Mapping sediment contamination and toxicity in Winter Quarters Bay,McMurdo Station,Antarctica

Winter Quarters Bay (WQB) is a small embayment located adjacent to McMurdo Station, the largest researchbase in Antarctica. The bay is approximately 250 m wide andlong, with a maximum depth of 33 m. Historically, trashfrom the McMurdo Station was piled on the steep shoreline ofWQB, doused with fuel and ignited. That practice hasceased, and the adjacent land area has been regraded tocover the residual waste. The bottom of WQB remainslittered with drums, equipment, tanks, tires, cables, andother objects, especially the southeastern side of the baywhere dumping took place. Sediments are contaminated withPCBs, metals, and hydrocarbon fuels. The objectives of this study were to map the distributionof organic contaminants in WQB, assess the toxicity of WQB sediments using a simple microbial test, anddetermine correlations between toxicity and contaminantlevels. The study suggests that adverse ecological effectshave occurred from one or more of the contaminants found inWQB but the source of the toxic impacts to bay sedimentsremains unknown. Whole sediment toxicity was onlycorrelated with oil-equivalent while solvent extracts ofsediments were correlated with PAHs and oil-equivalent. Theauthors recommend that an integrated research plan bedeveloped that focuses on determining what additionalinformation is needed to make informed decisions on possibleremediation of WQB.     

CHANGES IN ACID PRECIPITATION-RELATED WATER CHEMISTRY OF LAKES FROM SOUTHWESTERN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA, 1986–2001

Between 1986 and 2001, thirty-nine lakes in southwestern New Brunswick in Atlantic Canada were surveyed for acid precipitation-related water quality changes. Most of the study lakes are located on granite bedrock and represent the most acid sensitive lakes in the province. Between 1987 and 1992, hydrogen ion deposition to the lake study area averaged 452 eq ha^–1 yr^–1, compared to 338 eq ha^–1 yr^–1 between 1993 and 2000, a 25% reduction. The lake chemistry data were evaluated by dividing the lakes into four clusters for each survey year based on their acid neutralizing capacity. Twenty percent of the lakes (cluster IV) had an average ANC of 40 eq L^–1or greater and maintained an average pH of greater than 6 over the duration of the study period. A pH of 6 or greater is considered a healthy benchmark for maintaining biodiversity. The remaining 31 lakes (clusters I to III) had an average ANC of less than 40 eq L^–1and maintained an average pH of less than 6. Other lake chemistry changes included a general decline in lake sulphate and colour over the duration of the survey period, followed by more recent improvements in calcium ion, pH and ANC, and notably higher but declining aluminum levels in lower ANC and pH lakes. Nitrate accounted for 37% of the acid deposition to the study area, however it was not detectable in the lakes. Although acid deposition has declined and these lakes are beginning to show signs of acid recovery, 80% of the study lakes remain acid sensitive having little buffering capacity with low calcium, pH and ANC.     

Coastal Zone Problems and Environmental Strategies to be Implemented at Edremit Bay, Turkey

This case study examines the coastal zone problems focusing on the existing conflicts between tourism and commercial activities on the coasts of Edremit Bay, Turkey, and attempts to suggest solutions to these problems. Edremit Bay is a characteristic example of such a conflict in collective use of natural resources. The study area, with its 100-km-long sandy beach, naturally attracts different coastal user groups with different beneficial expectations: in terms of rest and recreation for one group and commercial gain offered in a variety of ways for another group. Significant coastal zone problems exist in the study area. Deterioration of shoreline due to tourism activities and illegal constructions, damage to the coastal ecosystem due to domestic/industrial wastewater discharges and some agricultural activities, and disordered urbanization are only a few of the many problems. The data presented here were partly derived from field study and partly collected from local state or private organizations. In this study, it is emphasized that there is a need for viable economic and environmental strategies to be designated in Edremit Bay, Turkey, in order to provide sustainable resource use. For this purpose, an integrated project together with a relevant planning chart including subprojects is also suggested. The success of a local environmental protection management project depends on active participation of all stakeholders including governmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations.     

Coastal zone management in Wales: The information gaps

In 1994 the Countryside Council for Wales, the government nature conservation and countryside advisor in Wales, published a consultation document on marine and coastal policy, and also commissioned research into the status of coastal zone management (CZM) in the Principality. The research, undertaken by the University of Wales Cardiff, investigated CZM from an international, national (U.K.) and Welsh perspective, concentrating on detailed case studies of three areas (including both urban and rural coasts). Policy makers, managers, practitioners and users from all sectors were included in the study which established current activity, identified problems and reviewe future plans. Interviews and questionnaire returns highlighted vital information gaps at all levels. These ranged fom a lack of basic data (including scientific and technical), to a breakdown in communication both within and between organisations, as well as a policy vacuum in both regional and central government.     

Fast Ferry Traffic as a Qualitatively New Forcing Factor of Environmental Processes in Non-Tidal Sea Areas: A Case Study in Tallinn Bay,Baltic Sea

The impact of wake wash from high-speed ferries on the coastal environment in non-tidal seas is analysed in terms of wave energy and power, and properties of the largest waves. Shown is that hydrodynamic loads caused by heavy high-speed traffic may play a decisive role not only in low-energy coasts but also in certain areas with high wind wave activity. For example, ship-generated waves form, at least, about 5–8% from the total wave energy and about 18–35% from the wave power in the coastal areas of Tallinn Bay exposed to dominating winds. The periods of wake waves from high-speed ships frequently are much larger than dominating periods of wind waves. The leading waves typically have a height of about 1 m and a period of 10–15 s. Such waves extremely seldom occur in natural conditions in many regions of semi-enclosed seas. They cause unusually high hydrodynamic loads in the deeper part of the nearshore. The fast ferry traffic thus is a qualitatively new forcing component of vital impact on the local ecosystem. It is demonstrated that wakes from high-speed ferries may trigger considerable changes of the existing balance of coastal processes. Owing to their low decay rates combined with their exceptional compactness after crossing many kilometres of the sea surface, such wakes may cause considerable remote impact of the ship traffic. This feature has to be addressed in the analysis of the impact of harbours and associated ship traffic in the neighbourhood of vulnerable areas.     

Science and management in four U.S. coastal ecossytems dominated by land-ocean interactions

The influence of science in the recognition of the effects of landscape changes on coastal ecosystems and in the development of effective policy for managing and restoring these ecosystems is examined through four case studies: Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, the Mississippi Delta, and Florida Bay. These ecosystems have undergone major alterations as a result of changes in the delivery of water, sediments and nutrients from their watersheds. Both science and management have been challenged by the spatial, functional and temporal scale mismatches inherent in the watershed-coastal ecosystem relationship. Key factors affecting the influence of science on management include (1) sustained scientific investigation, responsive to but not totally defined by managers; (2) clear evidence of change, the scale of the change and the causes of the change; (3) consensus among the scientific communities associated with various interests; (4) the development of models to guide management actions; (5) identification of effective and feasible solutions to the problems.     

MODELING STUDIES FOR PLANNING: THE GREEN BAY PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: A major contaminant monitoring and modeling study is underway for Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Monitoring programs in support of contaminant modeling of large waterbodies, such as for Green Bay, are expensive and their extent is often limited by budget limitations, laboratory capacity, and logistic constraints. Therefore, it is imperative that available resources be used in the most efficient manner possible. This use, or allocation of resources, may be aided through the application of readily available models in the planning stages of projects. To aid in the planning effort for the Green Bay project, a workshop was held and studies designed to aid in the allocation of resources for a year-long intensive field study. Physical/chemical and food chain models were applied using historical data to aid in project planning by identifying processes having the greatest impact on the predictive capability of mass balance models. Studies were also conducted to estimate errors in computed tributary loadings and in-Bay concentrations and contaminant mass associated with different sampling strategies. The studies contributed to the overall project design, which was a collaborative effort with many participants involved in budgeting, field data collection, analysis, processing of data, quality assurance, data management and modeling activities.     

渤海湾西岸海平面上升威胁的防治对策

因受全球海平面上升和地面沉降的双重影响,在21世纪末渤海湾西岸海平面将相对上升90～260厘米,广大地区(包括天津市区)将处于大潮平均高潮位之下,自然岸线位置将后撤至津浦线附近.我们提出筑堤防潮引黄放淤提高建筑高程三位一体的治理方案。     

渤海湾可溶性无机氮时空变异状况分析

以渤海湾17个监测点11年来可溶性无机氮(DIN)监测数据为研究对象,采用箱线图,相关分析,Mann-Kendall及样条插值等技术方法,分析渤海湾1996—2006年17个监测点ρ(DIN)的统计学特征、季节差异性和时空变化状况,以及引起ρ(DIN)时空变化的原因.结果表明:各监测时期渤海湾ρ(DIN)大多表现为正偏态分布. 在33个监测时段内,2号,4号和6号监测点所在海区ρ(DIN)最高,说明陆源污染及港口发展对渤海湾ρ(DIN)的贡献不容忽视. 丰水期ρ(DIN)与平水期显著相关,而枯水期ρ(DIN)与丰水期和平水期的相关性不显著. 在时间特征上,ρ(DIN)表现为先增加后平稳而后快速增加的趋势;在空间分布上,ρ(DIN)表现为北高南低,近岸高离岸低的趋势.      

海洋细菌N3对几种赤潮藻的溶藻效应

从深圳大鹏湾南澳赤潮暴发海域的表层沉积物中分离得到1株海洋溶藻细菌(编号N3),以三角褐指藻(Phaeodactylumtricornutum)和常见赤潮生物锥状斯氏藻(Scrippsiella trochoidea)、海洋原甲藻(Prorocentrum micans)和中肋骨条藻(Skeletonemacostatum)为实验藻种,利用液体感染法研究了该株溶藻细菌的溶藻效应及溶藻方式.结果表明,菌株N3对中肋骨条藻和三角褐指藻均无溶藻活性,而菌悬液的体积分数为2%和10%时分别对锥状斯氏藻和海洋原甲藻有较好的溶藻效果,但溶藻现象不同.菌株N3可使锥状斯氏藻的细胞变形,胞内物质分布不均匀并最终死亡;使海洋原甲藻的藻细胞膨胀变形,细胞膜内物质聚集于一端,最终藻细胞破裂死亡.菌株N3对锥状斯氏藻和海洋原甲藻的溶藻方式相同,均以直接溶藻为主.菌株N3的菌悬液以2%、1%和0.1%的体积分数接种到锥状斯氏藻藻液中时,细菌的密度整体上呈下降趋势,2%处理组中藻细胞在120 h内全部死亡,而1%和0.1%处理组藻细胞的增长率略低于对照组.菌株N3的菌悬液以10%、5%和1%的体积分数接种到海洋原甲藻藻液中时,细菌的密度呈下降趋势,10%和5%处理组中藻细胞至120 h时死亡率分别为78%和70%,而1%处理组的藻细胞与对照组无显著差异.电镜观察、生理生化鉴定及16S rRNA鉴定结果表明,菌株N3为芽胞杆菌属(Bacillus sp.).