渤海表层沉积物中的生物硅

采用0.1 mol/L HCl和1%Na2CO3两步连续提取法,对103个渤海表层沉积物样品的生物硅含量进行了分析,结果表明,渤海表层沉积物中生物硅含量范围为7.3~54.7 g/kg,均值31.5 g/kg,高于其他相关调查,原因可能是由于采用0.1 mol/L HCl提取过程中,破坏了生物硅表面的金属氧化膜。对沉积物生物硅含量的空间分布表征显示,莱州湾是沉积物生物硅的低值区、而渤海湾与辽东湾之间的河北沿岸海域是相对高值区,初步认为是陆源营养物质的输入与黄河泥沙长期不断输入干扰沉积环境的稳定性,造成了该海域表层沉积物生物硅分布差异。主成分分析显示,生物硅含量与沉积物黏粒含量、细粉砂、有机氮、有机碳的含量均呈极显著正相关(P0.01),进一步证实沉积物粒度特征和营养环境对生物硅积累的影响。     

淡水珍珠中文石球粒的发现与成珠机制探讨

长期以来,珍珠的成因理论很少涉及在超显微镜结构研究基础上的具体的珍珠形成机制。珍珠与贝壳珍珠层具有较多的相似性,但也存在很多不同。本文在对AFM下首次观察到的淡水珍珠表面纳米级的六方最紧密堆积文石球粒的研究基础上,结合XRD分析对珍珠内部矿物成分差异的研究,试图在贝壳珍珠层成因理论的基础上探讨淡水珍珠的成珠机制。本文将珍珠的形成过程初步归纳为碳酸钙凝胶的形成,碳酸钙球粒的形成,矿物相的转变和后继生长四个阶段。     

Contamination of marine biogenic habitats and effects upon associated epifauna

Habitat-forming organisms are frequently used as biomonitors in marine environments due to a widespread ability to accumulate toxic contaminants. Few studies, however, have considered the consequences of these accumulated contaminants on the abundant and diverse fauna associated with these habitats. In this review, we summarize research which has investigated the contamination of biogenic habitats (including seagrasses, macroalgae, ascidians, sponges and bivalve reefs) and the impact of this contamination on the habitat use, feeding behaviour and survival of associated epifauna. In many cases, ecological impacts upon epifauna are not simply predicted by levels of contamination in their habitat, but are determined by the foraging, feeding and reproductive behaviours of the inhabiting organisms. Thus, a thorough understanding of these ecological processes is essential in order to understand the effects of contaminants upon epifaunal communities. The scope of biomonitoring studies which assess the contamination of biogenic habitats should be expanded to include an assessment of potential effects upon associated epifauna. When combined with manipulative field experiments such an approach would greatly assist in our understanding of indirect effects of contaminants in these important benthic habitats.     

An Overview Of The Origin Of Life: The Case For Biological Prospecting On Mars

Studies of the Earth's earliest biosphere have suggested a close coupling between the evolution of early life forms and the physical and chemical evolution of the planetary surface. From a biological perspective there were many similarities between early Earth and early Mars. This has led to the idea that an origin of life event may have occurred on Mars, leading to the development of microbial life. Various theories have been advanced to explain the origin of life on Earth, and these are reviewed with relevance to Mars. If traces of past or present biogenic activity are to be found on Mars, then the most likely place to prospect is several kilometers below the surface where liquid water might be stable. Such prospecting may best lend itself to human exploration. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

云南兰坪富锶文石的发现及其研究

对发现于云南兰坪多金属矿床中的富锶文石进行了粉晶X光衍射、电子探针、显微硬度、折射率等测试，并通过电子探针成分和晶胞参数的变化分析，探讨了其晶胞参数变化的原因。在此基础上，对兰坪富锶文石的颜色成因进行了讨论，并对其作为宝玉石资源的利用优势及可能性进行了展望。     

微量生物碳酸盐ICP-OES 元素分析中的仪器优化

为优化电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪(ICP-OES)测试微量生物碳酸盐中元素含量的工作条件, 在Thermo-Fisher 公司生产的iCAP 6300 Radial 型ICP-OES 上, 对1 050 组仪器条件、32 种不同组成的标准溶液、36 个谱线对和两种仪器校正工作曲线进行了测试; 借助开源科学计算软件Scilab 数据插值和可视化技术对测试数据进行了比较分析。结果表明, 该仪器测试微量生物碳酸盐中Mg/Ca 和Sr/Ca 比值的最佳条件为: 雾化器, 0.1 mL/min 同心雾化器; 冷却气流量, 缺省设置12 L/min; 辅助气流量, 0.5L/min; 雾化气压力, 0.24 MPa; 蠕动泵速, 16 r/min; RF 功率, 1 000 W; 观察高度, 15 mm; 谱线, Ca373.690 nm, Mg 279.553 nm {121}, Sr 407.771 nm; 仪器校准工作曲线为强度-浓度工作曲线。     

The use of sedimentary algal pigments to infer historic algal communities in Lake Apopka,Florida

The primary producer community of Lake Apopka, a large (125 km²), shallow (mean depth, 1.7 m), polymictic Florida lake, shifted from macrophyte dominance to phytoplankton dominance in the 1940s. Today, frequent wind resuspension of highly organic, unconsolidated sediments supports a meroplanktonic community that is predominantly diatoms, but during calm periods the algal community is dominated by planktonic cyanobacteria. Sedimentary algal pigments (chlorophyll derivatives and carotenoids) and chemical proxies for nutrient enrichment (polyphosphate, total phosphorus and biogenic silica) in three sediment cores were used to investigate historic changes in primary producers. Sediments were separated into three stratigraphic zones using multivariate statistical techniques. Stratigraphic zonation was established in each core although sediment deposition at one site was insufficient to adequately resolve temporal changes. These results show the importance of selecting suitable sites for paleolimnological studies. The oldest zone represents macrophyte-derived sediments, and the two overlying zones represent phytoplankton-derived sediments deposited since the 1940s. Algal pigments in the most recent sediment zone show little degradation, which might be due to the presence of viable meroplankton in the sediment. After the initial primary producer shift from macrophytes to phytoplankton, the lake experienced a short period of cyanobacterial dominance followed by a period of benthic diatom abundance before being replaced by the present algal community consisting of cyanobacteria and meroplanktonic diatoms. Chlorophyll derivatives and carotenoids were highly correlated with total phosphorus. Historic trends inferred from the data include algal and cyanobacterial productivity that increased with increased phosphorus loading. The study demonstrates that valid paleolimnological proxies for historic eutrophication are available in loosely consolidated sediments of shallow, subtropical lakes.     

Understanding the export of biogenic particles in oceanic waters: Is there consensus?

We examine progress towards a global view of oceanic export of particulate organic carbon (POC) and other nutrient elements (P, N, Si) from the surface (upper 100 m), through the subsurface, to the deep sea (>1000 m), focusing on syntheses published since 1999 and on the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study. Food-web structure is important, and surface and subsurface processes contribute similarly to determine the fraction of net primary production (NPP) reaching the deep sea. NPP by large cells generally favours high surface export of POC. Preferential remineralization of P and N (versus C) with depth is common, as is regional variation in subsurface POC flux attenuation.The role of mineral fluxes is complex. Annual mean fluxes of POC and minerals are correlated in global deep sediment trap records, but causality and the relative importance of different minerals depends on the assumptions made. Time-series observations at single sites can oppose the geographic trends, and their large seasonal variability in the contribution of POC to total flux is at odds with mechanistic models for POC transport by minerals. Despite generally positive correlations between biogenic carbonate and POC fluxes, the overall role of carbonate export is to decrease the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean. Both autotrophs and heterotrophs produce minerals, and progress in separating these contributions is required for the deconvolution of mineral ballast and food-web effects.Many recent models suggest global surface POC export of ∼10 GTC/yr, despite widely varying biological complexity. This limits the usefulness of their prediction of ecosystem and carbon cycle responses to global change. Progress requires better observations for model validation, and more efforts to relate the models to the observed complexity, rather than to overly simplified global syntheses. We advocate more time-series stations targeting under-studied biogeochemical regions, development of automated in situ tools for study of the subsurface ocean, and increased emphasis on combining ecological and biogeochemical methods.     

Distribution of n-alkanes in lacustrine sediments from subtropical lake in Brazil

The geochemical composition of lake bed sediments of a tropical reservoir in Brazil have been investigated. The C, N, P composition showed almost no variation between the different sampling points. All samples contained inorganic phosphorus (IP) ranging from 52 to 70%. The Redfield ratios show that the lake is without significant anthropogenic inputs. Most of the organic matter is composed by higher plants decomposition revealed in the total organic carbon (TOC):nitrogen (N) ratio ranging from 15.4 to 57.2. Also, TOC:organic phosphorus (OP) ranged from 265.3 to 933.6, suggesting that most of the organic matter has terrestrial origin from wood plants. The ratios suggest that most organic matter is influenced by the terrestrial characteristics of the watershed. Furthermore, the relative abundance of n-alkane homologues in the sediments was investigated. All samples have been analyzed for the n-alkanes C₈ to C₄₀. The sediments were dominated by n-alkanes C₂₅–C₃₈. It is concluded that n-alkane in sediments mainly come from terrestrial plants, however there is a contribution of submerged aquatic plants, especially in those sites in deeper areas of the lake. On the basis of P_aq index the n-alkanes in sediments comes from terrestrial plants, however there is a contribution from emerged/floating plants.The investigated lake seems to be considered as meso to eutrophic. Because of the relatively high primary productivity in the lakes, there is a substantial organic-matter flux to the sediments, which rapidly becomes anoxic. According to the pristine/phytane ratio the sediments represent an anoxic environment with values found between 0.38 and 1.72.     

Ecological variations in diatom assemblages in the Paleo-Kathmandu Lake linked with global and Indian monsoon climate changes for the last 600,000 years

Variations in fossil diatom assemblages and their relationship with global and Indian monsoon climate changes for the last 600,000 yr were investigated using a core of ancient lake (Paleo-Kathmandu Lake) sediments drilled at the Kathmandu Basin, Nepal Himalaya. Chronological scales of the core were constructed by tuning pollen wet and dry index records to the SPECMAP δ¹⁸O stack record. Examinations of biogenic silica contents and fossil diatom assemblages revealed that variations in productivity and compositions of diatom assemblages were closely linked with global and Indian monsoon climate changes on glacial and interglacial time scales. When summer monsoonal rainfall increased during interglacials (interstadials), diatom productivity increased because of increased inputs of terrestrial nutrients into the lake. When summer monsoonal rainfall reduced and/or winter monsoonal aridification enhanced during glacials (stadials), productivity of the diatoms decreased and lake-level falling brought about changes in compositions of diatom assemblages. Monospecific assemblages by unique Cyclotella kathmanduensis and Puncticulata versiformis appeared during about 590 to 390 ka. This might be attributed to evolutionary fine-tuning of diatom assemblages to specific lake environmental conditions. Additionally, low-amplitude precessional variations in monsoon climate and less lake-level changes may have also allowed both species to dominate over the long periods.