Marine meiobenthic and nematode community structure in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong upon recovery from sewage pollution

Sediment quality, meiofaunal and nematode communities were monitored across six time points at two inside-harbour and three outside-harbour sites over a three-year period in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, after the implementation of a sewage treatment project. Twenty-one meiofaunal groups comprising mainly free-living nematodes and harpacticoid copepods and 188 species of free-living nematodes were identified. The outside-harbour area had a more diverse and significantly different nematode community structure as compared to that in the inside-harbour area. Such spatial difference was highly correlated with the total Kjeldahl nitrogen content of the sediments. Over the study period, there was no significant improvement in sediment quality within the harbour. However, in the last sampling time, an increase in meiofaunal abundance and a closer similarity in nematode composition between one of the inside- and outside-harbour sites suggested signs of recovery of the meiofauna as a response to abatement of sewage pollution.     

甘肃北山地区上石炭统—下二叠统干泉组的时代、分布及其构造意义

甘肃北山地区位于中亚造山带最南端,上古生界的沉积层序对探讨该区构造与盆地演化有重要意义。上石炭统—下二叠统干泉组的时代和分布尚不明确,限制了沉积层序和构造演化的研究。本研究通过对北山南部独山地区和柳园地区的地层学研究,获得干泉组上段火山岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄293.8±4.8 Ma和"石炭系未分"火山岩年龄293.9±2.7 Ma和291.7±2.3 Ma。同位素年龄和古生物数据证明干泉组时限为晚石炭世卡西莫夫期(Kasimovian)—早二叠世萨克马尔期(Sakmarian),在研究区广泛出露。北山南部下石炭统维宪阶—中二叠统卡匹敦阶为基本连续的沉积层序,代表了研究区由小型断陷海盆发育为大型裂谷盆地的演化过程:早石炭世维宪期—早二叠世阿瑟尔期,白山组、石板山组和干泉组下段为一系列分散的断陷海盆中的滨浅海相沉积物;早二叠世萨克马尔期(约294~292 Ma),干泉组上段的火山岩表明盆地演化进入火山活动强烈的裂陷期;早二叠世亚丁斯克期—中二叠世卡匹敦期(约286~265 Ma),双堡塘组和菊石滩组组成裂谷盆地沉降期的海侵充填序列。     

Spatio-temporal changes of marine macrobenthic community in sub-tropical waters upon recovery from eutrophication. I. Sediment quality and community structure

A two-year study was conducted in the vicinity of a harbour in sub-tropical Hong Kong, to examine the progress of improvement in sediment quality and recovery of macrobenthic community upon cessation of organic pollution caused by sewage discharge. Median sediment particle diameter (Mdphi) and levels of total organic carbon (TOC), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), ammonia-nitrogen (NH(3)-N) and total phosphorus (TP), as well as macrobenthic species composition and abundance were determined bi-monthly at three inside-harbour and two outside-harbour locations. At the two inside-harbour locations, significantly higher levels of TOC, TKN, NH(3)-N and TP in sediments were observed than the outside-harbour locations. However, no significant temporal change of nutrient levels was detected at all sampling locations during the two-year study, except a significant decrease in TKN and NH(3)-N levels at one outside-harbour location and a decline in NH(3)-N content at another outside-harbour location. Spatially, the highest in mean total species number, individual number, species diversity H' and lowest evenness J was found at one outside-harbour location, whereas the other four locations had relatively similar values. H' was negatively correlated with TOC, TKN, NH(3)-N and TP content in sediments while J was positively correlated with MDphi. Across the study period, the patterns of macrobenthic community were significantly different among all samplings and that the spatial difference of benthic community was best correlated with MDphi, TOC, TKN and water depth. A weak sign of recovery in macrobenthic community structure was detected at inside-harbour locations, with replacement of opportunistic by ubiquitous species over the two-year study. The slow recovery of macrobenthic community was related to sediment characteristics. Results of a larval settlement bioassay using the polychaete Capitella sp. I also demonstrated that the inside-harbour sediments were still unfavourable for colonization and larval settlement of species sensitive to pollution. The slow biodegradation of the organic pollutants and continuous presence of heavy metals in the sediment may hinder settlement and colonization of benthic animals. However, increases of H' and J were observed in a longer time scale when comparing the present data with those obtained four years ago. This suggested that a detectable recovery of benthic community in the harbour may take at least three years and a complete recovery may even take longer duration.     

Über den Stoffhaushalt der Donau und ihrer Nebenflüsse

Zusammenfassung Nach einem kurzen überblich über frühere stoffwechseldynamische Untersuchungen im Donauraum nach dem Stand der Monographie werden neuere, teilweise noch unver?ffentlichte Ergebnisse rum?nischer, ungarischer und deutscher Arbeitsgruppen zusammenfassend referiert. Diese neueren Untersuchungen betreffen die Nitrifikationsprozesse im Bistritza-Stausee Bicaz (Rum?nien) sowie Prim?rproduktion und biogene Belüftung der Donau im Bereich von Alsog?d-Budapest (Ungarn) und im Bereich von Kelheim-Jochenstein (BR Deutschland). Dieser Bericht wird erg?nzt durch einige Befunde biochemischer Untersuchungen an anderen grossen Flüssen, und hieraus wird ein Programm für weitere gemeinsame stoffwechseldynamische Forschungen im Donauraum abgeleitet.

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Summary After a short survey on former investigations concerning the dynamic cycle of elements in river Danube, newer, partially unpublished results of Rumanian, Hungarian and German working groups are digested. These newer investigations concern the nitrification processes in the Bistritza dam of Bicaz (Rumania) and primary production as well as biogenic reaeration of river Danube in the region of Alsog?d-Budapest (Hungary) and Kelheim-Jochenstein (German Fed. Rep.). This survey is completed by some results of biochemical investigations at other great rivers and from that a programme for further cooperation concerning the biochemical questions of dynamic cycle of substances in river Danube is derived.

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Dem unvergessenen Donauforscher Prof. Dr. Endre Dudich, Budapest, gewidmet.     

From Grain to Floodplain: Evaluating heterogeneity of floodplain hydrostatigraphy using sedimentology,geophysics, and remote sensing

Stratigraphy is a fundamental component of floodplain heterogeneity and hydraulic conductivity and connectivity of alluvial aquifers, which affect hydrologic processes such as groundwater flow and hyporheic exchange. Watershed-scale hydrological models commonly simplify the sedimentology and stratigraphy of floodplains, neglecting natural floodplain heterogeneity and anisotropy. This study, conducted in the upper reach of the East River in the East River Basin, Colorado, USA, combines point-, meander-, and floodplain-scale data to determine key features of alluvial aquifers important for estimating hydrologic processes. We compare stratigraphy of two meanders with disparate geometries to explore floodplain heterogeneity and connectivity controls on flow and transport. Meander shape, orientation, and internal stratigraphy affected residence time estimates of laterally exchanged hyporheic water. Although the two meanders share a sediment source, vegetation, and climate, their divergent river migration histories resulted in contrasting meander hydrofacies. In turn, the extent and orientation of these elements controlled the effective hydraulic conductivity and, ultimately, estimates of groundwater transport and hyporheic residence times. Additionally, the meanders’ orientation relative to the valley gradient impacted the hydraulic gradient across the meanders—a key control of groundwater velocity. Lastly, we combine our field data with remotely sensed data and introduce a potential approach to estimate key hydrostratigraphic packages across floodplains. Prospective applications include contaminant transport studies, hyporheic models, and watershed models. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three-dimensional hydrogeological–geophysical model of a multi-layered aquifer in the coastal alluvial plain of Sarno River (southern Italy)

The coastal alluvial plain of Sarno River (Campania Region, southern Italy) is a very rich environment that has experienced a long history of changes due to both natural phenomena such as eustatic sea-level variations and deposition of volcanoclastic sediments, and human civilizations who populated this area since historical times. As a result, it is characterized by complex stratigraphic sequences and groundwater flow systems. The architecture of the multi-layered aquifer system in a sample area, located in a densely urbanized sector at the mouth of Sarno River, was reconstructed. Starting from the analysis of stratigraphic log data and laboratory geotechnical measurements, the lithostratigraphical-unit sequence was retrieved and a realistic three-dimensional (3D) model of the hydrogeological heterogeneity was obtained. The results of a detailed 2D electrical resistivity tomography survey were used to support the analysis of the spatial heterogeneity of the aquifer system in a sector characterized by lack of log data. The integration of hydrogeological and geophysical data allowed for the reconstruction of a 3D hydrogeophysical model of the multi-layered system, which electrically characterizes and geometrically identifies two aquifers. Finally, piezometric-level measurements validated the hydrogeological–geophysical model and showed the effectiveness of the methodology.     

Regularization and linearization of the equations of motion in central force-fields

Within the framework of linear and regular celestial mechanics, a wide class of central force field problems are considered. We take as potential function a polynomial whose variable is the reciprocal of the distance from the origin, and, as regularizing function the square root of a certain reciprocal polynomial, related to the potential function. The relations between the coefficients of both functions, in order to arrive to linear equations, are given. In particular, the case of a quintic polynomial is analyzed, and an application is made to artificial earth satellites considering harmonicsJ ₂,J ₃,J ₄.     

Application of remote sensing for vegetation mapping — A case study along the northern coastal districts of andhra pradesh

The study deals with the application of Remote Sensing for delineating various vegetation types along the three coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. The satellite imagery of the region is divided into three types depending upon tone and texture. Each type is correlated with the ground truth. The species composition has been given and discussed.     

不同产地绿松石无损检测及岩相结构特征研究

概述了绿松石的使用历史和产地来源。利用质子激发X射线荧光光谱（PIXE）、X射线衍射（XRD）及扫描电镜（SEM）技术对来自伊朗、湖北郧县和西藏等地的绿松石样品进行岩石矿物学特征分析，从成分组成方面探讨绿松石的呈色机理。结果显示，不同产地、不同质地绿松石的成分组成存在较大差别，但主成分含量基本一致；绿松石的颜色主要由其中CuO和Fe2O3的含量比值变化决定，比值由大至小，实现了绿松石颜色由天蓝色到绿色的转变。     

Abrupt climate change and transient climates during the Paleogene: a marine perspective

Detailed investigations of high latitude sequences recently collected by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) indicate that periods of rapid climate change often culminated in brief transient climates, with more extreme conditions than subsequent long term climates. Two examples of such events have been identified in the Paleogene; the first in latest Paleocene time in the middle of a warming trend that began several million years earlier: the second in earliest Oligocene time near the end of a Middle Eocene to Late Oligocene global cooling trend. Superimposed on the earlier event was a sudden and extreme warming of both high latitude sea surface and deep ocean waters. Imbedded in the latter transition was an abrupt decline in high latitude temperatures and the brief appearance of a full size continental ice-sheet on Antarctica. In both cases the climate extremes were not stable, lasting for less than a few hundred thousand years, indicating a temporary or transient climate state. Geochemical and sedimentological evidence suggest that both Paleogene climate events were accompanied by reorganizations in ocean circulation, and major perturbations in marine productivity and the global carbon cycle. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum was marked by reduced oceanic turnover and decreases in global delta 13C and in marine productivity, while the Early Oligocene glacial maximum was accompanied by intensification of deep ocean circulation and elevated delta 13C and productivity. It has been suggested that sudden changes in climate and/or ocean circulation might occur as a result of gradual forcing as certain physical thresholds are exceeded. We investigate the possibility that sudden reorganizations in ocean and/or atmosphere circulation during these abrupt transitions generated short-term positive feedbacks that briefly sustained these transient climatic states.