The succession of microbial community in the organic rich fish-farm sediment during bioremediation by introducing artificially mass-cultured colonies of a small polychaete, Capitella sp. I

We monitored seasonal changes of the abundance and composition of microorganisms in the fish-farm sediment in Kusuura Bay, Amakusa, Japan, using the quinone profiling technique, during bioremediation by introducing cultured colonies of polychaete, Capitella sp. I. In November 2004, approximately 9.2 million cultured worms were transferred to the fish-farm sediment, which increased rapidly, and reached 458.5 gWW/m(2) (528,000 indiv./m(2)) in March 2005. During this fast-increasing period of Capitella, the microbial quinone content of the surface sediment (0-2 cm) also increased markedly, and reached 237 micromol/m(2) in January 2005, although the water temperature decreased to the lowest levels in the year. Particularly, the mole fraction of ubiquinone-10 in total quinones in the sediment, indicating the presence of alpha subclass of Proteobacteria, increased by 9.3%. These facts suggest that the bacterial growth was enhanced markedly by the biological activities of worms in the sediment, and the bacteria played an important role in the decomposition of the organic matter in the sediment.     

Assessment of chemical dispersant effectiveness in a wave tank under regular non-breaking and breaking wave conditions

Current chemical dispersant effectiveness tests for product selection are commonly performed with bench-scale testing apparatus. However, for the assessment of oil dispersant effectiveness under real sea state conditions, test protocols are required to have hydrodynamic conditions closer to the natural environment, including transport and dilution effects. To achieve this goal, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed and constructed a wave tank system to study chemical dispersant effectiveness under controlled mixing energy conditions (regular non-breaking, spilling breaking, and plunging breaking waves). Quantification of oil dispersant effectiveness was based on observed changes in dispersed oil concentrations and oil-droplet size distribution. The study results quantitatively demonstrated that total dispersed oil concentration and breakup kinetics of oil droplets in the water column were strongly dependent on the presence of chemical dispersants and the influence of breaking waves. These data on the effectiveness of dispersants as a function of sea state will have significant implications in the drafting of future operational guidelines for dispersant use at sea.     

Blood metal levels and metal-influenced immune functions of harbour seals in captivity

Immunological blood parameters and the effects of environmental pollutants on the immune system are important to assess the health status of seals. Animals living permanently in seal centres are useful for development and validation of diagnostic tools for free-ranging animals. In this study, parameters of cellular immunity as well as metal concentrations in blood and metal influence on cell proliferation of seven seals from a seal centre were investigated repeatedly using multi-element analysis and a lymphocyte proliferation assay. The metal concentrations, except for tin and chromium, were in general comparable to those of free-ranging animals of the North Sea. The unstimulated and mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation showed strong intra- and inter-individual variability, which reflected variability in activation of the immune status. Furthermore, both immunosuppressive and stimulative influences of metals on lymphocytes were found. Summarising, the methods used in this investigation provided useful information on these animals, and their application to free-ranging animals can be recommended.     

Is there any seasonal variation in marine nematodes within the sediments of the intertidal zone?

The sediment parameters and nematode assemblages in the intertidal zone of the Hichirippu shallow lagoon, Hokkaido, Japan, were investigated. The objectives of this study were to observe the seasonal variation in the nematodes in the sediment, and to investigate the relationships between the nematodes and environmental factors. Samples were collected bi-monthly from five stations on the tidal flat from April 2003 to February 2004. It was found that the sediment parameters (Chl a concentration, AVS, TOC and TN contents) varied throughout the 10-month study. Fifty-four species of nematodes were found in the study area. The density and biomass of the nematodes varied in accordance with the sediment temperature during the sampling period. In this study, there was a seasonal variation in the nematode assemblage found in the intertidal zone of this shallow lagoon. The important factors affecting this variation were sediment temperature, and food competition among the nematodes themselves. The seasonal variation of the nematode also showed a relationship with the Chl a concentration in the sediment during the sampling period.     

Analysis of change of red tide species in Yodo River estuary by the numerical ecosystem model

Occurrence number of red tides in Osaka Bay in Japan is more than 20 cases every year. Diatom red tide was dominant in Osaka Bay, but the non-diatom red tide was dominant in early 1990s. Therefore, the material cycling in Yodo River estuary in Osaka Bay during August from 1991 to 2000 was analyzed by using the numerical ecosystem model and field observation data to clarify the reasons of change in red tide species. Year-to-year variation in calculated concentration ratio of diatom to non-diatom corresponds to the variation in observed ratio of red tide days of diatom to non-diatom. Limiting nutrient of primary production is phosphate over the period. Diatom dominated from 1991 to 1993, but it was difficult for non-diatom to grow due to the limitation by physical condition. Non-diatom was able to grow because of good physical and nutrient conditions from 1994 to 1996. And diatom dominated again under the good physical condition, and phosphorus supply was not enough for non-diatom to grow from 1998 to 2000. Phosphate concentration in the lower layer of Yodo River estuary was important to the variation in red tide species in the upper layer of Yodo River estuary.     

Uptake and tissue distribution of C4-C7 alkylphenols in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua): relevance for biomonitoring of produced water discharges from oil production

The sensitivity of different tissues for assessment of chronic low-dose environmental exposure of fish to alkylphenols (APs) was investigated. We exposed Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the laboratory to tritium labelled 4-tert-butylphenol, 4n-pentylphenol, 4n-hexylphenol, and 4n-heptylphenol via seawater (8 ng/l) and via contaminated feed (5 μg/kg fish per day). Measurements of different fish tissues during eight days of exposure and eight subsequent days of recovery revealed that APs administered via spiked seawater were readily taken up whereas the uptake was far less efficient when APs were administered in spiked feed. AP residues were mainly located in the bile fluid whereas the concentrations in liver were very low, indicating a rapid excretion and the liver-bile axis to be the major route of elimination. The biological half-life of APs in the exposed cod was short, between 10 and 20 h. Our study shows that in connection with biomonitoring of AP exposure in fish, assessment of AP metabolites in bile fluid is a more sensitive tool than detection of parent AP levels in liver or other internal tissues.     

Introduction to hydromechanical well tests in fractured rock aquifers

This article introduces hydromechanical well tests as a viable field method for characterizing fractured rock aquifers. These tests involve measuring and analyzing small displacements along with pressure transients. Recent developments in equipment and analyses have simplified hydromechanical well tests, and this article describes initial field results and interpretations during slug and constant-rate pumping tests conducted at a site underlain by fractured biotite gneiss in South Carolina. The field data are characterized by displacements of 0.3 μm to more than 10 μm during head changes up to 10 m. Displacements are a hysteretic function of hydraulic head in the wellbore, with displacements late in a well test always exceeding those at similar wellbore pressures early in the test. Displacement measurements show that hydraulic aperture changes during well tests, and both scaling analyses and field data suggest that T changed by a few percent per meter of drawdown during slug and pumping tests at our field site. Preliminary analyses suggest that displacement data can be used to improve estimates of storativity and to reduce nonuniqueness during hydraulic well tests involving single wells.     

由帕克菲尔德圣安德烈斯断层深部观测台钻井点主动源监测得到的震前速度变化

测量地震活跃断层区内的应力变化一直是地震学长期探寻的目标。在此我们指出,利用在圣安德烈斯断层深部观测台(SAFOD)钻孔点进行的井间主动源试验所得的地震波波速对应力的依赖性就可测量到这种应力变化。在两个多月的时间里,我们观测到沿着地下固定路径传播的S波走时变化(几微秒)与气压变化之间存在非常好的负相关性。我们还发现在走时数据中有两次很大的偏移,这两次偏移的时间与两个预计在圣安德烈斯断层深部观测台会产生最大同震应力变化的地震的时间吻合。有趣的是,这两次偏移分别在地震事件之前约10小时和2小时的时间开始,说明它们可能与早期实验室研究(Braceetal,1966;Scholz,1968)观测到的破裂前应力导致的裂纹性质改变有关。     

使用高分辨率的地形数据作为地震场地条件替代指标的研究

近年来,从美国航天飞机雷达地形测绘使命（SRTM）30弧秒（arcsec）的数字高程模型（DEM）中提出一种估计全球地震场地条件或者地下30m的平均剪切波速（Vs30）的新方法。在缺少基于地质和岩土的场地条件分布图的地区,使用该方法的前提是通过Vs30的测量值和地形坡度的相关性,可以把地形坡度作为一个可靠估计Vs30的替代指标。在这里,我们来检验使用高分辨率（3弧秒和9弧秒）的数字高程模型数据是否能够解析出比使用低分辨率航天飞机雷达地形测绘数据更详细的Vs30数据。在全球范围内,并不能全部获得比30弧秒更高分辨率的数字高程模型数据。然而,在存在这些数据的许多地区,这些数据被用来解译地形坡度的精尺度变化,并最终解译Vs30。我们使用美国地质调查局地球资源观测和科学（EROS）数据中心的国家高程数据集（NED）,在美国几个地区研究使用高分辨率的数字高程模型数据来估计VS30,这些地区包括加利福尼亚州的旧金山湾地区、洛杉矶、加利福尼亚州及密苏里州圣路易斯市。我们将这些结果与全球范围内都能获取的台湾台北市使用9弧秒航天飞机雷达地形测绘数据的例子作比较。使用较高分辨率的美国国家高程数据集重新得到更精细尺度的地形坡度变化,这可更好地与地质和地貌特征相关联,特别是在丘陵—盆地之间的过渡带,确保使用30弧秒的航天飞机雷达地形测绘数据是可行的。然而,统计分析表明,与低分辨率地形所得到的Vs30测量值相比,测量值很少或者没有得到改善提高。这表明一些地形平滑处理可能会提供更稳定的Vs30估计。此外我们发现,在精度高于30弧秒的航天飞机雷达地形测绘数据有遮盖的地区高程变化范围过大,不能解译出可靠的坡度,特别是在较低坡度的沉积盆地．     

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。