Lithological and geochemical record of mining-induced changes in sediments from Macquarie Harbour,southwest Tasmania,Australia

Macquarie Harbour in southwest Tasmania, Australia, has been affected severely by the establishment of mines in nearby Queenstown in the 1890s. As well as heavy metal-laden acid rock drainage from the Mount Lyell mine area, over 100 Mt of mine tailings and slag were discharged into the Queen and Ring Rivers, with an estimated 10 Mt of mine tailings building a delta of ca. 2.5 km² and ca. 10 Mt of fine tailings in the harbour beyond the delta. Coring of sediments throughout Macquarie Harbour indicated that mine tailings accreted most rapidly close to the King River delta source with a significant reduction in thickness of tailings and heavy metal contamination with increasing distance from the King River source. Close to the King River delta the mine tailings are readily discriminated from the background estuarine sediments on the basis of visual logging of the core (laminations, colour), sediment grain size, sediment magnetic susceptibility and elemental geochemistry, especially concentrations of the heavy metals Cu, Zn and Pb. The high heavy metal concentrations are demonstrated by the very high contamination factors (CF > 6) for Cu and Zn, with CF values mostly >50 for Cu for the mine-impacted sediments. Although the addition of mine waste into the King River catchment has ceased, the catchment continues to be a source of these heavy metals due to acid rock drainage and remobilisation of mine waste in storage in the river banks, river bed and delta. The addition of heavy metals to the harbour sourced from the Mount Lyell mines preceded the advent of direct tailings disposal into the Queen River in 1915 with the metals probably provided by acid rock drainage from the Mount Lyell mining area.     

Types of sedimentary environment in alluvial sediments distinguished on the basis of its chemical constitution: the example of the lower course of the Obra river (Western Poland)

Research concerning chemical constitution of alluvial sediments was done in the lower course of the Obra river (Western Poland). The fragment of vertical profile, which consisted of various alluvial sediments (fine sands, peats, and sandy silts) was chosen for detailed analysis. The main research problem was to determine if lithology and chemical constitution of alluvial deposits are interconnected in a distinct way within studied section of the Obra river valley, and, if changes of chemical elements’ concentration could be used to illustrate depositional processes, which take place in riverbed and floodplain. Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, and K were determined in collected sediment samples. Next, geochemical groups of alluvial sediments were distinguished using cluster analysis. Investigated changes of chemical elements’ concentration show that there is a distinct border between the environment of organic sediments, which marks the place of former functioning of the Obra riverbed, and sandy silts, which were deposited within floodplain during floods. Besides, floodplain sediments, riverbed sediments, and reductive environment within peat deposits were singled out on the basis of the analysis.     

Chemical composition of precipitation at Mt. Vesuvius and Vulcano Island,Italy: volcanological and environmental implications

Natural precipitation and water samples from passive devices were collected at Mt. Vesuvius and Vulcano Island, Italy, during the period 2004–2006, in order to investigate its possible interactions with fumarolic gases. Evidence of chemical reactions between fumarolic fluids and rain samples before and after its deposition into the sampling devices was found at Vulcano Island. Very low pH values (down to 2.5) and significant amounts of chlorine and sulfate (up to 22 mEq/l) were measured at sampling points located close to the fumarolic field. In contrast, anthropogenic contributions and/or dissolution of aerosols (both maritime and continental) influence the chemistry of rainwaters at Mt. Vesuvius, which show inter-annual variations that are highly consistent with those recorded at the coastal site at Vulcano Island. Chemistry of waters directly exposed to fumarolic fluids may then give useful information about its temporal evolution, holding the signal of the “maximum” chemical event occurred in the meanwhile. In addition, the observation of the health status of vegetation colonizing the immediate surroundings of the fumarolic fields, due to its strong dependence on the interactions with these fluids, may work as a possible biomarker of volcanic activity.     

Geochemistry of core sediments from Mullipallam creek,South East coast of India

The Mullipallam creek in Muthupet mangroves region is the only E-W trending coastal strip in the SE coast of India and is very important, as the mangrove acts as a barrier to natural diasters. Natural, anthropogenic signals and accumulation of elements were made by collecting sediment samples at various depths in a core. All sediments were analyzed for carbonates (CaCO₃), organic carbon (OC), major (Si, Al, Fe, Na, K, Ca, Mg, P), and trace (Mn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn). Normalization with Al values has been done for all the major and trace elements and enrichment factors have been calculated. The calculated enrichment factors and comparison indicate that the trace metals (especially Pb) are enriched mainly due to the external (anthropogenic) activities in the land as well as in the coastal zone (Palk Strait).     

航空收入管理的需求修复方法

由于收入管理策略的执行和顾客行为的影响，使收入管理系统中记录的需求数据不能反映真实的需求，较好的修复这些受约束的需求将有利于航空公司更加准确的预测市场需求，制订出更加正确的策略，从而获得更多的收益。基于此，将统计中用于解决不完全数据的EM法和PD法应用到航空需求修复问题中，并通过模拟数据对两个方法进行分析说明。     

Is the dinoflagellate Takayama xiamenensis a synonym of Takayama acrotrocha (Kareniaceae,Dinophyceae)?

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - The naked dinoflagellate Takayama acrotrocha was identified as responsible for a bloom in Shenzhen Bay, Guangdong, China, in early spring 2021. The...     

The difference of economic function and the trends of industrial development in central cities along the Xijiang River

TheXijiangRiveristhemainwaterwayacrosseastandwestinSouthernChina.ItsmaincoursebacksontothewestofGuangdongandthesouthwestofChina,withitsexitthroughHongKong,MacaoandSoutheasternAsia.Ithasawidehinterlandandconvenientwatertransportation.AlongtheXijiangRiver,thecentralcitiesarethecities,whichspreadalongtheXijiangRiver'smaincourse,theZhujiangRiver'sdeltaandoutlet,andBosehasbeenselectedasarepresentativecityintheupperreachesoftheXijiangRiver.Theytotal12cities,includingGuangzhou,Shenzhen,Zhuh…     

Distribution patterns of chlorophyll <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> in spring and autumn in association with hydrological features in the southern Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea

Two field studies were conducted to measure pigments in the Southern Yellow Sea (SYS) and the northern East China Sea (NECS) in April (spring) and September (autumn) to evaluate the distribution pattern of phytoplankton stock (Chl a concentration) and the impact of hydrological features such as water mass, mixing and tidal front on these patterns. The results indicated that the Chl a concentration was 2.43±2.64 (Mean ± SD) mg m^?3 in April (range, 0.35 to 17.02 mg m^?3) and 1.75±3.10 mg m^?3 in September (from 0.07 to 36.54 mg m^?3) in 2003. Additionally, four areas with higher Chl a concentrations were observed in the surface water in April, while two were observed in September, and these areas were located within or near the point at which different water masses converged (temperature front area). The distribution pattern of Chl a was generally consistent between onshore and offshore stations at different depths in April and September. Specifically, higher Chl a concentrations were observed along the coastal line in September, which consisted of a mixing area and a tidal front area, although the distributional pattern of Chl a concentrations varied along transects in April. The maximum Chl a concentration at each station was observed in the surface and subsurface layer (0–10 m) for onshore stations and the thermocline layer (10–30 m) for offshore stations in September, while the greatest concentrations were generally observed in surface and subsurface water (0–10 m) in April. The formation of the Chl a distributional pattern in the SYS and NECS and its relationship with possible influencing factors is also discussed. Although physical forces had a close relationship with Chl a distribution, more data are required to clearly and comprehensively elucidate the spatial pattern dynamics of Chl a in the SYS and NECS.     

Effects of experimental warming on soil microbial communities in two contrasting subalpine forest ecosystems,eastern Tibetan Plateau,China

Soil microbial communities are primarily regulated by environmental temperature. Our study investigated the effects of global warming on soil microbial community composition as measured via phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and soil chemical characteristics in relation to soil depth in a dragon spruce plantation and a spruce-fir-dominated natural forestin the Eastern Tibetan Plateau. Open-top chambers were utilized to increase the soil and air temperature. Soil samples were collected from the 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm layers after a 4-year warming. Our results showed that the soil microbial community and the contents of TC (Total carbon), TN (Total nitrogen), NO ₃ ^- , and NH ₄ ⁺ responded differently to warming in the two contrasting forests, especially at the 0-10 cm soil depth. Warming increased soil microbial biomass at the 0-20 cm depth of soil in natural forest but reduced it at the 0-10 cm depth ofsoil in the plantation. In contrast, the TC and TN contents were reduced in most soil layers of a natural forest but increased in all of the soil layers of the plantation under warming conditions. This result suggested that the effects of warming on soil microbial community and soil C and N pools would differ according to soil depth and forest types; thus, the two contrasting forests would under go differing changes following the future climate warming in this region.     

An indicator-based approach to assess village-level social and biophysical vulnerability of agriculture communities in Uttarakhand,India

With the growing recognition to myriad forms of current and future threats in the mountain agriculture systems,there is a pressing need to holistically understand the vulnerability of mountain agriculture communities.The study aims to assess the biophysical and social vulnerability of agriculture communities using an indicator-based approach for the state of Uttarakhand,India.A total of 14 indicators were used to capture biophysical vulnerability and 22 for social vulnerability profiles of15285 villages.Vulnerability analysis was done at village level with weights assigned to each indicator using Analytical Hierarchical Process(AHP).The results of the study highlight the presence of very high biophysical vulnerability(0.82 ± 0.10) and high social vulnerability(0.65 ± 0.15) within the state.Based on the results,it was found that incidences of high biophysical vulnerability coincide with presence of intensified agriculture land and absence of dense forest.Higher social vulnerability scores were found in villages with an absence of local institutions(like Self Helping Groups(SHGs)),negligible infrastructure facilities and higher occupational dependence on agriculture.A contrast was observed in the vulnerability scores of villages present in the three different altitudinal zones in the study area,indicating respective vulnerability generating conditions existing in these three zones.Biophysical vulnerability was recorded to be highest in the villages falling in the lower zone and lowest in the upper zone villages;whereas,social vulnerability was found to be highest in the middle zone villages and lowest in lower zone villages.Our study aids policy makers in identifying areas for intervention to expedite agriculture adaptation planning in the state.Additionally,the adaptation programmes in the region need to be more context-specific to accommodate the differential altitudinal vulnerability profiles.