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.     

Accumulation of organic and inorganic carbon in Pliocene–Pleistocene sediments along the SW African margin

The Ocean Drilling Program Leg 175 recovered a unique series of stratigraphically continuous sedimentary sections along the SW African margin, an area which is presently affected by active coastal upwelling. The accumulation rates of organic and inorganic carbon are a major component of this record. Four Leg 175 sites (1082, 1084, 1085, 1087) are chosen as part of a latitudinal transect from the present northern to southern boundaries of the Benguela Current upwelling system, to decipher the Pliocene–Pleistocene history of biogenic production and its relationship with global and local changes in oceanic circulation and climate. The pattern of CaCO₃ and C_org mass accumulation rates (MARs) over 0.25-Myr intervals indicates that the evolution of carbon burial is highly variable between the northern and the southern Benguela regions, as well as between sites that have similar hydrological conditions. This, as well as the presence over most locations of high-amplitude, rapid changes of carbon burial, reflect the partitioning of biogenic production and patterns of sedimentation into local compartments over the Benguela margin. The combined mapping of CaCO₃ and C_org MARs at the study locations suggests four distinct evolutionary periods, which are essentially linked with major steps in global climate change: the early Pliocene, the mid-Pliocene warm event, a late Pliocene intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation and the Pleistocene. The early Pliocene spatially heterogeneous patterns of carbon burial are thought to reflect the occurrence of mass-gravitational movements over the Benguela slope which resulted in disruption of the recorded biogenic production. This was followed (3.5–3 Ma) by an episode of peak carbonate accumulation over the whole margin and, subsequently, by the onset of Benguela provincialism into a northern and a southern sedimentary regime near 2 Ma. This mid and late Pliocene evolution is interpreted as a direct response to changes in the ventilation of bottom and intermediate waters, as well as to dynamics of the subtropical gyral circulation and associated wind stress.     

珠江三角洲及珠江口海区的空气微生物含量

１９９４年６，７月，调查了广州、深圳、珠海及珠江口海区的空气微生物粒子沉降量状况。发现空气微生物粒子总量、真菌粒子量、真菌粒子数／总菌粒子数百分比在三市中不一致。这三种数据一般是陆上的高于海上。随着距陆的增加，都市影响的减弱和海面的开阔，空气微生物含量呈减少之势，显示出海洋新鲜空气对陆上污染空气的调节、净化作用。文中还分析了空气微生物有关参数与气温、风力或相对湿度间的相关关系。     

浮游植物叶绿素a含量简易测定方法的比较

用乙醇、DMF(N,N-二甲基甲酰胺)、丙酮3种不同有机溶剂分别萃取苏州环城河水样中的浮游植物细胞叶绿素a,在分光光度计上测定其叶绿素a含量,试验数据经方差分析、Q检验,结果显示,乙醇法、DMF法的叶绿素a萃取率极显著高于丙酮(F=54.20＞F0.01(2,18)(6.01)).另用这3种萃取方法分别测定无常蓝纤维藻(Dactylococcopsis irregularis )纯培养液叶绿素a含量,通过直线回归,同样证明乙醇法、DMF法重复率较高,稳定性好,萃取率高.从安全、简便、重复性高等方面综合考虑,认为用乙醇萃取法是目前水域环境中浮游植物叶绿素a简易测定的最佳方法.     

南海南部约30 ka来沉积有机质的生物输入特征

对位于南沙海区的1962柱状样中的有机质进行了热解色谱分析，估算了沉积有机质中水生生物输入和陆源生物输入的变化情况，得出了两种输入的高分辨率的堆积速率曲线，并依此探讨了有关的古海洋事件。发现Younger Dryas、Heinrich及Bond周期事件在本海区皆有表现，说明“西太平洋暖池”在末次冰期是不稳定的。     

Quantum yield for the photochemical production of dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater

The direct photooxidation of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) may provide a significant sink for organic carbon in the ocean. To calculate the rate of this reaction on a global scale, it is essential to know its quantum yield, or photochemical efficiency. We have determined quantum yield spectra, φ(λ), (moles DIC/mole photons absorbed) for 14 samples of seawater from environments ranging from a turbid, eutrophic bay to the Gulf Stream. The spectra vary among locations, but can be represented quite well by three pooled spectra for zones defined by location and salinity: inshore φ(λ)=e^{−(6.66+0.0285(λ−290))}; coastal φ(λ)=e^{−(6.36+0.0140(λ−290))}; and open ocean φ(λ)=e^{−(5.53+0.00914(λ−290))}. Production efficiency increases offshore, which suggests that the most highly absorbing and quickly faded terrestrial chromophores are not those directly responsible for DIC photoproduction.     

A preliminary study of carbon system in the East China Sea

In the central part of the East China Sea, the activity of CO₂ in the surface water and total carbonate, pH and alkalinity in the water column were determined in winter and autumn of 1993. The activity of CO₂ in the continental shelf water was about 50 ppm lower than that of surface air. This decrease corresponds to the absorption of about 40 gC/m²/yr of atmospheric CO₂ in the coastal zone or 1 GtC/yr in the global continental shelf, if this rate is applicable to entire coastal seas. The normalized total carbonate contents were higher in the water near the coast and near the bottom. This increase toward the bottom may be due to the organic matter deposited on the bottom. This conclusion is supported by the distribution of pH. The normalized alkalinity distribution also showed higher values in the near-coast water, but in the surface water, indicating the supply of bicarbonate from river water. The residence time of the East China Sea water, including the Yellow Sea water, has been calculated to be about 0.8 yr from the excess alkalinity and the alkalinity input. Using this residence time and the excess carbonate, we can estimate that the amount of dissolved carbonate transported from the coastal zone to the oceanic basin is about 70 gC/m²/yr or 2 GtC/yr/area-of-global-continental-shelf. This also means that the rivers transport carbon to the oceans at a rate of 30 gC/m²/yr of the coastal sea or 0.8 GtC/yr/ area-of-global shelf, the carbon consisting of dissolved inorganic carbonate and terrestrial organic carbon decomposed on the continental shelf.     

氮磷营养盐与有机汞联合作用对微氏海链藻生长的影响

探讨在高营养盐（氮、磷、硅分别为浮游植物生长的营养盐阚值≥40、50、9倍）条件下，氮浓度及氮磷摩尔比值[n（N）／n（P）]变化、汞（甲基汞和乙基汞）对微氏海链藻（Thalassiosira weissflogii）生长的影响。结果表明，高营养盐区海链藻的生长遵循营养盐限制的唯一因子论；氮浓度和氮磷比提高促进生长，当n（N）／n（P）=64则呈抑制效应；生长初期，甲基汞和乙基汞均产生毒性抑制作用，生长中后期，适量甲基汞（浓度≤1．0μg／L）、乙基汞（浓度≤0．5μg／L）却呈兴奋效应，促进生长；汞形态不同，剂量-效应关系不同。氮和有机汞是海链藻生长的刺激因子。适度有机汞污染与氮富营养化对微氏海链藻的生长产生协同效应。     

Shallow-Water Gasohydrothermal Vents of Ushishir Volcano and the Ecosystem of Kraternaya Bight (The Kurile Islands)

Abstract. A marine ecosystem in the crater of the Ushishir Volcano (Kraternaya Bight, Yankich Island, the Kuriles) showing gasothcrmal activity was studied for hydrographical, hydrochemical, and biological characteristics. Maximal changes in chemical and biological characteristics were observed in the surface water layer of 0–5 m. This layer had higher water temperature, was saturated with volcanogcnic carbon dioxide (up to 2000 10^-6 torr), ovcrsaturatcd with oxygen (up to 200 %), and contained high concentrations of chlorophyll a. Hydrogen sulfide was found in the surface water layer and at a depth of 15 m in the area of maximal effect of volcanic effluents.
The planktonic community is characterized by high rates of production and destruction of organic matter only in the 0–5 m layer. Daily vertical migrations of the ciliatc Mesodinium rubrum were observed, which caused "red tides".
Bacterial, algobacterial, and diatom mats developed on the bottom of the bight in the zone of gasohydrothermal vents and in areas of volcanic water seeping. The rate of organic matter production in algobacterial mats reached 33.4g C-rrr²-d^-l, chcmolithotrophy predominating. Bottom settlements had high population density and great animal biomass, which reached 10 kg m^-2 in gasohydrothermal fields. They obtain sufficient energy from primary production of microphy-tobenthos, algobacterial, and bacterial mats. Bcnthic species dominant in the bight were not found off the Ushishir Islands.
Some species of macrobenthos inhabiting the Kraternaya Bight differ markedly in size and biomass from the same species found beyond the bight.     

Distributions of dissolved and particulate biogenic thiols in the subartic Pacific Ocean

Dissolved and particulate concentrations of the biogenic thiols cysteine (Cys), arginine–cysteine (Arg–Cys), glutamine–cysteine (Gln–Cys), γ-glutamate–cysteine (γ-Glu–Cys) and glutathione (GSH) were measured in the subartic Pacific Ocean in the summer of 2003 using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with precolumn derivatization as reported in previous work. In this study, a preconcentration protocol for the derivatized thiols was utilized to extend detection limits of dissolved thiols to picomolar levels. The measured concentrations of particulate and dissolved thiols were uncoupled, with distinctive depth profiles and large differences in the particulate to dissolved ratios between individual compounds. Glutathione was the most abundant particulate thiol whereas the most abundant dissolved thiol was γ-Glu–Cys, with concentrations as high as 15 nM. Given the relatively small pool of intracellular γ-Glu–Cys and the very low dissolved concentrations of GSH, we hypothesize that glutathione released from cells is rapidly converted to the potentially degradation resistant γ-Glu–Cys outside the cell. The relatively high concentrations of other dissolved thiols compared to particulate concentrations implies both biological exudation and slow degradation rates. Some thiols appear to vary with changes in nutrient availability but this effect is difficult to decouple from changes in community structure inferred from pigment analyses. Dissolved thiol concentrations also exceed typical metal concentrations in the subartic Pacific, supporting previous arguments that they may be important in metal speciation.