The influence of buoyancy on third-order turbulent velocity statistics within a deciduous forest

The influence of atmospheric stability on the behaviour of the third moment of flow velocities observed inside a deciduous forest canopy is examined. Results suggest that buoyancy plays a dominant role in dictating the magnitude of gusts observed inside tall vegetation. Furthermore, an examination of the turbulence recorded throughout leaf fall inside the same forest indicates that larger velocity skewnesses are observed inside a canopy in full leaf than inside a sparse canopy. The behaviour of the measured terms in the non-dimensionalized rate equation of the third moment of canopy flow velocities is also examined. Turbulent diffusion and turbulence gradient interaction terms are largest in stable conditions in the upper canopy layer while these are most important in unstable conditions in the lower canopy layer. In all stability regimes, the turbulent diffusion term is the main source of skewness. The turbulence gradient interaction term, the residual and buoyant production terms all contribute to destroy skewness in stable conditions.     

New contributions to Chinese Plio-Pleistocene magnetostratigraphy

A new collection of over 500 orientated hand-samples (of which 180 are red clays) from a 195 m loess/red clay section near Xian (109° 12′ E, 34° 12′ N), China, has been dated by magnetic stratigraphy. Biostratigraphic and previous magnetostratigraphic investigations gave a maximum age for the Chinese loess of 2.4 Ma, implying that the underlying Red Clay Formation is Pliocene in age. The present study yields a clearly defined magnetic polarity stratigraphy in good agreement with a polarity time scale developed by earlier workers. An interpretation of this magnetostratigraphy suggests a basal age for the loess series in this region of 2.5 Ma, and a minimum age for the base of the Red Clay Formation, which is also the base of the section, of 5.0 Ma.     

Production of Reactive Oxygen Species in the Rhizosphere of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina-</Emphasis>Dominated Salt Marsh Systems

This paper reports the presence of a metastable mixture of Fe(II), O₂, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in sediment pore water in organic carbon-rich sediments in Spartina alterniflora-dominated salt marsh systems. Field measurements at two different estuarine sites in South Carolina (one heavily urbanized and a protected research reserve) showed a broad region of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production more than 15 cm below the sediment surface within and immediately adjacent to the rhizospheres of S. alterniflora. Dissolved Fe(II) was positively correlated with hydrogen peroxide indicating a possible abiotic pathway to ROS production (r ² = 0.94). The null hypothesis was tested that Fe(II) inventories were maintained by protective ligands and thus unreactive with respect to O₂ consumption and ROS production. The addition of an Fe-binding ligand, DTPA, resulted in rapid decline of ROS in pore water, indicating that Fe(II) was labile. The half-life of superoxide under the measured solution conditions was calculated and found to be less than a second. The combination of high lability and persistent ROS was interpreted to indicate a high rate of Fe(II) and O₂ supply to the pore water. The ²²⁴Ra/²²⁸Th disequilibrium was measured to determine the potential for advective mass transfer of dissolved oxygen via pore water exchange. The estimated pore water exchange of 54 L m^?2 day^?1 was significant but could not support the measured production of ROS alone, the direct exchange of O₂ from the S. alterniflora root system may have contributed significantly to ROS production in the sediments.     

Identification of ionene and other carotenoid degradation products from the pyrolysis of sporopollenins derived from some pollen exines,a spore coal and the Green River shale

Examination of the pyrolysis products of sporopollenins from Pinus montana, Picea canadensis and Fagus sylvatica pollen, a spore coal and the Green River shale kerogen has shown the presence of typical carotenoid degradation products, including especially ionene and various naphthalenes and hydro naphthalenes. The products are compared with similar materials obtained from β-carotene and its oxidative co-polymer and the mechanism of formation of the compounds is discussed.     

Acute toxicity of five sediment-associated metals, individually and in a mixture, to the estuarine meiobenthic harpacticoid copepod Amphiascus tenuiremis

The acute effects of many individual, seawater-solubilized metals on meiobenthic copepods and nematodes are well known. In sediments, however, metals most often occur as mixtures, and it is not known whether such mixtures exhibit simple additive toxicity to meiobenthos. The estuarine meiobenthic copepod Amphiascus tenuiremis was tested in four acute (96-h) sediment bioassays to determine sediment and pore-water LC50s for single-metal exposures to copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). Laboratory-cultured copepods were exposed to clean 98% silt:clay sediments spiked with metal chloride solutions to yield five exposure concentrations plus a control. Trimmed Spearman-Karber analysis gave sediment 96-h LC50 values of 4.4 mumole Cu/g, 5.7 mumole Ni/g, 11.9 mumole Pb/g, 10.3 mumole Zn/g, and pore-water 96-h LC50 values of 2 mumole/l, 11.7 mumole/l, and 5.7 mumole/l for Cu, Ni, and Zn, respectively. Male survival after exposure to Cu, Pb, and Ni was significantly less than female survival (alpha = 0.05). Toxicity of a combined USEPA priority metal mixture to A. tenuiremis was assessed using sediment spiked equitoxically with Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. The sum toxic unit that produced a median lethal dose was 0.72. The mixture had a significantly greater than additive effect on A. tenuiremis survival, with the mixture being 1.4x more toxic than that expected by simple additivity.     

Wind relaxation as possible cause of the South China Sea Warm Current

Winter appearance of a northeastward warm current off the southern coast of China against gale force winds is well documented but lacks a plausible explanation. Relaxation of northeasterly winds is envisaged here as a possible cause of the South China Sea Warm Current in winter. A three-dimensional circulation model for the South China Sea is first driven to equilibrium by climatological forcings. Thereafter, wind forcing is relaxed from the 15th day of each month for 9 days. In winterlike months from December to April, the wind relaxation invariably triggers a northeastward current of which the location and alongshore span are comparable to that of the observed warm current. This current is driven by the pressure gradient along the northwestern boundary of the South China Sea, sea level being high to the southwest and low to the northeast. The sea level gradient is built up by the monsoon-driven southwestward coastal current along the northwestern boundary and, after wind relaxes, triggers a return current and a sea level drop that expand southwestward from the southern coast of China to the east coast of Vietnam. The current is initially barotropic, becoming increasingly baroclinic in time as warm waters from the south are advected northeastward. The model also suggests that the sea level gradient is present in most of the months of the year, but is not as dramatic as in winter to trigger fundamental changes in the circulation of the South China Sea.     

Elevation of cytochrome P450-immunopositive protein and DNA damage in mussels (Mytilus edulis) transplanted to a contaminated site

Mytilus edulis were collected from a reference site (Port Quin) and an urban/industrial contaminated site (New Brighton) in the UK during June 1999. Levels of PCBs (sigma7 congeners) and CB-138 were determined to be, respectively, 21 fold and 16 fold higher in the mussel digestive glands from New Brighton. Levels of CYPIA-immunopositive protein were 1.5 fold higher (P < 0.05) at the polluted site but the levels of DNA strand breaks were 1.3 fold higher (P<0.05) at the reference site. Mussels from Port Quin were placed in cages at both sites and both transplanted and indigenous populations sampled in September (13 weeks). Mussels transplanted from the reference site to the industrial site, reported elevated levels of CYP1A-immunopositive protein (1.4 fold; P < 0.05) and higher levels of DNA damage (1.2 fold; P < 0.05) compared to caged populations at the reference site and a PCB loading similar to the populations from the polluted site. Moreover, transplanted mussels had DNA damage 1.8 fold greater (P < 0.05) than indigenous mussels at the transplant site. These changes were small but significant when compared to the observed temporal changes in the indigenous populations.