<Emphasis Type="Italic">In-situ</Emphasis> measured primary productivity of ice algae in Arctic sea ice floes using a new incubation method

Recent changes in climate and environmental conditions have had great negative effects such as decreasing sea ice thickness and the extent of Arctic sea ice floes that support ice-related organisms. However, limited field observations hinder the understanding of the impacts of the current changes in the previously ice-covered regions on sea ice algae and other ice-related ecosystems. Our main objective in this study was to measure recent primary production of ice algae and their relative contribution to total primary production (ice plus pelagic primary production). In-situ primary productivity experiments with a new incubation system for ice algae were conducted in 3 sea ice cores at 2 different ice camps in the northern Chukchi Sea, 2014, using a ¹³C and ¹⁵N isotope tracer technique. A new incubation system was tested for conducting primary productivity experiments on ice algae that has several advantages over previous incubation methods, enabling stable carbon and nitrogen uptake experiments on ice algae under more natural environmental conditions. The vertical C-shaped distributions of the ice algal chl-a, with elevated concentrations at the top and bottom of the sea ice were observed in all cores, which is unusual for Arctic sea ice. The mean chl-a concentration (0.05 ± 0.03 mg chl-a m^?3) and the daily carbon uptake rates (ranging from 0.55 to 2.23 mg C m^?2 d^?1) for the ice algae were much lower in this study than in previous studies in the Arctic Ocean. This is likely because of the late sampling periods and thus the substantial melting occurring. Ice algae contributed 1.5–5.7% of the total particulate organic carbon (POC) contents of the combined euphotic water columns and sea ice floes. In comparison, ice algae contributed 4.8–8.6% to the total primary production which is greater than previously reported in the Arctic Ocean. If all of the ice-associated productions were included, the contributions of the sea ice floes to the total primary production would be greater in the Arctic Ocean and their importance would be greater in the arctic marine ecosystems.     

Implication of salt marsh foraminiferal assemblages in Suncheon Bay,South Korea

Analyses of the compositions of benthic foraminifera and sediment, observations of tidal level and salinity, and a geographic survey of the tidal salt marsh in Suncheon Bay were conducted to examine the vertical distribution of foraminifera and evaluate their potential use for sea level studies. The salt marsh is composed mainly of fine-grained silty clay sediment and its salinity is below approximately 11 psu. The tidal current flows in the southwest-tonortheast direction with an average velocity of 26.57 cm/s. A total of 33 species of foraminifera (17 agglutinated and 16 calcareoushyaline) belonging to 24 genera was identified. The species diversity (1.1 on average) was relatively low. Dominant species were Ammonia beccarii, Miliammina fusca, Haplophragmoides wilberti, and Jadammina macrescens. Calcareous foraminifera (29.5%) were dominantly represented by the Ammonia beccarii assemblage, which characterized the region between mean tide level and mean low high water (MLHW). Agglutinated species (70.5%) were represented mostly by Miliammina fusca, Miliammina fusca-Haplophragmoides wilberti, and Haplophragmoides wilberti assemblages, which characterized the MLHW–mean high water (MHW), MHW–mean highest high water (MHHW), and MHHW–Approx. highest high water tide levels, respectively. In particular, the Haplophragmoides wilberti assemblage is believed to represent the highest elevation zone of foraminifera in the salt marshes of Suncheon Bay and is considered to be a reliable indicator of sea level as a result of its narrow vertical range.     

响应曲面法优化生物质炭去除水溶液中的阿特拉津

将农业废弃物大豆秆在450℃缺氧条件下热裂解制备生物质炭。采用元素分析仪、扫描电镜(SEM)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、光电子能谱分析(XPS)等手段对生物质炭进行理化性质分析;应用响应曲面法(RSM)下的中心合成设计(CCD)功能研究4个因素(初始pH、吸附剂质量浓度、阿特拉津质量浓度、温度)对阿特拉津去除率的影响;建立二阶模型,并通过方差分析验证二阶方程的有效性。结果表明:生物质炭表面充满孔状结构,且富含C=C、C-C、CHx、-C-OR、-COOR等官能团;吸附阿特拉津后生物质炭在羟基(-OH)的位置产生了新的吸收峰,推测羟基官能团在吸附过程中发挥了重要作用。RSM法优化最佳吸附去除阿特拉津条件为:初始阿特拉津质量浓度为5mg/L、pH=6.67,吸附剂质量浓度为7.75g/L、温度为32℃;在该条件下阿特拉津的吸附去除率达到92.18%。该研究可为评价施加生物质炭土壤中阿特拉津的迁移规律及阿特拉津污染水体修复提供参考。     

Ice Mass Variation in Antarctica from GRACE Over 2002–2011

We detect the mass balance of the Antarctica ice sheet from GRACE for the recent period July 2002 through March 2011. Land hydrology contamination was corrected through global hydrological models and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the solid Earth since last deglaciation using the IJ05 model, and then a forward model was employed to adjust to bias due to smoothing filters and GRACE's limited resolution. The results show that there are two significant turning points for ice mass losses or gains near the early 2006 and the end of 2008. The ice mass losses in West Antarctica have accelerated dramatically during 2009–2011, while in East Antarctica the rate is positive, mainly caused by snow accumulation. Over the whole studying period, ice loss rates in West Antarctica (?108 ± 36 Gt/yr) are still significantly larger than the increase in East Antarctica (+72 ± 24) Gt/yr. Thus, the total Antarctica contribution to sea level rise is slightly negative ?0.18 ± 0.02 mm/yr. The rapid change of the regional ice mass in Antarctic, in the course of only several years, suggests that the Antarctica ice sheet mass balance is more sensitive to regional climate conditions than considered before.