Precipitation of heavy metals in produced water: influence on contaminant transport and toxicity

Produced water undergoes changes in its physical chemistry including precipitation of heavy metals after being discharged and mixed with ambient seawater. Potential impacts of the precipitation of heavy metals on their transport and toxicity were studied using samples from offshore oil production sites on the Scotian Shelf off eastern Canada. Concentrations of aluminum, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel and zinc were measured in total, particulate and dissolved fractions together with Microtox tests for assessment of toxicity. Heavy metals in produced water were transformed from dissolved to particulate phase in a period of hours under oxygenated conditions, and aggregated to larger particles that settle rapidly (>100 m/day) over a few days. In addition, there was production of buoyant particles comprised of heavy metal precipitates sequestered onto oil droplets that were transported to the surface. The particulate fraction was generally more toxic than the dissolved fraction. This was evident at the mixing interface between produced water and seawater where elevated particulate and toxicity levels were observed. Laboratory studies suggest an increase in the toxicity of discharged produced water over time. Time-series experiments showed a sustained toxic response for more than a week following the oxidation of freshly discharged produced water that initially elicited little or no toxic response in the Microtox test. Chemical processes identified in this study, namely precipitation of heavy metals and consequent settling and rising fluxes of particles, will influence the toxicity, the fate and the transport of potential contaminants in the produced water. Therefore, these processes need to be considered in assessment of the environmental impact associated with offshore oil and gas operations.     

Functional diversity of nematode communities in the southwestern North Sea

A range of biological traits of nematode species were combined to identify patterns in the functional composition of their assemblages collected at 19 soft-bottom stations in the southwestern North Sea with the primary aim to determine which environmental variables control communities. We used 19 categories of five biological traits thought or known to represent an important ecological function. These were related to buccal morphology, tail shape, body size, body shape and life history strategy. Data on trait membership was provided by biological information on species and genera. A total of 79 different trait combinations were recorded. Results from correlation analyses revealed several significant relationships between traits. Some trait combinations were shared by different species and genera, and the ratio of realised versus total number of possible trait combinations of < 1 suggested that some trait combinations were not represented by the nematode fauna from this region. The functional composition of nematodes was strongly linked to median particle diameter and silt content of the sediment and water depth. The approach adopted and our attempts at defining and analysing functional attributes of nematode communities raised a number of conceptual and methodological issues which are discussed.     

钻孔应变仪的固体潮标定——消除小尺度不均匀性的影响

通过对Pion Flat观测点的Gladwin钻孔张量应变仪(BTSM)进行固体潮标定得到的应变数据,我们对地应变进行了估算并分析。小尺度地质上的不均匀性是通过远场面应变/剪应变的交互耦合方法考察面应变/剪应变时所要考虑的因素之一。一种将交互耦合引入应变仪标定的方法由此而生。以同一位置激光应变仪(LSM)观测的固体潮应变为参考,我们发现用交互耦合方法对BTSM标定消除了钻孔固体潮观测值应变中近30%的系统误差。这种标定将钻孔应变和激光应变的测量精度(大约1km)准确地联系在一起了。这种标定技术为短基线应变测量中面临的主要问题(构造应变不能表征小尺度的非均匀性)提供了解决方法。这种方法在断层滑移的残余应变测量中可能减少50%甚至更高的误差,并允许增加滑移机制的约束条件。我们发现就目前仪器而得出的固体潮应变的理论估计值来进行交互耦合标定还不够精确。将理论固体潮与激光应变仪(LSM)观测的固体潮进行比照发现,至少有一半的误差产生于对海洋负荷潮的估计。     

Spatiotemporal variation and mechanisms of temperature inversion in the Bay of Bengal and the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean

In the northern Bay of Bengal, the existence of intense temperature inversion during winter is a widely accepted phenomenon. However, occurrences of temperature inversion during other seasons and the spatial distribution within and adjacent to the Bay of Bengal are not well understood. In this study, a higher resolution spatiotemporal variation of temperature inversion and its mechanisms are examined with mixed layer heat and salt budget analysis utilizing long-term Argo（2004 to 2020） and RAMA（2...     

Analysis of EMD algorithm for identification and extraction of an acoustic signal in underwater channel against wind driven ambient noise

Sonar generated acoustic signals transmitted in underwater channel for distant communications are affected by numerous factors like ambient noise, making them nonlinear and non-stationary in nature. In recent years, the application of Empirical Mode Decomposition （EMD） technique to analyze nonlinear and non-stationary signals has gained much attention. It is an empirical approach to decompose a signal into a set of oscillatory modes known as intrinsic mode functions （IMFs）. In general, Hilbert transform is used in EMD for the identification of oscillatory signals. In this paper anew EMD algorithm is proposed using FFT to identify and extract the acoustic signals available in the underwater channel that are corrupted due to various ambient noises over a range of 100 Hz to 10 kHz in a shallow water region.Data for analysis are collected at a depth of 5 m and 10 m offshore Chennai at the Bay of Bengal. The algorithm is validated for different sets of known and unknown reference signals. It is observed that the proposed EMD algorithmidentifies and extracts the reference signals against various ambient noises. Significant SNR improvement is alsoachieved for underwater acoustic signals.     

Granite Related Indium Mineralisation in Southwest England

Please refer to the attachment(s) for more details.     

Structural Characteristics of the Andaman Forearc Inferred from Interpretation of Multichannel Seismic Reflection Data

The Andaman Forearc Basin(AFB) is asymmetric in configuration and filled with a ~6 kmthick pile of Neogene to Recent sediments(~4 s in two-way travel time:TWT) with distinct zonation.It shows gradual thinning up to ~3 km(0.8 s in TWT) towards the eastern end with a seabed gradient of 1:30.Thick deformed sediments ~2 s(TWT) of the Outerarc are associated with intense faulting and occasional folding caused by recent tectonics.Development of a series of faults within the upwarped sedimentary column of Oligocene top to Recent is observed with a rotated fault block.These features are manifestations of Recent igneous intrusion,and reveal the presence of a mild N–S compressional regime.Its effect on the AFB resulted in further uplift of sediments,which can now be seen as the Invisible Bank.Forward gravity modelling supporting our seismic interpretation reveals that it is associated with igneous intrusion from the Moho(~9 km depth),and also suggests that continental crust underlies the AFB.Strong Bottom Simulating Reflector(BSR)-like features in the Miocene sediments of Outerarc and Forearc basin at a depth of 0.6 s below the seabed suggest the inferred probable occurrence of gas hydrates in the AFB.     

Use of Surface Observations to Estimate Upper Air Humidity for the Objective Analysis of Relative Humidity over Indian Region

In the present study objective analyses of relative humidity (RH) at surface and at the levels of 850, 700 and 500 hPa have been made using Gandin's (1963) optimum interpolation scheme. As the horizontal resolution of the radiosonde stations is rather inadequate for upper air humidity analysis, a scheme has been developed, following Rasmussen (1982) to estimate the upper air RH from the surface observations like surface RH, present weather and cloud cover. The relative humidities at the levels 850, 700 and 500 hPa were related to the surface observations through three separate regression relations. The RH values at 850, 700 and 500 hPa levels were estimated from the surface RH, cloud coverage and present weather using the above regression relations and subsequently the objective analyses at 00 GMT for the period from 4 July to 8 July 1979, were made using these estimated data along with the observed radiosonde data. Objective analyses were also made for the same period using only the radiosonde data for