Source apportionment of trace metals in surface waters of a polluted stream using multivariate statistical analyses

Surface water samples were collected from ten previously selected sites of the polluted Dil Deresi stream, during two field surveys, December 2001 and April 2002. All samples were analyzed using ICP-AES, and the concentrations of trace metals (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Sn and Zn) were determined. The results were compared with national and international water quality guidelines, as well as literature values reported for similar rivers. Factor analysis (FA) and a factor analysis-multiple regression (FA-MR) model were used for source apportionment and estimation of contributions from identified sources to the concentration of each parameter. By a varimax rotated factor analysis, four source types were identified as the paint industry; sewage, crustal and road traffic runoff for trace metals, explaining about 83% of the total variance. FA-MR results showed that predicted concentrations were calculated with uncertainties lower than 15%.     

The Shishugou Fauna of the Middle–Late Jurassic Transition Period in the Junggar Basin of Western China

The Middle–Late Jurassic transition period is a critical period for the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates, but the global fossil record from this time is relatively poor. The Shishugou Fauna of this period has recently produced significant fossil remains of dinosaurs and other vertebrate groups, some representing the earliest known members of several dinosaurian groups and other vertebrate groups and some representing the best-known specimens of their group. These discoveries are significant for our understanding of the origin and evolution of several vertebrate lineages. Radiometric dating indicates that the fauna is aged approximately 159–164 Ma. Comparisons with other similarly-aged terrestrial faunas such as Shaximiao and Yanliao show both taxonomic similarities and differences between these faunas and indicate that the Junggar deposits might have preserved the most complete vertebrate fossil record for a Middle–Late Jurassic Laurasian terrestrial fauna.     

“地震可预测性合作研究”计划:现有成就和发展重点

"地震可预测性合作研究"(CSEP)计划是一个对地震预测模型和预测算法开展前瞻性评估的全球信息化基础设施平台。CSEP的目标旨在提高我们对地震可预测性的理解、推进预测模型的研发、检验关键科学假设及其预测能力,以及改进地震危险性评估水平。自2007年在美国加利福尼亚州成立以来,全球CSEP合作一直在不同的构造环境及全球范围内进行预测实验,目前在四大洲运行4个检验中心,根据预期数据自动、客观地评估模型。这些实验为可操作的地震预测系统和地震危险性模型提供了大量的结果,并为地震的可预测性提供了新的、有时是令人惊讶的见解,还拒绝了对模型的改进。CSEP还开展了评估地震动和危险性模型的初步研究。本文报告了CSEP十年来取得的部分成就,并提出了未来地震活动性优先考虑的事项。     

致密砂岩衰减岩石物理图板分析:储层微裂隙预测

致密砂岩储层普遍具有孔隙度低、微裂隙发育的特点,岩石内部常含有强烈的结构非均质性.致密砂岩发育的微裂隙使储层具有良好的连通性,促成高饱和气的天然气成藏.针对川西某探区须家河组高含气饱和度致密砂岩,本文选取致密砂岩岩心样本,进行了不同围压下的超声波实验测量.考虑储层完全饱气情况下的粒间孔隙、微裂隙双重孔隙结构,采用Biot-Rayleigh双重孔隙方程,构建致密砂岩岩石物理模型,进而分析了裂隙含量对纵波频散和衰减的影响.基于地震波衰减,构建了致密砂岩多尺度岩石物理图板.采用谱比法和改进频移法估算致密砂岩样本及储层衰减,对超声和地震频带下的图板进行校正.将校正后的图板应用到研究工区,选取二维测线和三维区块,进行储层孔隙度和裂隙含量的定量预测.对比实际资料进行分析,结果显示,本文预测的孔隙度和裂隙含量与三口测井的孔隙度曲线和实际产气情况基本吻合,基于孔隙-裂隙衰减岩石物理模型有效地预测了优质储层的分布区域.

     

龙门山均衡重力异常及其对青藏高原东缘山脉地壳隆升的约束

青藏高原东缘处于不均衡状态,自西而东可分为青藏高原弱负均衡重力异常区、龙门山正均衡重力异常区和四川盆地负均衡重力异常区,表明该区的不均衡状态并未导致Airy均衡运动的产生,即龙门山没有均衡下降,而处于不断的隆升状态,显示该地区反均衡运动的构造抬升是导致龙门山隆升的主因。本次采用似三度体重力异常计算方法对该区的正均衡重力异常进行模拟和反],研究了大尺度地貌分异与均衡重力异常分区之间的相互关系,结果表明,龙门山的下地壳顶面抬升了11.2～12.6km,造成了龙门山的正均衡异常,揭示了构造抬升和剥蚀作用在相似的时间尺度上和空间尺度上控制着龙门山地貌的形成,龙门山的表面隆升是构造隆升和剥蚀作用相叠加的产物。     

DDT, PAH and PCB in sediments from the intertidal zone of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea

Current contents of persistent organic contaminants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the congeners (naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(e)pyrene), DDTs and metabolites in the intertidal sediments of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were studied. The mean levels of DDTs, PAHs and PCBs were 177.52, 877.2 and 3.4 ng g-1 dry weight, respectively. The spatial trends of the contaminant residue levels were analysed too.     

SHEAR STRESS FOR INITIATION OF MOTION OF NON-UNIFORM SEDIMENT MIXTURES

Experiments on initiation of motion of different fractions of non-uniform sediment mixtures are reported. Four sediment mixes and reference transport method to define the threshold of bed particle movement are used in this analysis. Factors controlling the initiation of motion are analyzed. It is found that relative size of different grains with respect to a median size greatly affects the initiation of movement. The incipient motion of non-uniform sediment is very much dependent on the absolute size for coarser fractions. Considering the factors controlling the initiation of motion the experimental data sets along with the other available data yield a new relationship for the calculation of critical shear stress of non-uniform sediments. A set of equations have found that all the data points fall into a single line for the finer and for coarser fractions.     

Chronic effects of tributyltin on the caprellid amphipod Caprella danilevskii

In order to examine the biological effects by TBT exposure, experiments involving the exposure of five levels of TBT concentrations (0, 10, 100, 1000 and 10,000 ngl(-1)) were conducted on the caprellid amphipod Caprella danilevskii, over a generation after hatching. Marked delays in growth and molting during the early developmental stage and maturation were found in both 100 and 1000 ng TBTCl l(-1) concentrations in spite of the sex. All specimens died in 10,000 ng TBTCl l(-1) within 4 days after hatching. Inhibition of maturation and reproduction such as delaying in the achievement of maturity and a decrease in the number of juveniles hatched was apparent in 10 and 100 ng TBTCl l(-1) concentrations. Furthermore, brood loss, and failure in egg formation and hatching were observed as the TBT concentration became higher. No significant changes in sex ratio were seen at any of the TBT exposure levels during hatching and maturation in the present study. This phenomenon was different from a previous study in which the proportion of females was increased with an increase in TBT concentrations in the embryonic exposure experiment. This suggests that sex disturbance is induced during the embryonic stage of the species. A drastic decrease in survival rate was observed at 10 ng TBTCl l(-1) (25%) which corresponds to the mean level in coastal waters. Therefore, the present encountering ambient TBT concentration may influence populations of C. danilevskii in the coastal environment.     

Chloropigments a in the Gulf of Gdańsk (Baltic Sea) as markers of the state of this environment

The Gulf of Gdańsk receives the waters of the Wis?a (Vistula), the largest Polish river and the second largest river flowing into the Baltic Sea. Chloropigments a (chlorophyll a and its derivatives) were determined in water and sediments from the Gulf. Samples were collected during cruises of R.V. 'Oceania' at 19 stations located at different water depths and distances from the shore, in May (2003) and October (2004), i.e., at the beginning and at the end of the growing season, respectively. Seawater was also sampled on the beach at Sopot in June, July and August 2004, i.e., during the height of the growing season. All water samples were collected with a bathometer and passed through Whatman GF/F filters. Recent sediments (0-10 cm) were collected with a core sampler and divided into sub-samples (0-1, 1-5 and 5-10 cm). The pigments were determined using HPLC-DAD. The results were first correlated with a set of parameters measured in situ during sample collection (salinity, temperature, oxygen content of seawater) and determined in the same material (organic carbon content, granulometry), then worked up statistically. Although this investigation shows that particular chloropigments a in recent sediments are indicative of the prevailing environmental conditions in the study area and the trends in their variations, they should be treated as a relative and not an absolute measure, since this is the first such study based on a large and coherent set containing both chloropigment a and environmental data. In addition, a chlorophyll a budget is estimated for the Gulf of Gdańsk on the basis of the literature and the authors' own data. Only c. 10% of the chlorophyll a produced annually in the Gulf of Gdańsk is transferred to sediments in the form of chloropigments a; 2.8% is in the form of undecomposed chlorophyll a and 7.2% in the form of chlorophyll a derivatives. About 90% of chlorophyll a is decomposed to colourless products.