Effect of Hydrocarbons and Decontaminating Substances on Bacterial Flora of Coastal Sediments

Abstract. Seventy six samples of coastal sediments collected in the Straits of Messina were studied in order to evaluate the effects of an oil spill and the consequent "clean-up" operations on heterotrophic acrobic bacteria.
In addition, in vitro tests were carried out to estimate the effects of five dispersants on the growth and oil degrading capacity of marine strains isolated from the same sediments.     

Rift propagation at craton margin.: Distribution of faulting and volcanism in the North Tanzanian Divergence (East Africa) during Neogene times

A revised kinematic model is proposed for the Neogene tectono-magmatic development of the North Tanzanian Divergence where the axial valley in S Kenya splits southwards into a wide diverging pattern of block faulting in association with the disappearance of volcanism. Propagation of rifting along the S Kenya proto-rift during the last 8 Ma is first assumed to have operated by linkage of discrete magmatic cells as far S as the Ngorongoro–Kilimanjaro transverse volcanic belt that follows the margin of cratonic blocks in N Tanzania. Strain is believed to have nucleated throughout the thermally-weakened lithosphere in the transverse volcanic belt that might have later linked the S Kenya and N Tanzania rift segments with marked structural changes along-strike. The North Tanzanian Divergence is now regarded as a two-armed rift pattern involving: (1) a wide domain of tilted fault blocks to the W (Mbulu) that encompasses the Eyasi and Manyara fault systems, in direct continuation with the Natron northern trough. The reactivation of basement fabrics in the cold and intact Precambrian lithosphere in the Mbulu domain resulted in an oblique rift pattern that contrasts with the orthogonal extension that prevailed in the Magadi–Natron trough above a more attenuated lithosphere. (2) To the E, the Pangani horst-like range is thought to be a younger (< 1 Ma) structure that formed in response to the relocation of extension S of the Kilimanjaro magmatic center. A significant contrast in the mechanical behaviour of the stretched lithosphere in the North Tanzanian diverging rift is assumed to have occurred on both sides of the Masai cratonic block with a mid-crustal decoupling level to the W where asymmetrical fault-basin patterns are dominant (Magadi–Natron and Mbulu), whereas a component of dynamical uplift is suspected to have caused the topographic elevation of the Pangani range in relation with possible far-travelled mantle melts produced at depth further N.     

Quantifying recent precipitation change and predicting lake expansion in the Inner Tibetan Plateau

Lake expansion since the middle of the 1990s is one of the most outstanding environmental change events in the Tibetan Plateau (TP). This expansion has mainly occurred in the Inner TP, a vast endorheic basin with an area of about 708,000 km² and containing about 780 lakes larger than 1 km². The total lake area of the Inner TP has increased from 24,930 km² in 1995 to 33,741 km² in 2015. The variability of the lake area in the coming decades is crucial for infrastructure planning and ecology policy for this remote region. In this study, a lake mass balance model was developed to describe the lake area response to climate change. First, the model was used to inversely estimate the change in precipitation from the change in lake volume. The result shows that precipitation has increased by about 21?±?7% since the middle of the 1990s, as seen in GPCC global data set. Then, the lake size in the coming two decades was predicted by the model driven with either current climate or a projected future climate, showing the lake area would expand continuously, but at a lower rate than before. Both predictions yield a total lake area of 36150?±?500 km² in 2025 and a rise of average lake level by about 6.6?±?0.3 m from 1995 to 2025. However, the two predictions become disparate in the second decade (2026–2035), as the future climate is more warming and wetting than the current climate. It is noted that the prediction of lake expansion is robust for the entire inner TP lake system but not always applicable to individual subregions or specific lakes due to their spatiotemporal heterogeneity.     

Quality indices of groundwater for agricultural use in the region of Tierra Nueva,San Luis Potosi,Mexico

The paper evaluates the quality of groundwater for agricultural use in Tierra Nueva, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where the agricultural productivity zone presents problems of salinity soil. Twenty groundwater samples and 11 soil samples at 2 depths at each point were collected and analyzed. In this type of water quality study, Wilcox classification diagram and the method of Salinity Laboratory United States for the quality of agricultural land were used. However, in some cases, these rankings do not reflect the actual condition, as in the case of Tierra Nueva, where the soil is classified as normal while water is classified at intermediate good. To analyze the real conditions of soil and water quality indicators of water for agricultural use risk of salinization, sodium adsorption ratio, adsorption ratio magnesium, permeability index, sodium percentage, soluble sodium percentage, residual sodium carbonate, and Kelly ratio were used. Sodicity rates including sodium adsorption ratio indicate no problem in soil extract. However, 25% of water samples are dangerous, with levels ranging from medium to high. For indexes of sodium percentage, residual sodium carbonate, and Kelly ratio, a distribution of classes ranging from questionable to inadequate was applied. Salinity levels show that effective salinity has good classification; potential salinity (PS) is conditional and therefore not recommended; and osmotic potential and electrical conductivity are classified as high in saline water, which is an increasingly important problem. The combination of different indices emphasized serious problems of salinity conditions, particularly sodicity.     

Quantifying initial and wind forcing uncertainties in the Gulf of Mexico

This study aims at analyzing the combined impact of uncertainties in initial conditions and wind forcing fields in ocean general circulation models (OGCM) using polynomial chaos (PC) expansions. Empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) are used to formulate both spatial perturbations to initial conditions and space-time wind forcing perturbations, namely in the form of a superposition of modal components with uniformly distributed random amplitudes. The forward deterministic HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) is used to propagate input uncertainties in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) in spring 2010, during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and to generate the ensemble of model realizations based on which PC surrogate models are constructed for both localized and field quantities of interest (QoIs), focusing specifically on sea surface height (SSH) and mixed layer depth (MLD). These PC surrogate models are constructed using basis pursuit denoising methodology, and their performance is assessed through various statistical measures. A global sensitivity analysis is then performed to quantify the impact of individual modes as well as their interactions. It shows that the local SSH at the edge of the GoM main current—the Loop Current—is mostly sensitive to perturbations of the initial conditions affecting the current front, whereas the local MLD in the area of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is more sensitive to wind forcing perturbations. At the basin scale, the SSH in the deep GoM is mostly sensitive to initial condition perturbations, while over the shelf it is sensitive to wind forcing perturbations. On the other hand, the basin MLD is almost exclusively sensitive to wind perturbations. For both quantities, the two sources of uncertainty have limited interactions. Finally, the computations indicate that whereas local quantities can exhibit complex behavior that necessitates a large number of realizations, the modal analysis of field sensitivities can be suitably achieved with a moderate size ensemble.     

MHYDAS‐Erosion: a distributed single‐storm water erosion model for agricultural catchments

In this paper, we present MHYDAS‐Erosion, a dynamic and distributed single‐storm water erosion model developed as a module of the existing hydrological MHYDAS model. As with many catchment erosion models, MHYDAS‐Erosion is able to simulate sediment transport, erosion and deposition by rill and interrill processes. Its originality stems from its capacity to integrate the impact of land management practices (LMP) as key elements controlling the sedimentological connectivity in agricultural catchments. To this end, the water‐sediment pathways are first determined by a specific process‐oriented procedure defined and controlled by the user, which makes the integration of LMP easier. The LMP dynamic behaviours are then integrated into the model as a time‐dependent function of hydrological variables and LMP characteristics. The first version of the model was implemented for vegetative filters and tested using water and sediment discharge measurements at three nested scales of a densely instrumented catchment (Roujan, OMERE Observatory, southern France). The results of discharge and soil loss for simulated rainfall events have been found to acceptably compare with available data. The average R² values for water and sediment discharge are 0·82 and 0·83, respectively. The sensitivity of the model to changes in the proportion of LMP was assessed for a single rain event by considering three scenarios of the Roujan catchment management with vegetative filters: 0% (Scenario 1), 18% (Scenario 2, real case) and 100% (Scenario 3). Compared to Scenario 2 (real case), soil losses decreased for Scenario 3 by 65% on the agricultural plot scale, 62% on the sub‐catchment scale and 45% at the outlet of the catchment and increased for Scenario 1 by 0% on the plot scale, 26% on the sub‐catchment scale and 18% at the outlet of the catchment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High and very high resolution deep-towed seismic system: Performance and examples from deep water Geohazard studies

We present the technological development and initial results from the deep-towed seismic acquisition device SYstème SIsmique Fond de mer (SYSIF) recently built by Ifremer. The two configurations of the SYSIF are presented (high resolution (HR): 250–1000 Hz and very high resolution (VHR): 650–2000 Hz), and results are compared to conventional seismic acquisition systems such as multi-channel HR or single-channel VHR (hull-mounted sub-bottom profiler). The ability of SYSIF to achieve higher resolution imagery is due to both the technology employed (low-frequency Janus–Helmoltz piezoelectric transducer) and the deep-towed operating mode (reduction in the Fresnel zone). Sea trials have been conducted in various geological environments and in water depths as deep as 2500 m. The new technique improved imaging of deep seafloor and sub-surface features such as pockmarks, carbonate mounds, sub-marine slides and sub-surface faulting. SYSIF, therefore, is a well-suited tool to investigate deep water geological features, especially those related to geohazard for scientific and industrial purposes.