Search results for "Geologic Sediments"
showing 10 items of 162 documents
Distribution of Cr and Pb in artificial sea water and their sorption in marine sediments: an example from experimental mesocosms
2016
The uptake of two heavy metals (chromium and lead) in sediments in experimental mesocosms under exposure to different metal concentrations was evaluated by monitoring their concentrations over time both in seawater and in sediment. Two separate experiments under laboratory-controlled conditions were carried out for the two metals. Sediments were collected from a protected natural area characterized by low anthropic influence and were placed in mesocosms that were housed in aquaria each with seawater at a different metal concentration. At pre-established time intervals, seawater and sediment samples were collected from each mesocosm for chemical analyses. Quantification of chromium and lead …
Current anthropogenic pressures on agro-ecological protected coastal wetlands
2015
Coastal wetlands are areas that suffer from great pressure. Much of it is due to the rapid development of the surrounding artificial landscapes, where socio-economic factors lead to alterations in the nearby environment, affecting the quality of natural and agricultural systems. This work analyses interconnections among landscapes under the hypothesis that urban-artificial impacts could be detected on soils and waters of an agro-ecological protected area, L'Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, located in the vicinity of the City of Valencia, Spain. The methodological framework developed addresses two types of anthropogenic pressure: (1) direct, due to artificialisation of soil covers that cau…
Forearc carbon sink reduces long-term volatile recycling into the mantle
2019
Carbon and other volatiles in the form of gases, fluids or mineral phases are transported from Earth's surface into the mantle at convergent margins, where the oceanic crust subducts beneath the continental crust. The efficiency of this transfer has profound implications for the nature and scale of geochemical heterogeneities in Earth's deep mantle and shallow crustal reservoirs, as well as Earth's oxidation state. However, the proportions of volatiles released from the forearc and backarc are not well constrained compared to fluxes from the volcanic arc front. Here we use helium and carbon isotope data from deeply sourced springs along two cross-arc transects to show that about 91 per cent…
Impact of biocide treatments on the bacterial communities of the Lascaux Cave.
2009
The Lascaux Cave contains a remarkable set of paintings from the Upper Palaeolithic. Shortly after discovery in 1940, the cave was modified for public viewing and, in 2001, was invaded by a Fusarium solani species complex. Benzalkonium chloride was used from 2001 to 2004 to eliminate the fungal outbreak. In this study, we carried out a sampling in most of the cave halls and galleries. Sequence analysis and isolation methods detected that the most abundant genera of bacteria were Ralstonia and Pseudomonas. We suggest that, as a result of years of benzalkonium chloride treatments, the indigenous microbial community has been replaced by microbial populations selected by biocide application.
Manganese/polymetallic nodules: Micro-structural characterization of exolithobiontic- and endolithobiontic microbial biofilms by scanning electron mi…
2009
Polymetallic/ferromanganese nodules (Mn-nodules) provide a rich source for manganese. It is not yet known if the nodules have a biogenic or an abiogenic origin. Here we applied the technique of high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, in combination with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopical (EDX) analysis, to trace the existence of microbial biofilms. Two spatially separated assemblies exist, the exolithobiontic- and endolithobiontic colonizations. The exolithobiontic colonization is seen in the micro-canals, which traverse the outer surface layer of the nodules and are formed by elongated filamentous organisms, which show no signs of mineralization. In the center of the nodules thr…
Psychrotolerant Sulfate-reducing Bacteria from an Oxic Freshwater Sediment Description of Desulfovibrio cuneatus sp. nov. and Desulfovibrio litoralis…
1998
The most abundant culturable sulfate-reducing bacteria were isolated from the littoral sediment of the oligotrophic Lake Stechlin. The strains STL1 and STL4 were obtained from the oxic uppermost layer, while strain STL6 was isolated from the anoxic zone in 20 to 30 mm depth. The isolates showed a striking morphological feature in tapering off at one end of the cell. Physiological characteristics related them to the genus Desulfovibrio. They contained desulfoviridin. H2, formate, pyruvate, lactate, and fumarate were utilized with sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, or elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. All isolates were able to reduce oxygen and survived 120 h of aeration. However, aerobic g…
Sphingobium aromaticiconvertens sp. nov., a xenobiotic-compound-degrading bacterium from polluted river sediment.
2007
A bacterial strain capable of degrading some monochlorinated dibenzofurans, designated RW16T, was isolated from aerobic River Elbe sediments. The strain was characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, DNA G+C content, physiological characteristics, polyamines, ubiquinone and polar lipid pattern and fatty acid composition. This analysis revealed that strain RW16T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingobium. The DNA G+C content of strain RW16T, 60.7 mol%, is the lowest yet reported for the genus. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis placed strain RW16T as an outlier in the genus Sphingobium. The name Sphingobium aromaticiconvertens sp. nov. is proposed for this dibenzofuran-min…
Quantification of a novel group of nitrate-reducing bacteria in the environment by real-time PCR
2004
Abstract Nitrate reduction is performed by phylogenetically diverse bacteria. Analysis of narG (alpha subunit of the membrane bound nitrate reductase) trees constructed using environmental sequences revealed a new cluster that is not related to narG gene from known nitrate-reducing bacteria. In this study, primers targeting this as yet uncultivated nitrate-reducing group were designed and used to develop a real-time SYBR® Green PCR assay. The assay was tested with clones from distinct nitrate-reducing groups and applied to various environmental samples. narG copy number was high ranging between 5.08×108 and 1.12×1011 copies per gram of dry weight of environmental sample. Environmental real-…
Functional and genomic diversity of methylotrophic Rhodocyclaceae: description of Methyloversatilis discipulorum sp. nov.
2015
Three strains of methylotrophic Rhodocyclaceae (FAM1T, RZ18-153 and RZ94) isolated from Lake Washington sediment samples were characterized. Based on phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences the strains should be assigned to the genus Methyloversatilis. Similarly to other members of the family, the strains show broad metabolic capabilities and are able to utilize a number of organic acids, alcohols and aromatic compounds in addition to methanol and methylamine. The main fatty acids were 16:1ω7c (49–59 %) and 16:0 (32–29 %). Genomes of all isolates were sequenced, assembled and annotated in collaboration with the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI). Genome comparison revealed that the s…
Comparison of different methods for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from Sicilian (Italy) coastal area sediments.
2012
This paper describes a work aimed at improving the conditions of an extraction method, coupling GC-MS determination, for the analysis without cleanup phase, of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from sediment samples. The automatic Soxhlet extraction in warm mode (using Extraction System B-811 Standard, Buchi) has demonstrated advantages for automation, reduced extraction time, and lower solvent use than for conventional Soxhlet extraction. Under these conditions, the recoveries are very good as they resulted greater than 85 % and, in most of the cases, near 100 %. The repeatability is also satisfactory (relative standard deviation less than 15 %). The detection limits are also accepta…