海洋环境中的厌氧氨氧化细菌与厌氧氨氧化作用

厌氧氨氧化是细菌在厌氧条件下将氨氮氧化成氮气的过程,主要应用在污水处理反应器中,最近几年发现在海洋环境中也广泛存在,并在海洋氮循环过程中发挥了重要作用,代表了海洋中一个巨大的氮汇,对碳循环和全球气候变化也有重要影响.梯烷膜脂结构独特,是厌氧氨氧化细菌的化学生物标志物,具有化学分类与古海洋学应用潜力.厌氧氨氧化作用及厌氧...     

大气冰核研究进展

大气冰核在冷云降水物理过程、人工影响天气、云和气溶胶的气候效应乃至全球变化等对大气和气候方面的研究中具有重要的意义。本文主要从大气冰核的观测方法、来源、化学组成、成冰活性、浓度时空分布及其与气象条件如天气系统、天气现象、气象因子等各方面综述了国内外近几十年大气冰核的研究进展,并在探讨国内外大气冰核研究现状的基础上,提出...     

Theoretical and experimental study of time domain-induced polarization in water-saturated sands

A theoretical model of spectral-induced polarization (IP) of sand is presented. In the proposed model, contacts of sand grains and intergrain solution-filled space are considered as electrical current passages of varying thickness, which differ in values of ion transport number. Ion-selective narrow passages are considered as active zones, large passages as passive. The proposed model describes spectral IP characteristics for the medium where the length of passive zones is much greater than the length of active ones. The model is called short narrow pores (SNP) model. The SNP model predicts a growth of IP time constant with increase of length of ion-selective zone. Both the time domain and frequency domain parameters are described. The parameters of Cole–Cole model corresponding to the SNP model were also found.The behaviour of model parameters is compared with experimental data obtained on natural and sieved sands using time domain technique. The natural sand spectra correspond neither to the simple SNP model nor simple Cole–Cole model with single time constant because the lengths of ion-selective zones vary, reflecting the grain-size distribution.The spectra of sieved sand compared with the theoretical SNP spectra reveal close correspondence between experimental data and theoretical parameters. For four sieved sands, both the theoretical and experimental data show that the time constant of the IP is proportional to the square of the average grain size.     

CH4-consuming microorganisms and the formation of carbonate crusts at cold seeps

To understand the role played by microorganisms in the formation of cold seep carbonates, we conducted an integrated microbial, mineralogical and organic geochemical study of methane-related authigenic carbonate crusts formed on eastern Mediterranean mud volcanoes. We show that supersaturation with respect to carbonate minerals is induced by microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane. Combined lipid biomarker analysis and 16S rRNA gene surveys identified a highly diversified methane-consuming archaeal community possibly comprising novel species, implying that the anaerobic oxidation of methane is phylogenetically widespread and directly implicating these organisms in the process of crust precipitation. Moreover, pore-water sulphate gradients produced by co-occurring methane-based sulphate reduction exert the main control on aragonite versus magnesian calcite precipitation. We propose that this may be the dominant mode of carbonate crust formation at cold seeps world-wide, in agreement with aquatic chemistry predictions and explaining carbonate mineralogy.     

Diagenesis of organic matter in suspended particles and sediments in the Cariaco Trench

Suspended particulate materials and bottom sediments from the Cariaco Trench were analysed for lipid content to investigate the diagenesis of organic matter in an anoxic water column and sediment. Distributions of fatty acids, sterols, and the acyclic isoprenoid hydrocarbons, lycopane and 2,6,10,15,19-pentamethyleicosane, support the hypothesis that alteration of organic matter usually attributed to sedimentary diagenesis occurs in the water column. Typical indicators of diagenetic processes, including preferential loss of unsaturated fatty acids, increased abundances of branched fatty acids, stenol-to-stanol conversion, and abundant acyclic isoprenoids, were observed in the water column across the oxic/anoxic interface in the Cariaco Trench. Lipid distributions in the sediment were remarkably uniform with depth. We conclude that organic material delivered to the sediment has been extensively altered in the water column, but that which is buried is preserved without much additional alteration.     

Lipid geochemistry of Lake Kinneret

Lake Kinneret, a relict lake from the Neogene, is characterised by the dominance among its phytoplankton of the dinoflagellate Peridinium cinctum. The lipid geochemistry of Lake Kinneret is discussed herein in terms of the biology, chemistry and hydrology of the lake. Lipids isolated from two sediment sections (surface and 15 cm deep), obtained from the deepest point of Lake Kinneret, include: (1) 4α-methyl-5α (H)-stanols and related derivatives characteristic of P. cinctum, the novel sterol 4a-methylgorgosterol, and peridinosterol and 4α-methylgorgostanol, not previously reported to occur in lacustrine sediments; (2) C₃₀ and C₃₂ alkane-1,15-diols, not previously reported to occur in contemporary lacustrine deposits, and (3) products of early diagenesis. Many similarities were observed with the more widely studied marine dinoflagellates and marine sediments with dinoflagellate input.     

Distribution of lipids in modem soils from various regions with continuous climate (moisture-heat) change in China and their climate significance

Total 26 modern soil samples were collected from various regions under different climate conditions from tropical to arid temperate in China and systematically analyzed for their organic matters by GC/MS in order to evaluate climatic impacts on soil organic components. Abundant lipids molecules were recognized, including n-alkanes, n-alkenones, and long-chain branched alkanes. We find the predominance of main peaks of long-chain n-alkanes (nC29,nC31,nC33) and short-chain ones(nC16,nC17,nC18) records information of soil generation in warm-humid and cold-dry regions. The proportion of n-alkanes(nC16+nC17+nC18)to(nC29+nC31+nC33)varies in good agreement with moisture-heat conditions and thus probably can serve as a new index for climate change. The ratios of C21-/nC22+,nC17/nC31 and (nC15+nC17+nC19)/(nC27+nC29+nC31)of n-alkanes, indicating respectively input ratios of lower bacterial alga, aquatic organisms, and higher plants and terraneous organisms, co-vary well in different climate regions from forest to grassland and desert, suggesting that they have also reflected the difference of climates between monsoon region and inland one. The C21-/C22+ ratio of n-alkan-2-one records largely the discrepancy of temperature from north to south of China bordered by the Qinling Mountains, but less humidity. The C21-/C22+ ratio of n-alkan-3-ones changes well with climatic factors, such as temperature and humidity. The biogenic source of series A-D long-chain branched alkanes may be derived from some kinds of special epiphyte that most likely live in weak oxic-anoxic and moisture-heat environments, suggesting their distribution record as well some information on climatic change. All these researches demonstrate that the distributions of lipids molecules in modern soils in China record well signals of climates from quite different climatic regions, and can serve as important climatic proxies to reveal climatic change over China.     

Applications of Intact Polar Lipids for Tracing the Marine Microbial Activity and Their Limitations

Intact Polar Lipids (IPLs) are synthesized predominately or uniquely by specific organisms and would degrade rapidly after cell death. Such biomarker IPLs can be used to indicate the microbial distribution and activity in marine environment. Here the progress of the aforementioned studies made over the last decade was reviewed. With the development of chromatography and mass spectrometry, the discovery of new IPLs compounds and the application of stable carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) of IPLs, our understanding of the composition and transformation of IPLs in suspended particulate matter in the water column and of the applicability of the TEX₈₆ proxy are greatly improved. Besides, IPLs are widely applied in the study of marine eukaryotes-bacteria symbiosis, aerobic and anaerobic ammonia oxidation, anaerobic methane oxidation and microbial metabolic states. Meanwhile, it is suggested by recent studies that different IPLs often exhibit differential degradation. Some IPLs, especially glycolipids, have the potential to be preserved as fossil molecules for very long time upon dead cells, and therefore, they can not specifically indicate living biomass. Furthermore, the IPLs degradation rate and completeness would be affected by such factors as oxygen concentration and organic matter content. It is also suggested that the composition of IPLs might be affected by microbial metabolism. Therefore, it is essential to take these factors into account when IPLs are used as proxies to trace marine microbial activities and reconstruct the palaeoenvironment.