Trophic structure and functioning in a eutrophic and poorly flushed lagoon in southwestern Taiwan

Tapong Bay, a eutrophic and poorly flushed tropical lagoon, supports intensive oyster culture. Using the Ecopath approach and network analysis, a mass-balanced trophic model was constructed to analyze the structure and matter flows within the food web. The lagoon model is comprised of 18 compartments with the highest trophic level of 3.2 for piscivorous fish. The high pedigree index (0.82) reveals the model to be of high quality. The most-prominent living compartment in terms of matter flow and biomass in the lagoon is cultured oysters and bivalves, respectively. The mixed trophic impacts indicate that phytoplankton and periphyton are the most-influential living compartments in the lagoon. Comparative analyses with the eutrophic and well-flushed Chiku Lagoon and non-eutrophic tropical lagoons show that high nutrient loadings might stimulate the growth and accumulation of phytoplankton and periphyton and therefore support high fishery yields. However, net primary production, total biomass, fishery yields per unit area, and mean transfer efficiency of Tapong Bay were remarkably lower than those of Chiku Lagoon. The lower transfer efficiency likely results from the low mortality of cultured oysters and invasive bivalves from predation or the lower density of benthic feeders constrained by the hypoxic bottom water as a result of poor flushing. This might therefore result in a great proportion of flows to detritus. However, the hypoxic bottom water might further reduce the recycling of the entering detritus back into the food web. In contrast to many estuaries and tropical lagoons, poor flushing of this eutrophic tropical lagoon might induce a shift from detritivory to herbivory in the food web.     

The Discovery of a Second Field Methane Brown Dwarf from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data

We report the discovery of a second field methane brown dwarf from the commissioning data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The object, SDSS J134646.45-003150.4 (hereafter SDSS 1346-00), was selected because of its very red color and stellar appearance. Its spectrum between 0.8 and 2.5 μm is dominated by strong absorption bands of H2O and CH4 and closely mimics those of Gliese 229B and SDSS 162414.37+002915.6 (hereafter SDSS 1624+00), two other known methane brown dwarfs. SDSS 1346-00 is approximately 1.5 mag fainter than Gliese 229B, suggesting that it lies about 11 pc from the Sun. The ratio of flux at 2.1 μm to that at 1.27 μm is larger for SDSS 1346-00 than for Gliese 229B and SDSS 1624+00, which suggests that SDSS 1346-00 has a slightly higher effective temperature than the others. Based on a search area of 130 deg2 and a detection limit of z*=19.8, we estimate a space density of 0.05 pc-3 for methane brown dwarfs with Teff approximately 1000 K in the 40 pc3 volume of our search. This estimate is based on small-sample statistics and should be treated with appropriate caution.     

华南二叠—三叠系界线处的磁化率特征及其对比意义

目前界线层型的确定多以生物标定,但在国际地层委员会二叠－三叠系界线工作组确定的４个二叠－三叠系界线层型候选剖面中,生物地层界线却较难精确对比。因此,其他具有广泛对比意义的事件地层标志也被用来作为确定二叠－三叠系界线的辅助标志。本文把磁化率特征（古气候的代用指标）运用二叠－三叠系界线地层研究中,发现华南许多剖面上高精度的磁化率在二叠－三叠系界线处具有同步的变化趋势,因而,磁化率特征可以作为二叠－三叠     

Macrobenthos habitat mapping in a tidal flat using remotely sensed data and a GIS-based probabilistic model

This paper proposes and tests a method of producing macrofauna habitat potential maps based on a weights-of-evidence model (a probabilistic approach) for the Hwangdo tidal flat, Korea. Samples of macrobenthos were collected during field work, and we considered five mollusca species for habitat mapping. A weights-of-evidence model was used to calculate the relative weights of 10 control factors that affect the macrobenthos habitat. The control factors were compiled as a spatial database from remotely sensed data combined with GIS analysis. The relative weight of each factor was integrated as a species potential index (SPI), which produced habitat potential maps. The maps were compared with the surveyed habitat locations, revealing a strong correlation between the potential maps and species locations. The combination of a GIS-based weights-of-evidence model and remote sensing techniques is an effective method in determining areas of macrobenthos habitat potential in a tidal flat setting.     

陕西泾阳“3·8”蒋刘黄土滑坡成因及运动特征分析

2016年3月8日上午泾阳南塬蒋刘村附近发生一起黄土滑坡-泥流。调查发现:滑坡区地下水位已经到达了坡脚,多处出现冒水点,地表垂直溶蚀裂缝发育,同时后缘深部多处可见贯通的裂隙,为水流入渗提供了优势通道。测试了滑源区土体体积含水量,发现滑坡区古土壤的隔水效应很强,导致古土壤层形成滞水层,黄土层开始积水,形成高含水量带,从而形成易滑层,导致“3·8”蒋刘黄土滑坡失稳。利用LS_RAPID软件对滑坡的运动过程进行了分析,结果显示:整体运动过程分为4个阶段:0~4.0 s为滑坡的启动阶段,坡体迅速坍塌,最大速度达到了10.3 m·s-1;4.0~4.9 s为坡体与地面的接触碰撞阶段,滑体开始减速,在4.9 s的时候减到了7.3 m·s-1;4.9~6.7 s为二次加速阶段,滑坡体在平坦的阶地上形成了泥流,加速前行,最大速度达到了18.4 m·s-1;6.7~29.5 s为减速停止阶段,滑坡动能逐渐散尽,运动停止。滑坡最终滑动距离达到275 m,滑动时间29.5 s,滑动距离与堆积范围和野外调查基本一致。     

水库型滑坡水下变形监测方法

滑坡体受库水作用其稳定性受到很大影响,如在库水作用下诱发变形,其滑体水下部分多提前于水面以上部分发生变形,对水下滑体变形进行监测,可更早对其稳定性做出判断,为防灾赢得更多时间。滑坡体水下部分变形监测一直是业内难题,常规滑坡监测方法在水下都不适用。在三峡库区秭归县树坪滑坡建立了一套水下变形自动监测系统,采用碳素纤维材料牵引伸缩计与地表倾斜计相结合,对树坪滑坡175m水位下36m深处滑体变形进行监测,经过几年运行试验,证明该方法对监测滑体水下变形可行可靠,具有一定推广价值。     

土工环剪仪的开发及其应用研究现状

在回顾国内外有关土工环剪仪研发及其应用研究工作的基础上,介绍了环剪试验设备的开发历程以及当今国际上对环剪试验系统研制方面的最新进展。总结了环剪仪在土工研究工作中的应用情况以及新的试验方法和测试技术等。着重阐述了利用环剪试验在对土峰后应变软化现象与残余强度分析、土的剪切带形成机制试验研究、地质灾害成因机制分析以及土工合成材料界面抗剪强度测定等方面研究中的主要内容、方法和成果。     

PAHs contamination and bacterial communities in mangrove surface sediments of the Jiulong River Estuary, China

Sixteen sediment samples collected from eight transects in a mangrove swamp of the Jiulong River Estuary, Fujian, China were investigated for their content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the biodegradation potential of the indigenous microorganisms. The bacterial community structures in the mangrove sediments and in enrichment cultures were also investigated. The results showed that the total PAHs concentration of mangrove sediments ranged from 280 to 1074 ng g(-1) dry weight, that the PAHs composition pattern in the mangrove sediments was dominated by high molecular weight PAH components (4-6 rings), and that Benzo[ghi]perylene and Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene were the most dominant at different stations. Abundant PAH-degrading bacteria were found in all the stations, the values of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria ranged from 5.85 x 10(4) to 7.80 x 10(5) CFU g(-1) dry weight, fluoranthene-degrading bacteria ranged from 5.25 x 10(4) to 5.79 x 10(5) CFU g(-1) dry weight, pyrene-degrading bacteria ranged from 3.10 x 10(4) to 6.97 x 10(5) CFU g(-1) dry weight and the benzo(a)pyrene-degrading bacteria ranged from 5.25 x 10(4) to 7.26 x 10(5) CFU g(-1) dry weight. DGGE analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA gene fragments confirmed that there was a remarkable shift in the composition of the bacterial community due to the addition of the different model PAH compound phenanthrene (three ring PAH), fluoranthene(four ring PAH), pyrene(four ring PAH) and benzo(a)pyrene(five ring PAH) during enrichment batch culture. Eleven strains were obtained with different morphology and different degradation ability. The presence of common bands for microbial species in the cultures and in the native mangrove sediment DNA indicated that these strains could be potential in situ PAH-degraders.     

Sonophotocatalysis of endocrine-disrupting chemicals

Sonolysis and photolysis often exhibit synergistic effects in the degradation of organic molecules. An assay of fish oocyte maturation provides an appropriate experimental system to investigate the hormonal activities of chemical agents. Oocyte maturation in fish is triggered by maturation-inducing hormone (MIH), which acts on receptors on the oocyte surface. A synthetic estrogen, diethylstilbestrol (DES), possesses inducing activity of fish oocyte maturation, and a widely used biocide, pentachlorophenol (PCP), exhibits a potent inhibitory effect on fish oocyte maturation. In this study, the effects of the combined treatment by sonolysis with photolysis (sonophotocatalysis) to diminish the hormonal activity of DES and the maturation preventing activity of PCP was examined. By sonophotocatalysis, hormonal activity of DES was completely lost within 30min and the inhibiting activity of PCP was lost within 120min. These results demonstrated that sonophotocatalysis is effective for diminishing the endocrine-disrupting activity of chemical agents.