Effects of changing land use on the microbial water quality of tidal creeks

Population growth along the southeastern United States coast has precipitated the conversion of forested watersheds to suburban and urban ones. This study sampled creeks representing forested, suburban, and urban watersheds along a longitudinal gradient for indicators of water quality, including traditional indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms and enterococci) and alternative viral indicators (male-specific and somatic coliphages). Tested microorganisms were generally distributed with highest concentrations in creek headwaters and in more developed watersheds. The headwaters also showed the strongest predictive relationship between indicator concentrations and urbanization as measured by impervious cover. A seasonal pattern was observed for indicator bacteria but not for indicator viruses. Coliphage typing indicated the likely source of contamination was nonhuman. Results suggest that headwater creeks can serve as sentinel habitat, signaling early warning of public health concerns from land-based anthropogenic activities. This study also implies the potential to eventually forecast indicator concentrations under land use change scenarios.     

Scope for a small circumsolar annular gravitational contribution to the Pioneer anomaly without affecting planetary orbits

All proposed gravitational explanations of the Pioneer anomaly must crucially face the Equivalence Principle. Thus, if Pioneers 10 and 11 were influenced by anomalous gravitational effects in regions containing other Solar System bodies, then those bodies should likewise be influenced, irrespective of their shape, composition or mass. Although the lack of any observed influence upon planetary orbits severely constrains such explanations, here we aim to construct by computer modeling, hypothetical gravitating annuli having no gravitational impact on planetary orbits from Mercury to Neptune. One model has a central zone, free of radial gravitation in the annular plane, and an ‘onset’ beyond Saturn’s orbit, where sunward annular gravitation increases to match the Pioneer anomaly data. Sharp nulls are included so that Uranus and Neptune escape this influence. Such models can be proportionately reduced in mass: a 1 % contribution to the anomaly requires an annulus of approximately 1 Earth mass. It is thus possible to comply with the JPL assessment of newly recovered data attributing 80 %, or more, of the anomaly to spacecraft heat, which appears to allow small contributions from other causes. Following the possibility of an increasing Kuiper belt density at great ranges, another model makes an outward small anomalous gravitation in the TNO region, tallying with an observed slight indication of such an effect, suggesting that New Horizons may slightly accelerate in this region.     

The impact of high altitude aircraft on the ozone layer in the stratosphere

The paper discusses the potential effects on the ozone layer of gases released by the engines of proposed high altitude supersonic aircraft. The major problem arises from the emissions of nitrogen oxides which have the potential to destroy significant quantities of ozone in the stratosphere. The magnitude of the perturbation is highly dependent on the cruise altitude of the aircraft. Furthermore, the depletion of ozone is substantially reduced when heterogeneous conversion of nitrogen oxides into nitric acid on sulfate aerosol particles is taken into account in the calculation. The sensitivity of the aerosol load on stratospheric ozone is investigated. First, the model indicates that the aerosol load induced by the SO₂ released by aircraft is increased by about 10–20% above the background aerosols at mid-high latitude of the Northern Hemisphere at 15 km for the NASA emission scenario A (the NASA emission scenarios are explained in Tables I to III). This increase in aerosol has small effects on stratospheric ozone. Second, when the aerosol load is increased following a volcanic eruption similar to the eruption of El Chichon (Mexico, April 1982), the ozone column in spring increases by as much as 9% in response to the injection of NO _x from the aircraft with the NASA emission scenario A. Finally, the modeled suggests that significant ozone depletion could result from the formation of additional polar stratospheric clouds produced by the injection of H₂O and HNO₃ by the aircraft engines.     

底栖生物生产力现场测试系统(BCSPM)的建立及其初步实验结果

为对生态系统的健康评估及底栖生物资源的开发利用提供技术支撑,在胶州湾筏式养殖水域,建立了底栖生物生产力现场测试系统(BCSPM),并在光照和黑暗条件下测定了沉积物海水界面溶解氧随时间的变化、计算了氧通量、估算了底栖总初级生产力和群落呼吸。在光照较强的中午时刻测定的群落总生产力为20．76mgCm^-2h^-1;养殖水域沉积物中的群落呼吸要高于邻近水域。BCSPM整体运转良好,初步结果为系统的改进和进一步实验提供了依据。     

打造过硬品牌以彰显地质公园在UNESCO世界级名录中的特殊地位——PPF理念(“过去—现在—将来”理念)

目前世界地质公园网络(GGN)共有90个成员,分布在27个国家和地区,尽管在这个网络建立过程中,联合国教科文组织起着关键作用,但在过去十多年里,其与地质公园的关系只能被定义为“特别支持”,眼下两者的关系应该在一个国际倡议或计划下被正式化,这将有利于进一步提高地质公园的管理、交流合作和资源利用.实现该目标,就要清晰地阐明地质公园核心的独有特色,使地质公园与联合国教科文组织已实施的计划形成互补,不会产生冲突或重叠.本文介绍的PPF理念将会是一个有效的方法,以此创建一个过硬的品牌,彰显地质公园在UNESCO世界级名录中的特殊地位.