗域与高孔、高渗砂体沉积相带的有利对置决定了油气的主流向;综合研究指出,南堡凹陷北堡构造带是今后优势勘探的首要区带,其次是南堡构造带和南堡4号蛤坨构造带南部。     

内蒙古翁公敖包航磁异常的推断与解释

文章对内蒙古四子王旗—土默特右旗中北部近年发现的翁公敖包航磁异常进行推断与解释,在对找矿有望的航磁异常进行筛选后,对翁公敖包航磁异常进行了野外地质-地球物理查证,确定异常为铁矿所致;采用向上延拓、垂向导数、斜导数及小波变换等方法对航磁异常进行数据转换处理,以获取铁矿体的横向及纵向分布信息,取得了较好的效果。     

Ba同位素揭示上地幔中广泛存在再循环的沉积物

正Ba同位素由于具有在低温环境中分馏的特性,相比放射性同位素与微量元素,可以更好地示踪地球深部动力学过程中的再循环物质。研究表明沉积物与蚀变洋壳具有明显不同的Ba同位素组成(沉积物富集来自重晶石的Ba),使得Ba同位素成为研究表层与地幔储库间物质交换的有力工具。最近美国伍兹霍尔海洋研究所报道了来自全球洋中脊的21个MORB样品的Ba、Sr、Nd同位素和微量元素组成以及两个钻井中沉积物和蚀变洋壳     

Flood-prone area mapping using machine learning techniques: a case study of Quang Binh province,Vietnam

Natural Hazards - Vietnam’s central coastal region is the most vulnerable and always at flood risk, severely affecting people’s livelihoods and socio-economic development. In...     

硬土软岩滑坡近水平滑移的离心机模型试验研究

中国西北地区存在大量的新近纪硬土软岩滑坡灾害,为研究该类滑坡的变形特征,开展两组离心机模型试验模拟滑带劣化引起滑坡变形破坏的全过程,获取模型坡体土压及位移的实时变化曲线。研究表明,当软弱带强度降低时,硬土软岩滑坡的上部滑体呈块体状滑动,在快速运动滑动过程中,滑体呈现块状平移,不会彻底解体、液化;硬土软岩滑坡中前部出现水平应力集中,导致下伏滑带塑性流动变形,诱发其中前部上覆滑体的水平运动,并向滑坡后缘扩展,最终形成多级水平滑动。