Bioaccumulation and enantiomeric profiling of organochlorine pesticides and persistent organic pollutants in the killer whale (Orcinus orca) from British and Irish waters

Concentrations and enantiomeric profiles for a range of organochlorine compounds are reported in blubber samples from a number of individual killer whales (Orcinus orca) from British and Irish waters. Elevated contaminant levels and enriched isotopic ratios were determined in one individual whale sampled in the Scottish Western Isles compared to the others suggesting marine mammal based dietary influences. The potential application of isotopic ratios to model contaminant uptake, enantioselective enrichment and accumulation is demonstrated. Data are presented which provide information on enantioselective enrichment factors (EFs) for o,p'-DDT, alpha-HCH and toxaphene congeners CHB26 and CHB 50. This dataset further improves the current database on reported levels of a number of contaminants and provides additional background information on potential metabolic processes in killer whales from British and Irish waters.     

Further developments of a transient Poisson-cluster model for rainfall

Stochastic point processes for rainfall are known to be able to preserve the temporal variability of rainfall on several levels of aggregation (e.g. hourly, daily), especially when the cluster approach is used. One major assumption in most of the applications todate is the stationarity of the rainfall properties in time, which must be reconsidered under a climate change hypothesis. Here, we propose new theoretical developments of a Poisson-based model with cluster, namely the Neyman–Scott Rectangular Pulses Model, which treats storm frequency as a nonstationary function. In this paper, storm frequency is modelled as a linear function of time in order to reproduce an increase (or decrease) of the mean annual precipitation. The basic theory is reconsidered and the moments are derived up to the third order. Then, a calibration method based on the generalized method of moments is proposed and discussed. An application to a rainfall time series from Uccle illustrates how this model can reproduce a trend for the average rainfall. This work opens new avenues for future developments on transient stochastic rainfall models and highlights the major challenges linked to this approach.     

Hydroclimatic variability and relation with flood events (Southern Québec, Canada)

In the context of global warming, some climatic models predict an increase in flooding in some regions of the world. It is therefore important to better define the high-risk areas and to limit the use of these areas by riverside communities as much as possible. The study deals with the historical and chronological reconstruction of flood events (from 1865 to 2005) in the southern Quebec basins, and compare with the hydroclimatic data (streamflow, temperature, precipitation) over the past century. Different statistic tests are used on hydroclimatic series and flood events to detect the trend observed. We note an important variability of hydrometric data series and the chronological flood events shows a significant trend in increased flooding in the last 100 years.     

Water Quality Modeling and Dissolved Oxygen Balance in Streams: A Point Source Streeter‐Phelps Application in the Case of the Harsit Stream

The Harsit Stream flowing into the Black Sea is an important watershed in the northeastern part of Turkey. The monthly averages of dissolved oxygen, carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, temperature, pH, total suspended solids, total phosphorus and total nitrogen were obtained for the water samples taken from the Tekke, Akcakale and Haciemin sites of the Harsit Stream. Water quality parameters were analyzed and evaluated according to the WHO standards and the Turkish Water Pollution Control Regulation. Initially, the variations in the dissolved oxygen profile were determined from dissolved oxygen, temperature and carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand measurements by using the point source Streeter‐Phelps equation. Critical dissolved oxygen deficit values were calculated for the monthly average from January–December 2005, which are below the limit value (4 mg L^–1) excluding April (7.26 mg L^–1) and May (5.98 mg L^–1) in the Harsit Stream, resulting in it having second class water quality in terms of dissolved oxygen concentration, temperature, pH and biochemical oxygen demand. It is also seen that the minimum dissolved oxygen limit value (8 mg L^–1), which is a desired quantity for drinking water, is under the limit value for all months in the case of the water mixture. In particular, during the summer months, the consumption speed of oxygen is greater than the production speed of oxygen with increasing temperature and decreasing discharge, and negative values (anoxia) of dissolved oxygen sag are seen. These situations call for significant precautions and treatment criteria.