Effects of the peat acid digestion protocol on geochemically and morphologically diverse tephra deposits

Tephra shards for electron probe microanalysis are most efficiently extracted from peat using acid digestion, which removes organic material that hinders density separation methods. However, strong acids are known to alter glass chemical compositions, and several studies have examined how acid digestion affects rhyolitic volcanic glass. The focus on rhyolitic tephra in these studies leaves considerable uncertainty, as the dissolution rates of natural glasses (including tephra) are determined by the chemical composition and surface area/volume ratio, both of which vary in tephra deposits. Here, we use duplicate samples of basaltic, trachydacitic and rhyolitic tephra to examine physical and geochemical alteration following acid digestion. Scanning electron microscope imagery reveals no discernible degradation of glass surfaces, and electron probe microanalysis results from duplicate samples are statistically indistinguishable. These findings suggest the acid digestion protocol for organic peats does not significantly alter glass geochemistry regardless of shard morphologies or geochemical compositions.     

A Comparison of Growth Biomarkers for Assessing Sublethal Effects of Cadmium on a Marine Gastropod, Nassarius festivus

The effect of cadmium on the growth of an intertidal marine gastropod, Nassarius festivus, was investigated using a number of biomarkers namely conventional measurements in terms of increase in shell length or body weight, scope for growth (SfG) and RNA/DNA ratio. After eight days of cadmium exposure, the no observable effect concentration (NOEC) and lowest observable effect concentration (LOEC) for the rate of increase in wet weight were 1.00 and 1.38 mg/l, respectively, while those for shell length did not show any significant difference from the control until day 16. After 16 days of cadmium exposure, the LOEC for both shell length and wet weight measurements was 0.22 mg/l. The 8-day SfG test was sensitive to cadmium stress, showing a significant decrease at 0.16 mg/l cadmium when compared to the control. The NOEC and LOEC of RNA/DNA ratio determination were 0.52 and 0.93 mg/l, respectively. An assessment based on sensitivity and technical complexity suggests that Scope for Growth is the most sensitive growth biomarker, followed by the RNA/DNA ratio, and then the conventional growth measurement based on shell size and body weight.     

福建东山岛矿产资源开发利用与生态环境保护初论

就东山岛在水、砂、石、土的开发利用中存在的问题,阐述了开发利用矿产与保护生态环境之间的辩证关系,提出东山县应做好矿产资源开发利用与“建设港口旅游城市”的规划,走资源节约型的发展海洋经济建设的新路子,促进东山县经济的可持续发展。     

DNA tracers with information capacity and high detection sensitivity tested in groundwater studies

 In order to investigate the usefulness of unique synthetic DNA tracers in groundwater, a field experiment was conducted in Norway. DNA tracers and a sodium-chloride tracer were injected into an aquifer. The transport of DNA molecules was interpreted by comparing with the plume of chloride ions under forced-gradient steady-state flow conditions. Spatial concentration moments described the migration of conservative tracers. Mobility and migration of DNA in groundwater demonstrate that DNA tracers can be detected by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequence analysis. The results indicate that DNA tracers can be valuable tools as tracers in groundwater investigations. Received, June 1997 / Revised, July 1998, December 1998 / Accepted, January 1999     

Influence of environments of coal deposition on phosphorous accumulation in a high latitude, northern Alaska, coal seam

Although phosphorus is a very important biogenic element, its concentration in coal is generally low. Phosphorus (P) concentrations typically range from 0.001% to 0.229% in raw coals of the contiguous 48 states [Glick, D.C., Davis, A., 1984. Variability in the inorganic content of United States coals—a multivariate statistical study of final report, Part 10 (DOE-30013-Flo) to the US Dept. of Energy under contract no. DE-AC22-80PC 30013, 404 pp.]. Some Alaskan coal seams contain horizons that are unusually high in phosphorus. The present paper focuses on a bituminous coal from northern Alaska, where 0.15 m subsections of this coal seam have shown high phosphorous in certain subsections. In order to investigate the lateral extent of such high phosphorous bands in coal, the authors obtained three drill cores up to 3 km apart from the coal seam. A detailed investigation of the cores was undertaken to determine the nature and mode of occurrence of phosphorous minerals. Maceral composition allowed interpretation of environments of coal deposition. Acid-extractable phosphorous analysis of the subsections identified the high phosphorous horizons. Electron microprobe analyses identified the phosphorous mineral as crandallite. Correlation of high phosphorous intervals with corresponding environments of deposition suggests that phosphorous precipitation is promoted by an oxidizing environment with a lowered water table during the peat stage. A study of thin sections from high phosphorous samples showed that crandallite is associated with structured vitrinite and as cell fillings in fusinite. The study confirms the potential for using high phosphorous horizons for the correlation of coal seams, as noted in previous work by the authors (Rao and Walsh, 1997). A high phosphorous horizon is found at 0.45 m above the bottom of the seam in all of the drill holes, indicating a uniformity of the coal forming environment and the availability of crandallite constituent elements over the entire 3 km. The uniformity of high phosphorous concentrations through the top 2 m of the three drill holes also shows a distinct correlation.     

基于环境DNA宏条形码技术的水体无脊椎动物多样性研究：以广州海珠湖为例

于2021年1月,利用环境DNA宏条形码（eDNA）技术,对广州海珠国家湿地公园海珠湖的水体和沉积物进行无脊椎动物多样性和群落结构调查,并比较了eDNA和传统形态学鉴定对浮游动物的检出能力。结果表明：eDNA检出海珠湖无脊椎动物9门16纲34目71科93属137个可操作分类单元（OTUs）;其中,水采样品中共检出9门50属68个OTUs,网采样品中共检出6门27属35个OTUs,沉积物休眠卵样品中共检出9门70属103个OTUs。水采和网采样品中,主要的无脊椎动物均为轮虫动物门和节肢动物门;沉积物中主要的无脊椎动物为环节动物门和节肢动物门。沉积物休眠卵OTU丰富度最高,水采样品的OTU丰富度高于网采样品。比较浮游动物的形态鉴定和eDNA鉴定,发现后者在属水平上能鉴定出更多的种类;形态学鉴定的桡足类（100%）和多数轮虫（58.82%）可被eDNA注释出,而eDNA注释出的多数桡足类（71.43%）和轮虫（58.82%）在形态学鉴定中未发现;eDNA未注释出枝角类。结果表明,eDNA在无脊椎动物调查中具有较高的应用潜力,与传统形态学鉴定组合应用能更全面地了解无脊椎动物的种类和水生生物多样...     

中国海盘海牛科(腹足纲, 裸鳃目)一新记录属和一新记录种

2021年3月在大连进行潮间带生物调查时采集到2个裸鳃类标本,经鉴定发现为欧氏针盘海牛Diaulula odonoghuei (Steinberg, 1963),为中国新记录属和新记录种。在研究中对其进行了活体拍照,利用光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜对其外部形态和内部解剖特征进行了观察。此外,测定了这两个标本的COI、16S rRNA和H3基因序列,将测得的基因片段与GenBank数据库中的针盘海牛属Diaulula的同源序列进行对比分析,构建了针盘海牛属的系统发育树。欧氏针盘海牛在我国沿海的发现,进一步丰富了中国海软体动物的物种多样性研究。     

Biotic drivers of river and floodplain geomorphology – New molecular methods for assessing present‐day and past biota

Geomorphology has increasingly considered the role of biotic factors as controls upon geomorphic processes across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Where timescales are long (centennial and longer), it has been possible to quantify relationships between geomorphic processes and vegetation using, for example, the pollen record. However, where the biotic agents are fauna, longer term reconstruction of the impacts of biological activity upon geomorphic processes is more challenging. Here, we review the prospect of using environmental DNA as a molecular proxy to decipher the presence and nature of faunal influences on geomorphic processes in both present and ancient deposits. When used appropriately, this method has the potential to improve our understanding of biotic drivers of geomorphic processes, notably fauna, over long timescales and so to reconstruct how such drivers might explain the landscape as we see it today. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大弹涂鱼自然种群遗传多样性的RAPD分析

2002年9月以采自浙江宁海三门湾海区的大弹涂鱼(Boleophthalmus pectinirostris L．)为材料,对大弹涂鱼自然种群的遗传多样性进行随机扩增多态DNA(RAPD)分析,20个引物共扩增出100个DNA片段,多态位点比例(P)为21％,任意两个个体间遗传相似度(F)最大为0．9938,最小为0．9239,平均为0．9645。任意两个个体间的遗传距离(D)最大为0．0761,最小为0．0062,绝大多数为0．02000～0．0500;大弹涂鱼自然种群的平均杂合度(He)为0．2018,D平均值为0．0355;Shannon多样性指数(Ho)和Shannon多样性值(H)分别为5．918和0．0592。研究结果表明大弹涂鱼的遗传多样性水平比较低,应加强大弹涂鱼种质资源的保护。