Marine lakes of karst islands in Ha Long Bay (Vietnam)

Ha Long Bay in North Vietnam is characterized by karst towers and bigger islands totalling more than 3000 isles. Karst processes carved hundreds of caves out of the limestone and contributed to the formation of many enclosed and semi-enclosed saltwater lakes. Here, we report the results of a general survey of several lakes and the first data on the Hang Du I lake, a small basin devoid of any apparent communication with the surrounding sea. Hang Du I is characterized by the presence of Rhizostomeae, genus Mastigias, suggesting strong similarities with the famous lakes described from the archipelago of Palau. Among the benthic organisms sponges are the most important group. Temperature and abundance of the monsoon rains are the main factors influencing remarkable seasonal variations in physical-chemical parameters and the community structure of the lake. A thermal crisis with water temperatures up to 36 °C was recorded in September 2003. In this period, usually abundant medusae and sea anemones totally disappeared. Sponge populations showed fast growth rates in winter and spring and a partial degeneration to face the harsh conditions of the summer season. When isolated from the surrounding marine environment, the saltwater lakes share the condition of oceanic islands, representing spots of habitats surrounded by a completely different environment. The Ha Long Bay marine lakes are not easy to access, being surrounded by tropical forest, but local people usually exploit them for both fishery and oyster harvesting. There is an urgent need to develop measures of protection for these endangered and unique environments, natural laboratories that facilitate the study of evolution of marine organisms, where biodiversity has been until now totally unexplored.     

Sustainable green technology on wastewater treatment: The evaluation of enhanced single chambered up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell

This study demonstrated the potential of single chamber up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell(UFML-MFC) in wastewater treatment and power generation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and enhance the performance under different operational conditions which affect the chemical oxygen demand(COD) reduction and power generation,including the increase of KCl concentration(MFC1) and COD concentration(MFC2). The results showed that the increase of KCl concentration is an important factor in up-flow membrane-less MFC to enhance the ease of electron transfer from anode to cathode. The increase of COD concentration in MFC2 could led to the drop of voltage output due to the prompt of biofilm growth in MFC2 cathode which could increase the internal resistance. It also showed that the COD concentration is a vital issue in up-flow membrane-less MFC.Despite the COD reduction was up to 96%, the power output remained constrained.