Analysis of the spatial variation of heavy metals in the Guadiana Estuary sediments (SW Iberian Peninsula) based on GIS-mapping techniques

This work reveals the usefulness of the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping techniques to show the distribution of pollutants along an estuarine environment, as the final stage of a thorough study. In the case of study, the environmental quality of the sediments in the Guadiana river estuary was determined by means of a complete geochemical characterization consisting on the calculation of enrichment factors for the most important metals and metalloids (compared with the local background of non-contaminated sediments). The obtained results were depicted in “enrichment distribution maps” which evidenced a distribution of the elements in two groups: Group-I, elements with natural origin (Al, Fe, Mn, Co, and Cr) distributed homogeneously along the basin, and Group-II, elements associated to anthropic origin (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn) with clear punctual sources besides a high concentration all over the estuary. The enrichment factors for the elements of Group-II are indicative of the existence of a noticeable diffuse historical mining pollution associated with the acid mine drainage generated in the internal zones of the basin, which could overlap minor pollution inputs from other human activities. The obtained results lead us to a reconsideration of the traditionally thought “unpolluted” environment when it was compared to nearby estuaries.     

Precision A.C. bridge set for measuring magnetic susceptibility of rocks and its anisotropy

Summary A bridge set for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of rocks and its anisotropy is described. The classical transformer bridge has been supplemented with an auxiliary compensating arm for balancing the bridge without any mechanical infringement of the measuring coils. By employing this principle and the appropriate methods a sensitivityof 4 × 10 ^–8 SI units (3 × 10 ^–9 e.m.u./cm³) has been achieved for a sample of 8 cm³ in volume. In addition to its high sensitivity the device has a considerable accuracy, which makes it suitable for susceptibility anisotropy measurements even of samples with a very low susceptibility and only slight anisotropy. Well-reproducible results have been achieved for samples with a mean susceptibility of the order of10 ^–5 SI units with an anisotropy degree of only about 1.05.Institute of Applied Geophysics.     

Changes in phytoplankton production and upwelling intensity off A Coruña (NW Spain) for the last 28 years

Ocean Dynamics - The analysis of a 28-year-long (1989–2016) series of monthly measurements of chlorophyll concentrations and primary production rates at a shelf station off A Coruña (NW...     

Behaviour of the SMF method for the numerical integration of satellite orbits

The SMF algorithms were recently developed by the authors as a multistep generalization of the ScheifeleG-functions one-step method. Like the last, the proposed codes integrate harmonic oscillations without truncation error and the perturbing parameter appears as a factor of that error when integrating perturbed oscillations. Therefore they seemed to be convenient for the accurate integration of orbital problems after the application of linearizing transformations, such as KS or BF. In this paper we present several numerical experiments concerning the propagation of Earth satellite orbits, that illustrate the performance of the the SMF method. In general, it provides greater accuracy than the usual standard algorithms for similar computational cost.     

Precursory seismicity of the 1994 eruption of Popocatépetl Volcano,Central Mexico

Popocatépetl Volcano is located in the central Mexican Volcanic Belt, within a densely populated region inhabited by over 20 million people. The eruptive history of this volcano indicates that it is capable of producing a wide range of eruptions, including Plinian events. After nearly 70 years of quiescence, Popocatépetl reawakened in December 21, 1994. The eruptive activity has continued up until the date of this submission and has been characterized by a succession of lava dome growth-and-destruction episodes, similar to events that have apparently been typical for Popocatépetl since the fourteenth century. In this regime, the episodes of effusive and moderately explosive activity alternate with long periods of almost total quiescence. In this paper we analyze five years of volcano-tectonic seismicity preceding the initial eruption of the current episode. The evolution of the V-T seismicity shows four distinct stages, which we interpret in terms of the internal processes which precede an eruption after a long period of quiescence. The thermal effects of a magma intrusion at depth, the fracturing related to the slow development of magma-related fluid pathways, the concentration of stress causing a protracted acceleration of this process, and a final relaxation or redistribution of the stress shortly before the initial eruption are reflected in the rates of V-T seismic energy release. A hindsight analysis of this activity shows that the acceleration of the seismicity in the third stage asymptotically forecast the time of the eruption. The total seismic energy release needed to produce an eruption after a long period of quiescence is related to the volume of rock that must be fractured so imposing a characteristic threshold limit for polygenetic volcanoes, limit that was reached by Popocatépetl before the eruption.     

Influence of olive mill waste application on the role of soil as a carbon source or sink

Organic matter (OM) is involved in the enhancement of soil quality since it acts on soil structure, nutrient storage and biological activity. Organic carbon (OC), the dominant element constituent of OM, and related soil properties are probably the most widely acknowledged indicator of soil quality. The typically Mediterranean climate of the South of Spain promotes low yields on crops and low organic carbon in soil. The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of the application of alperujo, olive oil waste difficult to eliminate, on the fixation or emission of carbon on soil in an olive grove situated in Montoro (Córdoba, Spain). In the study three treatments were considered: 15 kg (A), 7.5 kg (B), 0 kg (C) of alperujo per tree and the implementation of the amendment has been made for three consecutive years. The results confirm the benefits of the amendment on the carbon content organic soil with a fixation with respect to control of 4.8 and 6.1 t ha^???1 for the first year and 8.7 and 6.8 t ha^???1 for the second in treatments A and B, respectively. Of the different climatic agents considered in the study, it was the temperature which had a major influence on the emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere and the flow of gas presented the highest values in soils treated with the highest dose.     

Objectives of fisheries management: case studies from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark

The main objectives of fisheries management are generally similar throughout the world. These are often stated in policy documents such as the Common Fisheries Policy and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. However, at the local level often the key objectives of management are more detailed, characterised by both the overriding management structure and the status and type of fishery concerned. In this paper, we consider case study fisheries from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark to compare some of the various types of fisheries and fisheries management systems that exist in the European Union. From this, we define the key objectives for each management system.     

Response of single benthic metrics and multi-metric methods to anthropogenic pressure gradients, in five distinct European coastal and transitional ecosystems

In recent times many benthic indices have been proposed to assess the ecological quality of marine waters worldwide. In this study we compared single metrics and multi-metric methods to assess coastal and transitional benthic status along human pressure gradients in five distinct environments across Europe: Varna bay and lake (Bulgaria), Lesina lagoon (Italy), Mondego estuary (Portugal), Basque coast (Spain) and Oslofjord (Norway). Hence, 13 single metrics (abundance, number of taxa, and several diversity and sensitivity indices) and eight of the most common indices used within the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) for benthic assessment were selected: index of size spectra (ISS), Benthic assessment tool (BAT), Norwegian quality index (NQI), Multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI), Benthic quality index (BQI), (Benthic ecosystem quality index (BEQI), Benthic index based on taxonomic sufficiency (BITS), and infaunal quality index (IQI). Within each system, sampling sites were ordered in an increasing pressure gradient according to a preliminary classification based on professional judgement. The different indices are largely consistent in their response to pressure gradient, except in some particular cases (i.e. BITS, in all cases, or ISS when a low number of individuals is present). Inconsistencies between indicator responses were most pronounced in transitional waters (i.e. IQI, BEQI), highlighting the difficulties of the generic application of indicators to all marine, estuarine and lagoonal environments. However, some of the single (i.e. ecological groups approach, diversity, richness) and multi-metric methods (i.e. BAT, M-AMBI, NQI) were able to detect such gradients both in transitional and coastal environments, being these multi-metric methods more consistent in the detection than single indices. This study highlights the importance of survey design and good reference conditions for some indicators. The agreement observed between different methodologies and their ability to detect quality trends across distinct environments constitutes a promising result for the implementation of the WFD’s monitoring plans. Moreover, these results have management implications, regarding the dangers of misclassification, uncertainty in the assessment, use of conflicting indices, and testing and validation of indices.     

Objective method for classifying air masses: an application to the analysis of Buenos Aires’ (Argentina) urban heat island intensity

Summary ?During recent years, numerous studies have examined the Buenos Aires urban climate, but the relationship between large-scale weather conditions and the Buenos Aires urban heat island (UHI) intensity has not been studied. The goal of this paper is to apply an objective synoptic climatological method to identify homogeneous air masses or weather types affecting Buenos Aires during winter, and to relate the results to the UHI intensity. A K-means clustering method was used to define six different air masses considering the 03:00, 09:00, 15:00 and 21:00 LT surface observations of dry bulb temperature, dew point, cloud cover, atmospheric pressure and wind direction and velocity at Ezeiza, the most rural meteorological station of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (Fig. 1). Results show that the mean UHI intensity is at its maximum (2.8 °C) a few hours before sunrise when conditions are dominated by cold air masses associated with cold-core anticyclones, weak winds and low cloud cover. Inverse heat islands are found during the afternoon for all air masses indicating that surface processes are not dominant at that time. The relatively infrequent and warmest air mass is the only one that presents a mean negative urban-rural temperature difference (−0.1 °C) during the afternoon with the smallest diurnal cycle of the UHI intensity probably due to the prevailing high humidity and cloudy sky conditions. The paper provides an insight into the Buenos Aires urban–rural temperature difference under a variety of winter weather types and results could be useful to improve local daily temperature forecasts for the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires on the basis of the routine forecasts of weather types. Received October 24, 2001; revised June 12, 2002; accepted October 10, 2002     

Spatial and temporal variation of the nekton and hyperbenthos from a temperate European estuary with regulated freshwater inflow

The aquatic macrofauna of the Guadalquivir estuary were sampled (1 mm mesh persiana net) at 5 sampling sites located along the entire (except the tidal freshwater region) estuarine gradient of salinity (outer 50 km). A total of 134 fish and macroinvertebrate species was collected but only 62 were considered common or regularly present in the estuary. Univariate measures of the community structure showed statistically significant differences among sampling sites: species richness, abundance, and biomass decreased in the upstream direction, being positively correlated with the salinity. Temporal differences of these three variables were also statistically significant. While a clear seasonal pattern (minimum densities in winter and maximum in spring-summer) was observed for abundance and biomass, no such pattern existed for the number of species. Mysids was the most dominant group throughout the estuary (96% to 99% of abundance; 49% to 85% of biomass), although fish biomass was also important at the outer estuary (36% to 38%). Multivariate analyses indicated highly significant spatial variation in the macrofaunal communities observed along the salinity gradient. These analyses suggest that the underlying structure was a continuum with more or less overlapping distributions of the species dependent on their ability to tolerate different physicochemical conditions. There were also significant temporal (intermonthly + interannual) variation of the estuarine community; the relative multivariate dispersion indicated that monthly variation was more considerable (relative multivariate dispersion >1) at the outer part of the estuary during the wet year (last 20 km) and was higher in the inner stations during the dry year (32 to 50 km from the river mouth). Since a clear negative exponential relationship was observed between the freshwater input (from a dam located 110 km upstream) and water salinity at all sampling stations, it is concluded that the human freshwater management is probably affecting the studied estuarine communities. While the higher seasonal (long-term) stability of the salinity gradient, due to the human control of the freshwater input, may facilitate the recruitment of marine species juveniles during the meteorologically unstable early-spring, the additional (short-term) salinity fluctuations during the warm period may negatively affect species that complete their lifecycle within the estuary.