Bacterial and eukaryotic intact polar lipids in the eastern subtropical South Pacific: Water-column distribution, planktonic sources, and fatty acid composition

Fatty acids are generally the most abundant lipid molecules in plankton, and thus play a central role in the cycling of organic matter in the upper ocean. These fatty acids are primarily derived from intact polar diacylglycerolipids (IP-DAGs), which compose cell membranes in plankton. The molecular diversity of IP-DAGs in the upper ocean remains to be fully characterized, and the advent of high performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS) approaches have now provided the opportunity to readily analyze IP-DAGs from marine planktonic communities. We used HPLC/ESI-MS to determine the concentrations of three classes of phospholipids (phosphatidlyglycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylcholine (PC)), three classes of betaine lipids (diacylglyceryl trimethylhomoserine (DGTS), diacylglyceryl hydroxymethyl-trimethyl-β-alanine (DGTA), and diacylglyceryl carboxyhydroxymethylcholine (DGCC)), and three classes of glycolipids (monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG)) in plankton filtered (>0.2 μm) from seawater collected within the euphotic zone of the eastern South Pacific. The distributions of these IP-DAGs along the cruise transect provided important new insights on their tentative planktonic sources. Complementary data from our cruise, a principle components analysis of our IP-DAG concentrations, observed fatty acid compositions of IP-DAG classes and published IP-DAG distributions in pure cultures of plankton suggest that heterotrophic bacteria were the dominant sources of PG and PE, while MGDG and SQDG originated primarily from Prochlorophytes. The origins of the other classes of IP-DAGs were less clear, although it is likely that PC, DGTS, DGTA, and DGCC were derived primarily from eukaryotic phytoplankton. The molecular distributions of fatty acids attached to the different classes of IP-DAGs were generally distinct from one another, and suggest that reported distributions of total fatty acids (as analyzed by gas chromatography) in the literature should be regarded as homogenized mixtures of distinct molecular pools of fatty acids.     

天然石棉矿床地质学及其在公共卫生政策中的应用(英文)

20世纪,越来越多的证据使人们意识到,吸入含石棉的灰尘会使从事与石棉有关的几种职业(如石棉采矿、造船和石棉产品组装)的工人患上几种严重的呼吸道疾病(石棉沉着病,肺癌和mesotheliuma)。为此已经制定了若干规定,以控制工人们在特殊的制造、采矿和其他工作地点与石棉尘埃的接触。比较间接的是控制和管理"天然产生的石棉"(NOA),这一问题近年来也引起了管理机构、健康机构和居民团体的注意。NOA包括在自然状态下原地找到的被描述为石棉的矿物,例如在基岩或土壤中的这种矿物。NOA之所以引起关注,是因为如果含石棉的岩石受到自然侵蚀或人类活动(例如修路、城市开挖、农业、采矿、压碎和碾磨)的影响,就有可能暴露并变成空中尘埃的微小纤维。天然石棉矿床的规模差异很大,从薄的四散的细脉一直到大的矿体。它们的地理分布与地质条件直接有关。石棉产出的地质背景是含镁丰富的主岩,这些岩石受到低压低温的变质作用蚀变而成。已知的容矿主岩包括变质的和已被交代的超基性岩(尤其是蛇纹岩)、一些基性火成岩、变质白云岩和变质的铁建造。石棉形状的角闪石在几种热液蚀变型的碱性火成侵入体中也能作为副矿物存在。石棉形成于可预见和可鉴别的地质环境。这种认识是一种信息,而这种信息使公众健康机构可以执行有情报根据的屏蔽和管理规划。第一步是在区域的或国家规模的尺度上确定和描述已知的(报道过的)石棉矿床。第二步是对容纳已知石棉矿的单位进行填图,以划定可能的其他石棉矿化的范围。这种地质研究使有关机构对遇到石棉的可能性做出规划,而尽量节省在不太可能遇到石棉矿的地区的管理费用。对石棉地质条件的认识可以事先应用于岩石和土壤的挖掘项目,而不管挖掘的规模有多大。这种对石棉管理的科学探索能有助于缓解对挖掘所发现的自然石棉矿床的连续不断地做出反应。因此,通过对很可能含有石棉矿床的地区做填图,规划者可开发出一些控制尘埃的程序,这些程序适用于工人和附近居民最容易暴露于空气携带的石棉的地区。     

Progress in the asteroseismic analysis of the pulsating sdB star PG 1605+072

The hot pulsating sdB star PG 1605+072 exhibits uncommon spectroscopic and pulsation properties, and is one of the biggest challenge in the field of sdB star modeling. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain its unusually rich pulsation spectrum. The first is the natural explanation of a fast-rotating pulsator, which lifts the (2l+1)-fold degeneracy of the frequency components. Another approach, where PG 1605+072 can be seen as a slow rotator, considers that the numerous low amplitude frequency components are second- and third-order harmonics and nonlinear combinations of the highest amplitude frequencies. We investigated the two hypotheses in the light of asteroseismology, using our latest tools—including pulsation codes that incorporate star rotation and new generation complete sdB models. The results of both approaches are presented, showing interesting results and raising new questions for our understanding of this mysterious sdB star.     

Discriminant analysis for estimation of groundwater age from hydrochemistry and well construction: application to New Zealand aquifers

Concentrations of tritium, chlorofluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride have been measured at over 100 groundwater monitoring sites across New Zealand, followed by interpretation of groundwater age distribution using the exponential-piston flow model. Interpreted mean residence times ranged from less than 1 year to more than 100 years, with the 25th, 50th (median) and 75th percentiles being approximately 10, 40 and 100 years, respectively. Classification functions derived from discriminant analysis and based on nine input variables (well depth, electrical conductivity and the concentrations of the ions Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO₃, Cl and SO₄) allowed assignment of 71% of the sites to the correct of four age categories (mean residence time 10 years or less, 11–40 years, 41–100 years, or more than 100 years). The discriminant analysis classification functions were more effective than regression methods for estimating groundwater age from hydrochemistry and well depth, and can thus be used to predict the groundwater age category for any monitoring site in New Zealand.     

HYTEC results of the MoMas reactive transport benchmark

A specific benchmark has been developed by the French research group MoMas in order to improve numerical solution methods applied by reactive transport models, i.e., codes that couple hydrodynamic flow and mass transport in porous media with geochemical reactions. The HYTEC model has been applied to this benchmark exercise, and this paper summarizes some of the principal results. HYTEC is a general-purpose code, applied by industrials and research groups to a wide variety of domains, including soil pollution, nuclear waste storage, cement degradation, water purification systems, storage of CO₂, and valorization of stabilized wastes. The code has been applied to the benchmark test-cases without any specific modification. Apart from the benchmark imposed output, additional information is provided to highlight the behavior of HYTEC specifically and the simulation results in particular.     

From Tethys to Eastern Paratethys: Oligocene depositional environments, paleoecology and paleobiogeography of the Thrace Basin (NW Turkey)

The Oligocene depositional history of the Thrace Basin documents a unique paleogeographic position at a junction between the Western Tethys and the Eastern Paratethys. As part of the Tethys, shallow marine carbonate platforms prevailed during the Eocene. Subsequently, a three-staged process of isolation started with the Oligocene. During the Early Rupelian, the Thrace Basin was still part of the Western Tethys, indicated by typical Western Tethyan marine assemblages. The isolation from the Tethys during the Early Oligocene is reflected by oolite formation and endemic Eastern Paratethyan faunas of the Solenovian stage. The third phase reflects an increasing continentalisation of the Thrace Basin with widespread coastal swamps during the Late Solenovian. The mollusc assemblages are predominated by mangrove dwelling taxa and the mangrove plant Avicennia is recorded in the pollen spectra. The final continentalisation is indicated by the replacement of the coastal swamps by pure freshwater swamps and fluvial plains during the Late Oligocene (mammal zone MP 26). This paleogeographic affiliation of the Thrace Basin with the Eastern Paratethys after ~32 Ma contrasts all currently used reconstructions which treat the basin as embayment of the Eastern Mediterranean basin.     

Changes in Phytoplankton Biomass in the Western Scheldt Estuary During the Period 1978–2006

We investigated whether climate change results in long-term changes in phytoplankton biomass and phenology in a turbid eutrophic coastal plain estuary. Changes in annual mean chlorophyll a (chla) concentrations were studied for the period 1978–2006 in the eutrophic and turbid macro-tidal Western Scheldt estuary. Three stations were investigated: WS1, at the mouth of the estuary; station WS6, halfway up the estuary; and station WS11, near the Dutch–Belgian border near the upstream end of the estuary. No significant long-term changes in yearly averaged chla concentrations were observed in WS1 and WS6, but in WS11 the phytoplankton biomass decreased considerably. This is most likely due to an increase in grazing pressure as a result of an improvement in the dissolved oxygen concentrations. Spectral analyses revealed a possible periodicity of 7 years in the mean chla which was related to periodicity in river discharge. We also observed strong phenological responses in the timing of the spring/summer bloom which were related to a well-documented increase in the temperature in the estuary. The fulcrum, the center of gravity or the day at which 50% of the cumulative chla was reached during the year, advanced by 1–2 days/year. A similar trend was observed for the month in which the maximum bloom was observed, with the exception of station WS1. All stations showed an earlier initiation of the bloom, whereas the day at which the phytoplankton bloom was terminated also moved forward in time excepted for WS11. As a result, the bloom length decreased at station WS1, remained the same at station WS6, and increased at WS11. This complicated pattern in bloom phenology demonstrates the complex nature of ecosystem functioning in estuaries.     

Remotely sensed soil moisture integration in an ecosystem carbon flux model. The spatial implication

While remote sensing is able to provide spatially explicit datasets at regional to global scales, extensive application to date has been found only in the reporting and verification of ecosystem carbon fluxes under the Kyoto Protocol. One of the problems is that new remote sensing datasets can be used only with models or data assimilation schemes adapted to include a data input interface dedicated to the type and format of these remote sensing datasets. In this study, soil water index data (SWI), derived from the ERS scatterometer (10-daily time period with a spatial resolution of 50 km), are integrated into the ecosystem carbon balance model C-Fix to assess 10-daily Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP) patterns of Europe from the remote sensing perspective on an approximate 1-by-1 km² pixel scale using NDVI-AVHRR data. The modeling performance of NEP obtained with and without the assimilation of remotely sensed soil moisture data in the carbon flux model C-Fix is evaluated with EUROFLUX data. Results show a general decrease of the RRMSE of up to 11 with an average of 3.46. C-Fix is applied at the European scale to demonstrate the potential of this ecosystem carbon flux model, based on remote sensing inputs. More specifically, the strong impact of soil moisture on the European carbon balance in the context of the Kyoto Protocol (anthropogenic carbon emissions) is indicated at the country level. Results suggest that several European countries shift from being a carbon sink (i.e., NEP > 1) to being a carbon source (i.e., NEP < 0) whether or not short-term water availability (i.e., soil moisture) is considered in C-Fix NEP estimations.     

“A sky of brass and burning winds”: documentary evidence of rainfall variability in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Southern Africa, 1824–1900

Forecasting austral summer rainfall in southern Africa is hampered by a lack of long-term instrumental data. This paper extends the historical record for the subcontinent by presenting the first extensive 19th century climate history for Lesotho derived from documentary evidence. The data sources included unpublished English-, French- and Sesotho-language materials archived in Lesotho, South Africa and the UK. These included letters, journals and reports written by missionaries and colonial authorities, which were supplemented by newspapers, diaries, travelogues and other historical sources. Each source was read in chronological order, with any climate information recorded verbatim. Observations were classified into five categories (Very Wet, Relatively Wet, ‘Normal’, Relatively Dry, and Very Dry) based upon the predominant documented climate during each ‘rain-year’ (July to June). The latter portion of the chronology was then compared for accuracy against available instrumental precipitation records from Maseru (1886–1900). The results yield a semi-continuous record of climate information from 1824 to 1900. Data are restricted to lowland areas, but reveal drought episodes in 1833–34, 1841–42, 1845–47, 1848–51, 1858–63, 1865–69, 1876–80, 1882–85 and 1895–99 (the most severe drought years being 1850–51 and 1862–63) and wet periods or floods in 1835–36, 1838–41, 1847–48, 1854–56, 1863–65, 1873–75, 1880–81, 1885–86 and 1890–94. The rainfall chronology is compared with similar records for South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Linkages to possible forcing mechanisms, including ENSO teleconnections and historical coral-derived southwest Indian Ocean sea surface temperature variations are also explored.