Determination of Irgarol-1051 and its related s-triazine species in coastal sediments and mussel tissues by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS

A mild, low-temperature analytical approach based on sonication assisted extraction coupled with HPLC electrospray ionization triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative determination of the four Irgarol-related s-triazine species, namely Irgarol-1051, M1, M2 and M3, in coastal sediments and Green-lipped mussel samples. Mild extraction conditions were necessary for the preservation of the thermally unstable M2. The Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode of detection by ESI-MS/MS enabled reliable qualitative identification and sensitive quantitative determination of those s-triazines. This determination method was applied to evaluate the degree of Irgarol-1051 contamination in the sediments and biota of the coastal environment of Hong Kong - one of the busiest maritime ports in the world. All the four s-triazine species were observed in all of the samples. This is the first time that the newly identified M2 and M3 are detected in coastal sediments and biota tissues.     

Tsunami Probability in the Caribbean Region

We calculated tsunami runup probability (in excess of 0.5 m) at coastal sites throughout the Caribbean region. We applied a Poissonian probability model because of the variety of uncorrelated tsunami sources in the region. Coastlines were discretized into 20 km by 20 km cells, and the mean tsunami runup rate was determined for each cell. The remarkable ~500-year empirical record compiled by O’Loughlin and Lander (2003) was used to calculate an empirical tsunami probability map, the first of three constructed for this study. However, it is unclear whether the 500-year record is complete, so we conducted a seismic moment-balance exercise using a finite-element model of the Caribbean-North American plate boundaries and the earthquake catalog, and found that moment could be balanced if the seismic coupling coefficient is c = 0.32. Modeled moment release was therefore used to generate synthetic earthquake sequences to calculate 50 tsunami runup scenarios for 500-year periods. We made a second probability map from numerically-calculated runup rates in each cell. Differences between the first two probability maps based on empirical and numerical-modeled rates suggest that each captured different aspects of tsunami generation; the empirical model may be deficient in primary plate-boundary events, whereas numerical model rates lack backarc fault and landslide sources. We thus prepared a third probability map using Bayesian likelihood functions derived from the empirical and numerical rate models and their attendant uncertainty to weight a range of rates at each 20 km by 20 km coastal cell. Our best-estimate map gives a range of 30-year runup probability from 0–30% regionally.     

A transport‐distance approach to scaling erosion rates: 1. Background and model development

The process basis of existing soil‐erosion models is shown to be ill‐founded. The existing literature builds directly or indirectly on Bennett's (1974) paper, which provided a blueprint for integrated catchment‐scale erosion modelling. Whereas Bennett recognized the inherent assumptions of the approach suggested, subsequent readings of the paper have led to a less critical approach. Most notably, the assumption that sediment movement could be approximated by a continuity equation that related to transport in suspension has produced a series of submodels that assume that all movement occurs in suspension. For commonly occurring conditions on hillslopes, this case is demonstrably untrue both on theoretical grounds and from empirical observations. Elsewhere in the catchment system, it is only partially true, and the extent to which the assumption is reasonable varies both spatially and temporally. A second ground‐breaking paper – that of Foster and Meyer (1972) – was responsible for subsequent uncritical application of a first‐order approximation to deposition based on steady‐state analysis and again a weak empirical basis. We describe in this paper an alternative model (Mahleran – Model for Assessing Hillslope‐Landscape Erosion, Runoff And Nutrients) based upon particle‐travel distance that overcomes existing limitations by incorporating parameterizations of the different detachment and transport mechanisms that occur in water erosion in hillslopes and small catchments. In the second paper in the series, we consider the sensitivity and general behaviour of Mahleran , and test it in relation to data from a large rainfall‐simulation experiment. The third paper of the sequence evaluates the model using data from plots of different sizes in monitored rainfall events. From this evaluation, we consider the scaling characteristics of the current form of Mahleran and suggest that integrated modelling, laboratory and field approaches are required in order to advance the state of the art in soil‐erosion modelling. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2008年汶川地震造成的应力变化和四川盆地地震危险性增加

2008年5月12日,灾难性的汶川7．9级大地震袭击了青藏高原东缘,造成四川盆地西部多个大城市房屋倒塌和大量人员伤亡。如此大的地震之后,地壳应力的重新调整通常会导致破坏性地震发生（Stein et al,1997;Stein,1999;McCloskey et al,2005;Parsons et al,2000;Parsons,2002）。5月12日地震的主震造成龙门山和四川盆地连接处最大位错量达9m,说明复杂的走滑和逆冲运动（Jiand Hayes,2008）为该地区的特征（Burchfiel et al,1995;Densmore et al,2007）。四川盆地及其周边也有其他活跃的走滑和逆冲断层相互交错。本文利用地震断层模型计算了由2008年5月12日汶川地震引起的同震应力变化,结果显示很多地区应力显著增加。快速给出这种应力变化图像有助于确定未来可能发生强余震的断层段。     

The relationship between gravity and bathymetry in the Pacific Ocean

Summary. Surface-ship and satellite derived data have been compiled in new free-air gravity anomaly, bathymetry and geoid anomaly maps of the Pacific Ocean basin and its margin. The maps are based on smoothed values of the gravity anomaly, bathymetry and geoid interpolated on to a 90 × 90 km grid. Each smoothed value was obtained by Gaussian filtering measurements along individual ship and subsatellite tracks. The resulting maps resolve features in the gravity, bathymetry and geoid with wavelengths that range from a few hundred to a few thousand kilometres. The smoothed values of bathymetry and geoid anomaly have been corrected for age. The resulting maps show the Pacific ocean basin is associated with a number of ENE–WSW-trending geoid anomaly highs with amplitudes of about ± 5 m and wavelengths of about 3000 km. The most prominent of these highs correlate with the Magellan seamounts–Marshall Gilbert Islands–Magellan rise and the Hess rise–Hawaiian ridge regions. The correlation between geoid anomaly and bathymetry cannot be explained by models of static compensation, but is consistent with a model in which the geoid anomaly and bathymetry are supported by some form of dynamic compensation. We suggest that the dynamic compensation, which characterizes oceanic lithosphere older than 80 Myr, is the result of mantle convection on scales that are smaller than the lithospheric plates themselves.     

Bathymetry of the Reykjanes Ridge

We present a series of 1:200,000 scale maps of the bathymetry of the Reykjanes Ridge. The data are divided into four maps, extending 630 km along the ridge axis and between 30 and 100 km off-axis. This compilation of bathymetry data is extremely detailed, gridded at approximately 100 m resolution, and with almost no gaps. The Reykjanes Ridge is one of the best examples of a hotspot-dominated ridge, whose characteristics are influenced by its proximity to the Iceland plume. Many fundamental questions may be addressed at the Reykjanes Ridge, which is why the BRIDGE programme identified it as one of its four regional projects. These maps represent a BRIDGE contribution to the general scientific community.     

Climate variability and marine ecosystem impacts: a North Atlantic perspective

In recent decades it has been recognized that in the North Atlantic climatic variability has been largely driven by atmospheric forcing related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO index began a pronounced decline around 1950 to a low in the 1960s. From 1970 onward the NAO index increased to its most extreme and persistent positive phase during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Changes in the pattern of the NAO have differential impacts on the opposite sides of the North Atlantic and differential impacts in the north and south. The changes in climate resulting from changes in the NAO appear to have had substantial impacts on marine ecosystems, in particular, on fish productivity, with the effects varying from region to region. An examination of several species and stocks, e.g. gadoids, herring and plankton in the Northeast Atlantic and cod and shellfish in the Northwest Atlantic, indicates that there is a link between long-term trends in the NAO and the productivity of various components of the marine ecosystem. While broad trends are evident, the mechanisms are poorly understood. Further research is needed to improve our understanding of how this climate variability affects the productivity of various components of the North Atlantic marine ecosystem.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus species in the coastal and shelf waters of Southeastern North Carolina, Mid-Atlantic U.S. coast

The diversity of small-scale wetlands, high salinity tidal creeks, salt marshes, estuaries, and a wide and shallow shelf with the Gulf Stream close to the break makes the coastal zone of south-eastern North Carolina (U.S.) a natural laboratory for the study of the cycling of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in coastal and shelf waters. We assessed the summer concentrations, forms, and ratios for each N (total dissolved N, nitrate + nitrite, ammonium and dissolved organic N) and P (total dissolved P, o-phosphate and dissolved organic P) pool as these nutrients travel from tidal creeks, salt marshes and two large estuaries to Long and Onslow Bays. Additionally, we measured ancillary physical (temperature, salinity and turbidity) and chemical (dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a and pH) water properties. Highest concentrations of all individual N and P compounds were found in the upper parts of each tributary and were attributed to loads from agricultural and urban sources to the coastal watersheds, continuing downstream to receiving estuaries. In all areas, dissolved organic N and P species were predominant constituents of the total dissolved N and P pools (64–97% and 56–93%, respectively). The lower parts of estuaries and surface shelf waters were characterized by oceanic surface values, indicating removal of N and P downstream in all tributaries. The different watershed and hydrological characteristics also determined the different speciation of N and P pools in each estuary. Despite a high level of anthropogenic pressure on the uppermost coastal waters, there is self-regulation in this coastal ecosystem with respect to human perturbations; i.e. significant amounts of the N and P load are retained within estuarine and nearshore waters without reaching the shelf.