It's a dirty job but someone has to do it: The role of marine benthic macrofauna in organic matter turnover and nutrient recycling to the water column

Benthic macrofaunal populations through their feeding, bioturbation, burrow construction and sediment irrigation activities have profound influences on organic matter inputs to marine sediments (biodeposition) and on the vertical distribution of deposited organic matter within the sediment. These effects in turn influence the rates and pathways of organic matter mineralisation, and element cycles. Similarly, bioturbation, burrow construction and burrow irrigation are major determinants of sediment-water column fluxes of oxygen and nutrients.

In this review, I discuss the influences of the different benthic macrofaunal feeding (functional) groups on mineralisation processes and sediment-water column fluxes of particulate and dissolved nutrients. How these effects influence diagenic processes, the balance between aerobic and anaerobic processes, and the redox status of the surficial sediments. Finally, I discuss some of the limitations of the predominantly laboratory techniques which have been used to study “macrofaunal effects” and how this hinders the inclusion of the effects in quantitative sediment biogeochemical models.     

Modeling estuarine-shelf exchanges in a deltaic estuary: Implications for coastal carbon budgets and hypoxia

The export of wetland-derived materials to the coastal ocean (i.e., the “Outwelling” hypothesis) has received considerable attention over the past several decades. While a number of studies have shown that estuaries export appreciable amounts of nutrients and carbon, few studies have attempted to estimate the importance of estuarine sources for the coastal carbon budgets in river-dominated coastal ecosystems. A novel tidal prism model was developed to examine estuarine-shelf exchanges in the Barataria estuary, a deltaic estuary located in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. This estuary has been the site of a massive wetland loss, and it has been hypothesized that carbon export from the eroding coastal wetlands supports the development of a large hypoxic zone in the coastal Gulf of Mexico. The model results show that the Barataria estuary receives nitrogen through the tidal passes and releases carbon to the coastal ocean. The mean calculated tidal water discharge of 6930 m³ s⁻¹ is equivalent to about 43% of the lower Mississippi River discharge. The annual total organic carbon (TOC) export is 109 million kg, or 57 gC m² yr⁻¹ when prorated to the total water area of the estuary. This carbon export is equivalent to a loss of 0.5 m of wetland soil horizon over an area of 8.4 km², and accounts for about 34% of the observed annual wetland loss in the estuary between 1978 and 2000. Compared to the lower Mississippi River, the Barataria estuary appears to be a very small source of TOC for the northern Gulf of Mexico (2.7% of riverine TOC), and is unlikely to have a significant influence on the development of the Gulf's hypoxia.     

层状半空间中沉积谷地对入射SV波的放大作用——时域解答

利用傅里叶变换方法,研究了层状半空间中沉积谷地对SV波的时域散射问题。首先,通过傅里叶变换将时域问题转换为离散的频域问题,针对有效频率成分采用间接边界元方法求解频域响应,再将所得频域结果进行傅里叶逆变换得到时域解答。通过与已有结果的对比,验证了方法的正确性。最后,以基岩上单一土层中沉积谷地在R icker波入射下的散射问题为例进行了数值计算分析,结果表明,沉积谷地和土层的存在都会造成振动持续时间的增长;层状半空间中沉积谷地和均匀半空间中沉积谷地对波的放大作用存在显著差别。文中分析了造成该差别的原因,并讨论了覆盖层厚度和刚度对散射效应的影响。     

海州露天矿采空区地表CO2通量的试验研究

为探究海州露天矿东邦废弃采空区自然发火状态,基于采空区遗煤自燃特性和气体扩散理论,采用智能土壤气体通量监测系统,以月为单位,对东邦自燃采空区上覆地表CO₂通量开展长周期、多测点连续性监测试验;根据试验区域内地表CO₂通量和土壤温度分布特征,探究地下火区释放CO₂的地表涌出范围和变化情况;同时,着眼于温室气体排放的评估,计算试验区域内的CO₂涌出量,并分析其随时间的变化特征。结果表明:地表CO₂通量与土壤温度有明显正相关性;试验区域地表CO₂高通量区域呈逐月扩大和递增的趋势;CO₂涌出量随月份逐渐递增,试验区域年CO₂涌出量约为3.6×10⁶ m³。     

北太平洋地区春季粉尘的空间分布特征——观测及模拟

通过对2001年4月的一次中亚强沙尘暴过程的观测事实分析和数值模拟,结果表明,源自中亚的强沙尘暴扬起的粉尘,通过西风急流远程传输到韩国、日本、北太平洋、北美大陆.北太平洋地区的沙尘沉积通量空间分布将主要取决于3个方面:沙尘沉积通量随传输距离的增加呈指数衰减;传输路径上粉尘有较高的沉降通量;沙尘过境时的降水空间格局将在很大程度上决定粉尘的沉降空间格局.     

多环芳烃在珠江口的百年沉积记录

伶仃洋西滩为珠江口的重要沉积区之一.本文分析了采自伶仃洋西滩沉积钻孔(Core 25)中多环芳烃的垂直分布和含量特征,结合²¹⁰Pb定年,重现了该地区近百年来多环芳烃(PAH)的沉积历史.多环芳烃在整个沉积剖面(0～62cm)的含量介于59～330ng·g^-1 (干重) .从19世纪60年代开始,PAH沉积通量逐渐上升,在20世纪50年代达到第一个高峰值.PAH含量在20世纪60～70年代有所降低.20世纪80年代后,PAH含量急剧上升,并在90年代达到最高值.珠江口沉积柱中的多环芳烃主要为热成因来源,其通量变化与周边人类活动(国内生产总值,机动车数量,能源消耗)呈正相关.大气干湿沉降及地表的冲刷作用是PAH进入水体沉积物的主要途径.     

珠江口现代沉积物柱芯样多环芳烃高分辨沉积记录研究

通过对采集于珠江三角洲澳门河口区的沉积物柱状样品中多环芳烃的GC MS定量分析测定,并结合210Pb同位素定年分析,重建了珠江口近代有机污染物的污染史(1959～1996年).研究结果表明,柱芯样品中多环芳烃的浓度为0.6～4.5μg·g-1(干重计),污染程度为中等.其中在20世纪60年代和80年代分别记录到两个高的污染峰,表明这两个时间段内有较大的污染物输入.以母体化合物比值对沉积物样品中的多环芳烃来源进行了分析,结果表明是受到了以油类和不完全燃烧产物为主的混合污染,且污染来源较为单一.对沉积物毒性潜在效应的计算表明,表层沉积物毒性效应较大,且从90年代初期开始后至1996年,毒性当量浓度呈线性趋势增加.     

Improvement of the antifouling characteristics in a bioreactor of polypropylene microporous membrane by the adsorption of Tween 20

Surface modification by physical adsorption of Tween 20 was accomplished on polypropylene microporous membranes (PPMMs). Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to characterize the chemical and morphological changes on the membrane surfaces. Water contact angles and relative pure water fluxes were measured. The data showed that the hydrophilic performance for the modified membranes increased with the increase in the adsorption amount of Tween 20 onto the surface or into the pores of polypropylene microporous membranes. To test the antifouling property of the membranes by the adsorption of Tween 20 in a membrane bioreactor (MBR), filtration for active sludge was performed using synthetic wastewater. With the help of the data of water fluxes and the FE-SEM photos of the modified PPMMs before or after operating in a MBR for about 12 d, the PPMMs with monolayer adsorption of Tween 20 showed higher remained flux and stronger antifouling ability than unmodified membrane and other modification membranes studied.     

Dynamics of Carbon Pools and Fluxes in Russia's Forest Lands

The state and results of studies on the carbon cycle of forests on lands of the Russian forest fund (total area 1172 × 10⁶ ha) are analyzed at the federal level. Consideration is given to changes in the areas of different categories of forest lands, the age structure of stands, the pool and deposition of carbon in the phytomass, and the organic carbon pool of soils over the period from 1966 to 1998; the dynamics of activity in the forest industry by years and the extent of pyrogenic transformation of the forest cover between 1990 and 2001; and carbon fluxes associated with forest exploitation, including carbon emission resulting from fires.     

Dynamic pursuing ecological model concerning the nitrogen cycle in the environment of Chinese mainland

The paper gives a special dynamic pursuing ecological model on the bio-geochemical cycle of nitrogen in the whole range 9.6 million square kilometers of Chinese mainland, basing on the reservoir-content and flux-rate of nitrogen and among the four spheres: atmosphere, pedosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, and the law of bio-geochemical cycle of nitrogen, the model predicted the size of reservoir capacities and fluxes of nitrogen in each sphere. Through tested and verified, the model was proven reasonable and reliable.