Hydrothermal Vent Geology and Biology at Earth’s Fastest Spreading Rates

Earth’s fastest present seafloor spreading occurs along the East Pacific Rise near 31°–32° S. Two of the major hydrothermal plume areas discovered during a 1998 multidisciplinary geophysical/hydrothermal investigation of these mid-ocean ridge axes were explored during a 1999 Alvin expedition. Both occur in recently eruptive areas where shallow collapse structures mark the neovolcanic axis. The 31° S vent area occurs in a broad linear zone of collapses and fractures coalescing into an axial summit trough. The 32° S vent area has been volcanically repaved by a more recent eruption, with non-linear collapses that have not yet coalesced. Both sites occur in highly inflated areas, near local inflation peaks, which is the best segment-scale predictor of hydrothermal activity at these superfast spreading rates (150 mm/yr).     

Seasonal variations in the speciation of dissolved iodine in the Chesapeake Bay

The speciation of dissolved iodine and the distributions of the iodine species in the deep Chesapeake Bay underwent seasonal variations in response to changes in the prevailing redox condition. In the deep water, the ratios of iodate to iodide and iodate to inorganic iodine decreased progressively from the Winter through the Summer as the deep water became more poorly oxygenated before they rebounded in the Fall when the deep water became re-oxygenated again. The composition of the surface water followed the same trend. However, in this case, the higher biological activities in the Spring and the Summer could also have enhanced the biologically mediated reduction of iodate to iodide by phytoplankton and contributed to the lower ratios found during those seasons. Superimposed on this redox cycle was a cycle of input and removal of dissolved iodine probably as a result of the interactions between the water column and the underlying sediments. Iodine was added to the Bay during the Summer when the deep water was more reducing and removed from the Bay in the Fall when the deep water became re-oxygenated. A third cycle was the inter-conversion between inorganic iodine and ‘dissolved organic iodine’, or ‘‘DOI’’. The conversion of inorganic iodine to ‘DOI’ was more prevalent in the Spring. As a result of these biogeochemical reactions in the Bay, during exchanges between the Bay and the North Atlantic, iodate-rich and ‘DOI’-poor water was imported into the Bay while iodide- and ‘DOI’-rich water was exported to the Atlantic. The export of iodide from these geochemically reactive systems along the land margins contributes to the enrichment of iodide in the surface open oceans.     

Atlas of Japan (East) Sea hydrographic properties in summer, 1999

Hydrographic properties from CTD and discrete bottle sample profiles covering the Japan (East) Sea in summer, 1999, are presented in vertical sections, maps at standard depths, maps on isopycnal surfaces, and as property–property distributions. This data set covers most of the Sea with the exception of the western boundary region and northern Tatar Strait, and includes nutrients, pH, alkalinity, and chlorofluorocarbons, as well as the usual temperature, salinity, and oxygen observations.     

碳水化合物的组合合成

碳水化合物的组合合成是一项新兴技术，该技术可以在短时间内合成大量用于进行生物活性筛选的寡糖及拟糖物。液相与固相合成技术可以极大地加快药物研究与开发进程。作者针对该技术在碳水化合物合成方面的研究进展情况进行讨论。     

南海中部海区次表层NO2^——N的最大值

本文根据1983年9月至1985年1月南海中部海区综合调查所获得的NO_2~--N及有关参数的观测资料,分析了该海区NO_2~--N的分布变化特征及其与环境因子的关系。结果表明,调查海区NO_2~--N含量的变化范围在0～0.54μmol/L之间,其中小于0.05μmol/L的测定值约占测定总数的82.1%,而大于0.05μmol/L测定值基本上出现在50～150m层。文中还对该海区次表层NO_2~--N最大值形成的机理作了初步探讨,指出密度跃层的终年存在、铵的氧化和浮游植物的代谢过程是调查海区次表层NO_2~--N最大值形成的主要因素。     

闽江口段溶解态镉,铅和铜的收支平衡

利用潮输沙量的计算方法,估算了闽江口入海口内3个断面所包围区域溶解态镉、铅和铜的收支平衡,从而研究了这些重金属的河口行为。     

地下矿产开采对天然气管道工程的安全影响评价

西气东输天然气管道工程途经兖州市,穿越杨庄、杨村、兴隆庄等煤矿矿区,压覆煤层埋深变化较大。该文采用预测法对各煤矿在不同开采条件下分煤层对管道运营安全的危害程度进行了评价分析。通过计算表明,煤矿开采埋深越浅,煤层越厚,对管道危害越严重。兴隆庄煤矿3煤层、杨村煤矿煤16t、煤17开采对管道影响强烈,杨庄煤矿煤16t、煤17开采对管道影响中等,兴隆庄煤矿煤16t、煤17开采对管道运营影响小。     

Fluid–Sediment Interaction in a Marine Shallow-Water Hydrothermal System in the Wakamiko Submarine Crater, South Kyushu, Japan

The Wakamiko submarine crater is a small depression located in Kagoshima Bay, southwest Japan. Marine shallow‐water hydrothermal activity associated with fumarolic gas emissions at the crater sea floor (water depth 200 m) is considered to be related with magmatic activity of the Aira Caldera. During the NT05‐13 dive expedition conducted in August 2005 using remotely operated vehicle Hyper‐Dolphine (Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology), an active shimmering site was discovered (tentatively named the North site) at approximately 1 km from the previously known site (tentatively named the South site). Surface sediment (up to 30 cm) was cored from six localities including these active sites, and the alteration minerals and pore fluid chemistry were studied. The pore fluids of these sites showed a drastic change in chemical profile from that of seawater, even at 30 cm below the surface, which is attributed to mixing of the ascending hydrothermal component and seawater. The hydrothermal component of the North site is estimated to be derived from a hydrothermal aquifer at 230°C based on the hydrothermal end‐member composition. Occurrence of illite/smectite interstratified minerals in the North site sediment is attributed to in situ fluid–sediment interaction at a temperature around 150°C, which is in accordance with the pore fluid chemistry. In contrast, montmorillonite was identified as the dominant alteration mineral in the South site sediment. Together with the significant low potassium concentration of the hydrothermal end‐member, the abundant occurrence of low‐temperature alteration mineral suggests that the hydrothermal aquifer in the South site is not as high as 200°C. Moreover, the montmorillonite is likely to be unstable with the present pore fluid chemistry at the measured temperature (117°C). This disagreement implies unstable hydrothermal activity at the South site, in contrast to the equilibrium between the pore fluid and alteration minerals in the North site sediment. This difference may reflect the thermal and/or hydrological structure of the Wakamiko Crater hydrothermal system.     

Environmental geochemistry of the River Gomti: A tributary of the Ganges River

Water and sediment samples collected from the Gomti River, a tributary of the Ganges River system, during the postmonsoon season have been analyzed to estimate major elemental chemistry. Water chemistry of the River Gomti shows almost monotonous spatial distribution of various chemical species, especially because of uniform presence of alluvium Dun gravels throughout the basin. The river annually transports 0.34×10⁶ tonnes of total suspended material (TSM) and 3.0×10⁶ tonnes of total dissolved solids (TDS), 69 percent of which is accounted for by bicarbonate ions only. Samples collected downstream of the city of Lucknow show the influence of anthropogenic loadings for a considerable distance in the river water. Na⁺, Cl^–, and SO₄ ^2– concentrations build up downstream. The bed sediment chemistry is dominated by Si (36 percent), reflecting a high percentage of detrital quartz, which makes up about 74 percent of the mineralogy of the bed sediments in the River Gomti. The average Kjeldahl nitrogen concentration (234 g/g) indicates indirectly the amount of organic matter in the sediments. The Hg concentration in sediments has been found to be higher (average 904 ppb) than the background value. The suspended sediments are well sorted, very finely skewed, and extremely leptokurtic, indicating a low energy condition of flow in the Gomti River. The influence of chemical loads in the Gomti has been found to be small or nonexistent on the Ganges River, perhaps because the water discharge of the Gomti (1.57 percent) to the Ganges is quite low.     

Rate constants for the reactions of the NO3 radical with HCOOH/HCOO− and CH3COOH/CH3COO− in aqueous solution between 278 and 328 K

The kinetics of the aqueous phase reactions of NO₃ radicals with HCOOH/HCOO^– and CH₃COOH/CH₃COO^– have been investigated using a laser photolysis/long-path laser absorption technique. NO₃ was produced via excimer laser photolysis of peroxodisulfate anions (S₂O ₈ ^2– ) at 351 nm followed by the reactions of sulfate radicals (SO ₄ ^– ) with excess nitrate. The time-resolved detection of NO₃ was achieved by long-path laser absorption at 632.8 nm. For the reactions of NO₃ with formic acid (1) and formate (2) rate coefficients ofk ₁=(3.3±1.0)×10⁵ l mol^–1 s^–1 andk ₂=(5.0±0.4)×10⁷ l mol^–1 s^–1 were found atT=298 K andI=0.19 mol/l. The following Arrhenius expressions were derived:k ₁(T)=(3.4±0.3)×10¹⁰ exp[–(3400±600)/T] l mol^–1 s^–1 andk ₂(T)=(8.2±0.8)×10¹⁰ exp[–(2200±700)/T] l mol^–1 s^–1. The rate coefficients for the reactions of NO₃ with acetic acid (3) and acetate (4) atT=298 K andI=0.19 mol/l were determined as:k ₃=(1.3±0.3)×10⁴ l mol^–1 s^–1 andk ₄=(2.3±0.4)×10⁶ l mol^–1 s^–1. The temperature dependences for these reactions are described by:k ₃(T)=(4.9±0.5)×10⁹ exp[–(3800±700)/T] l mol^–1 s^–1 andk ₄(T)=(1.0±0.2)×10¹² exp[–(3800±1200)/T] l mol^–1 s^–1. The differences in reactivity of the anions HCOO^– and CH₃COO^– compared to their corresponding acids HCOOH and CH₃COOH are explained by the higher reactivity of NO₃ in charge transfer processes compared to H atom abstraction. From a comparison of NO₃ reactions with various droplets constituents it is concluded that the reaction of NO₃ with HCOO^– may present a dominant loss reaction of NO₃ in atmospheric droplets.