Scientists as Stakeholders in Conservation of Hydrothermal Vents

Abstract: Hydrothermal vents are deep‐sea ecosystems that are almost exclusively known and explored by scientists rather than the general public. Continuing scientific discoveries arising from study of hydrothermal vents are concommitant with the increased number of scientific cruises visiting and sampling vent ecosystems. Through a bibliometric analysis, we assessed the scientific value of hydrothermal vents relative to two of the most well‐studied marine ecosystems, coral reefs and seagrass beds. Scientific literature on hydrothermal vents is abundant, of high impact, international, and interdisciplinary and is comparable in these regards with literature on coral reefs and seagrass beds. Scientists may affect hydrothermal vents because their activities are intense and spatially and temporally concentrated in these small systems. The potential for undesirable effects from scientific enterprise motivated the creation of a code of conduct for environmentally and scientifically benign use of hydrothermal vents for research. We surveyed scientists worldwide engaged in deep‐sea research and found that scientists were aware of the code of conduct and thought it was relevant to conservation, but they did not feel informed or confident about the respect other researchers have for the code. Although this code may serve as a reminder of scientists’ environmental responsibilities, conservation of particular vents (e.g., closures to human activity, specific human management) may effectively ensure sustainable use of vent ecosystems for all stakeholders.     

Radioactivity in the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is, like the Mediterranean, a marginal sea, which with the Black Sea, were marine environments contaminated from the Chernobyl accident.

Radiocaesium and plutonium isotopes were studied in water, sediment and macroalgae in the Baltic Sea since 1982. the inventory of ¹³⁷Cs in the Baltic increased from 0.65 PBq to 5.85 PBq following the Chernobyl accident. the corresponding increase for ^{239 + 240}Pu was less significant and yielded 1.5 TBq to a total value of 16.5 TBq.

For plutonium, 98% is trapped in the sediment and the net-exchange of this element through the Baltic straits is very small (1 GBq/year), while for radiocaesium, 45% is in the water phase and there is a net-loss of 60 000 GBq annually into the adjacent water (Kattegatt).     

地质封存中CO_2盐水溶液的表观摩尔体积模型

在现有CO2盐水溶液密度模型的基础上,根据CO2地下盐水溶液密度实验数据,考虑了温度、压力和CO2质量分数三个参数的影响,建立了CO2盐水溶液的表观摩尔体积模型。模型结果表明该模型能在30~50℃、10~20 MPa温压范围内准确预测CO2在盐水溶液中的表观摩尔体积,将预测结果与实验数据进行对比发现最大相对误差为0.25%,平均相对误差为0.1%,模型预测精度明显高于现有的CO2盐水溶液表观摩尔体积模型,为CO2地下盐水层封存提供了必要的基础。     

聊城市城市地表径流污染负荷估算

基于ArcGIS软件,依据土地利用、土壤类型等遥感数据生成聊城市东昌府城区的土地利用图,统计不同土地利用类型的面积,将研究区域按不同功能分为居住区、交通区、工业区、绿化用地、公共建设用地和未利用土地,选择不同CN(Curve Number)值,采用SCS径流曲线模型计算2009年的径流深度和年径流量。结果表明:聊城市东昌府区2009年不同功能分区的降水径流深度分别为272.47 mm、465.00 mm、277.16 mm、30.68 mm、128.47 mm、167.51 mm,同时,根据研究区域内悬浮物(SS)、化学需氧量(COD)、总氮(TN)、总磷(TP)等污染物的平均浓度,估算得出它们的负荷量分别为8 558.8 t、2 415.32 t、201.29 t、10.08 t。     

溶解性有机物对冰相中蒽和芘光降解的影响

以Suwannee River Fulvic Acid Standard II(SRFA)、Upper Mississippi River NOM(UMRN)、Elliott Soil Humic Acid Standard IV(ESHA)和Leonardite Humic Acid Standard(LHA) 4种溶解性有机物(Dissolved Organic Matter, DOM)为研究对象,利用125 W高压汞灯作为模拟光源进行室内模拟光解实验,考察了DOM对冰相中蒽和芘光降解的影响.其中,SRFA和UMRN是水源DOM,ESHA和LHA是陆源DOM.结果表明,蒽和芘在冰相中均可以发生直接光降解.4种DOM对冰相中蒽和芘光降解的影响行为并不相同,水源DOM对冰相中蒽和芘光降解的影响程度小于陆源DOM.DOM对冰相中蒽和芘光降解的抑制以光屏蔽效应为主.4种DOM对冰相中蒽和芘光降解均产生淬灭效应,但淬灭程度相异,DOM对蒽激发态的淬灭程度高于其对芘激发态的淬灭程度.与DOM共存条件下,冰相中芘的表观光解速率常数与DOM的SUVA值具有显著正相关性(p0.01).     

浅海平台油气火灾事故模拟评估应用

全球海洋油气开发重特大火灾事故频发,油气生产安全面临严峻挑战,以我国浅海某中心平台组为研究对象,对可能发生的三相分离器喷射火火灾、管线交叉处喷射火火灾、生产平台池火火灾以及储罐平台池火火灾,采用FDS软件建立该平台组的火灾动力学模型,对油气泄漏后火灾的发展态势、火场温度、热辐射强度、设备温度以及不同火灾工况的对比分析,研究火灾发生后对人员伤害,以及平台上油气管线、分离器、油气储罐、平台栈桥等重要设备安全性的影响,并提出操作人员和重要设备的安全距离。针对火灾事故风险控制提出建议措施,对海上火灾风险分析未来研究方向进行阐述。     

Estimating Sustainable Bycatch Rates for California Sea Lion Populations in the Gulf of California

Abstract:  Commercial and subsistence fisheries pressure is increasing in the Gulf of California, Mexico. One consequence often associated with high levels of fishing pressure is an increase in bycatch of marine mammals and birds. Fisheries bycatch has contributed to declines in several pinniped species and may be affecting the California sea lion ( Zalophus californianus ) population in the Gulf of California. We used data on fisheries and sea lion entanglement in gill nets to estimate current fishing pressure and fishing rates under which viable sea lion populations could be sustained at 11 breeding sites in the Gulf of California. We used 3 models to estimate sustainable bycatch rates: a simple population-growth model, a demographic model, and an estimate of the potential biological removal. All models were based on life history and census data collected for sea lions in the Gulf of California. We estimated the current level of fishing pressure and the acceptable level of fishing required to maintain viable sea lion populations as the number of fishing days (1 fisher/boat setting and retrieving 1 day's worth of nets) per year. Estimates of current fishing pressure ranged from 101 (0–405) fishing days around the Los Machos breeding site to 1887 (842–3140) around the Los Islotes rookery. To maintain viable sea lion populations at each site, the current level of fishing permissible could be augmented at some sites and should be reduced at other sites. For example, the area around San Esteban could support up to 1428 (935–2337) additional fishing days, whereas fishing around Lobos should be reduced by at least 165 days (107–268). Our results provide conservation practitioners with site-specific guidelines for maintaining sustainable sea lion populations and provide a method to estimate fishing pressure and sustainable bycatch rates that could be used for other marine mammals and birds .     

Molecular biomarkers of energy metabolism in mussels under anthropogenic pollution of Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan

The functional state of the indicator species, the Gray mussel Crenomytilus grayanus (Bivalvia), has been analyzed in five areas of Peter the Great Bay exposed to anthropogenic pollution. The following indices of the state of mussels have been used: molecular biomarkers of energy metabolism—Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase, Mg²⁺-ATPase, and total ATPase activity—as well as the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and glutathione concentration in the hepatopancreas, gills, and gonads of mussels. The activity of ATPases, LPO level, and glutathione concentration significantly change in mussels from polluted areas relative to those in mussels from a conventionally unpolluted area (a bay in the Far Eastern State Marine Reserve). The molecular biomarkers used in the study provide reliable information on animal metabolism in impact areas. With consideration of the data obtained, it is concluded that the state of mussels in polluted areas is impaired.     

Seismological aspects of the Japan Sea earthquake of 1983

The Japan Sea earthquake of 1983 took place at the eastern margin of the Japan Sea, which is a marginal sea situated west of the island are of Japan and the Japan trench in the Pacific Ocean. Its magnitude of 7.7 is the largest among earthquakes which have been known to occur in the seismic belt along the Japan Sea coast of Northeast Honshu, Japan. Since the seismic activity in the belt is not so high, the earthquake is especially important in the geophysical interpretation of tectonic process in the region. The aftershock distribution and the focal mechanism reveals that the earthquake is a thrust fault on a plane dipping eastwards by about 30°. The waveform analysis shows that the earthquake can be regarded as a double shock to a first approximation. Interestingly, there was a 10-second intermission between the two events. These are preliminary results, and more detailed studies are under development.