Coastal processes and environmental hazards: the Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Venetian (Italy) littorals

The Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Venice (Italy) coastlands have experienced significant saltwater contamination of the phreatic aquifer, coastal erosion, hydrodynamic changes and relative sea level rise processes due to natural and man-induced factors. These factors expose coastal areas to morpho-hydro-geological hazards, such as soil desertification, frequency and degree of flooding, littoral erosion, and the silting of river mouths and channels. Man-made interventions and actions, such as beach mining, construction of coastal structures and exploitation of aquifers without an adequate knowledge of the hydrology setting and an adequate management program, worsen these natural hazards. Uncontrolled human activity induces environmental damage to the overall coastal plains. The coastal plains play an important role in the social/economic development of the two regions based on land use, such as agriculture, horticulture, breeding, and tourism, as well as industry. Results of investigations on saltwater contamination, sea level rise and morphological changes recently performed in these two coastal areas are presented here.     

矿物粉尘溶解行为的电镜研究及其生物化学意义

本文对用Ｇａｎｂｌｅ溶液、有机酸及无机强酸溶解后的矿物粉尘残余物进行了扫描电子显微镜分析。结果表明,矿物纤维粉尘纤维变短、长径比减小、柔性减弱、端部变圆,部分溶解成串珠状;粗大颗粒松散塌陷,表面粗糙度增加;片状粉为碎变细;硅酸盐矿物粉尘具有向以ＳｉＯ２为主要成分的纳米级近球形颗粒转化的趋势。故提出在纳米级别上研究粉尘致病机理是非常有价值的。     

Molybdenum Mass Fractions and Isotopic Compositions of International Geological Reference Materials

The double‐spike method with multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry was used to measure the Mo mass fractions and isotopic compositions of a set of geological reference materials including the mineral molybdenite, seawater, coral, as well as igneous and sedimentary rocks. The long‐term reproducibility of the Mo isotopic measurements, based on two‐year analyses of NIST SRM 3134 reference solutions and seawater samples, was ≤ 0.07‰ (two standard deviations, 2s, n = 167) for δ^98/95Mo. Accuracy was evaluated by analyses of Atlantic seawater, which yielded a mean δ^98/95Mo of 2.03 ± 0.06‰ (2s, n = 30, relative to NIST SRM 3134 = 0‰) and mass fraction of 0.0104 ± 0.0006 μg g^?1 (2s, n = 30), which is indistinguishable from seawater samples taken world‐wide and measured in other laboratories. The comprehensive data set presented in this study serves as a reference for quality assurance and interlaboratory comparison of high‐precision Mo mass fractions and isotopic compositions.     

苍山5.2级地震的地形变特征及机制

运用新方法对苍山地震前后的形变资料进行了异常识别，重点分析形变异常的变化特征及机制。结果显示；（１）苍山地震是大面积应力积累、调整的结果；（２）以外围区１００－２００ｋｍ中短及短期异常为主，而震中１００ｋｍ内的近源区异常并不显著；（３）进入短期的异常标志是中短期异常出现转折或反向。     

Modeling the Population Effects of Hypoxia on Atlantic Croaker (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Micropogonias undulatus</Emphasis>) in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico: Part 1—Model Description and Idealized Hypoxia

We developed a spatially explicit, individual-based model to analyze how hypoxia effects on reproduction, growth, and mortality of Atlantic croaker in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico lead to population-level responses. The model follows the hourly growth, mortality, reproduction, and movement of individuals on a 300 × 800 spatial grid of 1-km² cells for 140 years. Chlorophyll-a concentration, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen (DO) were specified daily for each grid cell and repeated for each year of the simulation. A bioenergetics model was used to represent growth, mortality was assumed stage- and age-dependent, and the movement behavior of juveniles and adults was modeled based on temperature and avoidance of low DO. Hypoxia effects were imposed using exposure effect submodels that converted time-varying exposures to low DO to reduced hourly growth, increased hourly mortality, and reduced annual fecundity. Results showed that 100 years of either mild or intermediate hypoxia produced small reductions in population abundance, while repeated severe hypoxia caused a 19% reduction in long-term population abundance. Relatively few individuals were exposed to low DO each hour, but many individuals experienced some exposure. The response was dominated by a 5% average reduction in annual fecundity of individuals. Under conditions of random sequences of mild, intermediate, and severe hypoxia years occurring in proportion to their historical frequency, the model predicted a 10% decrease in the long-term population abundance of croaker. A companion paper substitutes hourly DO values from a three-dimensional water quality model for the idealized hypoxia and results in a more realistic population reduction of about 25%.     

海滩养护和修复工程的动态平衡滨线设计研究——以浙江省苍南县炎亭湾海滩修复工程设计为例

以浙江省苍南县炎亭湾海滩修复为例,基于"CERC"的沿岸输沙率计算公式,建立了一套依据工程区近滨波浪场分布进行动态平衡滨线设计的方法,包括独立输沙单元海滩和非独立输沙单元海滩2种滨线形态设计方法.研究发现:在海滩养护和修复工程中,依据动态平衡滨线设计方法对滨线走向进行科学论证是十分必要的;独立输沙单元的海滩可以视为沿岸输沙率为零的非独立输沙单元的海滩,前者海滩平衡滨线的布设是后者平衡滨线布设的一种特例;相较于"静态岬湾海滩概念(SBBC)"模型,本研究提出的动态平衡滨线设计方法更具优势,该方法可用于大多数海滩的平面形态设计.     

Crude-oil hydrocarbon composition characteristics and oil viscosity prediction in the northern Songliao Basin

Crude oil hydrocarbon composition characteristics and oil viscosity prediction are important bases in petroleum exploration.A total of 54 oil/heavy-oil samples and 17 oil sands were analyzed and quantified using both comprehensive 2D gas chromatography(GC×GC)and comprehensive 2D gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry(GC×GC/TOFMS).The results show that crude oil in the West slope is mainly heavy oil and its hydrocarbon composition is characterized overall by paraffinsmono-aromaticsnaphthenesnon-hydrocarbonsdi-aromaticstri-aromaticstetra-aromatics.Aromatics are most abundant and non-hydrocarbons are least abundant,whilst content differences among paraffins,naphthenes,aromatics,and non-hydrocarbons are less than 15%.There are two types of heavy oil,secondary type and mixing type.Biodegradation is the main formation mechanism of heavy oil.Biodegradation levels cover light biodegradation,moderate biodegradation,and severe biodegradation.With increasing biodegradation,paraffin content decreases while contents of aromatics and nonhydrocarbons increase.In contrast,naphthene content increases first and then decreases with increasing biodegradation.In severe biodegradation stage,naphthenes decrease more quickly than aromatics and non-hydrocarbons.This provides a new method for studying oil/heavy-oil biodegradation mechanism and biodegradation resistance of different hydrocarbons at different biodegradation stages.In the Longhupao-Daan terrace and Qijia-Gulong depression,most crude oil is conventional oil.Its composition is dominated by paraffins with the lowest content of aromatics.In some casual oil wells from the Longhupao-Daan terrace,crude oil from Saertu oil reservoirs is moderately biodegraded whereas crude oil from Putaohua oil reservoir is lightly biodegraded.Chemical parameters using saturate hydrocarbons and aromatics are usually not suitable for determining organic type and thermal maturity of biodegraded oil,especially of moderately or severely biodegraded oil,whilst Ts/(Ts+Tm)ratio can be used to determine thermal maturity of both conventional crude oil and heavy oil.     

洞庭湖不同水位高程下南荻(Triarrhena lutarioriparia)种群分布格局及生长动态

通过野外不同水位高程固定样地多次调查,结合方差/均值比率法研究了不同水位高程下洞庭湖湿地南荻(Triarrhena lutarioriparia)种群分布格局及生长动态.结果表明:(1)低程区土壤含水量显著高于高程区;低程区土壤颗粒组成与高程区相比有显著差异,低程区土壤为黏砂壤土,高程区为粉砂土;低程区土壤总有机碳、全氮、铵态氮和pH值等与高程区相比无显著差异,而其硝态氮、有效磷、全钾和速效钾含量低于高程区,全磷含量却恰好相反.(2)调查期间,南荻的分布格局随着植物的生长由均匀分布逐渐变为聚集分布,低程区聚集强度更大;(3)南荻的生物量和高度均随时间增长而迅速增加,且低程区的总生物量和增长量均高于高程区;南荻的密度和基径随时间增长而增加,之后趋于平稳,且低程区均高于高程区.结果分析表明,水位高程差异引起的土壤含水量的显著变化可能是影响南荻分布格局和生长动态最重要的因素.因此,适度地调控水位、增加土壤水分含量可能是控制南荻群落扩张的重要措施.     

Effects of long-term medieval agriculture on soil properties: A case study from the Kislovodsk basin,Northern Caucasus,Russia

The chemical properties and biological activities of soils were studied in the vicinity of the medieval settlement Podkumskoe-3 in the Kislovodsk basin (Northern Caucasus, Russia). Between the 5th and 8th centuries this area was ploughed regularly, but it was then abandoned up to the present day. It has been established that past human activity leads to soil undergoing significant transformations in terms of microbial communities and enzyme activity, and that such changes are maintained over long periods. Long-term manuring in the middle of the first millennium AD led to an increase in organic carbon content and the accumulation of nitrate nitrogen. Soils of ancient abandoned fields are associated with increases in microbial biomass, number of saprotrophic bacteria, urease activity, and fungal mycelium biomass. The observed changes in the microbiological and biochemical properties of soil were conditioned by secondary anthropogenically induced succession after the abandonment of arable lands.     

Seasonal temperatures for the past ∼400 years reconstructed from diatom and chironomid assemblages in a high-altitude lake (Lej da la Tscheppa,Switzerland)

We analysed a 42 cm long sediment record from Lej da la Tscheppa, a high-altitude lake (2,616 m a.s.l.) in the Upper Engadine valley (Switzerland) for subfossil diatoms, chironomids and pollen. The chronology of the top 21 cm of the record was established using ²¹⁰Pb analysis using a constant-rate-of-supply model, and validated with ¹³⁷Cs measurements and the content of spheroidal carbonaceous particles. A tentative chronology for the lower part of the core was obtained through extrapolation of the sedimentation rates in the uppermost part of the record. Pollen assemblages in the record reflect regional changes in forestation and land-use patterns in the Upper Engadine valley and show no evidence of significant local human activity in the lake’s catchment. Diatom assemblages record a distinct increase in planktonic taxa since the early 19th century, suggesting a decrease in the duration of ice-cover. In contrast, chironomid assemblages remained stable during a large part of the record. We applied an established chironomid-based July air temperature transfer function and a newly developed diatom-based spring air temperature transfer function to reconstruct past seasonal air temperature changes at Lej da la Tscheppa. The reconstructions indicate a diatom-inferred warming trend in spring temperatures during the past ca. 400 years, whereas chironomid-inferred summer temperatures suggest a slight cooling trend. These biota-based reconstructions are in good agreement with the centennial-scale temperature trend in an independent reconstruction of regional temperatures in the Upper Engadine region based on instrumental records and documentary proxy evidence from the Alps. Our results suggest that, in high-altitude lakes, independent chironomid- and diatom-based seasonal temperature reconstruction is possible and can be successfully used to track seasonal temperature trends.