Dinâmica sazonal de nutrientes em estuário amazônico

Este artigo mostra a distribuição dos nutrientes no estuário do rio Paracauari, durante um ciclo hidrológico amazônico (2008), e no final do período de La Niña (abril de 2008). Esse estuário é influenciado por clima tropical úmido e meso-marés (3 a 4m), semi-diurna. A amostragem foi realizada em 10 estações em três períodos sazonais distintos: chuvoso (março), intermediário (junho) e menos chuvoso (setembro). Medimos “in situ” os parâmetros físico-químicos utilizando uma sonda multiparâmetro; analisamos os nutrientes dissolvidos (nitrato, nitrito, n-amoniacal, fosfato e silicato) por espectofotometria e o material particulado em suspensão por gravimetria. Observamos amplas variações sazonais nas concentrações dos parâmetros estudados. A temperatura da água (média de 28,58 ºC) é bastante homogênea, típica das águas tropicais. O pH variou de ácido (5,80) à alcalino (7,86) e a salinidade entre 0,06 a 7,56 ambos com valores máximos na foz, devido à maior influência marinha. As águas são mal oxigenadas no período chuvoso (2,35 mg.L-1) e bem no menos chuvoso (6,55 mg.L-1). As concentrações de material particulado em suspensão e de nutrientes foram máximas no período chuvoso devido ao aporte natural proveniente das áreas adjacentes.

Estrógenos na bacia hidrográfica Tietê-Jacaré: ocorrência e avaliação do impacto ambiental

Pós-graduação em Química - IQ

Organic temperature proxies in the subpolat region around Iceland

Subpolar regions are key areas to study natural climate variability, due to their high sensitivity to rapid environmental changes, particularly through sea surface temperature (SST) variations. Here, we have tested three independent organic temperature proxies (UK'37, TEX86 and LDI) on their potential applicability for SST reconstruction in the subpolar region around Iceland. UK'37, TEX86 and TEXL86 temperature estimates from suspended particulate matter showed a substantial discrepancy with instrumental data, while long chain alkyl diols were below detection limit in most of the stations. In the northern Iceland Basin, sedimenting particles revealed a seasonality in lipid fluxes i.e. high fluxes of alkenones and GDGTs were measured during late spring-summer, and high fluxes of long chain alkyl diols during late summer. The flux-weighted average temperature estimates had a significant negative (ca. 2.3°C for UK'37) and positive (up to 5°C for TEX86) offset with satellite-derived SSTs and temperature estimates derived from the underlying surface sediment. UK'37 temperature estimates from surface sediments around Iceland correlate well with summer mean sea surface temperatures, while TEX86 derived temperatures correspond with both annual and winter mean 0-200 m temperatures, suggesting a subsurface temperature signal. Anomalous LDI-SST values in surface sediments, and low mass flux of 1,13- and 1,15-diols compared to 1,14-diols, suggest that Proboscia diatoms are the major sources of long chain alkyl diols in this area rather than eustigmatophyte algae, and therefore the LDI cannot be applied in this region.

Heterocyst glycolipids in surface sediments and water samples of the Amazon shelf

Marine endosymbiotic heterocystous cyanobacteria make unique heterocyst glycolipids (HGs) containing pentose (C5) moieties. Functionally similar HGs with hexose (C6) moieties found in free-living cyanobacteria occur in the sedimentary record, but C5 HGs have not been documented in the natural environment. Here we developed a high performance liquid chromatography multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS2) method specific for trace analysis of long chain C5HGs and applied it to cultures of Rhizosolenia clevei Ostenfeld and its symbiont Richelia intracellularis which were found to contain C5 HGs and no C6 HGs. The method was then applied to suspended particulate matter (SPM) and surface sediment from the Amazon plume region known to harbor marine diatoms carrying heterocystous cyanobacteria as endosymbionts. C5 HGs were detected in both marine SPM and surface sediments, but not in SPM or surface sediment from freshwater settings in the Amazon basin. Rather, the latter contained C6 HGs, established biomarkers for free-living heterocystous cyanobacteria. Our results indicate that the C5 HGs may be potential biomarkers for marine endosymbiotic heterocystous cyanobacteria.