Spatiotemporal variability of hypoxia and eutrophication in Manila Bay,Philippines during the northeast and southwest monsoons

Hypoxia in Manila Bay, Philippines was previously reported during the northeast monsoon (dry season) in February 2010. In this study, four more field surveys of the same 31 stations were conducted in July 2010, August 2011 and 2012 (wet season, southwest monsoon), and February 2011 (dry season, northeast monsoon). During the wet season, bottom hypoxia spread northward towards the coast with dissolved oxygen (DO) ranging from 0.12 to 9.22 mg/L and the bay-wide average reaching 2.10 mg/L. Nutrient levels were elevated, especially near the bottom where dissolved inorganic nitrogen reached 22.3 μM (July 2010) and phosphorus reached 5.61 μM (August 2011). High nutrient concentrations often coincided with low near-bottom DO content. Our work builds on the preliminary assessment of hypoxia in Manila Bay, the importance of repeated temporal studies, and shows hypoxia to prevail significantly during the southwest monsoon (wet season) when increased freshwater discharge caused strong water column stratification.     

Automatic scaling of critical frequency <Emphasis Type="Italic">fo</Emphasis>F2 from ionograms recorded at São José dos Campos,Brazil: a comparison between Autoscala and UDIDA tools

This paper considers a dataset of ionograms recorded by the CADI ionosonde installed at São José dos Campos (SJC; 23.2°S, 45.9°W, magnetic latitude 14.1°S), Brazil, to compare two autoscaling systems: Autoscala, developed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, and the UDIDA-scaling, developed by the Universidade do Vale do Paraíba. The analysis, focused on the critical frequency of the F2 layer, foF2, shows that the two systems work differently. The UDIDA-scaling gives always a value of foF2 as output, regardless of the presence of the ionogram trace and its definition, while Autoscala tends to reject ionograms for which the digital information is considered insufficient. As a consequence, the UDIDA-scaling can autoscale more foF2 values than Autoscala, but Autoscala can discard a larger number of ionograms for which the trace is unidentifiable. Discussions are made on the accuracy of the foF2 values given as output, as well as on the main shortcomings characterizing the two systems.     

Effects of urban wastewater on crab and mollusc assemblages in equatorial and subtropical mangroves of East Africa

Mangrove forests are known to accomplish crucial ecosystem functions and services. They are nursery areas for fish, prawns and crabs, which provide coastal communities with a variety of food, timber and chemicals, and protect coasts from catastrophic events, such as tsunamis. Recently, a novel ecological service has been proposed for mangrove systems, namely natural wastewater treatment wetlands. This hypothesis was based on experimental data collected mainly in Chinese mangrove systems, which proved that mangrove soils were efficient in absorbing nutrients. Moreover, sewage loading seemed harmless to both plants and benthic communities in these systems. However, before promoting the use of natural mangroves as pollution buffers, or constructed mangrove wetlands as sewage treatment facilities, more data are needed on their overall tolerance to organic loading. Differences in macrobenthos patterns were thus investigated between peri-urban mangroves and sites not affected by sewage disposal in East Africa. We assessed differences in epifaunal assemblages, comprising crabs and molluscs, employing multivariate ACI unbalanced analyses to compare peri-urban mangrove swamps with those characteristic of non-urban mangroves with similar ecological traits. The sampling design was spatially nested, replicates being assessed at equatorial (southern Kenya) and subtropical (southern Mozambique) sites. The results manifested a consistent increase in crab biomass at the peri-urban sites in both Kenya and Mozambique. Moreover, the peri-urban systems were richer than the non-urban mangroves, both in terms of fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) which feed on benthic microalgae and bacteria, and sesarmids, such as Perisesarma guttatum and Neosarmatium meinerti, which feed on both substratum and leaf litter. The abundance of gastropods, in contrast, decreased significantly, especially in Kenya, mainly due to the disappearance of the mud whelk Terebralia palustris. The results thus indicate that, in East African mangrove systems, domestic wastewater has detectable effects on crabs and molluscs, suggesting their usefulness as bioindicators of its effects in mangroves. Transformed benthic patterns at the peri-urban sites indicated the need for further study of the actual potential of natural mangrove forests to absorb pollution in sewage treatment.     

Population structure, density and food sources of Terebralia palustris (Potamididae: Gastropoda) in a low intertidal Avicennia marina mangrove stand (Inhaca Island, Mozambique)

Population structure and distribution of Terebralia palustris were compared with the environmental parameters within microhabitats in a monospecific stand of Avicennia marina in southern Mozambique. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of T. palustris and potential food sources (leaves, pneumatophore epiphytes, and surface sediments) were examined to establish the feeding preferences of T. palustris. Stable isotope signatures of individuals of different size classes and from different microhabitats were compared with local food sources. Samples of surface sediments 2.5–10 m apart showed some variation (−21.2‰ to −23.0‰) in δ¹³C, probably due to different contributions from seagrasses, microalgae and mangrove leaves, while δ¹⁵N values varied between 8.7‰ and 15.8‰, indicating that there is a very high variability within a small-scale microcosm. Stable isotope signatures differed significantly between the T. palustris size classes and between individuals of the same size class, collected in different microhabitats. Results also suggested that smaller individuals feed on sediment, selecting mainly benthic microalgae, while larger individuals feed on sediment, epiphytes and mangrove leaves. Correlations were found between environmental parameters and gastropod population structure and distribution vs. the feeding preferences of individuals of different size classes and in different microhabitats. While organic content and the abundance of leaves were parameters that correlated best with the total density of gastropods (>85%), the abundance of pneumatophores and leaves, as well as grain size, correlated better with the gastropod size distribution (>65%). Young individuals (height < 3 cm) occur predominantly in microhabitats characterized by a low density of leaf litter and pneumatophores, reduced organic matter and larger grain size, these being characteristic of lower intertidal open areas that favour benthic microalgal growth. With increasing shell height, T. palustris individuals start occupying microhabitats nearer the mangrove trees characterized by large densities of pneumatophores and litter, as well as sediments of smaller grain size, leading to higher organic matter availability in the sediment.     

Removal of selenium from contaminated agricultural drainage water by nanofiltration membranes

Seleniferous agricultural drainage wastewater has become a new major source of pollution in the world. In the USA, large areas of farmland in 17 western states, generate contaminated salinized drainage with Se concentrations much higher than 5 μg/I, the US Environmental Protection Agency water-quality criterion for the protection of aquatic life; Se values locally reach 4200 wg/1 in western San Joaquin Valley, California. Wetland habitats receiving this drainage have generally shown Se toxicosis in aquatic birds causing high rates of embryonic deformity and mortality, or have indicated potential ecological damage.Results of our laboratory flow experiments indicate that nanofiltration, the latest membrane separation technology, can selectively remove > 95% of Se and other multivalent anions from > 90% of highly contaminated water from the San Joaquin Valley, California. Such membranes yield greater water output and require lower pressures and less pretreatment, and therefore, are more cost effective than traditional reverse osmosis membranes. Nanofiltration membranes offer a potential breakthrough for the management of Se contaminated wastes not only from agricultural drainage, but from other sources also.     

Chemical evolution of waters during long term interaction with granitic rocks in northern Switzerland

As part of an assessment of crystalline rock as a potential host for a nuclear waste repository, water samples were collected from more than 50 locations from the crystalline basement where it is under sedimentary cover in Northern Switzerland and where it is at the surface in the Black Forest. These samples describe the changing chemistry of water in an extended flow system from dilute recharge waters far from chemical equilibrium with its host rock to saline waters at temperatures of 50 to 100°C with residence times far in excess of 105 a that have reached chemical equilibrium with their host rock.This unique set of samples allows an analysis of the chemical evolution of granitic waters from surficial waters far from equilibrium to almost equilibrated waters. Mobile ions, rare gases and isotopic data are used to estimate the extent of reaction between waters and their host rock. The evolution of controlled elements is interpreted as a function of this extent of reaction. Silica contents correspond to approximate equilibrium even in the recharge waters. The relative concentrations of Ca and especially Mg are significantly lower in the borehole waters than in recharge waters indicating a trend towards equilibrium. The Na/K ratios correspond to equilibrium only in the most evolved, older, waters which are shown to be at full equilibrium.     

Towards an integrated science of movement: converging research on animal movement ecology and human mobility science

There is long-standing scientific interest in understanding purposeful movement by animals and humans. Traditionally, collecting data on individual moving entities was difficult and time-consuming, limiting scientific progress. The growth of location-aware and other geospatial technologies for capturing, managing and analyzing moving objects data are shattering these limitations, leading to revolutions in animal movement ecology and human mobility science. Despite parallel transitions towards massive individual-level data collected automatically via sensors, there is little scientific cross-fertilization across the animal and human divide. There are potential synergies from converging these separate domains towards an integrated science of movement. This paper discusses the data-driven revolutions in the animal movement ecology and human mobility science, their contrasting worldviews and, as examples of complementarity, transdisciplinary questions that span both fields. We also identify research challenges that should be met to develop an integrated science of movement trajectories.     

Deformation, high-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of ultramafic rocks in a deep subduction/collision setting (Cabo Ortegal, NW Spain)

New petrological and microstructural data from various metaperidotite 'boudins' within large ductile shear zones in the Cabo Ortegal allochthonous complex in NW Spain have important implications for the tectonic models of the area. The peridotites (mylonitic garnet harzburgite, Ti-clinohumite and magnesite–olivine orthopyroxenite) contain mineral assemblages that equilibrated at high- to ultra-high-pressure metamorphic conditions as well as microstructures of tectonic origin formed at temperatures well above 800  °C. Olivine and orthopyroxene fabrics resulted from flow at high temperature (>1000  °C) and solid-state non-coaxial plastic flow at intermediate temperature (800–900  °C). Flow caused dynamic recrystallization and formation of moderate to strong lattice preferred orientations under low to moderate differential stresses and strain rates characteristic of upper mantle and deep crustal deformation. The microstructures and textural relationships suggest that the mylonitic garnet harzburgite represents mantle fragments with lithospheric and asthenospheric imprints, whereas the olivine orthopyroxenite resulted from serpentinite burial to depths where it acquired a characteristic high/ultra-high-pressure metamorphic signature. Both types of ultramafites converged to a common site in a subduction zone that was later incorporated during continental collision to the NW Iberian Massif as exotic, allochthonous complexes that record structural and metamorphic evidence of the earliest phases of the Hercynian orogeny.     

Slant Column Measurements of O3 and NO2 During the NDSC Intercomparison of Zenith-Sky UV-Visible Spectrometers in June 1996

In June 1996, 16 UV-visible sensors from 11 institutes measured spectra of the zenith sky for more than 10 days. Spectra were analysed in real-time to determine slant column amounts of O3 and NO2. Spectra of Hg lamps and lasers were measured, and the amount of NO2 in a cell was determined by each spectrometer. Some spectra were re-analysed after obvious errors were found. Slant columns were compared in two ways: by examining regression analyses against comparison instruments over the whole range of solar zenith angles; and by taking fractional differences from a comparison instrument at solar zenith angles between 85° and 91°. Regression identified which pairs of instruments were most consistent, and so which could be used as universal comparison instruments. For O3, regression slopes for the whole campaign agreed within 5% for most instruments despite the use of different cross-sections and wavelength intervals, whereas similar agreement was only achieved for NO2 when the same cross-sections and wavelength intervals were used and only one half-day's data was analysed. Mean fractional differences in NO2 from a comparison instrument fall within ±7% (1-sigma) for most instruments, with standard deviations of the mean differences averaging 4.5%. Mean differences in O3 fall within ±2.5% (1- sigma) for most instruments, with standard deviations of the mean differences averaging 2%. Measurements of NO2 in the cell had similar agreement to measurements of NO2 in the atmosphere, but for some instruments measurements with cell and atmosphere relative to a comparison instrument disagreed by more than the error bars.