Ecological assessment using diatom community in Avarga Toson Lake (Mongolia)

A total of 32 diatom species were recorded in Avarga Toson Lake. Motile diatom species are dominatingin diatom communities. The species composition of two coexisted lakes is markedly different. Diatom richness, speciescomposition, and dominant species indicate that Burd lake is polluted by livestock grazing or domestic pollution, andToson Lake is polluted by human activities with high sediment accumulation at the bottom.

KECEPATAN GELOMBANG GESER (VS) DAN KETEBALAN SEDIMEN (H) DI KABUPATEN KLATEN DARI DATA MIKROTREMOR

Research on Shear Wave Velocity (vs) and Sediment Thickness (h) in Klaten Regency, Central Java from field microtremor data aims to determine the thickness of sediment or soft sediment as one factor of high and low earthquake vulnerability. Microtremor data was collected using a three-component TDS 303 seismometer covering 111 measuring points in the Klaten Regency area. In this study, the sediment thickness was calculated using the equation shear wave velocity (vs) divided by four times the dominant frequency (fg). The dominant frequency (fg) value is obtained from the HVSR curve. In contrast, the shear wave velocity value (vs) used in this study is the inversion value of the HVSR curve, which is modeled based on borlog data at the Wedi Church, equated for all measurement points. The map of the shear wave velocity distribution at each microtremor measuring point has a vs value; this value is used to calculate the thickness of the sediment at each end. So that the distribution of the thickness value of the sediment at each point is obtained, then a thickness map is made covering the study area. The results showed that, in general, the research area has a Vs value in the effects of the HVSR curve inversion ranging from 130 m/s to 570.83 m/s, Vs average 275.68 m/s. The areas with vs are relatively high in the southern part of Gantiwarno, Wedi, and Bayat subdistricts directly adjacent to Gunung Kidul. Areas with relatively low-value of vs are in Prambanan Subdistrict, Northern Wedi Subdistrict, Trucuk Subdistrict, Jogonalan Subdistrict, South Klaten District, Central Klaten District, and Kalikotes Subdistrict. For sediment thickness (h) ranges from 5.105 m to 113.648 m. Areas with relatively high sediment thickness are located in parts of Wedi Subdistrict with a thickness of up to 110 m. Areas with medium thickness (around 60 to 90 m) are in the Gantiwarno sub-district, Prambanan district, and the southern part of the Jogonalan sub-district. In Bayat District, it has a low thickness (about 5 to 30 m) located in the proves and mountains of the Paseban area and the tomb of Sunan Pandanaran. The result shows that areas with high sediment thickness, namely in Wedi District, have a high level of earthquake vulnerability.

The Importance of Home Cleaning: Sediment Transport by Alpheid Shrimps Provides a Competitive Advantage to Their Host Anemones

Bartholomea annulata is a facultative host of the A. armatus species complex. In the Mexican Caribbean it is commonly found in cracks and crevices located where the vertical walls meet the sandy bottom or on large coral patches away from the sand. To protect themselves from predators, anemones often contract their hydraulic body into a cavernous den and extend the stinging tentacles toward the entrance. The high sediment dynamics of the region, however, result in a permanent risk of animal shelters to be obstructed by sand. By both analysing field data and conducting laboratory experiments with artificial shelters, the present study explored the den cleaning behaviour widely extended amongst alpheid shrimp, and its role in the alpheid-anemone symbiotic interaction. Videorecordings showed that den cleaning was composed of three main behaviours: digging, tossing and tamping. It commenced as soon as 7.2 ± 10.5 min after anemones were recognised by alpheids, and behaviours were displayed systematically amongst all 12 replicates. Despite being completely burrowed in sand, Alpheus spp. were capable of finding the anemone and liberating the entrance of the artificial shelters in less than 2.5 h. In addition, manipulative experiments showed that anemones confronted with shelters that were obstructed with sediment had a 25% probability of fully retracting when Alpheus spp. were absent, compared to a 75% probability when shrimps had cleaned the shelter’s entry and internal passage. The analysis of field data indicated that the presence of alpheid shrimps as symbionts of B. annulata was 30% higher amongst anemones in close contact with sandy bottoms than when inhabiting crevices on the top or lateral walls of hard substrates, away from the sediment. Overall, our study concludes that den cleaning constitutes a quick and effective mechanism to assure the anemone’s full retraction into their den, and by keeping the sediment away, alpheids provide the necessary conditions that serve both the anemone’s and the shrimp’s higher chances of acquiring maximum protection from predators. This advantageous exchange in protection partially explains why alpheids are more frequently present in B. annulata in interface microhabitats where the benefit of the interaction is maximised.

Sediment Contamination by Heavy Metals and PAH in the Piombino Channel (Tyrrhenian Sea)

Sediment contamination is of major concern in areas affected by heavy maritime traffic. The spatial variation and contamination of 11 trace elements and 17 PAHs in surface sediments were studied along a 31 km transect along the seaway from the port of Piombino (Tuscany) to the port of Portoferraio (Elba Island) in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea. Heavy metal contamination was detected at sites near Piombino (Ni, Pb, Hg, Cu and Zn) and at sites near Portoferraio (Pb, Zn, Hg, Cr and Cd). Each of the 35 sampled sites showed PAH contamination, with the highest concentrations at sites near Portoferraio. The most abundant isomers detected were 2- and 4-ring PAHs. PAH ratio analysis showed a prevalence of PAHs of pyrolytic origin. High values of PAHs and heavy metals were related to high sediment water content, TOC, silt, and clay content. Arsenic increased with increasing depth. The correlation between concentrations of metals and PAHs suggests common anthropogenic sources and is of concern for possible synergistic adverse effects on the biota.

Formation of Oil-Particle-Aggregates: Numerical Model Formulation and Calibration

When oil spills occur in turbid waters, the oil droplets and mineral grains can combine to form oil-particle aggregates (OPAs). The formation of OPAs impacts the vertical transport of both the oil and the mineral grains; especially increasing deposition of oil to the seabed. Though the coastal oceans can be very turbid, to date, few numerical ocean models have accounted for aggregation processes that form OPAs. However, interactions between oil and mineral aggregates may be represented using techniques developed to account for sediment aggregation. As part of Consortium for Simulation of Oil Microbial Interactions in the Ocean (CSOMIO), we modified an existing, population dynamics-based sediment flocculation model to develop OPAMOD, a module that accounts for the formation of OPAs. A zero-dimensional model using OPAMOD is shown to be capable of reproducing the size distribution of aggregates from existing laboratory experimental results. Also using the zero-dimensional model, sensitivity tests were performed on two model parameters, the fractal dimension and collision efficiency. Results showed that fractal dimension played a role in the OPA size distribution by influencing the effective particle density, which modified the number concentration of flocs for a given mass concentration. However, the modeled particle characteristics and oil sequestration were relatively insensitive to collision efficiency. To explore OPA formation for an outer continental shelf site, two simulations were conducted using a one-dimensional (vertical) implementation of the model. One scenario had high sediment concentration near the seabed to mimic storm-induced resuspension. The other scenario represented river plume sediment delivery by having high sediment concentration in surface waters. Results showed that OPA formation was sensitive to the vertical distribution of suspended sediment, with the river plume scenario creating more OPA, and sequestering more oil within OPA than the storm resuspension scenario. OPAMOD was developed within the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-and-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system, therefore the methods and parameterizations from this study are transferrable to a three-dimensional coupled oil-sediment-microbial model developed by CSOMIO within the COAWST framework.

Intrusions of sediment laden fluids into density stratified water columns can be an unrecognized source of mixing in many lakes.

<p>When a sediment laden river flows into a stratified water body, the water mass can either intrude as an overflow, interflow, or underflow depending upon the density contrast between the river and the lake. If the river is sufficiently warm or fresh to compensate for the additional mass of sediment, an overflow results, below which convective sedimentation occurs. If the sediment load is sufficiently high, then an underflow initially occurs, from which the warm/fresh interstitial material can subsequently loft as sedimentation reduces the initial density. Such convection can even potentially overturn the water column stratification if there is a very fresh, but very high sediment load turbidity current. For intermediate cases, an interflow can occur. Here it is possible for both lofting and sediment driven convection to occur above and below the pycnocline. All these different regimes can be described in terms of two dimensionless parameters: R<sub>S</sub> and R<sub>A</sub>, which are ratios that compare the density contrast due to sediment between the river and the upper layer with the density contrast between the upper and lower layers and the density contrast between the river and upper layer, respectively. We used laboratory experiments to describe the vigour of convection in terms of these dimensionless parameters, which then allows the behaviour in various rivers inflows into lakes to be predicted. We also apply our observations to predict how a turbidity current could lead to lofting and possible overturn of the stratification of meromictic Lake Kivu.</p>