Simultaneous Analysis of Natural Free Estrogens and Their Sulfate Conjugates in Wastewater

Natural estrogens from humans increasingly attract attention because of their strong endocrine disrupting potency. The discharge of sewage water is considered as the most important source of these endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the environment. Therefore, a GC‐MS method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of six natural free estrogens and their sulfate conjugates in municipal wastewater, in which natural free estrogens and sulfate conjugates were successfully separated from an Oasis HLB solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge with two different eluents, and the sulfate conjugates were then transformed to their corresponding free estrogens by acid solvolysis. Before the analysis with GC‐MS, samples were derivatized by N,O‐bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) plus 1% trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) at 80°C for 40 min. Satisfactory recoveries ranging from 64 to 112.3% were obtained by spiking ultra‐purified water, raw, and treated municipal wastewater with the six estrogens at 50, 100, and 50 ng/L, respectively. The method was successfully applied to wastewater samples from one WWTP, which suggested that E1 was the dominant natural estrogens in effluent and E3‐3S was one of the conjugates possibly occurring in the effluent.     

Response of a summertime anticyclonic eddy to wind forcing in Funka Bay,Hokkaido, Japan

Flow fluctuations inside an anticyclonic eddy in summertime Funka Bay were examined using three moorings and hydrographic data. The flow pattern above a sharp pycnocline with a concave isopycnal structure during the mooring period was characterized by high mean kinetic energy and relatively low eddy kinetic energy. The ratios of eddy to mean kinetic energy were equal to or less than one, and the mean flow field and isopycnal structure indicated the existence of a stable anticyclonic eddy above the sharp pycnocline under approximate geostrophic balance. Larger flow fluctuations with periods longer than 7 days were dominant inside the eddy. The low-frequency flow fluctuations are accompanied by north to northeastward movement of the eddy with deepening of the pycnocline and spin-up of the anticyclonic circulation. The wind field over Funka Bay is characterized by bay-scale wind fluctuations. The bay-scale winds are greatly influenced by the land topography around Funka Bay, resulting in non-uniform structure with significant wind stress curl. The bay-scale wind fluctuations are termed “locally modified wind” in the present study. The locally modified wind has a negative (positive) wind stress curl in the central–northeastern (southwestern) region of Funka Bay. The north to northeastward movement of the eddy is caused by horizontal non-uniform supply of vorticity from the locally modified wind forcing by the Ekman pumping process. Through this process, the anticyclonic circulation is enhanced (weakened) in the central–northeastern (southwestern) part of the eddy, resulting in the eddy moving north to northeastward with the pycnocline deepening and spin-up of the anticyclonic circulation. The locally modified wind forcing induces low-frequency flow fluctuations through the movement of the eddy in summertime Funka Bay.     

Weakening of the solar extreme-ultraviolet line emission by lyman continuum absorption as derived from line ratios

The intensity ratios of Niii, Oiii, Oiv, and Ov lines observed by the HCO experiment on Skylab are compared with the results of recent multilevel calculations. It is found that solar transition-region spectra require Lyman continuum absorption. The equivalent optical thickness of the absorbers causing the weakening is found to be 1.6–1.7 for a quiet area, 1.4–1.9 for a coronal hole, and 2.4–2.5 for active regions. These values are consistent with previous estimates from different methods.     

Mesoscale Reproducibility in Regional Ocean Modelling with a Three-Dimensional Stratification Estimate Based on Aviso-Argo Data

ABSTRACT

For dynamically consistent, high-resolution, yet cost-effective regional oceanic downscaling modelling, an empirical three-dimensional (3D) density estimate based on publicly available datasets is utilized for the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS) with simple data assimilation (i.e., TS nudging, where TS stands for temperature and salinity). We rely on a method built upon the two-layer model to reconstruct a mesoscale 3D temperature and salinity field, referred to as Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT)-TS, using near real-time altimeter-derived dynamic height along with Argo float profiling data. The TUMSAT-TS is first validated using in situ hydrographic data, then is implemented in the Japan Coastal Ocean Predictability Experiment (JCOPE2)-ROMS downscaling system for the Kuroshio region off Japan. We explore the usability of TUMSAT-TS by carrying out three comparative simulations with temperature and salinity nudging towards the (i) TUMSAT-TS and (ii) JCOPE2-TS fields, and (iii) without the nudging. Whereas the unassimilated case fails to properly account for the Kuroshio, both datasets individually are found to help reproduce the mesoscale variability of the Kuroshio, as well as its transient paths, volume transport, associated kinetic energy (KE) and eddy KE, and seasonally varying stratification.