An international comparison of governmental disclosure of hydrocarbon spills from offshore oil and gas installations

The cumulative effect of accidental spills from oil and gas extraction in the marine environment can have significant impacts on marine wildlife. Oil and gas operators are typically required to report spill data as part of a regulatory process. We conducted a survey of the public disclosure of hydrocarbon spill data for four countries, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States. There was significant variation in the spill data statistics that were publicly reported by the regulators. No country provided full disclosure of spill data or follow-up actions taken by the regulator on their website. The lack of disclosure of spill data is of concern because the scale of environmental effects is more difficult to assess, insufficient information is available to assess the accuracy of predictions made in the environmental assessment process, and without consistency of spill reporting there is no method to compare regional differences of spill rates.     

粤港澳大湾区知识网络空间结构演化特征与影响机制

以2000—2018年国内外期刊数据库合作论文数据为基础,借助社会网络分析和空间结构指数法分析了粤港澳大湾区知识空间网络结构演化特征与影响因素,结果发现：1）知识网络格局由广州的“一家独大”逐渐演变为广州、深圳、香港“齐头并进”的发展态势。香港虽然处于知识网络的核心位置,但受行政壁垒的影响,主要与广州、深圳高等级的城市建立紧密的知识合作联系。2）粤港澳大湾区知识联系网络呈现“核心—边缘”结构,西部地区知识联系远低于东部地区,虽然研究期内湾区的知识网络的极化特征得到一定的缓解,但不均衡性仍然显著。3）湾区知识活动主体的自身需求是促进城市间知识合作的内在驱动力,知识环境和知识联系通道是区域知识合作网络外在推动力,在内生作用和外生作用的共同影响下,知识合作产出得以实现,粤港澳大湾区知识网络得以发展。     

Towards an operational use of space imagery for oil pollution monitoring in the Mediterranean basin: a demonstration in the Adriatic Sea

Studies of operational pollution carried out by European commission - Joint Research Centre in the Mediterranean Sea for the years 1999-2004 are briefly introduced. The specific analysis of the Adriatic Sea for the same period demonstrates that this area has been characterized by a relevant number of illegal discharges from ships. After setting the historical background of the project AESOP (aerial and satellite surveillance of operational pollution in the Adriatic Sea), the content, partners and aim of the project are presented. Finally, the results of the first phase of the AESOP project are presented. The results seem very encouraging. For the first time in the Adriatic, real time detection of oil spills in satellite images and an immediate verification by the Coast Guard has been undertaken. An exploratory activity has also been carried out in collaboration with the University of Ljubljana to use automatic information system (AIS) to identify the ships detected in the satellite images.     

东白令海三种经济鲽类捕捞群体结构与生长特性比较

对东白令海水域双线鲽(Lepidopsetta bilineata)、太平洋拟庸鲽(Hippoglosso-ides elassodon)和阿拉斯加鲽(Pleuronectes quadrituberculata)等三种经济鲽类的捕捞群体结构和生长特性进行比较。得出结论是:(1)捕捞群体结构复杂;(2)渐近体长和渐近体重较大、寿命长、K值小;(3)雌鱼比雄鱼个体大、生长快、寿命长;(4)三种鲽类的捕捞群体结构和生长特性有明显差异。     

Enzymatic and cellular responses in relation to body burden of PAHs in bivalve molluscs: A case study with chronic levels of North Sea and Barents Sea dispersed oil

Mytilus edulis and Chlamys islandica were exposed to nominal dispersed crude oil concentrations in the range 0.015–0.25 mg/l for one month. Five biomarkers (enzymatic and cellular responses) were analysed together with bioaccumulation of PAHs at the end of exposure. In both species, PAH tissue residues reflected the exposure concentration measured in the water and lipophylicity determined the bioaccumulation levels. Oil caused biomarker responses in both species but more significant alterations in exposed C. islandica were observed. The relationships between exposure levels and enzymatic responses were apparently complex. The integrated biomarker response related against the exposure levels was U-shaped in both species and no correlation with total PAH body burden was found. For the monitoring of chronic offshore discharges, dose- and time-related events should be evaluated in the selection of biomarkers to apply. From this study, cellular damages appear more fitted than enzymatic responses, transient and more complex to interpret.     

Modeling the history of Lake of the Woods since 11,000 cal yr B.P. using GIS

Because of differential isostatic rebound, many lakes in Canada have continued to change their extent and depth since retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Using GIS techniques, the changing configuration and bathymetry of Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota were reconstructed for 12 points in time, beginning at 11,000 cal yr B.P. (9.6 ¹⁴C ka B.P.), and were also projected 500 years into the future, based on the assumption that Lake of the Woods continued to have a positive hydrological budget throughout the Holocene. This modeling was done by first compiling a bathymetric database and merging that with subaerial data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This DEM file was then adjusted by: (1) isobase data derived from Lake Agassiz beaches prior to 9000 cal yr B.P. (8.1 ¹⁴C ka B.P.) and (2) modeled isostatic rebound trend analysis after 9000 cal yr B.P. Just after the end of the Lake Agassiz phase of Lake of the Woods, only the northernmost part of the basin contained water. Differential rebound has resulted in increasing water depth. In the first 3000 years of independence from Lake Agassiz, the lake transgressed >50 km to the south, expanding its area from 858 to 2857 km², and more than doubling in volume. Continued differential rebound after 6000 cal yr B.P. (5.2 ¹⁴C ka B.P.) has further expanded the lake, although today it is deepening by only a few cm per century at the southern end. In addition, climate change in the Holocene probably played a role in lake level fluctuations. Based on our calculation of a modern hydrological budget for Lake of the Woods, reducing runoff and precipitation by 65% and increasing evaporation from the lake by 40% would end overflow and cause the level of the lake to fall below the outlets at Kenora. Because this climate change is comparable to that recorded during the mid-Holocene warming across the region, it is likely that the area covered by the lake at this time would have been less than that determined from differential isostatic rebound alone.     

Contribution to the Global Warming Mitigation of Marshlands Conversion to Croplands in the Sanjiang Plain,Northeast China

Based on the estimation of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and carbon sequestration of the total conversion of marshlands (TMC), marshlands conversion to paddy fields (MCPFs) and marshlands conversion to uplands (MCULs), this study revealed the contribution to the global warming mitigation (CGWM) of paddy fields versus uplands converted from marshlands in the Sanjiang Plain (excluding the Muling‐Xingkai Plain on south of Wanda Mountain), Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. The results showed that the total area of MCPFs and MCULs was 504.23 × 10³ ha between 1982 and 2005. The CGWM per unit area was 45.53 t CO₂eq/ha for MCPFs and that was 23.95 t CO₂eq/ha for MCULs, with an obvious 47.40% reduction. The MCPFs and MCULs ecosystems acted as the carbon sink all of the year. As far as CGWM per unit area is concerned, MCPFs mitigated the greenhouse effect which was greater than MCULs. And it was effective that the implementation of the uplands transformed into paddy fields in Northeast China with regard to marshlands protection and croplands (including paddy fields and uplands) reclamation.     

澳门海洋空间资源利用研究——澳门的填海造地工程

澳门原系海中孤岛,由于利用了自然条件,进行填海造地工程,使孤岛相连,土地面积扩大,城市发展,交通改善,经济增长,成为利用海洋空间资源的典型地区。文章论述了澳门有利于填海工程实施的自然条件,海洋空间利用的发展过程,及填海造地工程的巨大作用和深远意义。     

The American whale oil industry: A look back to the future of the American petroleum industry?

The American whaling industry rose from humble beginnings off Long island to become an international giant. In its peak year, 1846, 735 ships and 70,000 people served the industry. As whale stocks and reserves decreased, whalers were forced to go farther and farther from their New England home ports. Voyages became longer, and risks on required return-on-investment became higher. The easy money of Atlantic and Pacific whaling was no more: the only remaining profitable ventures were to Arctic and Antarctic waters. Many ships returned empty, if at all. in 1871, most of the Arctic whaling fleet was crushed by early winter ice and lost. This calamity, in conjunction with the long-term diminishing whale stocks, the diversion of investment capital to more profitable ventures, and the discovery, development, and refinement of abundant petroleum crude oil, struck the death blow to the American whaling industry. By 1890, only 200 whaling vessels were at work, and by 1971, no American commercial whaling ship sailed the world's oceans.It is apparent that no single event caused the final, rapid decline. However, a single calamity, in an already stressed industry, that was self-insured and commercially interlinked, precipitated the end. Today's American petroleum industry, although adopting some principles of the American whaling industry, also has embraced other activities such as work process reengineering and customer alliances, which may preempt, or postpone, a similar catastrophic demise.     

Stable carbon isotope composition of monoterpanes in essential oils and crude oils

Twenty-five monoterpanes from six types of essential oils and hydrogenated turpentine oil have been identified and their stable carbon isotope composition determined.Monoterpanes in essential oils sourced from terrestrial higher plants display a δ13C value in the range of-34‰-26‰,and mostly between-29‰ and-27‰.The δ13C value of any single monoterpane is very consistent in different essential oils.Acyclic monoterpanes show closer isotope composition between-28.6‰ and-26.2‰,with an average value of-27.7‰.In contrast,the isotope composition of cyclic monoterpanes is more scattered with an average value of-28.6‰.Isotopic fractionation with 13C enrichment has been observed during both artificial and geological hydrogenation of monoterpenoids to monoterpanes,and this is more obvious for the acyclic monoterpenoids.In addition to higher plants,acyclic monoterpane 2,6-dimethylheptane in crude oil can also be originated from other organic inputs.