scholarly journals Evaluation of a Multi-Isotope Approach as a Complement to Concentration Data within Environmental Forensics

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Simon Pontér ◽  
Stacy Sutliff-Johansson ◽  
Emma Engström ◽  
Anders Widerlund ◽  
Anna Mäki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brackish Water ◽  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Heavy Metal Contamination ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Monitoring Wells ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Contamination Events ◽  
Waste Deposit

Heavy metal contamination was identified in groundwater monitoring wells surrounding a waste deposit facility at the Rönnskär Cu–Pb–Zn smelter in Skellefteå, Northern Sweden, as well as in brackish water and sediments from the nearby harbor. Following an investigative study of the surrounding area, brackish water from the Baltic Sea and sediments from a nearby harbor were also determined to be contaminated. This study investigated the ranges of isotopic compositions of four elements (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in smelter materials (ores, products, and waste) and polluted groundwater sediments of the affected area. The study’s objective was to evaluate the variability of the polluting source and identify possible isotope fractionation. This study further assesses the viability of using isotopic information to identify the source of the pollutant. These data were used in combination with multi-element screening analysis and multivariate statistical techniques. Expanding the number of elements utilized in isotope tracing empowers our abilities to decipher the source(s) and the extent of environmental exposure from contamination events related to mining and refining operations.

scholarly journals Major differences in dissolved organic matter characteristics and bacterial processing over an extensive brackish water gradient, the Baltic Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen F. Rowe ◽  
Julie Dinasquet ◽  
Joanna Paczkowska ◽  
Daniela Figueroa ◽  
Lasse Riemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dissolved Organic Matter ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Brackish Water ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Water Gradient ◽  
The Baltic

scholarly journals Temporally stable, weak genetic structuring in brackish water northern pike (Esox lucius) in the Baltic Sea indicates a contrasting divergence pattern relative to freshwater populations

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lovisa Wennerström ◽  
Jens Olsson ◽  
Nils Ryman ◽  
Linda Laikre
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Brackish Water ◽  
Northern Pike ◽  
Esox Lucius ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Genetic Structuring ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Pike Esox Lucius ◽  
The Baltic

Understanding spatiotemporal population genetic patterns is important for conservation management of ecologically and socioeconomically important species. This is particularly so in species-poor environments such as the brackish Baltic Sea. We examined over 600 northern pike (Esox lucius), a coastal predator and treasured sport fish, collected over major parts of the Baltic Sea coastline. We found low genetic divergence among populations, indicating a contrasting genetic structure of brackish water coastal spawners compared with previous reports on anadromous Baltic pike migrating up freshwater streams for spawning. A pattern of genetic isolation by distance either over shortest waterway or primarily along the mainland coast with islands as stepping stones suggested that gene flow is primarily taking place among neighboring populations, possibly with some migration over open water. Temporal data showed a stable genetic structure over a decade. Within a single sampling year, however, spatial divergence was larger during spawning than feeding season, indicating increased mixing of populations during the feeding season. Management should assure connectivity among brackish spawning grounds and large population sizes at identified core areas.

scholarly journals Diversity of Aphanizomenonflos-aquae (Cyanobacterium) Populations along a Baltic Sea Salinity Gradient

2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 5296-5303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria J. Laamanen ◽  
Laura Forsström ◽  
Kaarina Sivonen
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Brackish Water ◽  
Internal Transcribed Spacer ◽  
Salinity Gradient ◽  
Its Sequences ◽  
23S Rrna ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
The Baltic

ABSTRACT Colony-forming cyanobacteria of the genus Aphanizomenon form massive blooms in the brackish water of the Baltic Sea during the warmest summer months. There have been recent suggestions claiming that the Baltic Sea Aphanizomenon species may be different from Aphanizomenon flos-aquae found in lakes. In this study, we examined variability in the morphology and 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of A. flos-aquae populations along a salinity gradient from a string of lakes to a fjord-like extension of the Baltic Sea to the open Baltic Sea. Morphological differences among the populations were negligible. We found that the Baltic Sea was dominated (25 out of 27 sequences) by one ITS1-S (shorter band of ITS 1 [ITS1]) genotype, which also was found in the lakes. The lake populations of A. flos-aquae tended to be genetically more diverse than the Baltic Sea populations. Since the lake ITS1-S genotypes of A. flos-aquae are continuously introduced to the Baltic Sea via inflowing waters, it seems that only one ITS1 genotype is able to persist in the Baltic Sea populations. The results suggest that one of the ITS1-S genotypes found in the lakes is better adapted to the conditions of the Baltic Sea and that natural selection removes most of the lake genotypes from the Baltic Sea A. flos-aquae populations.

scholarly journals CLASSIFYING THE ICE SEASONS 1982-2016 USING THE WEIGHTED ICE DAYS NUMBER AS A NEW WINTER SEVERITY CHARACTERISTIC

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jevgeni Rjazin ◽  
Victor Alari ◽  
Ove Pärn
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Temporal Dimension ◽  
Ice Concentration ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Severity Degree

Sea ice is a key climate factor and it restricts considerably the winter navigation in severe seasons on the Baltic Sea. So determining ice conditions severity and describing ice cover behavior at severe seasons are necessary. The ice seasons severity degree is studied at the years 1982 to 2016. A new integrative characteristic named the weighted ice days number of the season is introduced to determine the ice season severity. The ice concentration data on the Baltic Sea published in the European Copernicus Programme are used to calculate the maximal ice extent and the weighted ice days number of the seasons. Both the ice season severity characteristics are used to classify the winters with respect of severity. The ice seasons 1981/82, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1995/96 and 2002/03 are classified as severe by the weighted ice days number. Only three seasons of this list are severe by both the criteria. We interpret this coincidence as the evidence of enough-during extensive ice cover in these three seasons. In the winter 2010/11 ice cover extended widely for some time, but did not last longer. At 2002/03 and a few other ice seasons the Baltic Sea was ice-covered in moderate extent, but the ice cover stayed long time. For 11 winters (32 % of the period) the relational weighted ice days number differs considerably (> 10 %) from the relational maximal ice extent. These winters yield one third of the studied ice seasons. Statistically every 6th winter is severe by the weighted ice days number whereas only statistically every 8th winter is severe by the maximal ice extent on the Baltic. Hence there are more intrinsically severe seasons than the maximal ice extent gives. The maximal ice extent fails to account with the ice cover durability. The weighted ice days number enables to describe the ice cover behavior more representatively. Using the weighted ice days number adds the temporal dimension to the ice season severity study.

scholarly journals Baltic Sea sediments record anthropogenic loads of Cd, Pb, and Zn

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sina Shahabi-Ghahfarokhi ◽  
Sarah Josefsson ◽  
Anna Apler ◽  
Karsten Kalbitz ◽  
Mats Åström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Heavy Metal Contamination ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The West ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
Baltic Proper ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Bothnian Bay

Abstract The unsustainable settlement and high industrialization around the catchment of the Baltic Sea has left records of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination in Baltic Sea sediments. Here, we show that sediments record post-industrial and anthropogenic loads of Cd, Zn, and Pb over a large spatial scale in the Baltic Sea. We also demonstrate that there is a control on the accumulation of these metals in relation to oxic/anoxic conditions of bottom waters. The total concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Pb were obtained with the near-total digestion method in thirteen cores collected from the Bothnian Bay, the Bothnian Sea, and the west and central Baltic Proper. The lowest average concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Pb were observed in Bothnian Bay (0.4, 125, 40.2 mg kg−1 DW, respectively). In contrast, the highest concentrations were observed in the west Baltic Proper (5.5, 435, and 56.6 mg kg−1 DW, respectively). The results indicate an increasing trend for Cd, Zn, and Pb from the early nineteenth century until the 1970s, followed by a decrease until 2000–2008. However, surface sediments still have concentrations above the pre-industrial values suggested by the Swedish EPA (Cd is 0.2, Zn is 85, and Pb is 31 mg kg−1 DW). The results also show that the pre-industrial Cd, Zn, and Pb concentrations obtained from 3 cores with ages < 1500 B.C. were 1.8, 1.7, and 1.2 times higher, respectively, than the pre-industrial values suggested by the Swedish EPA. To conclude, accumulations of metals in the Baltic Sea are governed by anthropogenic load and the redox conditions of the environment. The significance of correct environmental governance (measures) can be illustrated with the reduction in the pollution of Pb, Zn, and Cd within the Baltic Sea since the 1980s.

Provenancing Rune Carvers on Bornholm through 3D-Scanning and Multivariate Statistics of the Carving Technique

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-104
Author(s):  
Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Multivariate Statistics ◽  
3D Scanning ◽  
Multivariate Statistical Methods ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
First Choice ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Shed Light

In 2017, eight runestones on Bornholm were scanned in 3D and the microtopography of the grooves was analysed by multivariate statistical methods. One of the stones was previously not known to runological research. The aim of this paper is to compare the carving technique of the Bornholm runestones with runestones from Swedish regions to shed light on old issues concerning Bornholm's links with other regions in and around the Baltic Sea. The rune carvers are important agents in this, as the runestones are often related to issues including landholding, Christianization, possible Swedish influences, and the inclusion of Bornholm into the Danish realm. In addition, rune carvers as native writers were intimately connected to the introduction of literacy. The results of this study indicate that the rune carvers did not cooperate much with carvers from the islands of Öland and Gotland, whereas Södermanland, among the Swedish mainland provinces, was their first choice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document