Can the Movements of Barramundi in the Fly River Region, Papua New Guinea be Traced in their Otoliths?

To determine whether the concentrations of heavy metals in fish otoliths could be used to infer the fish's movement into water contaminated by heavy metals, we collected barramundi Lates calcarifer from two sites below the outfall from a large copper mine. It was first demonstrated that otolith Sr concentration could be used to separate the marine and freshwater life phases. Twelve elements were then examined (in particular Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd and Pb) in the otoliths by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). Cadmium concentrations were rarely above the detection level of the instrument. There were low concentrations of Cu in the otoliths of most fish during the freshwater phase of their life history. Three fish out of 10 had higher levels of Cu at some ablations, coinciding with higher concentrations of both Zn and Pb. However, further analysis found no correlation between the Cu concentration of replicate ablations in the same growth zone to those with initially higher Cu values. Copper concentration in the otoliths did not rise during the period the fish were in freshwater, despite the concentration of dissolved Cu in the water being several times greater than in the lower estuary and adjacent coast.These results and other data from recent studies of heavy metals in fish tissues suggest that very little of the dissolved Cu in the Fly River is in the form of free ions that can be adsorbed across the gills and into the blood and the otoliths. It can be concluded that otoliths are not a good indicator of the history of barramundi movements into water contaminated with heavy metals. Our data support recent studies that suggest that the concentration of many elements, such as Cu, may vary in the endolymph around the otolith and thus may be attached to the calcium-binding proteins that form the matrix around the aragonite. Hence, high concentrations of heavy metals in some ablations may be related to the relative amount of aragonite and protein in each ablation rather than reflect environmental differences.     

Ground-roll attenuation using a 2D time-derivative filter

We present a new filtering method for the attenuation of ground-roll. The method is based on the application of a bi-dimensional filter for obtaining the time-derivative of the seismograms. Before convolving the filter with the input data matrix, the normal moveout correction is applied to the seismograms with the purpose of flattening the reflections. The method can locally attenuate the amplitude of data of low frequency (in the ground-roll and stretch normal moveout region) and enhance flat events (reflections). The filtered seismograms can reveal horizontal or sub-horizontal reflections while vertical or sub-vertical events, associated with ground-roll, are attenuated. A regular set of samples around each neighbourhood data sample of the seismogram is used to estimate the time-derivative. A numerical approximation of the derivative is computed by taking the difference between the interpolated values calculated in both the positive and the negative neighbourhood of the desired position. The coefficients of the 2D time-derivative filter are obtained by taking the difference between two filters that interpolate at positive and negative times. Numerical results that use real seismic data show that the proposed method is effective and can reveal reflections masked by the ground-roll. Another benefit of the method is that the stretch mute, normally applied after the normal moveout correction, is unnecessary. The new filtering approach provides results of outstanding quality when compared to results obtained from the conventional FK filtering method.     

Increase of nitrous oxide flux to the atmosphere upon nitrogen addition to red mangroves sediments

Response of nitrous oxide N20 sediment/air flux to nitrogen addition was assessed in mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) sediments. Fluxes were enhanced with both ammonium and nitrate loading. Greatest fluxes (52 micromol m(-2) h(-1)) were obtained with ammonium addition and saturation was achieved with additions of 0.9 mol m(-2). Maximum flux following ammonium addition was 2785 times greater than control plots and 4.5 times greater during low tide than with equivalent ammonium addition at high tide. Nitrate enrichment resulted in exponential growth, with maximal mean flux of 36.7 micromolm(-2) h(-1) at 1.9 molm(-2); saturation was not achieved. Differential response to ammonium and nitrate, and to tide and elevation, indicate that microbial nitrification is responsible for most of the observed gas flux. Mangrove sediments constitute an important source of global atmospheric N20 and increases in nitrogen loading will lead to significant increases in the flux of this atmospherically active gas.     

Hydraulic characteristics of a small Coastal Plain stream of the southeastern United States: effects of hydrology and season

Various physical and biological properties affect solute transport patterns in streams. We measured hydraulic characteristics of Payne Creek, a low‐gradient upper Coastal Plain stream, using tracer experiments and parameter estimation with OTIS‐P (one‐dimensional transport with inflow and storage with parameter optimization). The primary objective of this study was to estimate the effects of varying discharge, season, and litter accumulation on hydraulic parameters. Channel area A ranged from 0·081 to 0·371 m² and transient storage area A_s ranged from 0·027 to 0·111 m². Dispersion D ranged from 1·5 to 11·1 m² min⁻¹ and exchange coefficient α ranged from 0·009 to 0·038 min⁻¹. Channel area and dispersion were positively correlated to discharge Q, whereas storage area and exchange coefficient were not. Relative storage size A_s/A ranged from 0·17 to 0·59, and was higher during fall than other seasons under a similar Q. The fraction of median travel time due to transient storage ranged from 8·8 to 34·5% and was significantly correlated with Q through a negative power function. Both metrics indicated that transient storage was a significant component affecting solute transport in Payne Creek, especially during the fall. Comparison between the measured channel area A_c and A suggested that surface storage was dominant in Payne Creek. During fall, accumulation of leaf litter resulted in larger A and A_s and lower velocity and D than during other seasons with similar discharge. Seasonal changes in discharge and organic matter accumulation, and dynamic channel morphology affected the magnitude of transient storage and overall hydraulic characteristics of Payne Creek. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two-Way Regionalized Classification of Multivariate Datasets and its Application to the Assessment of Hydrodynamic Dispersion

Zones of mixing between shallow groundwaters of different composition were unravelled by “two-way regionalized classification,” a technique based on correspondence analysis (CA), cluster analysis (ClA) and discriminant analysis (DA), aided by gridding, map-overlay and contouring tools. The shallow groundwaters are from a granitoid plutonite in the Fundão region (central Portugal). Correspondence analysis detected three natural clusters in the working dataset: 1, weathering; 2, domestic effluents; 3, fertilizers. Cluster analysis set an alternative distribution of the samples by the three clusters. Group memberships obtained by correspondence analysis and by cluster analysis were optimized by discriminant analysis, gridded over the entire Fundão region, and converted into “two-way regionalized classification” memberships as follows: codes 1, 2 or 3 were used when classification by correspondence analysis and cluster analysis produced the same results; code 0 when the grid node was first assigned to cluster 1 and then to cluster 2 or vice versa (mixing between weathering and effluents); code 4 in the other cases (mixing between agriculture and the other influences). Code-3 areas were systematically surrounded by code-4 areas, an observation attributed to hydrodynamic dispersion. Accordingly, the extent of code-4 areas in two orthogonal directions was assumed proportional to the longitudinal and transverse dispersivities of local soils. The results (0.7–16.8 and 0.4–4.3 m, respectively) are acceptable at the macroscopic scale. The ratios between longitudinal and transverse dispersivities (1.2–11.1) are also in agreement with results obtained by other studies.     

New evidence from a calcite-dolomite carbonatite dyke for the magmatic origin of the massive Bayan Obo ore-bearing dolomite marble, Inner Mongolia, China

Summary New data on Sr and Nd isotope composition and major and trace element distribution in dolomite-calcite carbonatite dykes at Bayan Obo are provided, and a Mid-Proterozoic age is deduced. The dykes and the neighbouring massive dolomite (H8) body have similar geochemical characteristics, interpreted to indicate a carbonatitic magmatic origin. The occurrence of riebeckite-bearing fenitized quartzites marginal to both dykes and H8 dolomite body, and the presence of xenoliths in the latter, supports this conclusion. Taken together with previously published stable isotope data, these data confirm a mantle-derived origin for the H8 body. The oxygen isotope composition of the dolomite and magnetite in the dykes is lower than that in the fine-grained dolomite. Oxygen data from samples of the coarse-grained dolomite host are either similar to the dykes or to the fine-grained type in agreement with their other geochemical characteristics. The carbonate-magnetite thermometric pairs of the fine-grained dolomite indicate a range of 350–540 °C, which is probably lower than that of the original main magmatic emplacement. This supports the distinction made between the original coarse-grained dolomite marble and dyke composition from the later fine-grained dolomite. Thus the large H8 dolomite is interpreted as a carbonatite intrusion that contains wall-rock xenoliths and caused fenitization of the hanging wall, foot wall and the xenoliths, and that the coarse-grained portions of the H8 marble are those portions that, in the Late Proterozoic to Palaeozoic, escaped recrystallization to fine-grained dolomite and subsequent REE-Fe mineralization. Currently at National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK An erratum to this article is available at .