Historical deposition of mercury and selected trace elements to high-elevation National Parks in the Western U.S. inferred from lake-sediment cores

Atmospheric deposition of Hg and selected trace elements was reconstructed over the past 150 years using sediment cores collected from nine remote, high-elevation lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Glacier National Park in Montana. Cores were age dated by ²¹⁰Pb, and sedimentation rates were determined using the constant rate of supply model. Hg concentrations in most of the cores began to increase around 1900, reaching a peak sometime after 1980. Other trace elements, particularly Pb and Cd, showed similar post-industrial increases in lake sediments, confirming that anthropogenic contaminants are reaching remote areas of the Rocky Mountains via atmospheric transport and deposition. Preindustrial (pre-1875) Hg fluxes in the sediment ranged from 5.7 to 42 μg m^?2 yr^?1 and modern (post-1985) fluxes ranged from 17.7 to 141 μg m^?2 yr^?1. The average ratio of modern to preindustrial fluxes was 3.2, which is similar to remote lakes elsewhere in North America. Estimates of net atmospheric deposition based on the cores were 3.1 μg m^?2 yr^?1 for preindustrial and 11.7 μg m^?2 yr^?1 for modern times. Current-day measurements of wet deposition range from 5.0 to 8.6 μg m^?2 yr^?1, which are lower than the modern sediment-based estimate of 11.7 μg m^?2 yr^?1, perhaps owing to inputs of dry-deposited Hg to the lakes.     

The adsorption process during inorganic phosphorus removal by cultured periphyton

To explain the detailed process involved in phosphorus removal by periphyton, the periphyton dominated by photoautotrophic microorganisms was employed in this study to remove inorganic phosphorus (P _i ) from wastewater, and the removal kinetics and isotherms were then evaluated for the P _i removal process. Results showed that the periphyton was capable of effectively removing P _i that could completely remove the P _i in 24 h at an initial P _i concentration of 13 mg P L^?1. Furthermore, the P _i removal process by the periphyton was dominated by adsorption at initial stage (~24 h), which involved physical mechanistic process. However, this P _i adsorption process was significantly influenced by environmental conditions. This work provides an insight into the understanding of phosphorus adsorption by periphyton or similar microbial aggregates.

Observations of Atmospheric Nitrogen and Phosphorus Deposition During the Period of Algal Bloom Formation in Northern Lake Taihu,China

Cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Taihu occurred at the end of April 2007 and had crucial impacts on the livelihood of millions of people living there. Excessive nutrients may promote bloom formation. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deposition appears to play an important role in algal bloom formation. Bulk deposition and rain water samples were collected respectively from May 1 to November 30, 2007, the period of optimal algal growth, to measure the bulk atmospheric deposition rate, wet deposition rate, and dry deposition rate for total nitrogen (TN; i.e., all species of nitrogen), and total phosphorus (TP; i.e., all species of phosphorus), in northern Lake Taihu, China. The trends of the bulk atmospheric deposition rate for TN and the wet deposition rate for TN showed double peaks during the observation period and distinct influence with plum rains and typhoons. Meanwhile, monthly bulk atmospheric deposition rates for TP showed little influence of annual precipitation. However, excessive rain may lead to high atmospheric N and P deposition rates. In bulk deposition samples, the average percentage of total dissolved nitrogen accounting for TN was 91.2% and changed little with time. However, the average percentage of total dissolved phosphorus accounting for TP was 65.6% and changed substantially with time. Annual bulk atmospheric deposition rates of TN and TP during 2007 in Lake Taihu were estimated to be 2,976 and 84 kg km⁻² a⁻¹, respectively. The results showed decreases of 34.4% and 78.7%, respectively, compared to 2002–2003. Annual bulk deposition load of TN for Lake Taihu was estimated at 6,958 t a⁻¹ in 2007 including 4,642 t a⁻¹ of wet deposition, lower than the values obtained in 2002–2003. This may be due to measures taken to save energy and emission control regulations in the Yangtze River Delta. Nevertheless, high atmospheric N and P deposition loads helped support cyanobacterial blooms in northern Lake Taihu during summer and autumn, the period of favorable algal growth.     

Modeling linkages between sediment resuspension and water quality in a shallow,eutrophic, wind-exposed lake

The interactions between bed sediments and the water column in shallow, eutrophic lakes have tremendous implications for the fate and transport of nutrients in those water bodies. This has resulted in the development of water quality models for lakes incorporating the processes of sediment resuspension. Reliable resuspension models are thus needed to accurately represent this phenomenon. In this paper, three different sediment-resuspension models are combined with a hydrodynamic and water quality model, dynamic lake model-water quality (DLM-WQ), and the resulting models are used to simulate nutrient distributions in the highly eutrophic Salton Sea, California, USA. One of the resuspension formulas is based upon sediment characteristics as well as the bed shear stress exerted by wind-induced waves and currents, while the other two are standard, power-law-type formulas for cohesive sediments with two different exponents. The outputs for water quality variables, such as temperature, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen and nutrients, obtained from the three resulting models and from an earlier DLM-WQ run with a simple empirical sediment-resuspension model are compared with measured data. The level of agreement between the simulations and the measured data is assessed by using both statistical and graphical model evaluation methods, including measures of residual errors, sample autocorrelations, t-tests, and box plots. Based on these assessments, DLM-WQ with an extended version of the García and Parker [García, M.H., Parker, G., 1993. Experiments on the entrainment of sediment into suspension by a dense bottom current. J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans 98, 4793–4807] relationship gave the best results for water quality in the Salton Sea, confirming that the use of formulas with more information on the sediment characteristics yields more accurate results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to combine water quality models for lakes and reservoirs with a sediment-resuspension model which was originally intended for open-channel flows. The simulations confirm that sediment resuspension is the most dominant process in the Salton Sea's nutrient cycling. The effect of proposed physical changes to the Salton Sea on water quality characteristics is also addressed.     

Presence of bacteria in aqueous solution influences virus adsorption on nanoparticles

Virus contamination in wastewater is usually accompanied by the existence of various bacteria. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been shown to efficiently remove virus. In this study, bacterial cells, supernatants, and cultures were harvested separately from three strains at the culture ages of 6 and 24 h, corresponding to the log and stationary phases, respectively. The aim is to investigate how their presence affects virus adsorption on the three Fe and Al oxide NPs (α-Fe₂O₃, γ-Fe₂O₃-B, and Al₂O₃) and how these effects change with bacterial growth phase. Bacteriophage phiX174 was used as a virus model. Results showed that bacterial cells, supernatants, and cultures harvested at 6 h generally reduced virus adsorption by an average of 0.75?±?0.84, 7.7?±?9.0, and 10.3?±?8.6 %, respectively, while those harvested at 24 h reduced virus adsorption by an average of 2.1?±?0.93, 21.5?±?6.6, and 24.6?±?6.9 %, respectively. Among the NPs, α-Fe₂O₃ showed more sensitivity to bacteria than the other two, probably because of its relatively higher value of point of zero charge. It was found that cell-induced and supernatant-induced reductions were combined to achieve added results, in which the supernatants contributed much more than the cells, implying that the bacterial exudates might be more crucial in the reduced virus adsorption than the bacterial cells. These results strongly demonstrated that the bacteria-induced reduction in virus adsorption became more significant with culture age. It is suggested that studies conducted in the absence of bacteria may not accurately evaluate the potential of virus removal efficiency of the NPs in bacteria-containing environments.     

江苏省沿江开发区空间分工、制造业集聚与转移

基于新经济地理学相关理论，针对江苏省沿江开发战略实施以后，制造业空间可能存在的变动，在整理和分析调查问卷资料的基础上，选择专业化指数和基尼系数2种方法来定量分析江苏省21个沿江省级以上开发区空间分工、制造业集聚和转移态势。结果表明：（1）2002~2006年江南沿江开发区通过向江北沿江开发区转移部分传统产业，逐渐形成了江南沿江技术/资本密集型制造业“中心”和江北沿江劳动密集型制造业“外围”的空间分工格局；（2）江南沿江开发区内部、江北沿江开发区内部尚未形成良好的分工关系；（3）受开发区发展阶段、区域产业政策、本地化资源供给和市场需求等因素影响，并未发现理论预期的普遍存在的产业集聚现象，仅纺织服装、石化、电力、塑料橡胶等产业呈现集中趋势.     

过江通道建设对相对落后地区发展的影响——以江苏省南通市为例

苏通大桥及沪崇苏通道的建设将引致区域交通格局的演化，从而对相关地区经济社会发展产生深远影响。对于相对落后的南通市而言，快速过江通道建设既是促进发展的良好机遇，同时也将带来新的挑战和威胁：（1）交通可达性改善明显，南向联系趋于便捷，运输成本相应减小，要素集聚呈现加速态势，但优质要素面临流失威胁；（2）产业规模迅速扩张，但以低层次产业为主，进一步加大了产业层次提升的压力，同时建设用地的盲目扩张和散乱布局，使得空间开发无序风险加剧；（3）进入上海都市圈的紧密圈层，有望成为长江三角洲北翼重要的次中心城市，但面临的竞争压力也不断增大。为促进南通市的可持续发展，政府部门应在推进都市区建设、促进要素集聚、空间资源的合理和统筹利用等方面制定科学有效的区域政策。     

新区域主义视角下的管治尺度构建——以南京都市圈建设为例

在新区域主义的理论视角下，对南京都市圈的新区域实体和区域管治进行研究，指出南京都市圈是新区域主义在我国的一种表现形式。研究表明：①南京都市圈建设是从政府到管治过程，因为在决策中引入了非政府部门和私营部门的参与者；②南京都市圈建设也涉及到区域身份与发展愿景的构建，这是区域协调的起点；③在旅游和引资促销，以及交通网络建设上，南京都市圈内的城市合作不断加强。此外，南京都市圈的新区域主义不同于西方的市场主导的新区域主义。南京都市圈的新区域主义是由政府主导的，并有企业和非政府机构参与的新区域主义。研究指出，南京都市圈是在既有区域制度和政治地理上出现的新管治尺度，是一种新的区域管治模式。南京都市圈建设的有益经验将为和谐规划提供一些启迪。     

极化区功能识别与评价指标研究

城市密集化地区中具有国家战略和拥有重要国际竞争力功能的区域被称之为极化区。在经济全球化、国家之间经济合作与竞争越来越加剧的背景下，各国都把加强极化区建设作为提高本国国际竞争力的重要途径。首先，介绍并评述了德国评价极化区功能的指标体系，包括决策和控制功能、创新和竞争力功能，以及门户功能；其次，针对我国发展阶段和特色，构建了识别我国极化区功能的指标体系；并以极化区理论为指导，分别对长江三角洲、珠江三角洲和京津冀区域规划的功能定位进行比较和评述。当前，为提高我国城市化水平、区域协调发展能力与国际竞争力，国务院批准了多个具有国家战略意义的区域规划，是从我国东中西和各省之间经济协调发展或作为新经济增长点、生态保护与建设的角度有国家意义的区域。通过比照极化区的功能含义，认为其中有的战略区功能定位与极化区的功能相一致，有的可作为新极化区培育，有可能发展为具有较强国际竞争力的极化区，这两种是今后我国极化区研究的主要区域