Screening and characterization of the alkaline protease isolated from PLI-1, a strain of Brevibacillus sp. collected from Indonesia’s hot springs

A total of 69 strains of thermophilic bacteria were isolated from water, soil and sediment samples from three Indonesia’s hot spring areas (Pantai cermin, Kalianda and Banyu wedang) by using Minimal Synthetic Medium (MSM). The extreme thermophile Brevibacillus sp. PLI-1 was found to produce extracellular thermophilic alkaline protease with optimal activity at 70℃ and pH 8.0-9.0. The molecular weight of the protease was estimated to be around 56 kD by SDS-PAGE. The maximum activity of the protease was 26.54 U mL-1. The protease activity did not decrease after 30 min and still retained more than 70% of relative activity after 60 min at 70℃ and pH 8.0. The ion Mg2+ was found to promote protease activity at both low and high concentrations, whereas Cu2+ and Zn2+ could almost completely inhibit the activity. Divalent cation chelator EDTA inhibited the enzyme activity by 55.06% ± 0.27%, while the inhibition caused by PMSF, Leupeptin, Pepstain A and Benzamidine were 66.78% ± 3.25%, 52.37% ± 0.25%, 62.47% ± 2.96% and 50.99% ± 0.24%, respectively. Based on these observations, the enzyme activity was conspicuously sensitive to the serine and cysteine protease inhibitors. All these results indicated that the protease isolated from the strain PLI-1 was a thermophilic protease and had a high-temperature stability and a pH stability.     

40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of Volcanic and Intrusive Rocks in the Papandayan Metallic Prospect Area,West Java,Indonesia

This study presents new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages on the volcanic and intrusive rocks from the Papandayan metallic district in West Java, Indonesia. The vein system in the Arinem area, one of the prospective areas in the district, has been considered as an epithermal gold–silver–base metal deposit, however, no published age results are available for the host volcanic rocks in the district. The ages of these rocks are critical in terms of their association with mineralization and are important to understand the evolution of volcanism in the region, which has implications for mineral exploration in the district. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of two typical basalt and one andesite samples of the Jampang Formation volcanic rocks yielded ages of 11.65 ± 0.52 Ma, 18.15 ± 0.46 Ma and 7.69 ± 0.05 Ma, respectively. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of three intrusive rock samples from Gunung Halang diorite, Gunung Lingga diorite, and Gunung Buligir fine‐grained quartz diorite yielded ages of 12.98 ± 0.20 Ma, 10.81 ± 0.15 Ma, and 7.37 ± 0.05 Ma, respectively. The age of the youngest fine‐grained diorite (Gunung Wayang dike) is 3.95 ± 0.03 Ma. An ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age obtained from adularia in the Arinem mineralized vein (18.30 ± 0.20 Ma) is older than the age of altered basalt sample of this study (11.65 ± 0.52 Ma) and the K–Ar illite ages of the Arinem vein (9.4 ± 0.3 Ma and 8.8 ± 0.3 Ma) which resulted from a previous study. The age results suggest that the Papandayan district may have experienced multiple hydrothermal and mineralization events. This study, therefore, provides crucial age data to support future mineral exploration in the district.     

Three-dimensional analysis of wave attenuation by a submerged, horizontal, bottom-mounted, flexible shell

The effectiveness of a submerged, bottom-mounted, flexible breakwater is investigated numerically. The structure is a horizontal, hemicylindrical shell filled with water. Potential flow is considered, and steady-state motions caused by monochromatic waves are studied. The three-dimensional response to normal and oblique waves is determined using the finite element method and a boundary integral method. Results are presented for a shell with a length of 150 m and a radius of 4 m, situated in water having a mean depth of 6 m. They indicate that the structure is effective in reducing the incident wave intensity over a wide range of frequencies.     

Large-scale rainfall–runoff–inundation modeling for upper Citarum River watershed,Indonesia

The Citarum River is one of the strategic rivers in West Java, Indonesia. Its total watershed area is approximately 1800 km². Almost every year, the overflow from the Citarum River causes the inundation of most of the upper Citarum River watershed. To prevent and mitigate flood damage, it is necessary to understand the flooding characteristics. The region, however, suffers from a lack of observational data. Therefore, to analyze the inundation caused by flooding in the upper Citarum River watershed, a rainfall–runoff–inundation (RRI) model was employed. It used the following multiple satellite-derived datasets as input data as well as for model verification: Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation, Hydrological data and maps based on Shuttle elevation Derivatives at multiple scales, Global Mosaics of the standard MODIS land cover type data product, and Landsat 7 satellite images. Parameter calibration was performed using a Monte Carlo simulation. The simulation was performed for February 2010. The results of this study show that the RRI model identifies inundation areas in large-scale river watersheds more effectively when using multiple satellite-derived datasets compared with the observed inundation map obtained from JICA in 2010 and Landsat 7 images. The model results can be improved if high-quality observed rainfall data, topographic data, and river cross-sectional data are available.     

Identification of best predictors for forecasting seasonal rainfall and runoff in Australia

The first step towards developing a reliable seasonal runoff forecast is identifying the key predictors that drive rainfall and runoff. This paper investigates the lag relationships between rainfall across Australia and runoff across southeast Australia versus 12 atmospheric‐oceanic predictors, and how the relationships change over time. The analysis of rainfall data indicates that the relationship is greatest in spring and summer in northeast Australia and in spring in southeast Australia. The best predictors for spring rainfall in eastern Australia are NINO4 [sea surface temperature (SST) in western Pacific] and thermocline (20 °C isotherm of the Pacific) and those for summer rainfall in northeast Australia are NINO4 and Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) (pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin). The relationship in northern Australia is greatest in spring and autumn with NINO4 being the best predictor. In western Australia, the relationship is significant in summer, where SST2 (SST over the Indian Ocean) and II (SST over the Indonesian region) is the best predictor in the southwest and northwest, respectively. The analysis of runoff across southeast Australia indicates that the runoff predictability in the southern parts is greatest in winter and spring, with antecedent runoff being the best predictor. The relationship between spring runoff and NINO4, thermocline and SOI is also relatively high and can be used together with antecedent runoff to forecast spring runoff. In the northern parts of southeast Australia, the atmospheric‐oceanic variables are better predictors of runoff than antecedent runoff, and have significant correlation with winter, spring and summer runoff. For longer lead times, the runoff serial correlation is reduced, especially over the northern parts, and the atmospheric‐oceanic variables are likely to be better predictors for forecasting runoff. The correlations between runoff versus the predictors vary with time, and this has implications for the development of forecast relationship that assumes stationarity in the historical data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age determination of paleotsunami sediments around Lombok Island,Indonesia, and identification of their possible tsunamigenic earthquakes

Age determination of paleotsunami sediment from Lombok Island, Indonesia, and surrounding area has been carried out using the 210 Pb method in BATAN Jakarta. The basic theory of this method assumes that weathering of sediments, including paleotsunami sediments, will result in 210 Pb enrichment. The principle of this method is to calculate 210 Pb contents accumulation in a particular sedimentation interval from the surface to the deeper buried sediments. The results are then converted into age or depositional time in years ago unit. The dating results from the paleotsunami sediments of the Gawah Pudak(S8°46’2.91’’, E115°56’34.23’’) and Gili Trawangan areas(S8°21’1.38’’, E116°2’36.6’’) indicate the Gawah Pudak sediments were deposited 37 years ago(c. in 1977)and 22 years ago(c. in 1992). Three paleotsunami sediments from Gili Trawangan were deposited 149 years ago(c. in 1865), 117 years ago(c. in 1897) and 42 years ago(c. in 1972). These results are then compared to the available Indonesian earthquake catalogue data. This study reveals that paleotsunami sediments around Lombok Islands, from older to younger, were caused by the 1857 earthquake(epicentre in Bali Sea; M7; S8°00’09.45’’,E115°29’56.41’’), 1897 earthquake(epicentre in Flores Sea;M5.5; S6°47’59.62’’, E120°48’03.5’’ or Sulu Sea earthquake; M8.5; 70 km NW of Basilan Island), the 1975 earthquake(Nusa Tenggara; S10°6’16.61’’, E123°48’09.39’’), 1977 earthquake(in Waingapu, Sumba; M8.0;S11°5’39.34’’, E118°27’50.86’’) and the 1992 earthquake(Flores; M7.8; S8°28’52.11’’, E121°53’44.3’’).     

煤中铬的研究现状

对煤中铬的地球化学行为,分布,赋存形式,富集机理,迁移规律等方面的研究现状进行了综述。     

印度尼西亚Padang Cermin热泉古菌多样性分析

通过印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛Padang Cermin热泉环境基因组DNA构建古菌16S rRNA基因文库,并利用PCR-RFLP技术对其古菌多样性和系统发育分析进行了研究.根据限制性内切酶AluⅠ和MspⅠ的特征性酶切图谱,将62个阳性克隆归类为14个分类操作单位(operational taxonomic unit,OTU),文库的覆盖度达90.32％.克隆文库的优势类群为OTU2和OTU1,分别占克隆文库的27.42％和20.96％.从每个OUT中选取一个代表性克隆进行16S rRNA基因的序列测定与系统发育分析,结果表明,测定的Padang Cermin热泉中的古菌均属于泉古菌门,包括热变形菌目(Thermoproteales)、硫还原球菌目(Desulfurococcales)、杂色泉古菌(miscellaneous crenarchaeotic group,MCG)和未培养泉古菌(uncultured Crenarchaeota,UC),该热泉代表性克隆与GenBank数据库已有16S rRNA序列的相似性为91.9％～97.8％,而且与其相似性最高的序列均来自未培养的古菌克隆,由结果可见,Padang Cermin热泉古菌群落与已报道的其他热泉古菌群落的相似性较低,表明该热泉可能具有某些独特的特征,存在着特殊的古菌生态类群.