Size-fractionated phytoplankton biomass in autumn of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary and its adjacent waters after the Three Gorges Dam construction

A cruise was undertaken from 3rd to 8th November 2004 in Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary and its adjacent waters to investigate the spatial biomass distribution and size composition of phytoplankton. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration ranged 0.42-1.17 mu g L-1 and 0.41-10.43 mu g L-1 inside and outside the river mouth, with the mean value 0.73 mu g L-1 and 1.86 mu g L-1, respectively. Compared with the Chl-a concentration in summer of 2004, the mean value was much lower inside, and a little higher outside the river mouth. The maximal Chl-a was 10.43 mu g L-1 at station 18 (122.67 degrees E, 31.25 degrees N), and the region of high Chl-a concentration was observed in the central survey area between 122.5 degrees E and 123.0 degrees E. In the stations located east of 122.5 degrees E, Chl-a concentration was generally high in the upper layers above 5 m due to water stratification. In the survey area, the average Chl-a in sizes of > 20 mu m and < 20 mu m was 0.28 mu g L-1 and 1.40 mu g L-1, respectively. High Chl-a concentration of < 20 mu m size-fraction indicated that the nanophytoplankton and picophytoplankton contributed the most to the biomass of phytoplankton. Skeletonema costatum, Prorocentrum micans and Scrippsiella trochoidea were the dominant species in surface water. The spatial distribution of cell abundance of phytoplankton was patchy and did not agree well with that of Chl-a, as the cell abundance could not distinguish the differences in shape and size of phytoplankton cells. Nitrate and silicate behaved conservatively, but the former could probably be the limitation factor to algal biomass at offshore stations. The distribution of phosphate scattered considerably, and its relation to the phytoplankton biomass was complicated.

Concentrations and distribution of organochlorine pesticides in shellfish from Changjiang estuary

To analyze and evaluate the status of organochlorine pollutants in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary and adjacent waters, the concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs) in shellfish collected in study area from 2006 to 2007 were determined with gas chromatography (GC). The concentration range of HCHs was (ND-12.13)x10(-3) mg/kg wet weight and averaged at 0.54x10(-3) mg/kg while the concentration of DDTs was in the range of (4.06-281.73) x10(-3) mg/kg with a mean of 57.52x10(-3) mg/kg in the survey areas. The concentrations of DDTs in the shellfish were higher than HCHs', so that DDTs could be considered as typical organochlorine pollutants in the areas. The concentrations of DDTs in the shellfish were higher than HCHs', so that DDTs could be considered as typical organochlorines pollutants. The HCHs in all the shellfish conformed to the first level of criterion (0.02 mg/kg) of the Marion Biology Quality (GB 18421-2001), and that of DDTs in most samples were beyond the first level (0.01 mg/kg) but conformed to the second level (0.10 mg/kg). On average, alpha-HCH and delta-HCH occupied the most part of HCHs, while O,P'-DDT and P,P'-DDT occupied the most part of DDTs. The concentrations of organocholorine pesticides in shellfish samples varied in site and in species. The highest level occurred at the Shengsi (SS), followed by Yangkougang (YKG), Lvsi (LS), Dongyuan (DY) and Beibayao (BBY), low concentrations were observed at Changsha (CS), Beidaodi (BDD), and Gouqi (GQ). The concentration of HCHs and DDTs in most sites decreased clearly from 2006 to 2007 except for YKG, DY, BDD, LYS, and SS. All of above results suggested that the study area was slightly affected by organochlorine pesticide, special by DDTs.

Inorganic carbon of sediments in the Yangtze River Estuary and Jiaozhou Bay

JGOFS results showed that the ocean is a major sink for the increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide resulting from human activity. However, the role of the coastal seas in the global carbon cycling is poorly understood. In the present work, the inorganic carbon (IC) in the Yangtze River Estuary and Jiaozhou Bay are studied as examples of offshore sediments. Sequential extraction was used to divide inorganic carbon in the sediments into five forms, NaCl form, NH3 H2O form, NaOH form, NH2OH HCl form and HCl form. Studied of their content and influencing factors were also showed that NaCl form < NH3 H2O form < NaOH form < NH2OH HCl form < HCl form, and that their influencing factors of pH, Eh, Es, water content, organic carbon, organic nitrogen, inorganic nitrogen, organic phosphorus and inorganic phosphorus on inorganic carbon can be divided into two groups, and that every factor has different influence on different form or on the same form in different environment. Different IC form may transform into each other in the early diagenetic process of sediment, but NaCl form, NH3 H2O form, NaOH form and NH2OH HCl form may convert to HCl form ultimately. So every IC form has different contribution to carbon cycling. This study showed that the contribution of various form of IC to the carbon cycle is in the order of NaOH form > NH2OH HCl form > NH3 H2O form > NaCl form > HCl form, and that the contribution of HCl form contributes little to carbon cycling, HCl form may be one of end-result of atmospheric CO2. So Yangtze River estuary sediment may absorb at least about 40.96x10(11) g atmospheric CO2 every year, which indicated that offshore sediment play an important role in absorbing atmospheric CO2.

Long-term ecological interactions between nutrient and phytoplankton community in the Changjiang estuary

Both nitrate (NO (3) (-) ) and soluble reactive phosphate (PO (4) (3-) ) concentration in the freshwater end-member at the mouth of the Changjiang River have increased dramatically since the 1960s. Within the same period in the sea area, with surface salinity > 30, NO (3) (-) concentration has shown an obvious increase, PO (4) (3-) has not changed greatly and dissolved reactive silica (SiO (3) (2-) ) has deceased dramatically. An examination of the elemental ratio of NO (3) (-) to PO (4) (3-) at the mouth of the Changjiang River did not show a systematic trend from the 1960s to 2000s largely because both nutrients increased simultaneously. In comparison, the elemental ratio of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to PO (4) (3-) in surface seawater, with salinity > 22, has shown a clearly increasing trend. Furthermore, an overall historical change of the SiO (3) (2-) :PO (4) (3-) ratio has undergone a reverse trend in this area. Based on the changes of SiO (3) (2-) :PO (4) (3-) and DIN:PO (4) (3-) ratios, we can conclude that an overall historical change of SiO (3) (2-) :DIN ratio has decreased in this area from the 1950-1960s to 2000s. The argument that phytoplankton productivity in the Changjiang estuary has been enhanced by increasing nutrient input from the riverine transport was supported by these results. A comparative study analyzing the shift of phytoplankton composition from the mid-1980s to 2000s was also made. The results indicated that the average yearly percentage of diatom species in the Changjiang estuary has decreased from 84.6% during 1985-1986 to 69.8% during 2004-2005. Furthermore, the average yearly percentage of diatom abundance in the Changjiang estuary decreased from 99.5% during to 75.5% over the same time period, while the abundance of dinoflagellates has increased dramatically, from 0.7% to 25.4%.

Macrobenthic community structure in the Changjiang Estuary and its adjacent waters in summer

On the basis of data collected in the summer of 2006 from 27 sampling stations in the Changjiang Estuary and its adjacent waters, the ecological characteristics of macrobenthos and the relationship between the macrobenthos and the environmental factors were studied using hierarchical cluster and non-metric multidimensional scaling ( MDS). The biomass, abundance, Shannon - Wiener's and Margalef' s indices of the macrobenthos were presented. The results showed that a total of 253 maerobenthic species were found in the research region, and most. of them belong to mollusks and polychaetes. The dominant species were Cossurella dimorpha, Eocylichna cylindrella, Episiphon kiaochowwanense, Nassarius semiplicatus, Ocstergrenia variabilis and Sternaspis scutata. The average abundance of the macrobenthos was (313.15 +/- 233.4) ind. / m(2), and the average biomass was (15.2 +/- 11.2) g/ m(2). The distribution patterns of the abundance and biomass of the macrobenthos were similar. The abundance and biomass in the area close to the estuary were lower than those from the area more distant to the estuary; the central part of the research region had higher abundance and biomass than other parts of the research region. In accordance with the results, four macrobenthic communities with distinct spatial differences were identified. The low abundance and biomass in the area close to the estuary should be caused by the high sedimentation rate. The statistical analysis indicated that the depth is the most important factor affecting the distribution of macrobenthos.

Corrosion behaviour of hot dip zinc and zinc-aluminium coatings on steel in seawater

A comparative investigation of hot dip Zn-25Al alloy, Zn-55Al-Si and Zn coatings on steel was performed with attention to their corrosion performance in seawater. The results of 2-year exposure testing of these at Zhoushan test site are reported here. In tidal and immersion environments, Zn-25Al alloy coating is several times more durable than zinc coating of double thickness. At long exposure times, corrosion rate for the Zn-25Al alloy coating remains indistinguishable from that for the Zn-55Al-Si coating of similar thickness in tidal zone, and is two to three times lower than the latter in immersion zone. The decrease in tensile strength suggested that galvanized and Zn-55Al-Si coated steel suffer intense pitting corrosion in immersion zone. The electrochemical tests showed that all these coatings provide cathodic protection to the substrate metal; the galvanic potentials are equal to - 1,050, - 1,025 and - 880 mV (SCE) for zinc, Zn-25Al alloy and Zn-55Al-Si coating, respectively, which are adequate to keep the steel inside the immunity region. It is believed that the superior performance of the Zn-25Al alloy coating is due to its optimal combination of the uniform corrosion resistance and pitting corrosion resistance. The inferior corrosion performance by comparison of the Zn coating mainly results from its larger dissolution rate, while the failure of the Zn-55Al-Si coating is probably related to its higher susceptibility to pitting corrosion in seawater.