Estrogenic activity in sediments contaminated by nonylphenol in Tokyo Bay (Japan) evaluated by vitellogenin induction in male mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Estrogenic activity was determined in sediments collected from Tokyo Bay. Sampling was performed at five stations including the site near the sewage treatment plant. The most estrogenic sediment collected near the sewage treatment plant was fractionated into ten fractions using normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Chemical analysis was carried out for each fraction and nonylphenol (NP, 20,700 ng g⁻¹ dry wt) was detected at a higher concentration than estron (2.39 ng g⁻¹ dry wt) and 17β-estradiol (<0.7 ng g⁻¹ dry wt). Furthermore, each fraction was administered to male mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus), and vitellogenin (Vtg) was measured after two weeks. The induction of Vtg was observed; this estrogenic potency could be attributed to the NP content in this fraction. This is the first report to suggest that the high NP concentration in the sediments from Tokyo Bay has the potential to induce Vtg in wild fish.     

Time-series sediment trap record of alkenones from the western Sea of Okhotsk

C₃₇–C₃₉ alkenones were measured in time-series sediment trap samples collected from August 1998 to June 2000 at two depths in the seasonal sea ice region of the western Sea of Okhotsk, off Sakhalin, in order to investigate alkenone production and water-column processes in the region. Measurable export fluxes of alkenones are ranged from < 0.1 to 5.8 μg/m²/day and clearly showed that the alkenone production was restricted to autumn. In 1998, maximum export flux of alkenones occurred in September when surface water column was well stratified with low nutrients in the surface mixing layer. In the next year, the maximum flux is observed in October. Comparison between alkenone temperature and satellite based sea surface temperature (SST) shows that the estimated alkenone temperatures in August 1998 were found to be  10 °C lower than the temporal satellite SST, suggesting that alkenones are produced in surface to subsurface thermocline layers during the period. Annual mean flux of alkenones is lower in the lower traps than that of the upper traps, suggesting rapid degradation of alkenones in water column, but the U^K₃₇′ value is not significantly altered. This study indicates that U^K₃₇′ values preserved in the surface sediments off Sakhalin reflect the seasonal temperature signal of near surface water, rather than annual mean surface temperature.     

The role of organic matter in the sorption capacity of marine sediments

Past studies have suggested that desiccation enhances hydrophobicity of salt marsh sediment, and that drying and rewetting sediment can be used to investigate sorption mechanisms of amino acids and other organic compounds [Liu, Z., Lee, C., 2006. Drying effects on sorption capacity of coastal sediment: The importance of architecture and polarity of organic matter. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 3313–3324]. Here we further develop this technique to study sorption of hydrophobic and hydrophilic organic compounds in a wide range of marine sediments. Our results show that hydrophilic compounds sorb strongly to wet coastal sediments; in dried sediments, sorption of hydrophilic compounds decreases, while sorption of hydrophobic compounds is greatly enhanced. Small compounds with aromatic rings sorb more in dried than wet coastal sediments, suggesting that aromatic groups have a stronger effect on sorption than polar groups like amino and carboxyl moieties. Sorption of lysine, glutamic acid and putrescine decreases greatly when sediment is pretreated with KCl, indicating the importance of cation ion exchange. However, α-amino acids sorb much more than corresponding β- or γ-amino acids, and l-alanine sorbs more than d-alanine, suggesting that amino group location and chiral selectivity play an important role in sorption. Comparison of lysine and tyrosine sorption in different sediments indicates that source and diagenetic state of organic matter are important factors determining sorption capacity. Lysine sorbs much more to organic detritus from salt marsh sediment than to fresh Spartina root materials, marine particles, lignin or humic acids, indicating the importance of structural integrity in sorption. Desorption hysteresis of glutamic acid, putrescine and lysine (in dried sediment) suggests the presence of enzyme-type sorption sites of high sorption energy or multiple binding mechanisms. Taken together, these findings suggest that organic matter plays the major role in amino acid sorption in organic-rich sediments.     

The influence of relative sediment supply on riverine habitat heterogeneity

The diversity of aquatic habitats in streams is linked to physical processes that act at various spatial and temporal scales. Two components of many that contribute to creating habitat heterogeneity in streams are the interaction between sediment supply and transport capacity and the presence of local in-stream structures, such as large woody debris and boulders. Data from previously published flume and field studies and a new field study on tributaries to the South Yuba River in Nevada County, California, USA, were used to evaluate the relationship between habitat heterogeneity, local in-stream structural features and relative sediment supply. Habitat heterogeneity was quantified using spatial heterogeneity measures from the field of landscape ecology. Relative sediment supply, as expressed by the sediment supply/transport capacity ratio, which controls channel morphology and substrate textures, two key physical habitat characteristics, was quantified using a dimensionless bedload transport ratio, q. Calculated q values were plotted against an ecologically meaningful heterogeneity index, Shannon's Diversity Index, measured for each study reach, as well as the percent area of in-stream structural elements. The results indicate two potential mechanisms for how relative sediment supply may drive geomorphic diversity in natural river systems at the reach scale. When less mobile structural elements form a small proportion of the reach landscape, the supply/capacity ratio dictates the range of sediment textures and geomorphic features observed within the reach. In these settings, channels with a moderate relative sediment supply exhibit the highest textural and geomorphic diversity. In contrast, when less mobile structural elements are abundant, forced local scour and deposition creates high habitat heterogeneity, even in the presence of high relative sediment supply.     

Field accumulative behavior of organochlorine pesticides. The role of crabs and sediment characteristics in coastal environments

The influence of intertidal crab beds on the concentrations of organochlorine (OC) pesticides in sediment was studied in two different coastal environments in Argentina. Samples of male burrowing crabs (Chasmagnathus granulatus) were collected for this study. Our field data showed lower bioaccumulation of OC pesticides in crabs from sediments with a higher total organic carbon (TOC) and higher clay content. Thus, concentrations in crabs depend on the physico-chemical characteristics of the sediment where they live more than on the OC pesticide concentrations in the environment. The distribution patterns in sediment from inside and outside crab burrows were similar for both coastal areas being HCHs  γ-chlordane > p,p′-DDE for San Antonio Bay (SAO), and HCHs > p,p′-DDE  γ-chlordane for Mar Chiquita (MCh) coastal lagoon. OC pesticide concentrations in sediment were significantly lower inside than outside crab burrows, irrespective of the sediment physico-chemical characteristics due to the bioturbation activity of C. granulatus.     

A model of sand transport in Treporti channel: northern Venice lagoon

The origin of the sands in the Venice lagoon has been the subject of an extensive field survey in parallel with numerical modelling. Four transects along Treporti and Burano canals were conducted from which 33 bottom sediment samples were collected. These samples were analysed for grain size and sorting to examine any trends in the granulometry of these sediments that might shed light on transport paths. The modelling study consists of three parts: the sediment transport model sedtrans96 was used with a finite-element hydrodynamic model (Shyfem) and an empirical wave model (US Army Corps of Engineering) to simulate sand transport in the Treporti canal. A type of link box model was created where finite elements of the hydrodynamic model have been combined to macro-boxes on which the water and sediment flux over the sections, and a mass balance has been computed. Several grain size classes were simulated; the distributions before and after the simulation were examined. Idealised wind and tidal values were initially used to force 12 h simulations to test the sediment transport sensitivity. Finally, a full-year simulation (1987) has been carried out using measured tidal and wind data. Only a part of Venice lagoon was covered by the simulation: a major channel (Treporti) running from Lido inlet towards the northern lagoon. The total sand transport through all of the sections was computed for 1 year. Sediment mass balance was determined, and the resulting trends of erosion and deposition were computed. There were no trends in the median grain diameter and sorting of bottom samples from the Treporti canal; all sands were fine (120 μm, one outlier of 300 μm was removed). The absence of a trend in grain size suggests that there is no significant import of sand to the lagoon through the Lido inlet. The results from the simulations seem therefore to confirm the hypothesis of reworking of sand within the lagoon. The computed erosion is some centimeters per year diagnostic of channel scouring and enlargement with time. The Treporti canal is subject to strong current velocities of around 1 m/s, which hold fine sand in suspension and thus prevent sedimentation.     

张家界地区中晚寒武世岩相古地理特征

张家界地区中晚寒武世岩相带3分格局明显，自NW向SE依次为台地相、台缘斜坡相和陆棚相。3相区之间分别以花坦－张家界、古丈－张家界深大断裂为界。台地相欧孔王溪组属邻近盆缘陡坡地带类似于深水陆棚沉积，重力沉积发育；娄山关组北西小区记录了由台地边缘浅滩→局限台地潮坪→台地边缘浅滩的变迁过程；而东南小区则属台地边缘与斜坡的过渡地带。台缘斜坡相区敖溪组反映了缓慢的海退过程，沉积环境由陆棚向陆棚内缘带变迁；车夫组属台地前缘斜坡带，重力沉积转化为蚀流沉积；比条组为背景沉积综合产物，反映了台地前缘斜坡上带环境，陆棚相区探溪组旋回性明显。反映了陆棚内缘沉积特点；田家坪属台缘斜坡下带－陆棚内缘环境，沉积了一套多具鲍玛层序的远源风暴岩。各自有其岩石类型组合特征及沉积构造特征，并讨论了岩相古地一的演化规律。     

In-stream wetlands and their significance for channel filling and the catchment sediment budget, Jugiong Creek, New South Wales

Evidence is presented here of recent and extensive infilling of the incised channel network of the Jugiong Creek catchment, SE Australia. The present channel network resulted from widespread stream and gully incision in the period between 1880 and 1920. Our survey shows that gully floors have been colonised extensively by emergent macrophyte vegetation since before 1944, forming continuous, dense, in-stream wetlands, which now cover 25% of the channel network in the 2175 km² catchment and have so far trapped almost 2,000,000 t of nutrient-enriched, fine sediments. This mass of sediments represents the equivalent of 4.7 years of annual sediment production across the catchment and in some tributaries, more than 20 years of annual yield is stored within in-stream wetlands.Previous work on the late Quaternary stratigraphy of the region has shown that there were repeated phases of channel incision in the past following which the channels quickly stabilised by natural means and then filled with fine-grained sediment to the point of channel extinction, creating unchannelled swampy valley floors. The current formation and spread of in-stream wetlands is interpreted to be the onset of the next infill phase but it is not known whether present conditions will allow complete channel filling and reformation of the pre-existing swampy valley floors. Nevertheless, further spread of in-stream wetlands is likely to increase the sediment trapping capacity and further reduce the discharge of sediments and nutrients into the Murrumbidgee River. The in-stream wetlands may provide a significant capacity to buffer erosion from gullied catchments of considerable size (up to 300 km²) as an adjunct to current riparian management options. They may also assist the recovery of sediment-impacted channels downstream.     

The response of coastal marshes to sea-level rise: Survival or submergence?

In order to maintain an elevation in the intertidal zone at which marsh vegetation can survive, vertical accretion of the marsh surface must take place at a rate at least equal to the rate of relative sea-level rise. Net vertical accretion of coastal marshes is a result of interactions between tidal imports, vegetation and depositional processes. All of these factors are affected, directly or indirectly, by alterations in marsh hydrology which might occur as a result of sea-level rise. The overall response of coastal marshes to relative sea-level rise depends upon the relative importance of the inorganic and organic components of the marsh soil and the impact of increased hydroperiod on net accumulation. The varied combination of factors contributing to sediment supply, and their complexity at the scale of individual marshes, means that predicting the response of suspended sediment concentration in marsh floodwater to any changes which may occur as a result of sea-level rise, at anything other than the local scale is unlikely to be accurate. The impact of sea-level rise on net below-ground production is also complex. The sensitivity of certain species to waterlogging and soil chemical changes could result in a change in species composition or the migration of vegetation zones. Consequently, predicting the net impact of sea-level rise on organic matter accumulation is fraught with difficulties and requires improved understanding of interactions between vegetation, soil and hydrologic processes.     

Speciation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in aquatic sediments

A simple sequential extraction technique is presented for the examination of PAH speciation in aquatic sediments. This method is discussed with special emphasis on the sorption of PAH to humic substances and coal-like particles. Sorption experiments were carried out with sediments after treatment with H₂O₂ or after lipid removal by organic solvent extraction. The results show that lipids exert only a minor influence on PAH sorption. Furthermore, deviations from simple partition behaviour are discussed.