The utility of the terms "bioavailability" and "bioavailable fraction" for metals

Because concentrations of total or dissolved metal usually are not good predictors of the acute toxicity of metals to aquatic biota (i.e. not all of the metal appears to be bioavailable), it has been tempting for researchers and regulators to attempt to identify a form or combination of forms of a metal that is the bioavailable fraction. But from geochemical, biological, and analytical perspectives, the term 'bioavailable fraction" is context-specific (i.e. not generalizable) and quantitatively elusive. Although the term "bioavailability" conveys a useful, general concept and should be retained in the aquatic-toxicology lexicon, the term "bioavailable fraction" should be avoided.     

Twelve years of tracking 52-Hz whale calls from a unique source in the North Pacific

A unique whale call with 50–52 Hz emphasis from a single source has been tracked over 12 years in the central and eastern North Pacific. These calls, referred to as 52-Hz calls, were monitored and analyzed from acoustic data recorded by hydrophones of the US Navy Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) and other arrays. The calls were noticed first in 1989, and have been detected and tracked since 1992. No other calls with similar characteristics have been identified in the acoustic data from any hydrophone system in the North Pacific basin. Only one series of these 52-Hz calls has been recorded at a time, with no call overlap, suggesting that a single whale produced the calls. The calls were recorded from August to February with most in December and January. The species producing these calls is unknown. The tracks of the 52-Hz whale were different each year, and varied in length from 708 to 11,062 km with travel speeds ranging from 0.7 to 3.8 km/h. Tracks included (A) meandering over short ranges, (B) predominantly west-to-east movement, and (C) mostly north-to-south travel. These tracks consistently appeared to be unrelated to the presence or movement of other whale species (blue, fin and humpback) monitored year-round with the same hydrophones.     

A note on the seafloor coupling characteristics of the new ONR ocean-bottom seismometer

A series of transient tests were conducted to determine the seafloor coupling characteristics of a new ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) developed for the United States Office of Naval Research (ONR). The OBS comprises a large recording package and a separate sensor package that is deployed from the recording package. In addition to the coupling characteristics of both the sensor and the recording packages, the seismic energy radiated from the main recording package as a result of motion of the recording package was measured. The observed vertical coupling resonances of both the recording package and the sensor package are in good agreement with those predicted by a simple model of soil-structure interaction. The most important result of this study is that significant energy is radiated from the recording package in response to horizontal motions of the recording package. When the sensor package is 1 m from the recording package, the amplitude of the recorded signal is similar to that recorded in the recording package. In the field, this effect will result in distortion of seismic signals and increased background noise recorded by the sensor package if the recording package is disturbed by seafloor currents or biological activity. The amplitude of this signal attenuates by approximately a factor of two as sensor/recorder separation is increased from 1 to 6 m, suggesting that an improved response can be achieved by increasing the separation between the recording package and the sensors. This effect is much less severe for vertical disturbances of the recording package.     

北阿尔金地区米兰红柳沟的早古生代蛇绿岩

阿尔金地区以巨型阿尔金走滑断裂而著称,断裂以西为阿尔金山地区,以东为祁连山地区.近年来人们陆续在阿尔金断裂两侧发现榴辉岩带,即南阿尔金榴辉岩带(车自成等1995;刘良等1996)和柴北缘榴辉岩带(杨经绥等,1998,2000),指出阿尔金断裂两侧的岩石单元可以对比,并推断阿尔金断裂左行走滑位移了约400 km(许志琴等,1999;葛肖虹等,1999).     

A coupling of mixed and discontinuous Galerkin finite-element methods for poroelasticity

In this paper, we formulate a finite-element procedure for approximating the coupled fluid and mechanics in Biot’s consolidation model of poroelasticity. We approximate the flow variables by a mixed finite-element space and the displacement by a family of discontinuous Galerkin methods. Theoretical convergence error estimates are derived and, in particular, are shown to be independent of the constrained specific storage coefficient, c _o . This suggests that our proposed algorithm is a potentially effective way to combat locking, or the nonphysical pressure oscillations, which sometimes arise in numerical algorithms for poroelasticity.     

Nutrient Mass Flux between Florida Bay and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

There is a net discharge of water and nutrients through Long Key Channel from Florida Bay to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). There has been speculation that this water and its constituents may be contributing to the loss of coral cover on the Florida Keys Reef tract over the past few decades, as well as speculation that changes in freshwater flow in the upstream Everglades ecosystem associated with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan may exacerbate this phenomenon. The results of this study indicate that although there is a net export of approximately 3,850 (±404) ton N year^?1 and 63 (±7) ton P year^?1, the concentrations of these nutrients flowing out of Florida Bay are the same as those flowing in. This implies that no significant nutrient enrichment is occurring in the waters of the FKNMS in the vicinity of Long Key Channel. Because of the effect of restricted southwestward water flow through Florida Bay by shallow banks and small islands, the volume of relatively high-nutrient water from central and eastern portions of the bay exiting through the channel is small compared to the average tidal exchange. Nutrient loading of relatively enriched bay waters is mediated by tidal exchange and mixing with more ambient concentrations of the western Florida Bay and Hawk Channel. System-wide budgets indicate that the contribution of Florida Bay waters to the inorganic nitrogen pool of the Keys coral reef is small relative to offshore inputs.     

Possible consequences of absence of “jupiters” in planetary systems

The formation of the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn probably required the growth of massive 15 Earth-mass cores on a time scale shorter than the 10⁷ time scale for removal of nebular gas. Relatively minor variations in nebular parameters could preclude the growth of full-size gas giants even in systems in which the terrestrial planet region is similar to our own. Systems containing failed Jupiters, resembling Uranus and Neptune in their failure to capture much nebular gas, would be expected to contain more densely populated cometary source regions. They will also eject a smaller number of comets into interstellar space. If systems of this kind were the norm, observation of hyperbolic comets would be unexpected. Monte Carlo calculations of the orbital evolution of region of such systems (the Kuiper belt) indicate that throughout Earth history the cometary impact flux in their terrestrial planet regions would be 1000 times greater than in our Solar System. It may be speculated that this could frustrate the evolution of organisms that observe and seek to understand their planetary system. For this reason our observation of these planets in our Solar System may tell us nothing about the probability of similar gas giants occurring in other planetary systems. This situation can be corrected by observation of an unbiased sample of planetary systems.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

A preliminary study of the carbon-isotopic content of ambient formic acid and two selected sources: Automobile exhaust and formicine ants

Relatively large quantities (1 mg) of formic acid have been collected from the atmosphere and subjected to carbon-isotopic analysis, as a means of source discrimination. Ambient formic acid was captured on Ca(OH)₂-treated filters using a high-volume sampler. The collection method was not only efficient (>96%), but also appears to have low artifact production.Most of the samples (36 out of 52) were collected over a two-year period at the summit of Mount Lemmon, Arizona, where a strong seasonality in HCOOH mixing ratio was observed (0.2 ppb during winter months to 1.5 ppb in the summer). Other collection sites included the Oregon coast, Colorado Rockies, urban Tucson, and the North Dakota prairie. The carbon-13 content of atmospheric HCOOH was found to be have little variation (–18 to –25), regardless of location or season. This is consistent with a single dominant source of formic acid. The carbon-14 measurements of 6 Mount Lemmon samples showed high levels of modern carbon (93–113% modern).The emissions from formicine ants and automobile combustion were selected as two other potential sources for isotopic analysis. The HCOOH collected from auto exhaust was much more depleted in¹³C than the atmospheric samples, with a ¹³C of –28.0 and –48.6 from a leaded and unleaded automobile, respectively. Formicine ants, on the other hand, ranged from –17.2 to –20.6.     

Effects of ageing and overconsolidation on the elastic stiffness of a remoulded clay

Summary Results of resonant column tests were used to determine values of low amplitude shear modulus (G ₀) of a remoulded kaolinite clay for different durations of ageing and for different values of consolidation stress (₀) and overconsolidation ratio (OCR). It was found that after completion of primary consolidation the values of G ₀ increased linearly with the logarithm of time and after a week of confinement the value of normalized rate of secondary increase of shear modulus (N _G ) could be reliably estimated. Values of N _G were found to derease linearly with the logarithm of OCR and with the logarithm of ageing duration. This similarity of behaviour provided a basis for establishing an equivalency between age and equivalent overconsolidation ratio (OCR)_eq. The effects of ₀ and OCR on the value of G ₀ were also established in a functional form that indicated a stronger influence compared to that predicted by the Hardin Equation.     

The development of radio astronomy at Hartebeesthoek

The development of radio astronomy at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory in South Africa is described. The Hartebeesthoek site was established originally by NASA as one of three Deep Space Stations equipped with 26-m parabolic reflector antennas. It was first used for radio astronomy by South Africa in terms of the NASA host nation agreement which allowed for its use at times when the facility was not needed for its primary purpose of tracking space probes. After NASA withdrew from South Africa in 1975, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research took over the site and the 26-m parabolic reflector antenna, which NASA had abandoned in position, and established it as a national observatory. The development of the facility to the stage where it could support a variety of observing programmes such as continuum observations and mapping, spectroscopy and pulsar timing is described as well as the role played by the Observatory in global programmes of very long baseline interferometry.