A quantitative study of the degradation of whale bone lipids: Implications for the preservation of fatty acids in marine sediments

The degradation and preservation affecting the biomarker record of ancient metazoa are not fully understood. We report on a five month experiment on the fate of fatty acids (FAs) during the degradation of recent whale vertebrae (Phocoena phocoena). Whale bones were analysed for extractable FAs and macromolecularly bound n-acyl compounds. Fresh bone showed extractable FAs dominated by 16:1ω7c, 16:0, 18:1ω9c and 18:0. Calculated degradation rate constant (k) values showed a rapid decrease in FA concentration, with k values higher for unsaturated than for saturated compounds (0.08/day for 18:1ω9c, 0.05/day for 16:0). The appearance or increased abundance of distinctive methyl branched (e.g. i/ai-15:0 and -17:0, 10Me-16:0) and hydroxy FAs (e.g. 10OH-16:0 and 10OH-18:0) were observed, providing clear evidence for the microbial degradation of bone organic matter and an input of lipids from specialised bacteria. Catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) of demineralised extraction residues released up to 0.13% of the total n-C₁₆ and n-C₁₈ moieties in the degraded bones. This revealed that only a small, yet sizeable, portion of bone-derived fatty acyl units was sequestered into (proto)kerogen during the earliest stages of degradation.     

Biologischer Abbau der Photolyseprodukte von FeIIIEDTA

Biodegradation of the Photolysis Products of Fe^IIIEDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) is not biodegraded by activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant. This work shows that after photolysis of Fe^IIIEDTA, easily degradable metabolites are formed. The OECD Test 302 B yielded a 53% bioelimination with a sunlight irradiation time of 6.5 hours followed by a 4-week incubation. After 20 hours of sunlight irradiation, EDTA is bioeliminated to 92%. One of the photolytic degradation products, ethylenediaminediacetate (EDDA), has been quantitatively eliminated within 14 days following a lag-phase of 2 weeks. The photolysis of the iron complexes of the phosphonates ATMP and DTPMP did not result in biologically degradable metabolites. With these results, the environmental impact of EDTA can be re-evaluated emphasizing the amount and fate of Fe^IIIEDTA in the environment. Fe^IIIEDTA was found to be present in effluents of wastewater treatment plants at fractions from 20 to 90% of the total EDTA. Fe^IIIEDTA has a half life of about 2 hours in sunlit waters. Complexes of EDTA with other metals do not exchange with iron and are photostable. Therefore, EDTA behaves like 2 different compounds: – Fe^IIIEDTA undergoes fast photolysis with biodegradation of the metabolites. – The other metal-EDTA complexes are persistent in the environment. Ecological arguments against the use of EDTA are therefore still valid for all EDTA-complexes except the one of Fe(III). However, Fe(III) complexes with the phosphonates ATMP and DTPMP do not exhibit such favorable properties over other metal-complexes, and so all arguments against the use of phosphonates are still valid.     

不同河岸植物带对非点源污染河水污染物降解试验研究

利用2种植物带（芦苇、香蒲与芦苇）对受非点源污染河水进行植物带处理污染物的降解效果模拟试验研究。结果表明：植物带处理污染物的降解效果明显优于无植物带,且以混合植物带效果最好。香蒲与芦苇植物带对COD、TN、TP和NH3-N去除率的周平均值分别为31．62％、37.84％、30．65％和34．31％。植物带能够截留地表径流中的颗粒物,提高水域中的溶解氧含量,对防止水土流失与改善流域水质均有显著作用。     

南极石油烃降解嗜冷菌的筛选及其降解特性的研究

从385株南极海洋细菌中筛选出2株石油烃降解菌,并对其降解特性进行了初步研究。以柴油为唯一碳源进行降解实验的结果表明,南极嗜冷菌NJ276和NJ341在5℃、20d内对柴油的降解率分别达到23．47％和32．15％,在15℃、20d内降解率分别达到43．95％和62．47％,其降解能力随着培养温度的升高而显著增强;石油烃降解残油组分的GC～MS分析表明,柴油经过NJ276降解后的残油组分中能检测到C15～C21七种烷烃,柴油经过NJ341降解后的残油组分只能检测到少量C16,C17和C18三种烷烃。对它们进行16S rDNA基因序列的同源性和系统发育分析表明,菌株NJ276属于假交替单胞菌属（Pseudoalteromonas）,NJ341属于科尔韦尔氏属（Colwellia）。     

Satellite based long-term assessment of rangeland condition in semi-arid areas: An example from Botswana

A methodology was devised for comparison of generalised range condition over time, irrespective of the nature of original imagery used. It was applied for range condition change mapping throughout Botswana through 1984-2000. Results showed that range degradation was most widespread during the 1980s drought when 25% of the country was affected, decreased to 6.5% in 1994 and increased to 9.8% in 2000. This suggests that these semi-arid rangelands are fairly resilient and can withstand “normal” droughts even under conditions of heavy grazing pressure. However, degradation that persists during normal or above average rainfall years is related to increasing livestock and other pressures on rangelands and may represent areas with severe range recovery problems. This application meets some requirements of a semi-arid developing country looking to improve range condition monitoring over relatively remote areas.     

Channel responses to varying sediment input: A flume experiment modeled after Redwood Creek, California

At the reach scale, a channel adjusts to sediment supply and flow through mutual interactions among channel form, bed particle size, and flow dynamics that govern river bed mobility. Sediment can impair the beneficial uses of a river, but the timescales for studying recovery following high sediment loading in the field setting make flume experiments appealing. We use a flume experiment, coupled with field measurements in a gravel-bed river, to explore sediment transport, storage, and mobility relations under various sediment supply conditions. Our flume experiment modeled adjustments of channel morphology, slope, and armoring in a gravel-bed channel. Under moderate sediment increases, channel bed elevation increased and sediment output increased, but channel planform remained similar to pre-feed conditions. During the following degradational cycle, most of the excess sediment was evacuated from the flume and the bed became armored. Under high sediment feed, channel bed elevation increased, the bed became smoother, mid-channel bars and bedload sheets formed, and water surface slope increased. Concurrently, output increased and became more poorly sorted. During the last degradational cycle, the channel became armored and channel incision ceased before all excess sediment was removed. Selective transport of finer material was evident throughout the aggradational cycles and became more pronounced during degradational cycles as the bed became armored. Our flume results of changes in bed elevation, sediment storage, channel morphology, and bed texture parallel those from field surveys of Redwood Creek, northern California, which has exhibited channel bed degradation for 30 years following a large aggradation event in the 1970s. The flume experiment suggested that channel recovery in terms of reestablishing a specific morphology may not occur, but the channel may return to a state of balancing sediment supply and transport capacity.     

Aeromonas veronii, a tributyltin (TBT)-degrading bacterium isolated from an estuarine environment, Ria de Aveiro in Portugal

Organotin compounds are used in a variety of industrial processes therefore their subsequent discharge into the environment is widespread. Bacteria play an important role in biogeochemical transformations acting as natural decontamination agents. Therefore, screening for tributyltin (TBT)-resistant and -degrading bacteria is relevant for the selection of isolates with decontamination ability of these polluted areas. With this purpose, 50 strains were isolated from sediment and water from Ria de Aveiro and their tolerance to TBT, up to 3mM, was evaluated. Generally, occurrence of highly TBT-resistant bacteria was observed, and Gram negative bacteria exhibited more tolerance to TBT than Gram positive bacteria. A memory response was observed when bacteria were progressively exposed to increasingly higher TBT concentrations. One isolate, Aeromonas veronii Av27, highly resistant to TBT (3mM) uses this compound as carbon source and degrades it to less toxic compounds.     

Index test for the degradation potential of carbonate sands during hydraulic transportation

Carbonate sands undergo degradation when transported hydraulically from a dredging vessel to the reclamation site. Risks involved in the production of fines during hydraulic transport are a deterioration of the mechanical properties of the fill in certain areas of the reclamation area where these fines concentrate. In order to assess sand degradation in the concrete and road construction industry, the Micro-Deval test for fine aggregates was developed in France and Canada. During Micro-Deval testing, aggregates degrade when tumbled in a rotating steel drum with water and steel balls. In the Canadian standard, the steel charge is lower than in the French standard and balls have the diameter of the smallest balls used in the French test. During testing, the quantity of fines produced is measured. This makes the Micro-Deval test an option for assessing the degradation of sand during hydraulic transportation of slurries in the dredging industry. Three sands are tested: two shelly carbonate sands and one quartzic river sand for comparison. The carbonate sands were sampled on reclaimed land and had been subjected to hydraulic transportation in pipeline before artificial deposition. Due to differences in particle shape, the carbonate sands and the quartz sand have a different number of contacts with the steel charge in the drum of the Micro-Deval and are not exposed to the same degradation forces during testing. It was found that the quartzic sand suffers relatively much degradation as compared to the carbonate sands, despite its greater hardness and resistance to crushability. The French test appears to create turbulence that promotes floatation of the curved shells of the carbonate sands instead of shell grinding at the bottom of the drum by contact with the steel balls. Microscopic observations of sand samples before and after testing showed that the French Micro-Deval test is too destructive. The test leads to the fragmentation by impact of the quartz sands and the destruction of certain particle types that had survived hydraulic transportation. With respect to the Canadian test, microscopic examination of sand grains before and after testing shows there is still much fragmentation of quartz grains. A lower rotational speed combined with a limited steel charge made of uniform balls of a smaller diameter, reduces turbulence, shell floatability and last but not the least, impact forces. It produces the desired result: a high Micro-Deval loss for the carbonate sands in comparison to that for the quartz sands and a very limited fragmentation of the quartz grains. Once the slurry reaches its destination, the grain size distribution of the fines fraction will influence the mechanical behaviour of mixed sands. A procedure is proposed to measure the particle size distribution of the fines fraction produced during Micro-Deval testing.Field validation is needed to validate preliminary laboratory results.     

Application of the <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs tracer technique to study soil erosion of alpine meadows in the headwater region of the Yellow River

The ¹³⁷Cs tracer technique was used to study soil erosion of alpine meadow grassland in two small river basins in the headwater region of the Yellow River. The results show that the levels of ¹³⁷Cs in soil samples from this alpine meadow vegetation zone exhibit an exponential distribution, generally within a depth of approximately 20 cm. Due to strong winds, freeze-thaw cycles and water, soil erosion was found to be stronger on the upper slope than on the lower slope, and except for the slope crest, the intensity of soil erosion at other sites was as follows: upslope < midslope < downslope. There was a significant negative correlation between the intensity of soil erosion and the extent of alpine meadow vegetation cover (P < 0.01). The mean soil erosion modulus exhibited a linear reduction trend with an increase in vegetation cover, and the correlation coefficient R ² was ≥ 0.997. The higher the degradation degree of the alpine meadow grassland, the greater is the soil erosion. The mean erosion modulus in the severely degraded meadow zone was 2.23 times greater than the one in the slightly degraded zone, and the maximum erosion modulus reached 2.96 × 10⁶ kg/km²/a.