北京城区大气干沉降的水溶性离子特征

为了解北京城区大气干沉降中水溶性离子的化学组成与时间变化特征,连续进行了4年多的干沉降采样与分析.结果表明,在222个有效干沉降样品中,存在不同程度的阴离子缺失. SO42-与Ca2+分别是含量最丰富的阴、阳离子组分,其次是NO3-和NH4+. SO42-、NO3-和NH4+呈现相似的季节变化特征,即其浓度在夏季最高,冬季最低. 干沉降基本呈中性,其pH值月变化幅度小,但季节变化明显,夏季低而春季高.     

Ionic composition of TSP and PM2.5 during dust storms and air pollution episodes at Xi'an,China

TSP and PM_2.5 samples were collected at Xi'an, China during dust storms (DSs) and several types of pollution events, including haze, biomass burning, and firework displays. Aerosol mass concentrations were up to 2 times higher during the particulate matter (PM) events than on normal days (NDs), and all types of PM led to decreased visibility. Water-soluble ions (Na⁺, NH₄⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, F^?, Cl^?, NO₃^?, and SO₄^2?). were major aerosol components during the pollution episodes, but their concentrations were lower during DSs. NH₄⁺, K⁺, F^?, Cl^?, NO₃^?, and SO₄^2? were more abundant in PM_2.5 than TSP but the opposite was true for Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺. PM collected on hazy days was enriched with secondary species (NH₄⁺, NO₃^?, and SO₄²) while PM from straw combustion showed high K⁺ and Cl^?. Firework displays caused increases in K⁺ and also enrichments of NO₃^? relative to SO₄^2?. During DSs, the concentrations of secondary aerosol components were low, but Ca²⁺ was abundant. Ion balance calculations indicate that PM from haze and straw combustion was acidic while the DSs samples were alkaline and the fireworks' PM was close to neutral. Ion ratios (SO₄^2?/K⁺, NO₃^?/SO₄^2?, and Cl^?/K⁺) proved effective as indicators for different pollution episodes.     

Model prediction on the rise of pCO2 in uniform flows by leakage of CO2 purposefully stored under the seabed

A numerical study was conducted to predict pCO₂ change in the ocean on a continental shelf by the leakage of CO₂, which is originally stored in the aquifer under the seabed, in the case that a large fault connects the CO₂ reservoir and the seabed by an earthquake or other diastrophism. The leakage rate was set to be 6.025 × 10⁻⁴ kg/m²/sec from 2 m × 100 m fault band, which corresponds to 3800 t-CO₂/year, referring to the monitored seepage rate from an existing EOR field. The target space in this study was limited to the ocean above the seabed, the depth of which was 200 or 500 m. The computational domain was idealistically rectangular with the seabed fault-band perpendicular to the uniform flow. The CO₂ takes a form of bubbles or droplets, depending on the depth of water, and their behaviour and dissolution were numerically simulated during their rise in seawater flow. The advection–diffusion of dissolved CO₂ was also simulated. As a result, it was suggested that the leaked CO₂ droplets/bubbles all dissolve in the seawater before spouting up to the atmosphere, and that the increase in pCO₂ in the seawater was smaller than 500 μ atm.     

Advantages and risks of using steel slag in preparing composts from raw organic waste

It had been reported that iron and manganese oxides in steel slag enhanced the production of humic acid (HA) from low-molecular-weight compounds, such as phenolic acids, amino acids, and saccharides. In the present study, this function of steel slag was applied to the composting of raw organic wastes (ROWs). The degree of humification of HAs is an important factor in evaluating compost quality. Thus, HAs were extracted from the prepared composts and the humification parameters were determined, in terms of elemental compositions, acidic functional group contents, molecular weights, spectroscopic parameters from UV–vis absorption and ¹³C NMR spectra. The timing for adding steel slag affected the degree of humification of HAs in the composts. The weight average molecular weight of a HA when slag was added initially (29 kDa) was significantly higher than when slag was added after elevating the temperature of the compost pile (17–18 kDa). These results show that ROWs are decomposed to low-molecular-weight compounds after the pile temperature is elevated and the presence of slag enhances the polycondensation of these compounds to produce HAs with a higher degree of humification. Because the slag used in the present study contained several-tens ng g^?1 to several μg g^?1 of toxic elements (B, Cu, Cr, and Zn), leaching tests for these elements from the prepared composts were carried out. Levels for leaching boron from composts prepared by adding slag (0.2–0.4 mg L^?1) were obviously higher than the corresponding levels without slag (0.05 mg L^?1).     

Numerical simulation on multi-scale diffusion of CO2 injected in the deep ocean in a practical scenario

The direct injection of CO₂ into the deep ocean is one of the ways for the mitigation of the global warming. There is, however, a concern about its environmental impact near the injection point. To minimize its biological impact, it is necessary to make CO₂ disperse as fast as possible and it is thought that injection with pipes towed by moving-ships is effective for this purpose. Because the injection ships are planned to move in the site, the order of magnitude of which is 10² km, a mesoscale model is required to predict CO₂ fate in seawater. At the same time, it is required to predict the concentration precisely near the injection points, which move with the ships in the mesoscale domain. In this study, a multi-scale ocean model was developed to analyze the dispersion of CO₂ in the deep ocean: the model consists of a fixed mesoscale domain and 5 small-scale domains nesting in the mesoscale domain. Each small-scale domain involves 6 pipes and moves along with the trajectories of the injection ships. From the results of the present numerical simulation, the developed technique demonstrated its applicability as a tool to optimise the system to dilute CO₂ below some criterion of biological impact.     

Studies on the accumulation and transformation of arsenic in freshwater organisms I. Accumulation, transformation and toxicity of arsenic compounds on the Japanese medaka, Oryzias latipes

Accumulation, transformation and toxicity of arsenic compounds to Japanese Medaka, Oryzias latipes were investigated. For sodium arsenite [As(II)] and disodium arsenate [As(V)], the mean value for 7-day lethal concentration LC50 for O. latipes were 14.6 and 30.3 mg As/l, respectively. Direct accumulation of arsenic in O. latipes increased as a function of As(III) concentration in water. A small proportion of accumulated arsenic was transformed to methylated arsenic. As much as 70% of the total arsenic accumulated in tissue was depurated. Accumulation and transformation of As(III) by O. latipes in a simple freshwater food chain were also investigated. The transformation of As(III) to As(V) by organisms was more prevalent than biomethylation of accumulated arsenic in organisms of the three steps of the food chain.     

Anthropogenic radionuclides in the Japan Sea: their distributions and transport processes

The anthropogenic radionuclides, (90)Sr, (137)Cs and (239+240)Pu, were measured in the water column of the Japan Sea/East Sea during 1997-2000. The vertical profiles of radionuclide concentrations showed: exponential decrease with depth for (90)Sr and (137)Cs, and surface minimum/subsurface maximum for (239+240)Pu. These results do not differ substantially from results reported previously. The area-averaged concentrations of radionuclides in the Japan Sea are higher than those found in the Northwest Pacific Ocean below surface layer showing the accumulation of the radionuclides in the deep waters in the Japan Sea. Concerning spatial distributions, the area of high (137)Cs inventory extends from the Japan Basin into the Yamato Basin. It is suggested that wintertime convection of water, occurring mainly in the Japan Basin, causes the radionuclides to sink. The nuclides then advect into the Yamato Basin after detouring around the Yamato Rise.     

Assessing the impacts of current and future concentrations of surface ozone on crop yield with meta-analysis

Meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively assess the effects of rising ozone concentrations ([O₃]) on yield and yield components of major food crops: potato, barley, wheat, rice, bean and soybean in 406 experimental observations. Yield loss of the crops under current and future [O₃] was expressed relative to the yield under base [O₃] (≤26 ppb). With potato, current [O₃] (31–50 ppb) reduced the yield by 5.3%, and it reduced the yield of barley, wheat and rice by 8.9%, 9.7% and 17.5%, respectively. In bean and soybean, the yield losses were 19.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Compared with yield loss at current [O₃], future [O₃] (51–75 ppb) drove a further 10% loss in yield of soybean, wheat and rice, and 20% loss in bean. Mass of individual grain, seed, or tuber was often the major cause of the yield loss at current and future [O₃], whereas other yield components also contributed to the yield loss in some cases. No significant difference was found between the responses in crops grown in pots and those in the ground for any yield parameters. The ameliorating effect of elevated [CO₂] was significant in the yields of wheat and potato, and the individual grain weight in wheat exposed to future [O₃]. These findings confirm the rising [O₃] as a threat to food security for the growing global population in this century.     

Gene expression profiles in the testis associated with testis-ova in adult Japanese medaka (Oryziaslatipes) exposed to 17α-ethinylestradiol

The occurrence of oocytes in the testis (testis-ova) of several fish species is often associated with exposure of estrogenic chemicals. However, induction mechanisms of the testis-ova remain to be elucidated. To develop marker genes for detecting testis-ova in the testis, adult male medaka were exposed to nominal concentration of 100 ng L⁻¹ of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) for 3-5 weeks, and 800 ng estradiol benzoate (EB) for 3 weeks (experiment I), and a measured concentration of 20 ng L⁻¹ EE2 for 1-6 weeks (experiment II). Histological analysis was performed for the testis, and microarray analyses were performed for the testis, liver and brain. Microarray analysis in the estrogen-exposed medaka liver showed vitellogenin and choriogenin as estrogen responsive genes. Testis-ova were induced in the testis after 4 weeks of exposure to 100 ng L⁻¹ EE2, 3 weeks of exposure to 800 ng EB, and 6 weeks of exposure to 20 ng L⁻¹ EE2. Microarray analysis of estrogen-exposed testes revealed up-regulation of genes related to zona pellucida (ZP) and the oocytes marker gene, 42Sp50. Using quantitative RT-PCR we confirmed that Zpc5 gene can be used as a marker for the detection of testis-ova in male medaka.