Improvement in nitrification through the use of natural zeolite: influence of the biomass concentration and inoculum source

A batch nitrification process was studied using synthetic wastewater as substrate and Chilean natural zeolite as biomass carrier at ambient temperatures (20 °C). Three groups of experiments were carried out: a first experimental set (I) with and without added zeolite using initial biomass concentrations of 1,000 and 2,000 mg VSS/L; a second set of experiments (II) with added zeolite and at the same initial biomass concentrations. In these two experimental sets, biomass from an activated sludge process located in an urban wastewater treatment plant at La Farfana, Santiago de Chile, was used as inoculum (1). Finally, a third set of experiments (III) was carried out with zeolite at an initial biomass concentration of 1,000 mg VSS/L using an inoculum derived from an activated sludge process treating wastewater from a paper mill (inoculum 2). Nitrifying biomass concentration values in the range of 13,000–18,800 mg VSS/L were achieved when initial biomass concentrations varied between 1,000 and 2,000 mg VSS/L. Inoculum (1) generated higher biomass concentrations than inoculum (2). Ammonium N removals higher than 70 % were obtained in experimental sets II and III when zeolite was used. For both initial biomass concentrations tested, an exponential biomass growth was observed up to the second day of operation, and a slight decrease was evident afterwards, achieving stationary values after 10–12 days of operation. The third experimental set (III) revealed that the highest N consumption took place between days 11 and 16 of digestion.     

A depositional model for offshore deposits of the lower Blue Gate Member,Mancos Shale,Uinta Basin,Utah, USA

Depositional models that use heterogeneity in mud‐dominated successions to distinguish and diagnose environments within the offshore realm are still in their infancy, despite significant recent advances in understanding the complex and dynamic processes of mud deposition. Six cored intervals of the main body of the Mancos Shale, the lower Blue Gate Member, Uinta Basin, were examined sedimentologically, stratigraphically and geochemically in order to evaluate facies heterogeneity and depositional mechanisms. Unique sedimentological and geochemical features are used to identify three offshore environments of deposition: the prodelta, the mudbelt and the sediment‐starved shelf. Prodelta deposits consist of interlaminated siltstone and sandstone and exhibit variable and stressed trace fossil assemblages, and indicators of high sedimentation rates. The prodelta was dominated by river‐fed hyperpycnal flow. Mudbelt deposits consist of interlaminated siltstone and sandstone and are characterized by higher bioturbation indices and more diverse trace fossil assemblages. Ripples, scours, truncations and normally graded laminations are abundant in prodelta and mudbelt deposits indicating dynamic current conditions. Mudbelt sediment dispersal was achieved by both combined flow above storm wave base and current‐enhanced and wave‐enhanced sediment gravity flows below storm wave base. Sediment‐starved shelf deposits are dominantly siltstone to claystone with the highest calcite and organic content. Bioturbation is limited to absent. Sediment‐starved shelf deposits were the result of a combination of shelfal currents and hypopycnal settling of sediment. Despite representing the smallest volume, sediment‐starved shelf deposits are the most prospective for shale hydrocarbon resource development, due to elevated organic and carbonate content. Sediment‐starved shelf deposits are found in either retrogradational to aggradational parasequence sets or early distal aggradational to progradational parasequence sets, bounding the maximum flooding surface. An improved framework classification of offshore mudstone depositional processes based on diagnostic sedimentary criteria advances our predictive ability in complex and dynamic mud‐dominated environments and informs resource prospectivity.     

Assessment of the distribution of sponge chips in the sediment of East Pacific Ocean reefs

Sponges are one of the principal agents of bioerosion and sediment production in coral reefs. They generate small carbonate chips that can be found in the sediments, and we investigated whether these could provide a means for assessment of bioerosion applicable to reef monitoring. We tested this hypothesis on samples from 12 Mexican coral reefs distributed along the Pacific coast, where boring sponges were particularly abundant, and quantified the amount of chips in samples of superficial sediment in three grain‐size fractions: fine (<44 μm), medium (44–210 μm) and coarse (>210 μm). The grain‐size distribution varied among reefs, with the majority of the sediment of most reefs being composed of coarse sands, and the medium and fine fractions dominating only at La Entrega and Playa Blanca. All the reefs presented clear evidence of bioerosion by sponges, with the characteristic chips present in the sediment, although at most sites the percentage of chips was very low (from 1% to 3% of the total sediment). Only at La Entrega and Playa Blanca did they constitute a significant fraction of the total sediment (18% and 16%, respectively). While not statistically significant, there was an interesting trend between sponge chips versus sponge abundance that suggests that quantification of the chips in the sediment could be used as a proxy for sponge erosion of the entire community, which cannot be estimated in by laboratory experiments. However, while this methodology could provide an integrated approach to monitor sponge bioerosion, more studies are necessary due to the influence of environmental factors on the transport and deposition of these chips.     

Plankton carbon metabolism and air–water CO2 fluxes at a hypereutrophic tropical estuary

Multiple biotic and abiotic drivers regulate the balance between CO₂ assimilation and release in surface waters. In the present study, we compared in situ measurements of plankton carbon metabolism (primary production and respiration) to calculated air–water CO₂ fluxes (based on abiotic parameters) during 1 year (2008) in a hypereutrophic tropical estuary (Recife Harbor, NE Brazil – 08°03′S, 34°52′W) to test the hypothesis that high productivity leads to a net CO₂ flux from the atmosphere. The calculated CO₂ fluxes through the air–water interface (FCO₂) were negative throughout the year (FCO₂: –2 to –9 mmol C·m^?2·day^?1), indicating that Recife Harbor is an atmospheric CO₂ sink. Respiration rates of the plankton community ranged from 2 to 45 mmol C·m^?2·hr^?1. Gross primary production ranged from 0.2 to 281 mmol C·m^?2·hr^?1, exceeding respiration during most of the year (net autotrophy), except for the end of the wet season, when the water column was net heterotrophic. The present results highlight the importance of including eutrophic tropical shallow estuaries in global air–water CO₂ flux studies, in order to better understand their role as a sink of atmospheric CO₂.     

The effects of agricultural land use and cotton production on tributaries of the Darling River, Australia

Intensive agricultural development in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, has been achieved at a high cost to the natural environment. This paper assess the hydrological, water quality and ecological changes which have occurred as a result of agricultural land use and particularly, cotton production, in major tributaries of the upper Darling River, using the Namoi Valley, the cradle of the Australian cotton industry, as a case study. Three aspects of cotton production have had detrimental effects in these catchments — extensive vegetation clearing on floodplains and in the riparian zone, water abstraction from regulated and unregulated river flows and intensive chemical use for pest control. The paper outlines the new initiatives in progress to improve the condition of these rivers, including management of pesticide runoff from cotton farms, nutrient reductions in surface waters and restoration of natural patterns of river flow. Constraints on water use off-stream and restrained regional development appear to be inevitable if river health is to be improved.     

Chadian faunas and flora from dyserth: Depositional environments and palaeogeographic setting of Viséan strata in northeast wales

New floral and faunal data from the oldest Dinantian limestones (Foel Formation) in the Dyserth area, suggest that these sediments are of Chadian age, rather than the Asbian age concluded by earlier workers. The basal late Chadian limestones rest conformably on Dinantian Basement Beds of ?Chadian age or older. The initial inundation of St. George's Land occurred during Chadian times, when shallow-water marine limestones accumulated in the Dyserth area and further to the south, together with terrestrially derived siliciclastics, containing drifted plant fragments. Periodically, a restricted hypersaline lagoonal environment was established but an open marine, neritic environment with abundant stenohaline fauna prevailed in this area. These Chadian sediments accumulated on the proximal part of a carbonate ramp and are presumed to have passed laterally downslope into deeper water basinal facies with Waulsortian buildups of the Irish Sea Basin. In the later Arundian, a carbonate ramp–to–platform transition occurred, with widespread deposition of shallow-water carbonates. In the Asbian this platform developed a rimmed margin, with buildups forming a linear belt between platform and basin. An almost complete Chadian to Brigantian Lower Carboniferous sequence can now be recognized in North Wales. This succession is comparable with the shelf succession in south Cumbria on the northern margin of the Irish Sea Basin.