Different cardiac response to copper in limpets from metal polluted and clean shores of Hong Kong

The gastropod limpet, Cellana grata, is common on moderately exposed to exposed Hong Kong rocky shores. On the basis of the existing literature on trace metal contamination in Hong Kong, four sites were identified, representative of highly polluted (Aberdeen and Lei Yue Mun) and clean (Cape d'Aguilar and Clear Water Bay) conditions. Limpets from the two polluted sites showed similar, but significantly higher body concentrations of copper than limpets from the two clean sites, which were also similar. Non-invasive measurements of cardiac activity of limpets from the four sites showed between site differences in baseline heart rates under standard seawater, irrespective of pollution level. When acutely exposed to water borne copper (2 h, 0.5+/-0.06 SD ppm), however, limpets from clean sites showed a significantly higher increase in inter-beating time (bradycardia) than those from polluted sites. These results highlight the potential use of cardiac activity to assess the exposure of natural populations of limpets to trace metal pollution.     

Demographic transition in Sri Lanka: a spatial perspective

Demographic transition theory involves a lagging fertility transition induced by a leading mortality transition. This article focuses on the linkage between the mortality and fertility transitions in Sri Lanka; it discusses the measurement of areal fertility, demonstrates the use of a measure not commonly used in population geography, and shows areal association between past mortality and recent fertility. The Coale or Princeton fertility indices allow a reasonably good view of structural and behavioral aspects of fertility; the Coale indices examine the contribution of structure to total fertility and the contribution of marital fertility. Although recent fertility decline has been less rapid than the post-war mortality decline, Sri Lanka's crude birth rate in 1975 was the 5th lowest in Asia. Sri Lanka experienced very high crude death rates in 1930, and quite low rates in 1950 and in subsequent years. This demonstrates an association between historic mortality and recent fertility, and that association can be linked deductively to demographic transition theory. In 1930, malaria was endemic throughout the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, and hyperendemic in several districts. The Spearman rank correlation coefficients reveal the strongest relationship between malaria and nuptiality; this lends evidence to the notion that structural influences on fertility--such as delayed marriage--are more important than influences on marital fertility--such as coital frequency. The evidence suggests that mortalily decline in Sri Lanka led to an increase in fertility in those areas where malaria had been concentrated. This suggests the possibility that measures constituting malaria control or eradication also stimulate increased fertility; therefore, anti-malarial programs must be integrated with family planning.     

晋陕峡谷基座阶地沉积物释光测年方法的比较研究

黄河的系列阶地是其发育过程中最直接的遗迹记录,确定阶地的精确形成年代是研究其地貌演化最重要的关键问题之一。尽管以往对黄河阶地进行了大量的测年研究,尤其是光释光测年,但对各测年方法结果可靠性的比较相对较少。本研究选择黄河晋陕峡谷黑峪口地区的一个典型基座阶地,对其沉积物进行多方法的光释光测年研究,包括应用于细粒（FG）石英与粗粒（CG）石英的单片剂量再生法（OSL-SAR）和应用于粗粒钾长石的红外后多步高温红外法（MET-pIRIR）;同时,测定了现代黄河河流样品不同释光信号的残余剂量。结果表明,粗粒和细粒石英具有不同的光释光性质,细粒石英的光释光性质具有更多的快组分、更高的饱和剂量和热稳定性等使其更适合光释光OSL-SAR方法测年。尽管现代样品的细颗粒比粗颗粒有更大的光释光（SAR-OSL）残余剂量,但阶地样品的细颗粒SAR-OSL年龄与地层层序的一致性表明细颗粒的光释光年代是可靠的。现代样品粗颗粒石英的光释光信号晒退较彻底,但阶地样品的粗颗粒石英SAR-OSL年龄与地层的不一致性和其较大的离散性,表明其SAR-OSL年龄的可靠性不如细颗粒石英。根据细粒石英的SAR-OSL年龄,研究阶地的形成年龄为64.7±2.5 ka。现代样品中的MET-pIRIR和回授光释光信号（TT-OSL）晒退不彻底,阶地沉积物样品钾长石的MET-pIRIR年龄远高于其对应的石英SAR-OSL年龄,并大于其上覆马兰黄土的年代上限。本研究说明在进行其他黄河阶地释光测年时,应同时应用粗粒和细粒石英,通过分析其光释光性质和样品的地貌沉积过程来确定其可靠性。在对阶地沉积物应用石英的TT-OSL和钾长石MET-pIRIR方法测年时需要特别谨慎。

     

Design and application of a direct-push vadose zone gravel permeameter

A borehole permeameter is well suited for testing saturated hydraulic conductivity (K(sat)) at specific depths in the vadose zone. Most applications of the method involve fine-grained soils that allow hand auguring of test holes and require a small water reservoir to maintain a constant head. In non-cohesive gravels, hand-dug test holes are difficult to excavate, holes are prone to collapse, and large volumes of water are necessary to maintain a constant head for the duration of the test. For coarse alluvial gravels, a direct-push steel permeameter was designed to place a slotted pipe at a specific sampling depth. Measurements can be made at successive depths at the same location. A 3790 L (1000 gallons) trailer-mounted water tank maintained a constant head in the permeameter. Head in the portable tank was measured with a pressure transducer and flow was calculated based on a volumetric rating curve. A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation analytical method was utilized to calculate K(sat). Measurements with the permeameter at a field site were similar to those reported from falling-head tests.     

3年独立研究观测到的地震有关的地电变化

给出了某些地震前地电的观测结果。数据是在帕特雷大学地震中心用ＶＡＮ方法在３年独立实验研究期间搜集的。记录的信号包括：（ａ）地电场的缓慢变化；（ｂ）地电场的周期变化；（ｃ）地震电信号。     

An investigation of numerical grid effects in parameter estimation

Modern ground water characterization and remediation projects routinely require calibration and inverse analysis of large three-dimensional numerical models of complex hydrogeological systems. Hydrogeologic complexity can be prompted by various aquifer characteristics including complicated spatial hydrostratigraphy and aquifer recharge from infiltration through an unsaturated zone. To keep the numerical models computationally efficient, compromises are frequently made in the model development, particularly, about resolution of the computational grid and numerical representation of the governing flow equation. The compromise is required so that the model can be used in calibration, parameter estimation, performance assessment, and analysis of sensitivity and uncertainty in model predictions. However, grid properties and resolution as well as applied computational schemes can have large effects on forward-model predictions and on inverse parameter estimates. We investigate these effects for a series of one- and two-dimensional synthetic cases representing saturated and variably saturated flow problems. We show that "conformable" grids, despite neglecting terms in the numerical formulation, can lead to accurate solutions of problems with complex hydrostratigraphy. Our analysis also demonstrates that, despite slower computer run times and higher memory requirements for a given problem size, the control volume finite-element method showed an advantage over finite-difference techniques in accuracy of parameter estimation for a given grid resolution for most of the test problems.     

Analytical model for aquifer response incorporating distributed stream leakage

An analytical model of stream/aquifer interaction is proposed that predicts drawdown in an aquifer with leakage from a finite-width stream induced by pumping from a well. The model is formulated based on the assumptions of stream partial penetration, a semipervious streambed, and distributed recharge across a finite-width stream. Advantages of the analytical solution include its simple structure, consisting of the Theis well function with integral modifications. The solution is derived for the semi-infinite domain between the stream and pumping well, which is of primary interest to hydrogeologists. Previous stream/aquifer analytical models are compared to the analytical solution based on dimensionless drawdown profiles. Drawdown in the aquifer near a wide stream was found to be less than that predicted by a solution that ignored stream width. Deviations between the proposed analytical solutions and previous solutions increase as stream width increases. For a hypothetical stream/aquifer system, the proposed analytical solution was equivalent to prior solutions when the ratio of the distance between the stream and aquifer to the stream width was greater than 25. This analytical solution may provide improved estimates of aquifer and streambed leakage parameters by curve fitting experimental field drawdown data.     

Spatial and temporal variability of ground water recharge in central Australia: a tracer approach

Two environmental tracer methods are applied to the Ti-Tree Basin in central Australia to shed light on the importance of recharge from floodouts of ephemeral rivers in this arid environment. Ground water carbon-14 concentrations from boreholes are used to estimate the average recharge rate over the interval between where the ground water sample first entered the saturated zone and the bore. Environmental chloride concentrations in ground water samples provide estimates of the recharge rate at the exact point in the landscape where the sample entered the saturated zone. The results of the two tracer approaches indicate that recharge rates around one of the rivers and an extensive floodplain are generally higher than rates of diffuse recharge that occurs in areas of lower topographic relief. Ground water 2H/1H and 18O/16O compositions are all depleted in the heavier isotopes (delta2H = -67 per thousand to -50 per thousand; delta18O = -9.2 per thousand to -5.7%o) compared with the long-term, amount-weighted mean isotopic composition of rainfall in the area (delta2H = -33.8 per thousand; delta18O = -6.3 per thousand). This indicates that recharge throughout the basin occurs only after intense rainfall events of at least 150 to 200 mm/month. Finally, a recharge map is developed to highlight the spatial extent of the two recharge mechanisms. Floodout recharge to the freshest ground water (TDS <1,000 mg/L) is approximately 1.9 mm/year compared with a mean recharge rate of approximately 0.2 mm/year to the remainder of the basin. These findings have important implications for management of the ground water resource.