Black carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of China's marginal seas

This study investigates the distribution of black carbon (BC) and its correlation with total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (I PAH) pound in the surface sediments of China's marginal seas. BC content ranges from < 0.10 to 2.45 mg/g dw (grams dry weight) in the sediments studied, and varied among the different coastal regions. The Bohai Bay sediments had the highest BC contents (average 2.18 mg/g dw), which comprises a significant fraction (27%-41%) of the total organic carbon (TOC) preserved in the sediments. In comparison, BC in the surface sediments of the North Yellow Sea, Jiaozhou Bay, East China Sea and the South China Sea is less abundant and accounted for an average of 6%, 8%, 14% and 5%, respectively, of the sedimentary organic carbon pool. The concentration of I PAH pound in the surface sediments ranges from 41 to 3 667 ng/g dw and showed large spatial variations among the sampling sites of different costal regions. The Bohai Bay has the highest I PAH pound values, ranging from 79 to 3 667 ng/g dw. This reflects the high anthropogenically contaminated nature of the sediments in the bay. BC is positively correlated to TOC but a strong correlation is not found between BC and I PAH pound in the surface sediments studied, suggesting that BC and PAHs preserved in the sediments are derived from different sources and controlled by different biogeochemical processes. Our study suggests that the abundance of BC preserved in the sediments could represent a significant sink pool of carbon cycling in China's marginal seas.

Estuarine nutrient loading affects phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing at two contrasting sites in Hong Kong coastal waters

To investigate the effects of enhanced nutrient loading in estuarine waters on phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing, we conducted monthly dilution experiments at 2 stations in Hong Kong coastal waters with contrasting trophic conditions. The western estuarine station (WE) near the Pearl River estuary is strongly influenced by freshwater discharge, while the eastern oceanic station (EO) is mostly affected by the South China Sea. Growth rates of phytoplankton were often limited by nutrients at EO, while nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth seldom Occurred at WE due to the high level of nutrients delivered by the Pearl River, especially in the summer rainy season. Higher chlorophyll a, microzooplankton biomass, phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing rates were found at WE than at EO. However, the increase in chlorophyll greatly exceeded the increase in phytoplankton growth rate, reflecting different response relationships to nutrient availability. Strong seasonality was observed at both stations, with temperature being an important factor affecting both phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing rates. Picophytoplankton, especially Synechococcus, also exhibited great seasonality at EO, with summer abundances being 2 or 3 orders of magnitude higher than those during winter, Our results confirm that in eutrophic coastal environments, microzooplankton grazing is a dominant loss pathway for phytoplankton, accounting for the utilization of >50%, of primary production on average.

An investigation of the roles of surface aluminum and acid sites in the zeolite MCM-22

Ammonia adsorption studies reveal that the observed Lewis acidity in the zeolite MCM-22 is derived from at least two types of framework aluminum sites (Al(F)), that is, octahedral Al(F) and three-coordinate Al(F). Comparative ammonia or trimethylphosphine (TMP) adsorption experiments with MCM-22 confirm that octahedral Al species gives rise to the signal at delta(ISO) approximate to 0 in the (27)Al NMR spectrum; this is a superposition of two NMR signals from the different Al species on the water-re constructed zeolite surface. A sharp resonance assigned to framework Al reversibly transforms on ammonia adsorption to delta(ISO) (27)Al approximate to 55 from tetrahedral Al(F), while the broad peak is assigned to nonframework aluminium which results from hydrothermal treatment. This study also demonstrates the effectiveness of (27)Al magic angle spinning (MAS) and multiple quantum (MQ) MAS NMR spectroscopy as a technique for the study of zeolite reactions.

Stable tetrahedral aluminum sites in hexagonal mesoporous aluminosilicates

A unique templating approach for the synthesis of hexagonal mesoporous aluminosilicates via self-assembly of pre-formed aluminosilcate nanoclusters with the templating micella formed by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is described. The obtained materials of MAS-5 are hydrothermally stable, which is shown by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Furthermore, as characterized by NMR technique, MAS-5 has stable tetrahedral aluminum sites that is the major contributions to the acidity of aluminosilicate molecular sieve, and on non-framework aluminium species in the samples was observed.