Sulfate reduction below the sulfate-methane transition in Black Sea sediments

A sudden increase in salinity about 7000 years ago caused a shift in the deposited sediments of the Black Sea from limnic to brackish-marine. Due to the development of an anoxic deep water basin and a relatively high sulfate concentration, organic matter is mineralized primarily through sulfate reduction in modern Black Sea sediments. Earlier studies showed that sulfate-reducing bacteria are abundant within the limnic sub-surface sediment in spite of extremely low concentrations of sulfate and organic carbon. A main objective of the present study was therefore to understand the depth distribution of sulfate reduction across the different sediment units, even deep below the sulfate-methane transition. Our study combined experimental measurements of sulfate reduction using ³⁵S radiotracer with analyses of sulfur and iron geochemistry in pore water and sediment. Potential sulfate reduction rates were measured with ³⁵S in sediment samples that were amended with sulfate and organic substrates and incubated in time-series up to 48 h. Sulfate reduction could thereby be detected and quantified at depths where concentrations of sulfate were otherwise too low to enable calculation of the rates. The results demonstrate that sulfate-reducing bacteria are active several meters below the sulfate-methane transition in Black Sea sediments. The cryptic sulfate reduction below the sulfate-methane transition may be driven by sulfate produced from re-oxidation of reduced sulfur species with oxidized iron minerals buried in the deep limnic sediment.     

Physical and chemical processes promoting dominance of the toxic cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii

The freshwater cyanobacterium, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Wo?oszyńska) Seenayya and Subba Raju is a common species in lakes and reservoirs globally. In some areas of the world it can produce cyto- and hepatotoxins (cylindrospermopsins, saxitoxins), making blooms of this species a serious health concern for humans. In the last 10-15 years, there has been a considerable body of research conducted on the ecology, physiology and toxin production of this species and this paper reviews these studies with a focus on the cylindrospermopsin (CYN)-producing strains. C. raciborskii has low light requirements, close to neutral buoyancy, and a wide temperature tolerance, giving it the capacity to grow in many lentic waterbodies. It also has a flexible strategy with respect to nitrogen (N) utilisation; being able to switch between utilising fixed and atmospheric N as sources of N fluctuate. Additionally this species has a high phosphate (DIP) affinity and storage capacity. Like many cyanobacteria, it also has the capacity to use dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). Changes in nutrient concentrations, light levels and temperature have also been found to affect production of the toxin CYN by this species. However, optimal toxin production does not necessarily occur when growth rates are optimal. Additionally, different strains of C. raciborskii vary in their cell quota of CYN, making it difficult to predict toxin concentrations, based on C. raciborskii cell densities. In summary, the ecological flexibility of this organism means that controlling blooms of C. raciborskii is a difficult undertaking. However, improved understanding of factors promoting the species and toxin production by genetically capable strains will lead to improved predictive models of blooms.     

High pressure phase relations of primitive high-alumina basalts from Medicine Lake volcano,northern California

Anhydrous phase relations were determined at 1 atm and 10 to 15 kbar for primitive high-alumina basalts (79–35g and 82–72f) from Giant Crater at Medicine Lake volcano. These compositions are multiply saturated with olivine+augite+plagioclase+spinel+/-orthopyroxene near the liquidus at about 11 kbar. Experiments on mixtures of sample 79–35g with orthopyroxene and olivine determined the location of the multiple saturation boundaries where liquid coexists with the assemblage olivine+augite+orthopyroxene+plagioclase at 10 kbar and olivine+augite+orthopyroxene+spinel at 15 kbar. The mix experiments showed that primitive Medicine Lake high alumina basalts (HABs) are close in composition to liquids in equilibrium with a mantle lherzolite source containing olivine+augite+ orthopyroxene+spinel+plagioclase at 11 kbar. Orthopyroxene observed as a near liquidus phase in an 11 kbar experiment on sample 82–72f supports this conclusion. The most primitive HABs from Medicine Lake are low in K₂O (0.07 wt.%), high in MgO (>10 wt.%) and Ni (231 ppm), and have light-rare earth element depletions and large ion lithophile element enrichments. A model for the origin of these near-primary high-alumina basalts is that they are partial melts of a MORB-like mantle lherzolite source that has been enriched by a fluid component derived from the subducted slab. The HAB magma segregated from its mantle residue just below the base of the crust near the crust-mantle boundary.     

Laboratory observations of gravity wave critical-layer flows

A new laboratory facility for studying gravity wave critical-layer interactions is described, and the results from one experiment are presented. In the experiment, a forced, monochromatic gravity wave is allowed to propagate into a stratified shear flow containing a critical level for the gravity wave. The early evoluation of the flow is characterized by turbulent wavebreaking and mean flow modifications which are in qualitative agreement with previous numerical simulations. The late-time critical layer flow is characterized by internal mixing regions which are phase-locked to the incoming gravity wave.     

“Calcic amphibole equilibria and a new amphibole-plagioclase geothermometer”: Reply to the comments of Hammarstrom and Zen,and Rutherford and Johnson

Conclusions We reaffirm the barometric potential of our amphibole-plagioclase thermometer for rocks where (and only where) the final equilibration temperature is very well constrained. In the advantageous case of granitoids with simple thermal histories this temperature may be the wet granitoid solidus at the pressure of interest. We emphasise the need for careful petrographic assessment of equilibrium between plagioclase and amphibole before attempting total-Al barometry and recommend that a relatively large number of pairs are analysed for each sample. In rocks with complex post-consolidation or fluid-flow histories such barometry requires an independent means of determining amphibole equilibration temperature.     

Correcting airborne flux measurements for aircraft speed variation

Airplane aerodynamic characteristics correlate aircraft speed with vertical wind velocity, making the time average inappropriate for estimating the ensemble average in airborne eddy-correlation flux computations. The space average, the proper form, is implemented as a time integral by a transformation of variables, which can be interpreted as a ground-speed correction to the time average. The mathematical forms are presented, and the importance of the speed correction is illustrated with airborne data. The computed correction is found to be highly variable, depending on both the turbulent flow encountered and the aircraft used. In general, the speed connection becomes more important as airplane size is reduced. For a small, single-engine Long-EZ airplane, used as an example, the straight time average erred, half the time, by 12%, 10%, 20%, and 15%, respectively, for computed fluxes of momentum, heat, moisture, and CO₂. For a much heavier Twin Otter airplane, also used as an example, the straight time average erred, half the time by only 1%. These errors increased with decreasing altitude for the Long-EZ and with increasing altitude for the Twin Otter.Oak Ridge Associated Universities, assigned to NOAA/ATDD.     

Using Dummy Variables to Estimate Economic Base Multipliers

Economic base analysis is a cost-effective and accurate means of predicting employment impacts in relatively small and uncomplicated regional (community) economies. Extending previous research using the Arizona Community Data Set, this paper estimates economic base multipliers in different types of communities by introducing dummy variables into regression equations. Total employment, transfer payments, and population potential are used as explanatory variables. Manufacturing centers are shown to have larger multipliers than diversified places, mining settlements, service and trade communities, and utility towns.     

Use of Total Organic Carbon as an Indicator of Contamination from an Oil Refinery, South-Central Kansas

Water samples collected from 26 sites at an abandoned oil refinery in south-central Kansas were analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC) and specific volatile and semivolatile organic compounds by gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometric methods. Results from a Spearman-rho correlation analysis between TOC concentration and the number of compounds (correlation coefficient = 0.71) and TOC concentration and total concentration of compounds identified (correlation coefficient = 0.83) indicate correlations significant at the 0.01 level.
Although TOC data alone would not be sufficient to evaluate hazards posed by oil-refinery wastes, results of the correlation analysis performed using data collected from the site in Kansas indicate that TOC data can be used effectively to delineate petroleum-related ground water contamination and to help identify sources of ground water contaminants. TOC data collected from a large number of temporary sampling points during the initial phases of an investigation will provide an estimate of the extent of hydrocarbon contamination and allow placement of monitoring wells and more detailed sampling in appropriate areas.