The influence of increased iron concentration on survival and growth of seedlings and young plants of eelgrass Zostera marina

Iron (Fe) is an essential nutrient for plants but toxic at high concentrations. We subjected seedlings and young plants of eelgrass Zostera marina to different seawater iron concentrations (500, 600, 700, 800, 1,000 and 1,500 μg/L) for 30 days under controlled laboratory conditions. Natural seawater without added iron (500 μg/L) was used as reference seawater. No sediments were provided to avoid iron scavenging by particle surfaces in the sediment. We measured plant response in terms of survivorship, morphology, growth rate and productivity. Survival analysis combined with morphological, dynamic and productive assessment suggested that the optimum seawater iron concentration for the establishment of Z. marina seedlings and young plants is 700 μg/L. The no observed effect concentration, lowest observed effect concentration, lethal concentration that caused an increase in mortality to 10% of that of the control, and the effect concentration that caused a decrease in growth to 10% of that of the control values of young plants were significantly lower than those of seedlings, implying an increased sensitivity to high Fe concentrations (>1,000 μg/L). This study further develops our understanding of the physiological ecology of the early life stages of Z. marina and provides data that could prove helpful in the development of successful eelgrass restoration and conservation.     

Heterogeneous Gravity Data Fusion and Gravimetric Quasigeoid Computation in the Coastal Area of China

ABSTRACT

Different types of gravity observations are available over coastal areas. The main challenge for coastal geoid determination is the proper fusion of heterogeneous gravity data including land, shipborne, airborne, and altimetry-derived gravity data. This paper describes the gravity data fusion and the computation of the gravimetric quasigeoid in the coastal area of mainland China. An iterative procedure of the weighted least-squares prediction based on rectangular harmonic functions is used for merging the land, altimetric, shipborne, and airborne gravity data. Applying the analytical continuation method in Molodensky's theoretic frame, the merged gravity data are then used to determine the gravimetric quasigeoid model by using the generalized Stokes' integral in a remove-compute-restore fashion. The gravimetric quasigeoid model is compared with the height anomalies determined at 662 GPS leveling points over the coastal region of mainland China, where both the geodetic height and the normal height are known. The standard deviations of the differences in the coastal provinces range from 1.8 to 4.4 cm. For the entire computation area, the mean and standard deviation of the differences are 27.9 and 3.9 cm, respectively.     

Laboratory study on cement admixed marine silt bricks

For the purpose of efficient utilization of sediments dredged from harbor, a new method was proposed in this study. Marine silt bricks were made by mixing sediments with cement and gypsum, placing it in a cubic mold with 240 mm in length, 115 mm in width, and 53 mm in height, and curing for certain days. To investigate the effects of cement and initial water content of soil on the mechanical behavior of marine silt bricks, unconfined compressive and flexural strength tests were carried out. Given the same curing time and cement content, the higher the initial water content, the lower the compressive and flexural strength. After 60 days of curing, the compressive strength of marine silt bricks with cement content = 20% and water content = LL (liquid limit) reached approximately 5 MPa. The flexural strength was relatively low. The flexural strength of marine silt bricks with 20% cement and water content = LL was around 1.5 MPa. The compressive and flexural strength decreased with the increase of water/cement ratio. As for the curing time, longer curing time had a positive impact on the compressive strength. The ratio of flexural to compressive strength varied slightly in the range of 0.4–0.5.     

The prediction of traveling jet trenching in stiff clay based on the erosion failure mechanism

The performance of traveling jet trenching in stiff clay was tested. All the key parameters varied in the experiment, including the jet velocity, the shear strength of clay, the diameter of the nozzle, and the translational velocity of the nozzle. The jet–soil interface was found to be an arc. An equation was given to describe the interface. On the basis of the erosion failure mechanism, a new method is presented for predicting jet trenching depth. We first calculated the trajectory of the jet–soil interface and then predicted the distribution of the boundary layer shear stress along the jet–soil interface. The point where the wall shear stress was equal to the critical shear strength of clay was the ultimate trenching depth. The predictive results were found to fit the experimental results well.     

南海北部琼东南盆地陵水段峡谷沉积建造及勘探意义

琼东南盆地中央峡谷为一大型轴向峡谷体系,具有明显的"分段性"特征,不同区段沉积充填和内部结构均存在明显的差异,其中陵水段位于峡谷西段,具有非常好的储层物性特征,是深水区峡谷勘探的重点区域。为了进一步精细刻画陵水段峡谷内部水道复合体的沉积充填及沉积微相展布特征,本文借助新增加的三维地震资料和新钻井资料,通过峡谷三级层序界面的识别,将峡谷充填划分为3个三级层序SQ1、SQ2和SQ3,并通过古生物有孔虫化石带、钙质超微化石带及井-震结合确定了峡谷底界为中中新世晚期S40界面,陵水段峡谷自西向东依次识别出6种主要的内部充填结构,且将SQ3层序细分为5个次级层序(SSQ1~SSQ5);结合属性特征,精细刻画了陵水段峡谷内沉积微相平面展布及空间演化特征,并指出点砂坝在SSQ1层序最发育,且规模较大,横向上连片分布,将是下步勘探的有利储集体。     

历次核试验进入海洋的~(137)Cs对中国近海影响的模拟研究

1945年以来,世界各主要核国家进行了数千次核试验,这些核试验产生的绝大部分放射性物质通过多种途径进入海洋,对海洋环境造成放射性污染。本文建立了一个准全球海洋的放射性物质输运和扩散数值模式,通过数值模拟手段评估了历史核试验释放的放射性物质137 Cs对中国近海海洋环境的影响。本文借助前人工作评估了核试验释放137Cs进入海洋的途径和总量;通过比较模拟结果与观测资料,表明本文建立的放射性物质模式能够较好地模拟出137Cs在中国近海及其邻近海域的分布情况和随时间演变特征;模拟结果表明中国近海里的137Cs浓度在20世纪50年代中期达到最大,其中吕宋海峡海域137Cs浓度最高,达80.99Bq/m3;进一步分析了2011年3月份日本福岛核事故前中国近海137Cs浓度分布状况,2011年整个中国近海137Cs浓度介于1.0~1.6Bq/m3间,且其浓度垂向分布较均匀,相对封闭的南海浓度略高于其他海域。     

2010-2011年胶州湾叶绿素a与环境因子的时空变化特征

2010年4、6、8、10月和2011年1、3月在胶州湾开展了6个航次的综合调查,研究了表层海水温度、盐度、营养盐和叶绿素a浓度的时空变化特征。调查期间,总无机氮(DIN)、磷酸盐(PO4)和硅酸盐(SiO3)多呈现东北部湾边缘高,而湾内和湾口低的空间分布特征。季节变化表明,DIN和PO4主要受养殖排放、河流径流输入和浮游植物生长消耗的影响,呈现初夏和秋季高,夏末和冬季低的特点;而SiO3主要受河流径流输入和浮游植物消耗的影响,呈现夏、秋高,而冬、春低的特点。营养盐浓度和结构分析表明,胶州湾存在PO4和SiO3的绝对和相对限制;SiO3限制尤其严重,是控制胶州湾浮游植物生长的主要环境因子。SiO3和PO4的限制主要表现在冬季,几乎遍布整个海湾;夏季降水可有效缓解海域的SiO3限制。叶绿素a浓度呈现春、夏季高,秋、冬季低的季节分布,温度、营养盐浓度与结构和季节性贝类养殖活动是控制胶州湾叶绿素a浓度时空分布的关键因素。     

长江口表层沉积物矿物磁性分区特征及其沉积环境指示意义

本研究旨在揭示现代长江口不同沉积环境铁磁性矿物的分布差异,寻找有效识别河口-陆架沉积环境的磁学指标,以便更好地将环境磁学应用于河口古环境研究。在长江口及邻近陆架的6个沉积环境:汊道、拦门沙、三角洲前缘斜坡、前三角洲、前三角洲-陆架过渡区和残留砂区,采集表层沉积物样品,进行粒度和磁性测量。结果显示,χ和SIRM在汊道和拦门沙呈现显著高值,HIRM、χfd%、χARM、χARM/χ和χARM/SIRM在前三角洲和前缘斜坡呈现显著高值,反映了陆源物质输运距离和河口沉积动力对磁性矿物分布的控制作用。因此,参数组合HIRM、χARM、χARM/χ和χARM/SIRM可用于识别全新世地层前缘斜坡和前三角洲-陆架;参数组合χ、SIRM和S-20mT可尝试用于识别汊道和拦门沙环境。     

海表水温变动对东、黄海鲐鱼栖息地分布的影响

海表水温(SST)通常是表征鱼类栖息地分布的主要指标。本文根据1999—2007年我国大型灯光围网的鲐鱼生产统计数据,结合海洋遥感获得的SST,分析了渔汛期间鲐鱼栖息地的适宜SST范围,探讨了SST变动情况下鲐鱼栖息地的变化趋势。研究结果表明,东、黄海鲐鱼7—12月的适宜SST范围为15~30℃。根据政府气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)第四份评估报告,本文拟定4种SST上升的情况,即(1)每月平均SST+0.5℃;(2)每月平均SST+1℃;(3)每月平均SST+2℃;(4)每月平均SST+4℃。结果显示,东、黄海鲐鱼的潜在栖息有明显向北移动的趋势,并且栖息地面积逐渐减小。研究认为,全球气候变化引起的SST上升,可能会对近海鲐鱼栖息地造成严重的影响。