Effect of Bioremediation on the Microbial Community in Oiled Mangrove Sediments

Bioremediation was conducted in the field on a mature Rhizophora stylosa mangrove stand on land to be reclaimed near Fisherman’s Landing Wharf, Gladstone Australia. Gippsland crude oil was added to six large plots (>40 m²) and three plots were left untreated as controls. Bioremediation was used to treat three oiled plots and the remaining three were maintained as oiled only plots. The bioremediation strategy consisted of actively aerating the sediment and adding a slow-release fertilizer in order to promote oil biodegradation by indigenous micro-organisms. Oil addition stimulated the numbers of alkane-degrading bacteria slightly to levels of 10⁴–10⁵/g sediment. Bioremediation of the oiled sediment had a marked effect on the alkane-degrading population, increasing the population size by three orders of magnitude from 10⁵ to 10⁸ cells/g of sediment. An effect of bioremediation on the growth of aromatic-degraders was detected with numbers of aromatic-degraders increasing from 10⁴ to 10⁶ cells/g of sediment. Active aeration and nutrient addition significantly stimulated the growth of hydrocarbon-degraders in oiled mangrove sediment in the field.     

The Modelling Of Landslide Hazards Using Gis

Slope instability hazard assessment is based on theanalysis of the terrain conditions at sites whereslope failures occurred in the past. For the analysisof the causative factors the application of geographicinformation systems (GIS) is an essential tool in thedata analysis and the subsequent hazard assessment.Three scale levels of hazard mapping are defined – adirect experience-driven mapping at reconnaissancelevel, a statistical approach to determine thecausative factors in a quantitative susceptibilitymapping, and a methodology at large scale making use ofdeterministic models.     

Age and origin of agpaitic magmatism at Ilímaussaq,south Greenland: RbSr study

A RbSr whole-rock isochron gives an age of 1168±21 m.y. for the agpaitic units of Ilímaussaq, showing that this complex belongs to the main phase of Gardar igneous activity in south Greenland and is not, as previously supposed, a significantly younger intrusion. Moreover, the agpaites must have intruded very soon after the earlier augite syenite phase of Ilímaussaq. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.7096±0.0022 for the agpaites is in marked contrast to the low (～0.703) ratio obtained for the augite syenites and suggests that selective enrichment of ⁸⁷Sr occurred by preferential leaching of radiogenic strontium from unstable positions in Rb lattice sites in older crustal material by the highly reactive agpaitic magma.     

华南五峰组-龙马溪组黑色岩系时空展布的主控因素及其启示

在回顾五峰组-龙马溪组两个地层单位沿革并重申其定义与划分基础上,重建了华南五峰组-龙马溪组及其相关地层序列的区域地层框架.根据这一框架中奥陶-志留纪黑色笔石岩系的穿时性、以及相关地层序列纵向演化特征与岩石圈板块挠曲模式的联系,结合所发现钾质斑脱岩源岩的板块汇聚背景,以及该阶段海平面升降与黑色岩系对应关系,提出控制该阶段华南黑色岩系的时空展布格局的主要因素有两个,即该阶段自南东向北西的华夏地块与扬子地块幕式汇聚过程所产生的岩石圈板块挠曲-周缘前陆盆地的同向迁移,以及该阶段两次全球性的三级海平面变化快速上升阶段所导致的缺氧及欠补偿水体.本文认为,要在华南奥陶-志留纪(包括其他断代)寻找其他可能的烃源岩层位,可能要首先考虑类似背景下这两种因素综合作用所导致的快速沉降及深水缺氧的沉积环境.     

Lithogenic thallium behavior in soils with different land use

In order to evaluate the effect of different land use on lithogenic Tl geochemistry, two forest and grassland soils developed on an identical Tl-rich substrate were examined. For this purpose a complex soil-plant investigation supplemented by mineralogical methods was performed. The modified BCR sequential extraction combined with X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and voltammetry of microparticles (VMP) were performed for a detailed insight on lithogenic Tl speciation and availability in both contrasting soils. It was revealed that soil forming processes like bioturbation and probably dust deposition may influence the increased input of lithogenic Tl into the forest floor. Thallium was predominantly bound within the residual fraction (up to 95%) corresponding to primary silicates (mainly orthoclase and muscovite) and probably secondary illite, which were detected by XRD in all studied horizons. Thus, stable silicates can be thought as the phases controlling the solubility of lithogenic Tl in both the forest and grassland soils. The highest portion (~ 5%) of “labile” Tl was found in the organic horizons of the forest soil indicating a distinct role of forest soil organic matter (SOM) on Tl mobilization and availability. Thallium adsorption was dominated by an identified non-crystalline Mn(III,IV) oxide detected by VMP proving thus its strong affinity for Mn oxides in mineral soils. On the contrary, Tl adsorption by more abundant Fe(III) oxides (goethite and ferrihydrite) was evaluated to be negligible. Organically bound Tl in the forest floor was found to be associated with primary SOM corresponding to the raw and partially decomposed litter of Norway spruce (Picea abies L.). Moreover, a relatively high Tl uptake was recorded by this species. In contrast, lithogenic Tl uptake by common grasses like red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) or timothy grass (Phleum pratense L.) seems to be very low.     

Reactive iron(III) in sediments: Chemical versus microbial extractions

The availability of particulate Fe(III) to iron reducing microbial communities in sediments and soils is generally inferred indirectly by performing chemical extractions. In this study, the bioavailability of mineral-bound Fe(III) in intertidal sediments of a eutrophic estuary is assessed directly by measuring the kinetics and extent of Fe(III) utilization by the iron reducing microorganism Shewanella putrefaciens, in the presence of excess electron donor. Microbial Fe(III) reduction is compared to chemical dissolution of iron from the same sediments in buffered ascorbate-citrate solution (pH 7.5), ascorbic acid (pH 2), and 1 M HCl. The results confirm that ascorbate at near-neutral pH selectively reduces the reactive Fe(III) pool, while the acid extractants mobilize additional Fe(II) and less reactive Fe(III) mineral phases. Furthermore, the maximum concentrations of Fe(III) reducible by S. putrefaciens correlate linearly with the iron concentrations extracted by buffered ascorbate-citrate solution, but not with those of the acid extractions. However, on average, only 65% of the Fe(III) reduced in buffered ascorbate-citrate solution can be utilized by S. putrefaciens, probably due to physical inaccessibility of the remaining fraction of reactive Fe(III) to the cells. While the microbial and abiotic reaction kinetics further indicate that reduction by ascorbate at near-neutral pH most closely resembles microbial reduction of the sediment Fe(III) pool by S. putrefaciens, the results also highlight fundamental differences between chemical reductive dissolution and microbial utilization of mineral-bound ferric iron.     

Mesoarchean mafic dykes of the Belomorian eclogite province (Gridino Village Area,Russia)

Archean processes of eclogitization in the Gridino metamorphic association (the Belomorian eclogite province) developed in mafic dykes, boudins, and acidic rocks of the Archean continental crusts. To determine the U-Pb age of the intrusion of the latest dykes, the geochronological samples were taken from the dyke of ferriferious metagabbro that cross-cuts the dyke of eclogitzed and granulitized olivine gabbronorite. The igneous zircons were dated by the SHRIMP II technique. The zircons showed a concordia age of 2846 ± 7 Ma, which is considered as the time of intrusion of a mafic melt. The younger low-thorium zircon rims of 2.78–2.81 Ga age around the igneous cores are typical formations that appeared under metamorphic conditions in equilibrium with a migmatite melt, and may characterize the time of formation of the granite leucosome under metamorphism, probably of eclogite facies.     

CARBON IN DARK INCLUSIONS OF THE ALLENDE METEORITE

Carbon contents of three Dark Inclusions (DI's) of the Allende meteorite, measured chemically, range from 0.56 to 1.17 weight %. When one includes the data reported by Bunch, Chang, and Ott (two DI's), the lower limit is 0.44%. The C-concentration map of a 1.6 × 1.6 mm² area straddling the boundary of a DI and matrix, or else of a DI and its dark halo, obtained with a ¹²C (d,p)¹³ C nuclear microprobe, shows that the C-content of the core of the DI is very uniform, and that the C-content of the rim is 2.9 ± 0.3 times larger. Variability of C-content of matrix and matrix-like areas of Allende appears to be the rule. DI's cannot be reworked bulk Allende, or precursor for bulk Allende without the addition, respectively removal of significant amounts of carbon. However, some Type 1 DI's might be reworked Allende matrix or precursor matter for that matrix.     

Geochronology and sources of late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian granites of the Saldania Belt

The Saldania Belt (SB), located in the southernmost part of South Africa, contains S-, I-, and A-type granites. Whole-rock Sm?CNd data for the Saldania granites indicate the presence of a juvenile as well as inherited crustal signature. The earlier S-type granites have ??Nd_(t) values from ?4.2 to ?3.28 (for t?=?550?Ma). In contrast, the intermediate I-type and youngest A-type and highly fractionated I-type granites display ??Nd values ranging from ?1.44 to ?3.68 (for t?=?540?Ma) and from +3.66 to +5.1(for t?=?530?Ma), respectively. The U?CPb single zircon data of A-type granites exposed in the Western Branch of the SB yielded dates from 524?±?8 to 510?±?4?Ma, whereas an S-type granite, situated in the Southern Branch of the SB and represented by the syn- to late-tectonic Rooiklip Granite, yielded an age of 527?±?8?Ma. The volcano-sedimentary rocks intruded by these granites display Nd model ages from Ga to 1.67?Ga and ??Nd_(t) values from ?6.58 to +3.34 (for t?=?560?Ma) with isotope signature similar to those of the granites. The S- and I-type granitic magmatism is mostly a product of melting of an earlier crust (Mesoproterozoic to Paleoproterozoic) with different degree of juvenile contribution. The obtained isotope data and field relationship support the hypothesis that the lithological units of the SB were affected by the late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian tectonism, related to compressive deformational processes at the southern margin of the Kalahari Plate and probably correlated with the Sierra La Ventana Belt basement.