Ammonia is present in the aquatic environment due to agricultural run-off and decomposition of biological waste. Ammonia is toxic to all vertebrates causing convulsions, coma and death, probably because elevated NH4+ displaces K+ and depolarizes neurons, causing activation of NMDA type glutamate receptor, which leads to an influx of excessive Ca2+ and subsequent cell death in the central nervous system.
Present ammonia criteria for aquatic systems are based on toxicity tests carried out on, starved, resting, non-stressed fish. This is doubly inappropriate. During exhaustive exercise and stress, fish increase ammonia production and are more sensitive to external ammonia. Present criteria do not protect swimming fish. Fish have strategies to protect them from the ammonia pulse following feeding, and this also protects them from increases in external ammonia, as a result starved fish are more sensitive to external ammonia than fed fish.
There are a number of fish species that can tolerate high environmental ammonia. Glutamine formation is an important ammonia detoxification strategy in the brain of fish, especially after feeding. Detoxification of ammonia to urea has also been observed in elasmobranches and some teleosts. Reduction in the rate of proteolysis and the rate of amino acid catabolism, which results in a decrease in ammonia production, may be another strategy to reduce ammonia toxicity. The weather loach volatilizes NH3, and the mudskipper, P. schlosseri, utilizes yet another unique strategy, it actively pumps NH4+ out of the body. 相似文献
The ability of California's water supply system to adapt to long-term climatic and demographic changes is examined. Two climate warming and a historical climate scenario are examined with population and land use estimates for the year 2100 using a statewide economic-engineering optimization model of water supply management. Methodologically, the results of this analysis indicate that for long-term climate change studies of complex systems, there is considerable value in including other major changes expected during a long-term time-frame (such as population changes), allowing the system to adapt to changes in conditions (a common feature of human societies), and representing the system in sufficient hydrologic and operational detail and breadth to allow significant adaptation. While the policy results of this study are preliminary, they point to a considerable engineering and economic ability of complex, diverse, and inter-tied systems to adapt to significant changes in climate and population. More specifically, California's water supply system appears physically capable of adapting to significant changes in climate and population, albeit at a significant cost. Such adaptation would entail large changes in the operation of California's large groundwater storage capacity, significant transfers of water among water users, and some adoption of new technologies. 相似文献
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution model (AnnAGNPS) is used to help evaluate a watershed response to agricultural management practices to control water quality. However, AnnAGNPS version 3.5 does not contain features to estimate the effect of a riparian buffer (RB) system on water quality. The Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) is used to simulate the impact of riparian buffer systems on water quality. However, frequently the lack of measured upland loadings that are required by REMM simulation limits the application of REMM. To address this data gap, a study was conducted to integrate AnnAGNPS with REMM for RB system simulation. AnnAGNPS was used to simulate water and sediment loadings from an upland field into a three-zone RB system at the Gibbs Farm located in the Georgia coastal plain. These AnnAGNPS outputs were used as the inputs to REMM. REMM was used to simulate water and sediment movement along the riparian buffers. The AnnAGNPS simulated amount of annual runoff at the edge of the field was close to observed amounts (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.92). It is believed that a substantial portion of sand was removed from the runoff one meter into the grass buffer where the samplers were located; therefore, sand was excluded from the AnnAGNPS simulation for comparison with observed sediment. Excluding sand, the AnnAGNPS predicted amount of annual sediment matches the observed amount fairly well (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.46). In addition, based on evaluating the percent reduction of sediment at each zonal interface, the AnnAGNPS/REMM model well simulated the function of the RB system to reduce sediment. 相似文献
The Alleret maar (Massif Central, France) provides a long lacustrine sequence (40.6 m) attributed to the early Middle Pleistocene. Sediment, pollen and diatoms analysis of its upper part (AL2 core, 14.6 m) indicates two temperate phases marked by high lake levels, forest development and vegetation expansion. They are separated by a cold period during which lake level drops, coarse sediment input increases and steppic and xerophilous plants develop. Pollen data suggests that this sequence belongs to the upper part of the Cromerian complex. These results are in agreement with the 557 ± 3 ka (±12 ka, including all errors) 40Ar/39Ar age obtained from an interbedded tephra layer emitted by the Mont-Dore/Sancy strato-volcano and establish that this sequence probably covers the MIS 15 substages. 相似文献
Magnesium self-diffusion coefficients were determined experimentally for diffusion parallel to each of the three crystallographic
directions in natural orthoenstatite (En88Fs12). Experiments were conducted at 1 atm in CO-CO2 gas mixing furnaces, which provided oxygen fugacities equivalent to the iron-wüstite buffer. Diffusion of 25Mg was induced in polished samples of oriented orthoenstatite using a film of isotopically enriched 25MgO as the source material. Very short (<0.15 μm) diffusional penetration profiles were measured by ion microprobe depth profiling.
The diffusion coefficients determined for four temperatures (900, 850, 800, 750 °C) provide the activation energies, Ea, and frequency factors, Do, where D = Do exp (−Ea/RT) for Mg self-diffusion parallel to each crystallographic direction: a-axis, Ea = 360 ± 52 kJ/mole and Do = 1.10 × 10−4 m2/s; b-axis, Ea = 339 ± 77 kJ/mole and Do = 6.93 × 10−6 m2/s and c-axis, Ea = 265 ± 66 kJ/mole and Do = 4.34 × 10−9 m2/s. In this temperature range, any possible anisotropy of cation diffusion is very small, however the activation energy for
diffusion parallel to the c-axis (001) is the lowest and the activation energies for diffusion parallel to the a-axis (100) and b-axis (010) are higher. Application of these diffusion results to the silicate phases of the Lowicz mesosiderite meteorite
provides cooling rates for the silicate portion of the meteorite (4–11 °C/100 years) that are similar, although slower, to
previous estimates. These silicate cooling rates are still several orders of magnitude faster than the cooling rates (0.1 °C/106 years) for the metal portions.
Received: 22 January 1997 / Accepted: 2 October 1997 相似文献
Oil pollution has been the main mortality factor of adult Jackass Penguins Spheniscus demersus found dead on St Croix Island, South Africa, over a year period. In July 1979, 150 oiled penguins found on the island were sent to the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to assess the effectiveness of cleaning and rehabilitation attempts. Oil was removed with a detergent and in severe cases with liquid paraffin. The mortality rate before and during treatment was 32%. Once waterproof, the penguins were released at sea near Cape Town. By February 1980, 87% of those released had returned to St Croix Island. They appeared healthy, moulted normally, returned to former nests and mates and six had produced clutches. SANCCOB has treated 6551 oiled penguins since 1968, and, based on these release and rehabilitation rates, attempts to clean and rehabilitate oiled penguins are justified. 相似文献
Surficial sediment distribution within Simpson Bay is a function of antecedent bedrock and recently deposited glacial geology,
as well as active physical processes both within Simpson Bay and Prince William Sound (PWS). Simpson Bay is a turbid, outwash
fjord located in northeastern PWS, Alaska. Freshwater from heavy precipitation, and the melting of high alpine glaciers enter
the bay through bay head rivers and small shoreline creeks. The catchment has a high watershed/basin surface area ratio (∼8:1),
and easily erodible bedrock that contribute to high sediment loads. The system can be divided into three discrete basins,
each with specific morphologic and circulatory characters. Side scan sonar, swath bathymetry, and seismic profiles reveal
that bathymetric highs are areas of outcropping glacial surfaces. High backscatter coupled with surface grab samples reveal
these surfaces to be composed of coarse sediment and bedrock outcrops. Bathymetric lows are areas of low backscatter, and
grab samples reveal these areas to be ponded deposits of organic-rich estuarine muds. The data provide evidence of terminal
morainal bank systems, and glacial grounding line deposits at the mouth of the bay and rocky outcrops were identified as subsurface
extensions of aerial rocky promontories. Radioisotope analyses of short cores reveal that the bay has an average accumulation
rate of approx. 0.5 cm year−1, but that this varies in function of the watershed/basin surface area ratios of the different basins. The interaction of
tidal currents and sediment source drives sediment distribution in Simpson Bay. Hydrographic data reveal high spatial variability
in surface and bottom currents throughout the bay. Subsurface currents are tide dominated, but generally weak (5–20 cm s−1), while faster currents are found along shorelines, outcrops, and bathymetric highs. Bathymetric data reveal steep slopes
with little to no modern sediment throughout the bay, suggesting lack of deposition due to tidal currents. 相似文献
We present a suborbital rocket payload capable of performing soft X-ray spectroscopy on extended sources. The payload can reach resolutions of ??100 (??/ ????) over sources as large as 3.25° in diameter in the 17?C107 Å bandpass. This permits analysis of the overall energy balance of nearby supernova remnants and the detailed nature of the diffuse soft X-ray background. The main components of the instrument are: wire grid collimators, off-plane grating arrays and gaseous electron multiplier detectors. This payload is adaptable to longer duration orbital rockets given its comparatively simple pointing and telemetry requirements and an abundance of potential science targets. 相似文献