Origin and thermal evolution of icy satellites

The paper reviews the problem of formation and evolution of the so-called regular satellites of the giant planets, and it consists of two parts: the first describes the possible origin of the satellites, the second studies their evolution, attempting to stress the relations of the present status of the satellites with their evolutionary history.The formation of regular satellite systems around giant planets is probably related to the formation of the central planet. Some characteristics of regular satellite systems are quite similar, and suggest a common origin in a disk present around the central body. This disk can originate through different mechanisms which we will describe, paying attention to the so-called accretion disk model, in which the satellite-forming material is captured. The disk phase links the formation of the primary body with the formation of satellites. The subsequent stages of the disk's evolution can lead first to the formation of intermediate size bodies, and through the collisional evolution of these bodies, to the birth of satellite embryos able to gravitationally capture smaller bodies.Given the scenario in which icy satellites may be formed by homogeneous accretion of planetesimals made of a mixtures of ice and silicates, if no melting occurs during accretion, the satellites have a homogeneous ice-rock composition. For the smaller satellites this homogeneous structure should not be substantially modified; only sporadic local events, such as large impacts, can modify the surface structure of the smaller satellites. For the larger satellites, if some degree of melting appears during accretion, a differentiation of the silicate part occurs, the amount of differentiation and hence the core size depending on the fraction of gravitational potential energy retained during the accumulation process. Melting and differentiation soon after the accretion, for the larger satellites, could also depend on the convective evolution in presence of phase transitions and generate an intermediate rock layer, considerably denser than the underlying, still homogeneous core, and unstable to overturning on a geologic time scale. Moreover the liquid water mantle could be a transient feature because the mantle would freeze over several hundred million years. For these large bodies the stable configuration is expected to be one consisting of a silicate core and a mantle of mixed rock and ice.     

A new approach for detecting and mapping sewage impacts

Increased nitrogen loading has been implicated in eutrophication occurrences worldwide. Much of this loading is attributable to the growing human population along the world's coastlines. A significant component of this nitrogen input is from sewage effluent, and delineation of the distribution and biological impact of sewage-derived nitrogen is becoming increasingly important. Here, we show a technique that identifies the source, extent and fate of biologically available sewage nitrogen in coastal marine ecosystems. This method is based on the uptake of sewage nitrogen by marine plants and subsequent analysis of the sewage signature (elevated delta 15N) in plant tissues. Spatial analysis is used to create maps of delta 15N and establish coefficient of variation estimates of the mapped values. We show elevated delta 15N levels in marine plants near sewage outfalls in Moreton Bay, Australia, a semi-enclosed bay receiving multiple sewage inputs. These maps of sewage nitrogen distribution are being used to direct nutrient reduction strategies in the region and will assist in monitoring the effectiveness of environmental protection measures.     

宁芜盆地火山-次火山岩的锆石U-Pb年龄、Hf同位素组成及其地质意义

宁芜火山盆地是长江中下游重要的火山盆地之一,在盆地内自下而上依次发育龙王山组、大王山组、姑山组和娘娘山组火山岩和若干个同源次火山岩或小侵入岩体。本文对宁芜盆地火山-次火山岩进行了详细的锆石U-Pb年龄和Hf同位素地球化学研究。研究结果表明,大王山组粗安岩锆石U-Pb年龄为130.3±0.9Ma,姑山组两个粗安岩锆石U-Pb年龄分别为128.2±1.3Ma和128.5±1.8Ma,另外三个侵入岩年龄分别为127.1±1.2Ma、128.3±0.6Ma和128.2±1.0Ma,均为早白垩纪。综合前人成果,认为长江中下游地区火山盆地内火山活动的时限在135～124Ma之间,不存在侏罗纪岩浆活动。宁芜盆地火山岩和侵入岩的锆石176Hf/177Hf值在0.282502～0.282673范围内,εHf(t)变化为-6.9～-0.7,显示岩浆源自于岩石圈富集地幔部分熔融并在上升过程中受地壳物质的混染,为岩石圈伸展环境的产物。     

Ecosystem response to antibiotics entering the aquatic environment

Awareness of antibiotics in wastewaters and aquatic ecosystems is growing as investigations into alternate pollutants increase and analytical techniques for detecting these chemicals improve. The presence of three antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and cephalexin) was evaluated in both sewage effluent and environmental waters downstream from a sewage discharge. Bacteria cultured from the sewage bioreactor and receiving waters were tested for resistance against six antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, ampicillin, trimethoprim, erythromycin and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole) and effects of short term exposure (24 h) to antibiotics on bacterial denitrification rates were examined. Antibiotics were detected entering the sewage treatment plant with varying levels of removal during the treatment process. Antibiotics were also detected in effluent entering receiving waters and detectable 500 m from the source. Among the bacteria cultured from the sewage bioreactor, resistance was displayed against all six antibiotics tested and bacteria cultured from receiving waters were resistant against two of the antibiotics tested. Rates of denitrification were observed to decrease in response to some antibiotics and not to others, though this was only observed at concentrations exceeding those likely to be found in the environment. Findings from this preliminary research have indicated that antibiotics are entering our aquatic systems and pose a potential threat to ecosystem function and potentially human health.     

The heating history of Vesta and the onset of differentiation

In this work, we study the link between the evolution of the internal structure of Vesta and thermal heating due to ²⁶Al and ⁶⁰Fe and long‐lived radionuclides, taking into account the chemical differentiation of the body and the affinity of ²⁶Al with silicates. We explored several thermal and structural scenarios differing in the available strength of energy due to the radiogenic heating and in the postsintering macroporosity. By comparing them with the data supplied by the HEDs and the Dawn NASA mission, we use our results to constrain the accretion and differentiation time as well as the physical properties of the core. Differentiation takes place in all scenarios in which Vesta completes its accretion in <1.4 Ma after the injection of ²⁶Al into the solar nebula. In all those scenarios where Vesta completes its formation in <1 Ma from the injection of ²⁶Al, the degree of silicate melting reaches 100 vol% throughout the whole asteroid. If Vesta completed its formation between 1 and 1.4 Ma after ²⁶Al injection, the degree of silicate melting exceeds 50 vol% over the whole asteroid, but reaches 100 vol% only in the hottest, outermost part of the mantle in all scenarios where the porosity is lower than 5 vol%. If the formation of Vesta occurred later than 1.5 Ma after the injection of ²⁶Al, the degree of silicate melting is always lower than 50 vol% and is limited only to a small region of the asteroid. The radiation at the surface dominates the evolution of the crust, which ranges in thickness from 8 to about 30 km after 5 Ma: a layer about 3–20 km thick is composed of primitive unmelted chondritic material, while a layer of about 5–10 km is eucritic.     

The surface free energies of talc and pyrophyllite

The components of the interfacial surface tension of talc and pyrophyllite were determined by measuring the rate of the capillary rise of a number of liquids through thin, sedimented deposits of the powdered minerals. The rate of capillary rise of a liquid in a powder is related to the contact angle between the liquid and the solid by the Washburn equation. The contact angles thus derived were used to determine the apolar (Lifshitzvan der Waals) component, γ ^LW , and the polar, electronacceptor and electron-donor parameters, γ ^⊕ and γ ^? respectively, of the Lewis acid/base component of the total interfacial surface energy using the Young equation. The values of γ ^LW for talc and pyrophyllite (31.5 and 34.4 mJ/m²) are slightly smaller than for smectite clay minerals (e.g., the value for hectorite is 39.9 mJ/m²), the electron donor parameter values are roughly comparable for talc and pyrophyllite (γ ^⊕ = 2.4 and 1.7 mJ/m²) as are the values of the electron acceptor parameter (γ ^? = 2.7 and 3.2 mJ/m²). The well-known hydrophobicity of these two minerals is due to the remarkably small value (for silicate minerals) of γ ^?(γ^⊕ is normally small or zero for silicates and many other oxides). The small values of both γ ^⊕ and γ ^? mean that the Lewis acid/base interactions between talc or pyrophyllite and highly polar water molecules are very weak. In contrast, low-charge smectites, the minerals most similar chemically and structurally to talc and pyrophyllite, have much greater values of γ ^? (≥ 30 mJ/m²) and are hydrophyllic.     

Occurrence and seasonal variations of algal toxins in water, phytoplankton and shellfish from North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia

A number of marine microalgae are known to produce toxins that can accumulate in shellfish and when eaten, lead to toxic and potentially fatal reactions in humans. This paper reports on the occurrence and seasonal variations of algal toxins in the waters, phytoplankton and shellfish of Southeast Queensland, Australia. These algal toxins include okadaic acid (OA), domoic acid (DA), gymnodimine (GD), pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2) and pectenotoxin-2-seco acid (PTX-2-SA), which were detected in the sampled shellfish and phytoplankton, via HPLC-MS/MS. Dissolved OA, PTX-2 and GD were also detected in the samples collected from the water column. This was the first occasion that DA and GD have been reported in shellfish, phytoplankton and the water column in Queensland waters. Phytoplankton tows contained both the toxic Dinophysis and Pseudo-nitzschia algae species, and are suspected of being the most likely producers of the OA, PTX-2s and DA found in shellfish of this area. The number of cells, however, did not correlate with the amount of toxins present in either shellfish or phytoplankton. This indicates that toxin production by algae varies with time and the species present and that number of cells alone cannot be used as an indicator for the presence of toxins. The presence of OA and PTX-2s were more frequently seen in the summer, while DA and GD were detected throughout the year and without any obvious seasonal patterns.     

Directional response of a reconstituted fine‐grained soil—Part I: experimental investigation

This paper discusses the results of a large experimental program designed to investigate in a systematic manner the main features of the incremental response of fine‐grained soils. The results are obtained from triaxial stress probing experiments carried out on a French silty clay (Beaucaire Marl). All the tests have been performed on reconstituted specimens, normally consolidated to an initial state which is either isotropic or anisotropic. In the interpretation of the experimental results, extensive use is made of the concept of strain response envelope. The response envelopes obtained for different stress increment magnitudes are remarkably consistent with each other and indicate an inelastic and irreversible material response, i.e. a strong dependence on the stress increment direction, also at relatively small strain levels. A companion paper (Int. J. Numer. Anal. Meth. Geomech., this issue, 2006) assesses the performance of some advanced constitutive models in reproducing the behaviour of reconstituted Beaucaire Marl as observed in this experimental program. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the influence and distribution of shrimp pond effluent in a tidal mangrove creek in north-east Australia

Effluent from a land based shrimp farm was detected in a receiving creek as changes in physical, chemical and biological parameters. The extent and severity of these changes depended on farm operations. This assessment was conducted at three different stages of shrimp-pond maturity, including (1) when the ponds were empty, (2) full and (3) being harvested. Methods for assessing farm effluent in receiving waters included physical/chemical analyses of the water column, phytoplankton bioassays and nitrogen isotope signatures of marine flora. Comparisons were made with an adjacent creek that served as the farms intake creek and did not directly receive effluent. Physical/chemical parameters identified distinct changes in the receiving creek with respect to farm operations. Elevated water column NH(4)(+) (18.5+/-8.0 microM) and chlorophyll a concentrations (5.5+/-1.9 microg/l) were measured when the farm was in operation, in contrast to when the farm was inactive (1.3+/-0.3 microM and 1.2+/-0.6 microg/l, respectively). At all times, physical/chemical parameters at the mouth of the effluent creek, were equivalent to control values, indicating effluent was contained within the effluent-receiving creek. However, elevated delta(15)N signatures of mangroves (up to approximately 8 per thousand) and macroalgae (up to approximately 5 per thousand ) indicated a broader influence of shrimp farm effluent, extending to the lower regions of the farms intake creek. Bioassays at upstream sites close to the location of farm effluent discharge indicated that phytoplankton at these sites did not respond to further nutrient additions, however downstream sites showed large growth responses. This suggested that further nutrient loading from the shrimp farm, resulting in greater nutrient dispersal, will increase the extent of phytoplankton blooms downstream from the site of effluent discharge. When shrimp ponds were empty water quality in the effluent and intake creeks was comparable. This indicated that observed elevated nutrient and phytoplankton concentrations were directly attributable to farm operations.