A meteoroid stream survey using the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar: I. Methodology and radiant catalogue

Using a meteor orbit radar, a total of more than 2.5 million meteoroids with masses ∼10⁻⁷ kg have had orbits measured in the interval 2002-2006. From these data, a total of 45 meteoroid streams have been identified using a wavelet transform approach to isolate enhancements in radiant density in geocentric coordinates. Of the recorded streams, 12 are previously unreported or unrecognized. The survey finds >90% of all meteoroids at this size range are part of the sporadic meteoroid background. A large fraction of the radar detected streams have q<0.15 AU suggestive of a strong contribution from sungrazing comets to the meteoroid stream population currently intersecting the Earth. We find a remarkably long period of activity for the Taurid shower (almost half the year as a clearly definable radiant) and several streams notable for a high proportion of small meteoroids only, among these a strong new shower in January at the time of the Quadrantids (January Leonids). A new shower (Epsilon Perseids) has also been identified with orbital elements almost identical to Comet 96P/Machholz.     

Effects of the modified Huanglian Jiedu decoction on the disease resistance in grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) to Lactococcus garvieae

Lactococcosis is prevalent on grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) in Hong Kong aquaculture resulting in serious economic loss. A compound formulation of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) (modified Huanglian Jiedu decoction (HLJDD)) comprising Rhizoma coptidis, Radix scutellaria, Cortex phellodendri, Fructus gardeniae, Fructus forsythiae and Flos lonicerae japonicae (in a ratio of 3:2:2:3:3:5) were applied as feed supplements to deal with the disease. The Nitroblue tetrazolium activity in blood, bactericidal activity and total immunoglobulin in plasma were significantly enhanced after feeding 1% of this TCM for 28 days. The disease resistances to Lactococcus garvieae in 1% and 2% TCM feeding groups were significantly enhanced. In the in vitro study, the modified HLJDD also activated the plasma bactericidal activities (p < 0.01). Based on this study, 1% modified HLJDD feeding for 28 days may be an optimal dose to prevent L. garvieae infection and could be used in aquaculture industries.     

Application of food waste based diets in polyculture of low trophic level fish: Effects on fish growth,water quality and plankton density

Food waste was collected from local hotels and fish feed pellets were produced for a 6 months long field feeding trial. Three types of fish feed pellets (control diet: Jinfeng® 613 formulated feed, contains mainly fish meal, plant product and fish oil; Diet A: food waste based diet without meat and 53% cereal; Diet B: food waste based diet with 25% meat and 28% cereal) were used in polyculture fish ponds to investigate the growth of fish (grass carp, bighead and mud carp), changes in water quality and plankton density. No significant differences in the levels of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds of water body were observed between 3 fish ponds after the half-year feeding trial, while pond receiving Diet A had the highest density of plankton. The food waste combination of Diet B seems to be a better formulation in terms of the overall performance on fish growth.     

A laboratory study on the kinetics of the formation of oil-suspended particulate matter aggregates using the NIST-1941b sediment

The formation of oil-suspended particulate matter aggregates (OSAs) results from the heteroaggregation between dispersed oil droplets and suspended particulate matter present in coastal waters. This process has been recognized by the oil spill remediation community to enhance natural cleansing of oiled shorelines and oil dispersion in the water column. While several studies have been conducted on the formation and characteristics of OSAs, few studies have addressed the kinetics of OSA formation. Operationally, this has left decision-makers lacking information on the time scale of this process and its significance to oil dispersion in real spills. A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the kinetics of OSA formation as a function of mixing energy and the sediment-to-oil ratio using the standard reference material 1941b. Results showed that formation of OSAs increased exponentially with the mixing time and reached a maximum within 4 h. When the shaking rate increased from 2.0 to 2.3 Hz, the maximum oil trapping efficiency increased from 20% to 42% and the required shaking time decreased from 3.7 to 0.7 h.     

The Middle Scoria sequence: A Holocene violent strombolian, subplinian and phreatomagmatic eruption of Okmok volcano, Alaska

The Middle Scoria deposit represents an explosive eruption of basaltic andesite magma (54 wt. % SiO₂) from Okmok volcano during mid-Holocene time. The pattern of dispersal and characteristics of the ejecta indicate that the eruption opened explosively, with ash textural evidence for a limited degree of phreatomagmatism. The second phase of the eruption produced thick vesicular scoria deposits with grain texture, size and dispersal characteristics that indicate it was violent strombolian to subplinian in style. The third eruptive phase produced deposits with a shift towards grain shapes that are dense, blocky, and poorly vesicular, and intermittent surge layers, indicating later transitions between magmatic (violent strombolian) to phreatomagmatic (vulcanian) eruptive styles. Isopach maps yield bulk volume estimates that range from 0.06 to 0.43 km³, with ~ 0.04 to 0.25 km³ total DRE. The associated column heights and mass discharge values calculated from isopleth maps of individual Middle Scoria layers are 8.5 – 14 km and 0.4 to 45 × 10⁶ kg/s. The Middle Scoria tephras are enriched in plagioclase microlites that have the textural characteristics of rapid magma ascent and relatively high degrees of effective undercooling. Those textures probably reflect the rapid magma ascent accompanying the violent strombolian and subplinian phases of the eruption. In the later stages of the eruption, the plagioclase microlite number densities decrease and textures include more tabular plagioclase, indicating a slowing of the ascent rate. The findings on the Middle Scoria are consistent with other explosive mafic eruptions, and show that outside of the two large caldera-forming eruptions, Okmok is also capable of producing violent mafic eruptions, marked by varying degrees of phreatomagmatism.     

Rockfall Hazard Analysis for Hong Kong Based on Rockfall Inventory

Summary ¶This paper compiles and analyzes the rockfall data in Hong Kong in the last fifty years. A simple rockfall hazard analysis is presented based on this rockfall inventory. A frequency-magnitude relation, which is analogous to the Gutenberg-Richter relation for earthquake occurrence, is proposed for rockfall, and direct correlation between rockfall frequency and the daily rainfall is observed. Data analysis shows that a threshold daily rainfall of about 150–200mm is expected in order to trigger rockfall events in Hong Kong. Among the 368 rockfall events in the 13 year period from 1984 to 1996 in Hong Kong, 35% of the incidents lead to blockage of or damage to roads, 22% lead to damages or evacuation of squatter huts, 21% lead to blockage of pedestrian pavement and footpath, and 15% affect buildings, such as housing apartments and schools. Only 15% of these rockfalls fell onto open space and caused negligible effects on human activities. Most of these rockfall events occurred during heavy rain and when landslide warning should has been issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, thus only 6% of these events led to injury or casualty, car damages, and damages to public utilities. Rockfall hazard zonation maps in terms of the spatial distribution of previous rockfalls are proposed for both Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island.     

Sea flux of trace metals in Saanich Inlet

The sea fluxes of trace metals, POC, and settled material were studied in anoxic seawater, Saanich Inlet, B. C., Canada with sediment traps. This paper discusses the change of mass fluxes of sediment, trace metals and POC for various seasons and depths. The annual mean of settled material is 1.56 g.m⁻².a⁻¹, 84.6 mg. m⁻².a⁻¹ for POC, 60.0 mg. m⁻².a⁻¹ for Cu, 16.5 mg.m⁻².a⁻¹ for Pb, 189 mg.m⁻².a⁻¹ for Zn, 2.20 mg.m⁻².a⁻¹ for Cd, 699 mg.m⁻².a⁻¹ for Fe, 38.8 mg.m⁻².a⁻¹ for Co, and 84.6 mg.m⁻².a⁻¹ for Ni. The relations between the average fluxes of trace metals and POC, the fluxes of trace metals and settled matter, and the sea fluxes of trace metals and Fe are in linear progression. The resident times of elements as calculated from sea flux, are 1.1 a. for Cu, 0.014 a. for Pb, 0.50 a. for Zn, 3.8 a. for Cd, 0.16 a. for Fe, 0.39 a. for Co, and 1.14 a. for Ni. The order of resident times is as follows: Pb−Fe−Co−Zn−Cu−Ni−Cd. The metal resident times in Saanich Inlet are shorter than the values estimated for the open ocean. It illustrates that the biochemical processes in shallow Saanich Inlet are faster than those in the open ocean, and that debries of plankton and fecal pellets of zooplankton play an important role in vertical transport of organic carbons. Contribution No. 1650 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.     

Extended-aperture underwater acoustic multisource azimuth/elevationdirection-finding using uniformly but sparsely spaced vector hydrophones

Aperture extension is achieved in this novel ESPRIT-based two-dimensional angle estimation scheme using a uniform rectangular array of vector hydrophones spaced much farther apart than a half-wavelength. A vector hydrophone comprises two or three spatially co-located, orthogonally oriented identical velocity hydrophones (each of which measures one Cartesian component of the underwater acoustical particle velocity vector-field) plus an optional pressure hydrophone. Each incident source's directions-of-arrival are determined from the source's acoustical particle velocity components, which are extracted by decoupling the data covariance matrix's signal-subspace eigenvectors using the lower dimensional eigenvectors obtainable by ESPRIT. These direction-cosine estimates are unambiguous but have high variance; they are used as coarse references to disambiguate the cyclic phase ambiguities in ESPRIT's eigenvalues when the intervector-hydrophone spacing exceeds a half-wavelength. In one simulation scenario, the estimation standard deviation decreases with increasing intervector-hydrophone spacing up to 12 wavelengths, effecting a 97% reduction in the estimation standard deviation relative to the half-wavelength case. This proposed scheme and the attendant vector-hydrophone array outperform a uniform half-wavelength spaced pressure-hydrophone array with the same aperture and slightly greater number of component hydrophones by an order of magnitude in estimation standard deviation. Other simulations demonstrate how this proposed method improves underwater acoustic communications link performance. The virtual array interpolation technique would allow this proposed algorithm to be used with irregular array geometries     

Okadaic acid, a causative toxin of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, in green-lipped mussels Perna viridis from Hong Kong fish culture zones: method development and monitoring

Green-lipped mussels (Perna viridis) were collected from seven fish culture zones (FCZs) in Hong Kong and analyzed for okadaic acid (OA). A conventional HPLC method was modified by incorporating a proteinase K digestion step. Results suggest that a higher recovery (2.5 times higher) of OA was obtained from spiked samples after the addition of 1.08 mg proteinase K in comparison with samples incubated without the proteolytic enzyme. For the hepatopancreas (HP) of individual field-collected mussels, the additional digestion step can enhance OA extraction by 3.1 times. Spatial and temporal variations in OA concentrations in the mussels from various FCZs were investigated. The highest concentration of OA in mussel HP samples was 1164.9 ng/g HP wet wt. With respect to OA concentrations in whole mussel tissues from seven sites and four seasonal samplings, the concentrations were between 70.0 and 131.0 ng/g wet wt., which did not exceed the generally recognized international regulatory criteria (>200 ng/g) for OA.     

A case study on fuel oil contamination in a mangrove swamp in Hong Kong

Mangroves commonly found along tropical and subtropical coastlines are susceptible to oil pollution. In December 2000, around 500 1 m tall Kandelia candel saplings at the age of 3–5 years old located at the foreshore region of Sheung Pak Nai swamp, Hong Kong SAR, were found to be damaged by oil pollution. More than 80% of the saplings were either dead or washed away and leaving less than 5% healthy saplings with dense green leaves. Elevated concentrations of light n-alkanes (ranging from n-C₁₄ to n-C₂₀), pristane and phytane were recorded in surface sediments collected in December 2000. The ratio between light and total n-alkanes was 0.4. The total petroleum hydrocarbons (60–80 μg g⁻¹ TPH) and unresolved complex mixtures (60–70 μg g⁻¹ UCM) were higher than the background values of other mangrove sediments in Hong Kong, which were 40 and 20 μg g⁻¹, respectively. In certain root zone sediments, TPH concentrations were above 1000 μg g⁻¹. These results suggest that surface sediments in Sheung Pak Nai were contaminated by petroleum oil, most likely by illegal discharge of fuel oil which occurred between 1998 and 2002. One year later, in December 2001, unhealthy saplings had recovered and re-grown. The concentrations of TPH and UCM in sediments declined to around 40 μg g⁻¹, pristane and phytane dropped by 80%, and the ratio of light to total n-alkanes was 0.15, suggesting that residual oil in sediments was weathered leading to a remarkable recovery of the unhealthy saplings.