Field accumulative behavior of organochlorine pesticides. The role of crabs and sediment characteristics in coastal environments

The influence of intertidal crab beds on the concentrations of organochlorine (OC) pesticides in sediment was studied in two different coastal environments in Argentina. Samples of male burrowing crabs (Chasmagnathus granulatus) were collected for this study. Our field data showed lower bioaccumulation of OC pesticides in crabs from sediments with a higher total organic carbon (TOC) and higher clay content. Thus, concentrations in crabs depend on the physico-chemical characteristics of the sediment where they live more than on the OC pesticide concentrations in the environment. The distribution patterns in sediment from inside and outside crab burrows were similar for both coastal areas being HCHs  γ-chlordane > p,p′-DDE for San Antonio Bay (SAO), and HCHs > p,p′-DDE  γ-chlordane for Mar Chiquita (MCh) coastal lagoon. OC pesticide concentrations in sediment were significantly lower inside than outside crab burrows, irrespective of the sediment physico-chemical characteristics due to the bioturbation activity of C. granulatus.     

The influence of shrimp farms organic waste management on chemical water quality

We evaluated the physical–chemical properties and nutrient concentrations in two shrimp ponds under conventional management, intensive (I-P) and semi-intensive (SI-P), and one under organic management (O-P), three days after loading and before stoking. The mean’s total alkalinity concentrations were 2.26 ± 0.04 mM, 2.28 ± 0.01 mM and 2.59 ± 0.01 mM, respectively for I-P, SI-P and O-P. Bicarbonate and carbonate accounted for 62% and 37% in I-P, 64% and 36% in SI-P and 83–17% in O-P, respectively. Aragonite and calcite were oversaturated around Ω = 5. Mean total phosphate (TP) concentrations were 441.37 ± 92.06 μg/L, 449 ± 48 μg/L and 473.64 ± 84.17 μg/L, under I-P SI-P and O-P management respectively. Following this sequence, NO₃⁻ concentration was 2.98 ± 0.7 μg/L, 1.16 ± 0.16 μg/L and 0.32 ± 0.12 μg/L, under I-P, SI-P and O-P management respectively. Thus, the data suggest that different management of farm organic waste leads to different chemical water quality.     

Linear stability analysis of the explicit treatment of mobilities in non-Newtonian and non-Darcy porous media flow simulation

A von Neumann stability analysis of the discretized conservation equation for single-phase porous media flows is performed, where non-Newtonian and non-Darcy effects are accounted for using a velocity (or mass flux)-dependent mobility factor. Comprehensive results in three dimensions for two low-order finite-volume discretizations typically encountered in reservoir simulation are provided, based on edge-centered and upstream cell-centered mobility calculations. It is found that common semi-implicit schemes, where the pressure gradient driving the flow is taken implicitly while the velocity-dependent mobility is evaluated explicitly, are subject to restrictions on the logarithmic derivative of mobility with respect to velocity. A remarkable new result is nevertheless obtained: for any physically acceptable strength of non-Newtonian and non-Darcy effects, there exists a stable and explicit method to evaluate the mobility, rendering the need to implement costly fully implicit schemes more difficult to justify.     

A comparison of iron limitation of phytoplankton in natural oceanic waters and laboratory media conditioned with EDTA

The solubility of iron in oxic waters is so low that iron can be a limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth in the open ocean. In order to mimic low iron concentrations in algal cultures, Ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) is commonly used. The presence of EDTA enables culture experiments to be performed at a low free metal concentration, while the total metal concentrations are high. Using EDTA provides for a more reproducible medium. In this study Fe speciation, as defined by EDTA in culture media, is compared with complexation by natural organic complexes in ocean water where Fe is thought to be limited. To grow oceanic species into iron limitation, a concentration of at least 10⁻⁴ M EDTA is necessary. Only then does the calculated [Fe³⁺] concentrations resemble those found in natural sea water, where the speciation is governed by natural dissolved organic ligands at nanomolar concentrations. Moreover, EDTA influences the redox speciation of iron, and thus frustrates research on the preferred source of Fe-uptake, Fe(III) or Fe(II), by algae. Nowadays, one can measure the extent of natural organic complexation in sea water, as well as the dissolved Fe(II) state, and can use ultra clean techniques in order to prevent contamination. Therefore, it is advisable to work with more natural conditions and not use EDTA to create iron limitation. This is especially important when the biological availability of the different chemical fractions of iron are the subject of research. Typically, many oceanic algae in the smallest size classes can still grow at very low ambient Fe and are not easily cultivated into limitation under ambient sea water conditions. However, the important class of large oceanic algae responsible for the major blooms and the large scale cycling of carbon, silicon and other elements, commonly has a high Fe requirement and can be grown into Fe limitation in ambient seawater.     

Slope instability induced by volcano-tectonics as an additional source of hazard in active volcanic areas: the case of Ischia island (Italy)

Ischia is an active volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples whose history has been dominated by a caldera-forming eruption (ca. 55 ka) and resurgence phenomena that have affected the caldera floor and generated a net uplift of about 900 m since 33 ka. The results of new geomorphological, stratigraphical and textural investigations of the products of gravitational movements triggered by volcano-tectonic events have been combined with the information arising from a reinterpretation of historical chronicles on natural phenomena such as earthquakes, ground deformation, gravitational movements and volcanic eruptions. The combined interpretation of all these data shows that gravitational movements, coeval to volcanic activity and uplift events related to the long-lasting resurgence, have affected the highly fractured marginal portions of the most uplifted Mt. Epomeo blocks. Such movements, mostly occurring since 3 ka, include debris avalanches; large debris flows (lahars); smaller mass movements (rock falls, slumps, debris and rock slides, and small debris flows); and deep-seated gravitational slope deformation. The occurrence of submarine deposits linked with subaerial deposits of the most voluminous mass movements clearly shows that the debris avalanches impacted on the sea. The obtained results corroborate the hypothesis that the behaviour of the Ischia volcano is based on an intimate interplay among magmatism, resurgence dynamics, fault generation, seismicity, slope oversteepening and instability, and eruptions. They also highlight that volcano-tectonically triggered mass movements are a potentially hazardous phenomena that have to be taken into account in any attempt to assess volcanic and related hazards at Ischia. Furthermore, the largest mass movements could also flow into the sea, generating tsunami waves that could impact on the island’s coast as well as on the neighbouring and densely inhabited coast of the Neapolitan area.     

The role and conditions of second-stage mantle melting in the generation of low-Ti tholeiites and boninites: the case of the Manihiki Plateau and the Troodos ophiolite

High-Mg, low-Ti volcanic rocks from the Manihiki Plateau in the Western Pacific share many geochemical characteristics with subduction-related boninites such as high-Ca boninites from the Troodos ophiolite on Cyprus, which are believed to originate by hydrous re-melting of previously depleted mantle. In this paper we compare the Manihiki rocks and Troodos boninites using a new dataset on the major and trace element composition of whole rocks and glasses from these locations, and new high-precision, electron microprobe analyses of olivine and Cr-spinel in these rocks. Our results show that both low-Ti Manihiki rocks and Troodos boninites could originate by re-melting of a previously depleted lherzolite mantle source (20–25% of total melting with 8–10% melting during the first stage), as indicated by strong depletion of magmas in more to less incompatible elements (Sm/Yb < 0.8, Zr/Y < 2, Ti/V < 12) and high-Cr-spinel compositions (Cr# > 0.5). In comparison with Troodos boninites, the low-Ti Manihiki magmas had distinctively lower H₂O contents (< 0.2 vs. > 2 wt% in boninites), ~ 100 °C higher liquidus temperatures at a given olivine Fo-number, lower fO₂ (ΔQFM < + 0.2 vs. ΔQFM > + 0.2) and originated from deeper and hotter mantle (1.4–1.7 GPa, ~ 1440 °C vs. 0.8–1.0 GPa, ~ 1300 °C for Troodos boninites). The data provide new evidence that re-melting of residual upper mantle is not only restricted to subduction zones, where it occurs under hydrous conditions, but can also take place due to interaction of previously depleted upper mantle with mantle plumes from the deep and hotter Earth interior.     

Abrupt millennial variability and interdecadal-interstadial oscillations in a global coupled model: sensitivity to the background climate state

The origin and bifurcation structure of abrupt millennial-scale climate transitions under steady external solar forcing and in the absence of atmospheric synoptic variability is studied by means of a global coupled model of intermediate complexity. We show that the origin of Dansgaard-Oeschger type oscillations in the model is caused by the weaker northward oceanic heat transport in the Atlantic basin. This is in agreement with previous studies realized with much simpler models, based on highly idealized geometries and simplified physics. The existence of abrupt millennial-scale climate transitions during glacial times can therefore be interpreted as a consequence of the weakening of the negative temperature-advection feedback. This is confirmed through a series of numerical experiments designed to explore the sensitivity of the bifurcation structure of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation to increased atmospheric CO₂ levels under glacial boundary conditions. Contrasting with the cold, stadial, phases of millennial oscillations, we also show the emergence of strong interdecadal variability in the North Atlantic sector during warm interstadials. The instability driving these interdecadal-interstadial oscillations is shown to be identical to that found in ocean-only models forced by fixed surface buoyancy fluxes, that is, a large-scale baroclinic instability developing in the vicinity of the western boundary current in the North Atlantic. Comparisons with modern observations further suggest a physical mechanism similar to that driving the 30–40?years time scale associated with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation.     

The 1974 etna eruption: Multispectral analysis of skylab images reveals the vegetation canopy as a likely transducer of pre-eruptive volcanic emissions

On the Skylab images taken over Mt. Etna in September, 1973, an area with a reduced near-infrared reflectivity was observed in the zone where five months later the lateral eruption of February 1974 took place. This fact suggested to the authors the working hypothesis that the vegetation was influenced by latent volcanic phenomena. Moreover the intensification of linear features across the same area led to the development of a new point of view in which the vegetation is perceived as a volcanologic transducer. Ground investigations and thermal-infrared and multispectral surveys performed in July 1974 neither confirmed nor contradicted the first part of the assumption because subsequent paroxysmal phenomena modified the area investigated. The multispectral analysis on the other hand gave a greater emphasis to the correlation between the linear features and the distribution of plants. A more detailed study of this relationship is suggested.     

Characterizing random wave surface elevation data

The definition and subsequent use of dimensional and dimensionless parameters to characterize various nonlinear aspects of ocean surface waves has again become a matter of great interest to the offshore community. The desire to ascertain whether laboratory simulations are adequately representing the surface waves found in the oceans and the concern over the mechanisms behind platform response phenomena, like ringing, has driven this resurgence of interest. This paper presents a depth independent characterization of single design waves, from which improved estimates of localized wave crest front and back slopes follow that are consistent with discrete time series analysis. Characterization of the nature of the entire wave data recorded requires a combination of spectral parameters and probabilistic models in addition to those used in the design wave characterization. A new expression for the direct evaluation of the kurtosis from knowledge of the spectral bandwidth, the relationship between some of the common spectral parameters, and some modified spectral parameters are presented and discussed. Three illustrative examples are presented. The first example provides a detailed examination of wave data measured from a series of random amplitude and random phase tests in a large model basin. The second presents estimates of the various parameters for the Pierson-Moskowitz and Wallops wave spectrum models. The third example investigates the use of the spectral peakedness ratio for comparing data with selected wave spectrum models. The examples illustrate how the formulae can provide a comprehensive local and global parametric characterization of surface wave elevation data.     

应用第四纪研究的新进展

世界人口的不断增长及技术的发展对自然环境的改变越来越严重。人类需要越来越多的地球资源,对地球表面自然过程的影响也不断加大。与其他主要自然过程一样,人类已成为一种重要的地质营力。矿产、能源及水资源的开发,建筑施工及人类活动引起的侵蚀大约每人每年20t,这一数字可以与世界河流输沙以及板块活动引起的海底破坏和扩张相比。