Tar ball frequency data and analytical results from a long-term beach monitoring program     

Owens EH  Mauseth GS  Martin CA  Lamarche A  Brown J 《Marine pollution bulletin》2002,44(8):770-780

Following the spill of fuel oils from the New Carissa in February 1999, approximately 300 km of beaches on the Pacific coast of North America were surveyed. A long-term observation program focused on the documentation of stranded tar balls in the vicinity of the spill site. Systematic beach surveys which were conducted over the period March 1999 to April 2001 and semi-logarithmic scale, time-series plots proved the most useful format for identifying trends. Beach monitoring continued through to August 2001. by which time 212 tar balls had been analyzed by GC/MS for their chemical characteristics. The samples of tar balls collected between February 1999 and August 2001 were qualitatively compared with New Carissa source oils (NCSO) and 101 (48%) were not consistent with NSCO. The presence of tar balls that are not related to an incident can confound attempts to define cleanup or endpoint criteria and to assess possible injury to natural resources.  相似文献   

Preliminary evidence for human fecal contamination in corals of the Florida Keys,USA   总被引：6，自引：0，他引：6  

Lipp EK  Jarrell JL  Griffin DW  Lukasik J  Jacukiewicz J  Rose JB 《Marine pollution bulletin》2002,44(7):666-670

Corals and reef environments are under increased stress from anthropogenic activities, particularly those in the vicinity of heavily populated areas such as the Florida Keys. The potential adverse impacts of wastewater can affect both the environment and human health; however, because of the high decay rate of bacterial indicators in coral reef waters it has been difficult to document the presence of microbial contaminants and to assign risks in these environments. Here we show initial evidence that microorganisms associated with human feces are concentrated along the surface of coral heads relative to the overlying water column in the Florida Keys. Bacterial indicators (fecal coliform bacteria, enterococci or Clostridium perfringens) were detected in 66.7% of the coral surface microlayer (CSM) samples at levels between five and 1000 CFU/100 ml, but were found infrequently and at low numbers in the overlying water column ( < or = 2.5 CFU/100 ml). Similarly, enterovirus nucleic acid sequences, an indicator of human-specific waste, were detected in 93.3% of the CSM samples and only once in the water column by cell culture. Results show that coral mucus may accumulate enteric microorganisms in reef environments, and may indicate a risk to public and environmental health despite low indicator levels in the surrounding water.  相似文献   

A High-Eccentricity Low-Mass Companion to HD 89744     

Korzennik SG  Brown TM  Fischer DA  Nisenson P  Noyes RW 《The Astrophysical journal》2000,534(2):L147-L150

We present deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, as well as ground-based imaging and spectroscopy, of the optical afterglow associated with the long-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 990712 and its host galaxy. The data were obtained 48-123 days after the burst occurred. The magnitudes of the host (R=21.9, V=22.5) and optical afterglow (R=25.4, V=25.8, 47.7 days after the burst) favor a scenario in which the optical light follows a pure power-law decay with an index of alpha approximately -1.0. We find no evidence for a contribution from a supernova like SN 1998bw. This suggests that either there are multiple classes of long-duration gamma-ray bursts or that the peak luminosity of the supernova was more than 1.5 mag fainter than SN 1998bw. The HST images and EFOSC2 spectra indicate that the gamma-ray burst was located in a bright, extended feature (possibly a star-forming region) 1.4 kpc from the nucleus of a 0.2L*B galaxy at z=0.434, possibly a Seyfert 2 galaxy. The late-time afterglow and host galaxy of GRB 990712 bear some resemblance to those of GRB 970508.  相似文献   

Gullying and erosion control at archaeological sites in Grand Canyon,Arizona   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Joel L. Pederson  Paul A. Petersen  Jennifer L. Dierker 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2006,31(4):507-525

Gully erosion of cultural sites in Grand Canyon National Park is an urgent management problem that has intensified in recent decades, potentially related to the effects of Glen Canyon Dam. We studied 25 gullies at nine sites in Grand Canyon over the 2002 monsoon–erosion season to better understand the geomorphology of the gully erosion and the effectiveness of erosion‐control structures (ECS) installed by the park under the direction of the Zuni Conservation Program. Field results indicate that Hortonian overland flow leads to concentrated flow in gullies and erosion focused at knickpoints along channels as well as at gully heads. Though groundcover type, soil shear strength and permeability vary systemat‐ically across catchments, gradient and, to a lesser degree, contributing drainage area seem to be the first‐order controls on gully extent, location of new knickpoints, and ECS damage. The installed ECS do reduce erosion relative to reaches without them and initial data suggest woody checkdams are preferable to rock linings, but maintenance is essential because damaged structures can exacerbate erosion. Topographic data from intensive field surveys and detailed photogrammetry provide slope–contributing area data for gully heads that have a trend consistent with previous empirical and theoretical formulations from a variety of landscapes. The same scaling holds below gully heads for knickpoint and ECS topographic data, with threshold coefficients the lowest for gully heads, slightly higher for knickpoints, and notably higher for damaged ECS. These topographic thresholds were used with 10‐cm digital elevation models to create simple predictive models for gully extent and structure damage. The model predictions accounted for the observed gullies but there are also many false‐positives. Purely topographical models are probably inadequate at this scale and application, but models that also parameterize the variable soil properties across sites would be useful for predicting erosion problems and ECS failure. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The relationships between tropical Atlantic sea level variability and major climate indices     

Jennifer A. M. Andrew  Harry Leach  Philip L. Woodworth 《Ocean Dynamics》2006,56(5-6):452-463

Relationships were examined between variability in tropical Atlantic sea level and major climate indices with the use of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter and island tide gauge data with the aim of learning more about the external influences on the variability of the tropical Atlantic ocean. Possible important connections were found between indices related to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the sea levels in all three tropical regions (north, equatorial, and south), although the existence of only one major ENSO event within the decade of available altimetry means that a more complete investigation of the ENSO-dependence of Atlantic sea level changes has to await for the compilation of longer data sets. An additional link was found with the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) in the equatorial region, this perhaps surprising observation is probably an artifact of the similarity between IOD and ENSO time series in the 1990s. No evidence was obtained for significant correlations between tropical Atlantic sea level and North Atlantic Oscillation or Antarctic Oscillation Index. The most intriguing relationship observed was between the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and sea level in a band centered approximately on 10°S. A plausible explanation for the relationship is lacking, but possibilities for further research are suggested.  相似文献   

The Effect of Vegetation Productivity on Millet Prices in the Informal Markets of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger     

Molly E. Brown  Jorge E. Pinzon  Stephen D. Prince 《Climatic change》2006,78(1):181-202

Systematic evaluation of food security throughout the Sahel has been attempted for nearly two decades. Food security analyses have used both food prices to determine the ability of the population to access food, and satellite-derived vegetation indices that measure vegetation production to establish how much food is available each year. The relationship between these two food security indicators is explored here using correspondence analysis and through the use of Markov chain models. Two sources of quantitative data were used: 8 km normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRR) carried on the NOAA series of satellites, and monthly millet prices from 445 markets in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The results show that the growing season vegetation production is related to the price of millet at the annual and the seasonal time scales. If the growing season was characterized by erratic, sparse rainfall, it resulted in higher prices, and well-distributed, abundant rainfall resulted in lower prices. The correspondence between vegetation production and millet prices is used to produce maps of millet prices for West Africa.  相似文献   

The role of surface heterogeneity in modelling the stable boundary layer     

A. McCabe  A. R. Brown 《Boundary-Layer Meteorology》2007,122(3):517-534

High-resolution numerical simulations are performed for three nights for each of two areas of the United Kingdom. Area-averaging techniques are then used to calculate effective stability functions for turbulence parametrizations in models using typical mesoscale and global spatial resolutions. Comparisons are made with parametrizations commonly used in numerical weather prediction models. The present results do not suggest that significant enhancement of the stability functions above 50 m is justified. Closer to the surface, more significant enhancement is observed in some regions. It is shown that the amount of enhancement is related to the variability of the orography.  相似文献   

Transformations of mercury, iron, and sulfur during the reductive dissolution of iron oxyhydroxide by sulfide   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Aaron J. Slowey  Gordon E. Brown Jr. 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2007,71(4):877-894

Methylmercury can accumulate in fish to concentrations unhealthy for humans and other predatory mammals. Most sources of mercury (Hg) emit inorganic species to the environment. Therefore, ecological harm occurs when inorganic Hg is converted to methylmercury. Sulfate- and iron-reducing bacteria (SRB and FeRB) methylate Hg, but the effects of processes involving oxidized and reduced forms of sulfur and iron on the reactivity of Hg, including the propensity of inorganic Hg to be methylated, are poorly understood. Under abiotic conditions, using a laboratory flow reactor, bisulfide (HS⁻) was added at 40 to 250 μM h⁻¹ to 5 g L⁻¹ goethite (α-FeOOH) suspensions to which Hg(II) was adsorbed (30-100 nmol m⁻²) at pH 7.5. Dissolved Hg initially decreased from 10³ or 10⁴ nM (depending on initial conditions) to 10⁻¹ nM, during which the concentration of Hg(II) adsorbed to goethite decreased by 80% and metacinnabar (β-HgS_(s)) formed, based on identification using Hg L_III-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopic analysis. The apparent coordination of oxygens surrounding Hg(II), measured with EXAFS spectroscopy, increased during one flow experiment, suggesting desorption of monodentate-bound Hg(II) while bidentate-bound Hg(II) persisted on the goethite surface. Further sulfidation increased dissolved Hg concentrations by one to two orders of magnitude (0.5 to 10 nM or 30 nM), suggesting that byproducts of bisulfide oxidation and Fe(III) reduction, primarily polysulfide and potentially Fe(II), enhanced the dissolution of β-HgS_(s) and/or desorption of Hg(II). Rapid accumulation of Fe(II) in the solid phase (up to 40 μmol g⁻¹) coincided with faster elevation of dissolved Hg concentrations. Fe(II) served as a proxy for elemental sulfur [S(0)], as S(0) was the dominant bisulfide oxidation product coupled to Fe(III) reduction, based on sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. In one experiment, dissolved Hg concentrations tracked those of all sulfide species [S(-II)]. These results suggest that S(-II) reacted with S(0) to form polysulfide, which then caused the dissolution of β-HgS_(s). A secondary Fe-bearing phase resembling poorly formed green rust was observed in sulfidized solids with scanning electron microscopy, although there was no clear evidence that either surface-bound or mineralized Fe(II) strongly affected Hg speciation. Examination of interrelated processes involving S(-II) and Fe(III) revealed new modes of Hg solubilization previously not considered in Hg reactivity models.  相似文献   

Analysis of I in groundwater samples: Direct and quantitative results below the drinking water standard     

Christopher F. Brown  Keith N. GeiszlerMichael J. Lindberg 《Applied Geochemistry》2007

This paper highlights an analytical method based on mass measurement that can be used to directly quantify ¹²⁹I in groundwater samples at concentrations below the maximum contaminant level (MCL) without the need for sample pre-concentration or extraction. Samples were analyzed on a Perkin Elmer ELAN DRC II ICP-MS after minimal dilution using O₂ as the reaction gas. Analysis of continuing calibration verification standards indicated that the dynamic reaction cell (DRC) mode could be used for quantitative analysis of ¹²⁹I in samples below the MCL (0.0057 ng/mL or 1 pCi/L). The low analytical detection limit of ¹²⁹I analysis in the DRC mode coupled with minimal sample dilution (1.02x) resulted in a final estimated quantification limit of 0.0051 ng/mL. Subsequent analysis of three groundwater samples containing ¹²⁹I resulted in fully quantitative results in the DRC mode, and spike recovery analyses performed on all three samples confirmed that the groundwater matrix did not adversely impact the analysis of ¹²⁹I in the DRC mode. This analytical approach has been proven to be a cost-effective, high-throughput technique for the direct, quantitative analysis of ¹²⁹I in groundwater samples at environmentally relevant concentrations that reach below the current MCL.  相似文献   

Rapid prediction of alongshore run-up distribution from near-field tsunamis     

Lee  Jun-Whan  Irish  Jennifer L.  Weiss  Robert 《Natural Hazards》2020,104(2):1157-1180

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