Anthropogenic transformations of the Arctic ecosystem of Lake Imandra: Tendencies for recovery after long period of pollution

Transformation of an Arctic aquatic ecosystem (a case study of Lake Imandra) under the impact of a mining industrial complex is considered. Water chemical composition and the ecosystem’s structural components (phyto- and zooplankton, zoobenthos, and ichthiofauna) are analyzed for the following periods: the preindustrial background (reference) conditions, industrial development of mineral resources and strong anthropogenic impact, industrial recession and decreased anthropogenic impact, and stabilization. The main regularities of the aquatic ecosystem successions under the conditions of anthropogenic loads and their decrease are established.     

The application of lead isotope ratios in the Antarctic macroalga Iridaea cordata as a contaminant monitoring tool

Lead (Pb) isotope ratios were measured in the marine macroalga Iridaea cordata collected from four locations in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. Based on the masses of thalli collected, samples analysed in this study were likely to be a mixture of one and two year old thalli. For a sample of thalli of various ages (<12 months to 2 years old) from the same site there was no apparent variation in Pb concentration or Pb isotope ratio with thallus mass/age, indicating that contaminant sources had been constant over the lifetime of the thalli sampled. I.cordata samples close to the Thala Valley waste disposal site (Brown Bay Inner) near the Australian Station, Casey, displayed isotopic signatures (²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb 35.99; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb 1.066; n = 3; average values shown) trending towards that possessed by major Australian Pb sources (Broken Hill and Mt Isa, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb 35.60; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb 1.041) suggesting that these samples had been exposed to anthropogenic Pb originating from the Thala Valley waste disposal site. Material collected hundreds of metres from the tip location at Brown Bay Outer had isotopic values (²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb 36.32; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb 1.088; n = 10) intermediate between Brown Bay Inner and sites further from the contaminant source at Sparkes Bay and Wilkes (²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb 36.46; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb 1.094; n = 4) showing that contaminant transport was predominantly restricted to Brown Bay Inner. This study demonstrates that the isotope ratios of Pb in marine macroalgae can provide valuable information as to the origin and extent of heavy metal flux in a marine environment.     

Instability of gradient dependent elasto-viscoplasticity for clay

A gradient-dependent viscoplastic constitutive model for water saturated clay is proposed to describe the strain localization phenomena and pattern formation during deformation. Second- and fourth-order gradients of volumetric viscoplastic strain are introduced into the constitutive equations to account for the non-local effects due to the motion of microstructures. A linear perturbation analysis is applied to this model. The instability of the government equations (i.e. the constitutive equations and the equations of motion for the clay skeleton and pore water) is discussed for both the one-dimensional and the two-dimensional situations. In addition, issues concerned with the formulation of boundary value problems by finite element analysis in relation to the formulation and the boundary conditions are presented. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of the spaceborne laser ranging system

The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System is a proposed short pulse laser on board an orbiting spacecraft.^1,2,3,4 It measures the distance between the spacecraft and many laser retroreflectors (targets) deployed on the Earth’s surface. The precision of these range measurements is assumed to be about ±2 cm (M. W. Fitzmaurice, private communication). These measurements are then used together with the orbital dynamics of the spacecraft, to derive the relative position of the laser ground targets. Assuming a six day observing period with 50% cloud cover, uncertainties in the baseline for target separations of 50 km to 1200 km were estimated to be on the order of 1 to 3 cm and the corresponding values in the vertical direction, ranged from 1 cm to 12 cm. By redetermining the measurements of the relative target positions, the estimated precision in the baseline for a target separation of 50 km is less than 0.3 cm and for a separation of 1200 km is less than 1 cm. In the vertical direction, the estimated precision ranged from 0.4 cm to 4.0 cm respectively. As a result of the repeated estimation of the relative laser target positions, most of the non-temporal effects of error sources as exemplified by the errors in geopotential are reduced. The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System’s capability of determining baselines to a high degree of precision provides a measure of strain and strain rate as shown byCohen, 1979. These quantities are essential for crustal dynamic studies which include determination and monitoring of strain near seismic zones, land subsidence, and edifice building preceding volcanic eruptions. It is evident that such a system can also be used for geodetic surveys where such precisions are more than adquate.     

The application of cathodoluminescence to interpreting the diagenesis of an ancient calcrete profile

A laterally extensive calcrete profile has been identified in the Late Asbian (Lower Carboniferous) shallow marine shelf limestones of the Llangollen area, North Wales. The upper surface of the profile is defined by a laterally discontinuous palaeokarstic surface and by laminated calcareous crusts which developed within the underlying limestone. The profile contains a unique series of early pore-filling vadose cements which only occur down to 1 m below the palaeokarstic surface. Cathodoluminescence reveals that these cements pre-date the late pore-filling meteoric phreatic cements which occur throughout local Asbian lithologies. A spar cement stratigraphy has been established for the calcrete profile. Subaerial vadose cements comprise two generations of non-luminescent cement, followed by a brightly luminescent generation which occasionally shows an acicular habit. This needle-fibre calcite represents the final stage of vadose cementation. Precipitation of vadose cements was contemporary with subaerial alteration and micritization of the limestone. Textures, visible only with cathodoluminescence, provide evidence of recurrent periods of fabric dissolution. The most extensive phase of dissolution occurred immediately after the precipitation of the non-luminescent subaerial vadose cements. Several different textures have been recorded, each reflecting the morphology of a partially dissolved substrate. Dissolution textures are generally confined to the walls of the larger pores and to early brecciation fractures. These probably acted as fluid pathways in the calcrete during early subaerial diagenesis. Much of the non-marine micrite in the calcrete profile appears as needle-fibre calcite under cathodoluminescence. This acicular calcite was probably formed in response to localized supersaturation of meteoric pore fluids caused by periods of near-surface evaporation. Since needle-fibre luminescence is strongly variable, these ambient conditions are not believed to have directly controlled the activator ion concentrations of cementing pore waters. Needle-fibre calcite is considered to be a cement precipitate which has almost completely recrystallized to micrite, probably during the late stages of subaerial diagenesis. Two generations of subaerial micrite which define a ‘micrite stratigraphy’, have been distinguished under cathodoluminescence. Reconstructing the diagenetic history of this ancient calcrete profile has revealed that subaerial alteration was multistaged, with many diagenetic processes acting simultaneously during a single phase of emergence.     

An integrated approach to investigate saline water intrusion and to identify the salinity sources in the Central Godavari delta, Andhra Pradesh, India

The Central Godavari delta is located along the Bay of Bengal Coast, Andhra Pradesh, India, and is drained by Pikaleru, Kunavaram and Vasalatippa drains. There is no groundwater pumping for agriculture as wells as for domestic purpose due to the brackish nature of the groundwater at shallow depths. The groundwater table depths vary from 0.8 to 3.4 m and in the Ravva Onshore wells, 4.5 to 13.3 m. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) surveys were carried out at several locations in the delta to delineate the aquifer geometry and to identify saline water aquifer zones. Groundwater samples collected and analyzed for major ions for assessing the saline water intrusion and to identify the salinity origin in the delta region. The results derived from ERT indicated low resistivity values in the area, which can be attributed to the existence of thick marine clays from ground surface to 12–15 m below ground level near the coast and high resistivity values are due to the presence of coarse sand with freshwater away from the coast. The resistivity values similar to saline water <0.01 Ω m is attributed to the mixing of the saline water along surface water drains. In the Ravva Onshore Terminal low resistivity values indicated up coning of saline water and mixing of saline water from Pikaleru drain. The SO ₄ ^?2 /Cl^?and Na⁺²/Cl^?ratios did not indicate saline water intrusion and the salinity is due to marine palaeosalinity, dilution of marine clays and dissolution of evaporites.     

Analysis of the effect of megalopolises on water quality in surface water bodies by ecological-toxicological characteristics

Data of long-term observations of Roshydromet and the studies of the authors’ studies of hydrochemical, hydrobiological, and bioassaying characteristics and appropriate publications in the areas of megalopolises—the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Novosibirsk are analyzed. Similar and distinctive characteristics of water quality by these ecological-toxicological characteristics are identified; trends in the long-term year-to-year variations in water quality are established, criteria and characteristics reflecting the effect of cities on water bodies in their territory are determined. The identity of some chemical-toxicological criteria and the characteristics of the influence of cities in southern Russia and Siberia on water bodies suggest that they can also be used in urban area in other regions. The Lower Don is used as an example to show that water pollution by metals is mostly due to wastewater discharge, while water pollution by petroleum products and sulfates has no direct relation to that.     

Evaluation of stratospheric ozone,temperature, and aerosol profiles from the LOANA lidar in Antarctica

We present an evaluation of observations from the Lidar Ozone and Aerosol for NDACC in Antarctica (LOANA) at the Dumont d’Urville station, Antarctica. This instrument is part of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), and ensures continuity with lidar measurements made since 1989 with the previous instrument at this site. This study is based on the dataset from 2008 to 2009, and comparisons are made with observations from balloon soundings, and from three satellite experiments: Aura/MLS, TIMED/SABER, and CALIOP/CALIPSO. The lidar ozone data are in very good agreement with the balloon sounding data (ECC sensor), revealing a bias of less than 3% between 17 and 34 km. For temperature, the lidar shows a low bias of ?3 K at 20 km when compared with Aura/MLS. Between 30 and 50 km, the bias is less than 2 K. We also present our initial results showing diurnal variations in temperature. The amplitude of these diurnal cycles is on the order of 1 K and is unlikely to account for the temperature biases between LOANA and the reference instruments. Comparisons of total attenuated backscatter reveal good qualitative agreement between LOANA and CALIOP, with differences of less than 30% in the derived optical depth.     

Large-Scale Atmospheric–Oceanic Interaction Regimes in the Norwegian and Barents Seas

Doklady Earth Sciences - Large-scale atmosphere–ocean interaction in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean is analyzed. New studies demonstrate that the variability of Atlantic water inflow...