Groundwater resources and quality in northeastern Jordan: safe yield and sustainability

Over-abstraction of groundwater is one concern of the Badia Research and Development Programme. The upper aquifer of the Azraq basin forms the largest resource of good-quality water, but current abstraction exceeds both average recharge and the safe yield of the aquifer, which is over-exploited. Although there has been no deterioration in water quality and only minor drawdown, the springs at Azraq have dried up, with severe, undesirable environmental impacts. Total abstraction of 20 × 10⁶ m³ yr⁻¹ appears to be sustainable and would allow some springflow, but this leaves a shortfall of 40 × 10⁶ m³ yr⁻¹ for domestic supply and agriculture.     

Predicting site-specific storm wave run-up

Natural Hazards - Storm wave run-up causes beach erosion, wave overtopping, and street flooding. Extreme runup estimates may be improved, relative to predictions from general empirical formulae...     

Spatial variations of DMS, DMSP and phytoplankton in the Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon 2001

Data on the distribution of dimethylsulphide (DMS) and dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) in relation to phytoplankton abundance in different oceanic environments is important to understand the biogeochemistry of DMS, which plays an important role in the radiation balance of the earth. During the summer monsoon of 2001 measurements were made for DMS and DMSPt (total DMSP) together with related biological parameters in the Bay of Bengal. Both DMS and DMSPt were restricted to the upper 40 m of the water column. Diatoms accounted for more than 95% of the phytoplankton and were the major contributors to the DMS and DMSPt pool. The mean concentration of DMS in the upper 40 m was observed to be around 1.8+/-1.9 nM in the study area, while DMSPt concentrations varied between 0.7 nM and 40.2 nM with a mean of 10.4+/-8.2 nM. The observed lower DMSPt in the northern Bay in spite of higher mean primary productivity, chlorophyll a and phytoplankton cell counts seemed to result from grazing. Though salinity divides the Bay into different biogeochemical provinces there is no relation between salinity and DMS or DMSPt. On the other hand DMS was linearly related to chlorophyll a:phaeopigments ratio. The results suggest the need for deeper insight into the role of diatoms in the biogeochemical cycling of DMS.     

瓜德鲁普统(Guadalupian)-乐平统(Lopingian)全球界线层型剖面和点(GSSP)

乐平统底界全球界线层型(GSSP)已经被确定在中国广西来宾县的蓬莱滩剖面,这一界线以牙形类化石Clarkina postbitteri postbitteri Mei&Wardlaw的首次出现为标志,位于蓬莱滩剖面的茅口组顶部来宾灰岩的6k层之底,层型剖面点位于C.postbitter hongshuiensis至C.dukouensis的演化谱系内,大致与阿布萨罗卡巨层序(Absaroka Megasequenses)的中部与上部之间的界线相当。层型剖面点位所在的来宾灰岩代表了一套界于茅口组和合山组之间的低水位沉积,在这一界线附近,类、腕足类、珊瑚类和菊石类等动物群均发生了重大更替;同时,δ13C值和87Sr/86Sr同位素比值也有一个明显的降低。从瓜德鲁普世晚期的磁性正常极性带向吴家坪早期反向极性带的转变也发生在这一界线附近,因此,这一界线可以很好地用于进行全球海陆相地层的对比。     

Effects of irradiance on benthic and water column processes in a Gulf of Mexico estuary: Pensacola Bay, Florida, USA

We examined the effect of light on water column and benthic fluxes in the Pensacola Bay estuary, a river-dominated system in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Measurements were made during the summers of 2003 and 2004 on 16 dates distributed along depth and salinity gradients. Dissolved oxygen fluxes were measured on replicate sediment and water column samples exposed to a gradient of photosynthetically active radiation. Sediment inorganic nutrient (NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, PO₄³⁻) fluxes were measured. The response of dissolved oxygen fluxes to variation in light was fit to a photosynthesis–irradiance model and the parameter estimates were used to calculate daily integrated production in the water column and the benthos. The results suggest that shoal environments supported substantial benthic productivity, averaging 13.6 ± 4.7 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, whereas channel environments supported low benthic productivity, averaging 0.5 ± 0.3 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹ (±SE). Estimates of baywide microphytobenthic productivity ranged from 8.1 to 16.5 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, comprising about 16–32% of total system productivity. Benthic and water column dark respiration averaged 15.2 ± 3.2 and 33.6 ± 3.7 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively Inorganic nutrient fluxes were generally low compared to relevant estuarine literature values, and responded minimally to light exposure. Across all stations, nutrient fluxes from sediments to the water column averaged 1.11 ± 0.98 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for NH₄⁺, 0.58 ± 1.08 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for NO₃⁻, 0.01 ± 0.09 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for PO₄³⁻. The results of this study illustrate how light reaching the sediments is an important modulator of benthic nutrient and oxygen dynamics in shallow estuarine systems.     

The age of the Lugar sill and a discussion of the Late-Carboniferous/Early-Permian sill complex of S.W. Scotland

The incremental heating ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method has been used to date a kaersutite separate from the main theralite-picrite unit of the Lugar sill. Ar-release spectra show discordance mainly due to the presence of excess Ar in alteration phases intimately associated with the primary kaersutite. Plateaus in the spectra allow an emplacement age of 288 ± 6 Ma (2γ) to be assigned to the sill. The results are used to discuss the age relations of the alkaline Permo-Carboniferous sill complex of southwest Scotland. It is concluded that these sills could have been emplaced over a shorter period of time than implied by the available conventional K/Ar data. The classification of the alkaline sills into kylite and teschenite types has little petrogenetic significance.