Effects of the oophagous bivalve Acesta oophaga on the morphology and fecundity of its deep‐sea tubeworm host,Lamellibrachia luymesi

The deep‐sea bivalve Acesta oophaga lives attached to the anterior end of the vestimentiferan tubeworm, Lamellibrachia luymesi, at cold methane seeps. The bivalve is found almost exclusively on female tubeworms, where it consumes the lipid‐rich eggs of L. luymesi that are spawned year round (Biological Bulletin, 209, 2005, 87). It is apparent that A. oophaga benefits directly from this close association, but the consequences for the tubeworm host may be more complicated than just a simple predator–prey interaction. Since A. oophaga completely surrounds the tube opening and plume of the worm, it is likely that its presence would limit oxygen uptake by L. luymesi, thereby inhibiting worm growth and reproduction. We hypothesized that occupied tubeworms would compensate for this by growing larger plumes for oxygen uptake. To explore the effects of bivalve presence/absence on female tubeworms, several morphological features, including body size, plume length, tube diameter, and tube segment length, as well as instantaneous fecundity, were compared. Results suggest that the mere presence of A. oophaga has a significant impact on the morphology of its host worm, as all measures of worm size, except for tube segment length, were significantly greater with clams present. Additionally, instantaneous fecundity was 3.5 times higher in occupied worms, implying that tubeworms are not oxygen‐deprived or energy limited as a result of bivalve presence. Our findings suggest that the association between these two deep‐sea organisms may be a more complex form of symbiosis than the simple predator–prey relationship, as previously thought.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and their methoxylated analogs in mullet (Mugil cephalus) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia

Concentrations of ten polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and eight methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) in mullet (Mugil cephalus) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) collected from the Bizerte Lagoon and the Mediterranean Sea were investigated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of these compounds in marine fishes from Tunisia. The PBDE mean concentrations in fish from Bizerte Lagoon were 45.3 and 96.2 ng g(-1) lw respectively in mullet and sea bass, while the concentrations of these compounds in mullet and sea bass from Mediterranean Sea were 7.80 and 27.9 ng g(-1) lw respectively. MeO-PBDE concentrations in mullet and sea bass from Bizerte Lagoon ranged from 6.46 to 286 ng g(-1) lw and from 49.4 to 798 ng g(-1) lw respectively, while the concentrations of these compounds in mullet and sea bass from Mediterranean Sea ranged from 190 to 401 ng g(-1) lw and from 353 to 578 ng g(-1) lw respectively. The total PBDEs and total MeO-PBDEs concentration in fish from Bizerte Lagoon were similar or slightly lower than those reported for other species from other locations around the world.     

Contrasting soils and landscapes of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, eastern United States

The Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces comprise 80 percent of the Atlantic Coastal states from New Jersey to Georgia. The provinces are climatically similar. The soil moisture regime is udic. The soil temperature regime is typically thermic from Virginia through Georgia, although it is mesic at altitudes above 400 m in Georgia and above 320 m in Virginia. The soil temperature regime is mesic for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain from Maryland through New Jersey. The tightly folded, structurally complex crystalline rocks of the Piedmont and the gently dipping “layer-cake” clastic sedimentary rocks and sediments of the Coastal Plain respond differently to weathering, pedogenesis, and erosion. The different responses result in two physiographically contrasting terrains; each has distinctive near-surface hydrology, regolith, drainage morphology, and morphometry.The Piedmont is predominantly an erosional terrain. Interfluves are as narrow as 0.5 to 2 km, and are convex upward. Valleys are as narrow as 0.1 to 0.5 km and generally V-shaped in cross section. Alluvial terraces are rare and discontinuous. Soils in the Piedmont are typically less than 1 m thick, have less sand and more clay than Coastal Plain soils, and generally have not developed sandy epipedons. Infiltration rates for Piedmont soils are low at 6–15 cm/h. The soil/saprolite, soil/rock, and saprolite/rock boundaries are distinct (can be placed within 10 cm) and are characterized by ponding and/or lateral movement of water. Water movement through soil into saprolite, and from saprolite into rock, is along joints, foliation, bedding planes and faults. Soils and isotopic data indicate residence times consistent with a Pleistocene age for most Piedmont soils.The Coastal Plain is both an erosional and a constructional terrain. Interfluves commonly are broader than 2 km and are flat. Valleys are commonly as wide as 1 km to greater than 10 km, and contain numerous alluvial and estuarine terrace sequences that can be correlated along valleys for tens of kilometers. Coastal Plain soils are typically as thick as 2 to 8 m, have high sand content throughout, and have sandy epipedons. These epipedons consist of both A and E horizons and are 1 to 4 m thick. In Coastal Plain soils, the boundaries are transitional between the solum and the underlying parent material and between weathered and unweathered parent material. Infiltration rates for Coastal Plain soils are typically higher at 13–28 cm/h, than are those for Piedmont soils. Indeed, for unconsolidated quartz sand, rates may exceed 50 cm/h. Water moves directly from the soil into the parent material through intergranularpores with only minor channelization along macropores, joints, and fractures. The comparatively high infiltration capacity results in relatively low surface runoff, and correspondingly less erosion than on the Piedmont uplands.Due to differences in Piedmont and Coastal Plain erosion rates, topographic inversion is common along the Fall Zone; surfaces on Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the Coastal Plain are higher than erosional surfaces on regolith weathered from late Precambrian to early Paleozoic crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. Isotopic, paleontologic, and soil data indicate that Coastal Plain surficial deposits are post-middle Miocene to Holocene in age, but most are from 5 to 2 Ma. Thus, the relatively uneroded surfaces comprise a Pliocene landscape. In the eastern third of the Coastal Plain, deposits that are less than 3.5 Ma include alluvial terraces, marine terraces and barrier/back-barrier complexes as morphostratigraphic units that cover thousands of square kilometers. Isotopic and soil data indicate that eastern Piedmont soils range from late Pliocene to Pleistocene in age, but are predominantly less than 2 Ma old. Thus, the eroded uplands of the Piedmont “peneplain” comprise a Pleistocene landscape.     

The geochemistry of uranium occurrences and speciation in groundwater of Chinnar sub basin,South India

An attempt has been made in Chinnar sub basin of Dharmapuri district, South India to isolate the geochemistry of uranium occurrences in groundwater. The geology of the area is mainly of charnockite and granite gneiss. Groundwater samples were collected for two different seasons post and pre monsoon in two different litho units (granite gneiss and charnockite) and analysed for major, minor and uranium concentrations. Higher uranium (18.45 μg L^?1) has been recorded during pre monsoon season in granite gneiss with increasing pH. The saturation index calculation for the groundwater isolated minerals like uaraninite, coffinite, haiweeite and soddyite to be precipitating and uranium oxides like UO_2.25, UO_2.25beta, UO_2.33beta as oversaturated. The Eh-pH diagram attempted represents solubility of uraninite within the pH range of 6.0 to 8.0. The study isolate uranium in groundwater of the study area is controlled by the presence of (U₄O₉) uranium oxide.     

Factors controlling the adsorption of acid blue 113 dye from aqueous solution by dried <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. edulis</Emphasis> plant as natural adsorbent

Contamination of surface water and groundwater by organic pollutants is a serious problem due to their persistence, bioaccumulation and biomagnification through food webs. Since the removal of dyes from wastewater is considered an environmental challenge and government legislation requires textile wastewater to be treated, therefore there is a constant need to have an effective process that can efficiently remove these dyes. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the potentiality of dried Carpobrotus edulis plant as low-cost adsorbent for the removal of the industrial acid blue 113 dye from aqueous solutions using the batch equilibration technique. The effects of different physicochemical parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, initial dye concentration, solution pH and temperature on adsorption rate of anionic AB113 dye on microparticles of dried C. edulis plant were investigated. The experimental data were analyzed by using mathematical models to determine the thermodynamic parameters. The negative values of free energy change indicated the spontaneous nature of the adsorption and negative value of enthalpy change suggested the exothermic nature of the adsorption process. These results indicate that dried C. edulis plant as an environmentally friendly adsorbent could be potentially used for the removal of anionic dyes from aqueous solutions.     

New data on the present-day active fluid regime of fractured zones of crystalline basement and sedimentary cover in the eastern part of Volga-Ural region

The study area is the South Tatarstan Arch located in the Volgo-Ural Region, which is an enigmatic crustal segment occupying one third of the East European Platform. Monitoring studies have shown that fluid discharge processes are still active and time-dependent. This paper presents an integrated review of the geological, geophysical, hydrochemical and geochemical studies of the crystalline basement of Tatarstan. These studies are based on the stratigraphic and compositional schemes within the crystalline basement, the drilling of deep wells, the geodynamic activity of the fractured zones of the crystalline basement and the presence of fluids therein. Furthermore, the changes in the chemical composition of the basement waters are taken into account.     

Campanian stage of granite formation in the south of the Sredinnyi Range in Kamchatka: New U-Pb SHRIMP Data

This article gives an account of the results of the U-Pb-SHRIMP study of zircons derived from gneissoid and equigranular granitoids of the Malka Uplift of the Sredynnyi Range in Kamchatka. It was established that intrusion and crystallization of granitoids occurred in the time interval from 76.2 ± 1.5 to 83.1 ± 2.0 Ma. The texture of zircon crystals suggests their magmatic origin. The obtained data reliably confirm that granite formation and emplacement of the recently formed continental crust in Kamchatka took place in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian).     

A Spatially-Analytical Scheme for Surface Temperatures and Conductive Heat Fluxes in Urban Canopy Models

In the urban environment, surface temperatures and conductive heat fluxes through solid media (roofs, walls, roads and vegetated surfaces) are of paramount importance for the comfort of residents (indoors) and for microclimatic conditions (outdoors). Fully discrete numerical methods are currently used to model heat transfer in these solid media in parametrisations of built surfaces commonly used in weather prediction models. These discrete methods usually use finite difference schemes in both space and time. We propose a spatially-analytical scheme where the temperature field and conductive heat fluxes are solved analytically in space. Spurious numerical oscillations due to temperature discontinuities at the sublayer interfaces can be avoided since the method does not involve spatial discretisation. The proposed method is compared to the fully discrete method for a test case of one-dimensional heat conduction with sinusoidal forcing. Subsequently, the analytical scheme is incorporated into the offline version of the current urban canopy model (UCM) used in the Weather Research and Forecasting model and the new UCM is validated against field measurements using a wireless sensor network and other supporting measurements over a suburban area under real-world conditions. Results of the comparison clearly show the advantage of the proposed scheme over the fully discrete model, particularly for more complicated cases.