Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,a new cost-effective tool for quantitative analysis of biogeochemical properties in long sediment records

Measurements of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) in the mid-infrared (MIR) region were conducted on sedimentary records from Lake El’gygytgyn, NE Siberia, and Lake Ohrid, Albania/Macedonia. Calibration models relating FTIR spectral information to biogeochemical property concentrations were established using partial least squares regression (PLSR). They showed good statistical performance for total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and biogenic silica (opal) in the sediment record from Lake El’gygytgyn, and for TOC, total inorganic carbon (TIC), TN, and opal in sediments from Lake Ohrid. In both cases, the calibration models were successfully applied for down-core analysis. The results, in combination with the small amount of sample material needed, negligible sample pre-treatments, and low costs of analysis, demonstrate that FTIRS is a promising, cost-effective tool that allows high-resolution paleolimnological studies.     

Preliminary results of a field study on some stress-related parameters in Tapes philippinarum naturally infected by the protozoan Perkinsus sp.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the possible use of the clam Tapes philippinarum—a filter-feeding bivalve living on soft bottoms—in the monitoring of sediment pollution in the Lagoon of Venice (North-East Italy). To this end, two clam populations, exposed to different environmental conditions (a relative clean site and an industrial polluted area), have been monitored for the prevalence of the protozoan parasite Perkinsus sp. as well as for several biological parameters commonly used as determinants of contaminants exposure. First results showed a low prevalence, higher in the clean site, but a very diffuse distribution of the parasite throughout the two populations. Nevertheless, greater digestive cells height and longer lysosomal latency time were observed in clams from the clean area. As for the physiological stress-related parameters, even if clearance rates were always higher in these clams, scope for growth values indicated a more complicated biological response.     

Evaluation of Impact of Potential Extreme Rainfall Events on Mining in Peru

Natural Resources Research - The impact that climate change may play in the future sustainability of mining projects has become increasingly important for the mining industry and its stakeholders....     

Petrographic and seismic evidence for the depositional setting of giant turbidite reservoirs and the paleogeographic evolution of Campos Basin,offshore Brazil

The paleogeographic evolution of Campos Basin, a major oil province of Brazil, during the deposition of its giant turbidite reservoirs, was reinterpreted based on the integration of quantitative sandstone petrography and structural analysis of regional 3D seismic data. The major detrital compositional trends indicate that the geodynamic evolution of the continental margin, rather than global eustatic sea-level fluctuations, has exerted the main control on sand supply to the deepwater systems. This control was imposed by the interaction of three geodynamic processes: (i) escarpment retreat of the coastal mountain ridges, (ii) mantle plume-related dynamic uplift and magmatic activity, and (iii) tectonic reactivation of major basement fault-zones. The pattern of distribution of compositional and textural parameters within the turbidite sequences indicated that the sand supply to deepwater was also constrained by high-frequency stratigraphic processes of the climate Milankovitch band. This new approach to the controls on the formation of the sand-rich, deepwater systems in Campos Basin has a key importance for the generation of realistic models for the exploration of new turbidite reservoirs and for the optimized development of producing turbidite oilfields in such a world-class hydrocarbon province. The proposed integrated methodology can help to unravel the controls on the deposition of deepwater sand-rich, deepwater reservoirs in other divergent margin settings.     

Bioaccumulation and biomarker responses of trace metals and micro-organic pollutants in mussels and fish from the Lagoon of Venice, Italy

The aims of this study were to evaluate levels and effects of trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn), PAHs and PCBs in mussels and fish native to the Lagoon of Venice. To this end, bioaccumulation and various biomarkers of generic stress and exposure (malondialdehyde, MDA and metallothioneins, MT; ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity, EROD; fluorescent bile metabolites and somatic indices in fish; lysosomal membrane stability, LMS; lipofuscins, LF; neutral lipids, NL and survival-in-air, SOS in mussels) were measured in organisms seasonally collected from two differently influenced areas. In mussels, metal bioaccumulation levels at the two sites were low and fluctuated similarly, exhibiting decreasing levels in summer, like MDA and MT. Micro-organic pollutants and the probably related biological response of LMS did not show either significant site differences or seasonal trends. LF and NL revealed inconclusive patterns. The results of the survival-in-air test were quite erratic, showing that they were associated with the high variability of both natural and physiological parameters temperature, food, reproduction, and body reserve cycle. In fish, both inorganic and organic micropollutant levels were low, and differences were detected between sites only for PCBs. The pattern exhibited by micro-organic contaminants was clearly related to the reproductive cycle at both sites; a relationship with PCBs, EROD and MDA was established at the site where their levels were generally higher. Bile metabolites (3-OH benzo(a)pyrene, 1-OH pyrene) were associated with PAH contents.     

Phytoplankton community structure defined by key environmental variables in Tagus estuary, Portugal

In this work, we analyze environmental (physical and chemical) and biological (phytoplankton) data obtained along Tagus estuary during three surveys, carried out in productive period (May/June/July) at ebb tide. The main objective of this study was to identify the key environmental factors affecting phytoplankton structure in the estuary. BIOENV analysis revealed that, in study period, temperature, salinity, silicate and total phosphorus were the variables that best explained the phytoplankton spatial pattern in the estuary (Spearman correlation, rho=0.803). A generalized linear model (GLM) also identified salinity, silicate and phosphate as having a high explanatory power (63%) of phytoplankton abundance. These selected nutrients appear to be consistent with the requirements of the dominant phytoplankton group, Baccilariophyceae. Apparently, phytoplankton community is adapted to fluctuations in light intensity, as suspended particulate matter did not come out as a key factor in shaping phytoplankton structure along Tagus estuary.     

The influence of Holocene tree-line advance and retreat on an arctic lake ecosystem: a multi-proxy study from Kharinei Lake,North Eastern European Russia

A consequence of predicted climate warming will be tree-line advance over large areas of the Russian tundra. Palaeolimnological techniques can be used to provide analogues of how such changes in tree-line advance and subsequent retreat affected lake ecosystems in the past. A Holocene sediment core taken from Kharinei Lake (Russia) was dated radiometrically and used for multi-proxy analyses with the aim of determining how climate and tree-line dynamics affected the productivity, community structure, carbon cycling and light regime in the lake. Pollen and macrofossil analyses were used to determine the dates of the arrival and retreat of birch and spruce forest. C:N ratios and percent loss-on-ignition were used to infer past changes in sediment organic matter. Visible-near-infrared spectroscopy and diatom analysis were used to infer past changes in lake-water carbon. Algal pigments and aquatic macrophytes were used to determine changes in lake productivity and light. Chironomids together with remains of the aquatic flora and fauna were used to provide information on past July temperature and continentality. Lake sedimentation was initiated shortly before 11,000 cal. years BP, when both chironomid- and pollen-inferred temperature reconstructions suggest higher summer temperatures than present, between 1 and 2°C warmer, and lake productivity was relatively high. A few trees were already present at this time. The spruce forest expanded at 8,000 cal. year BP remaining in the vicinity of the lake until 3,500 cal. year BP. This period coincided with a high concentration of organic material in the water column, and relatively high benthic productivity, as indicated by a high benthic: planktonic diatom ratio. After tree-line retreat, the optical transparency of the lake increased, and it became more open and exposed, and was thus subject to greater water-column mixing resulting in a higher abundance of diatom phytoplankton, especially heavily silicified Aulocoseira species. The colder climate resulted in a shorter ice-free period, the lake was less productive and there was a loss of aquatic macrophytes. Increased wind-induced mixing following forest retreat had a greater influence on the lake ecosystem than the effects of decreasing organic matter concentration and increased light penetration.     

Prevention of well clogging during aquifer storage of turbid tile drainage water rich in dissolved organic carbon and nutrients

Well clogging was studied at an aquifer storage transfer and recovery (ASTR) site used to secure freshwater supply for a flower bulb farm. Tile drainage water (TDW) was collected from a 10-ha parcel, stored in a sandy brackish coastal aquifer via well injection in wet periods, and reused during dry periods. This ASTR application has been susceptible to clogging, as the TDW composition largely exceeded most clogging mitigation guidelines. TDW pretreatment by sand filtration did not cause substantial clogging at a smaller ASR site (2 ha) at the same farm. In the current (10 ha) system, sand filtration was substituted by 40-μm disc filters to lower costs (by 10,000–30,000 Euro) and reduce space (by 50–100 m²). This measure treated TDW insufficiently and injection wells rapidly clogged. Chemical, biological, and physical clogging occurred, as observed from elemental, organic carbon, 16S rRNA, and grain-size distribution analyses of the clogging material. Physical clogging by particles was the main cause, based on the strong relation between injected turbidity load and normalized well injectivity. Periodical backflushing of injection wells improved operation, although the disc filters clogged when the turbidity increased (up to 165 NTU) during a severe rainfall event (44 mm in 3 days). Automated periodical backflushing, together with regulating the maximum turbidity (<20 NTU) of the TDW, protected ASTR operation, but reduced the injected TDW volume by ~20–25%. The studied clogging-prevention measures collectively are only viable as an alternative for sand filtration when the injected volume remains sufficient to secure the farmer’s needs for irrigation.

     

Temperature Effects on Photosynthesis and Depth Distribution of the Seagrass Cymodocea nodosa (ucria) Ascherson in a Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon: the Mar Menor (SE Spain)

Abstract. Seasonal variation of temperature effects on photosynthesis and respiration of Cymodorea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson was investigated in a 1 m depth meadow in the Mar Menor lagoon (SE Spain). Light-saturated net photosynthesis (P_max)and dark respiration (R) rates were linearly correlated with water temperature between 10 and 30°C. and 10 and 35°C, respectively, during the year. Water temperature had a similar effect on R rates in August, November, and February, but increased P_max rates in August vs. those in February, thus promoting a shift of the maximum P_max/R ratio values from 15°C in February to 30°C in August. P-I curves had higher P_max values in May and August than in November or February, while Ic values remained relatively constant throughout the year. Whole-plant carbon balances suggested that C. nodosa might not be able to survive in the central basin of the lagoon and that the spatial distribution of this seagrass in the Mar Menor might be controlled by light availability.