Comparative biogeochemical behaviors of iron-55 and stable iron in the marine environment

Studies of atmospheric aerosols have demonstrated that much of the /sup 55/Fe associated with the aerosol input to the oceans is present as either an amorphous or hydrous iron oxide or as very small particulate species attached to the surfaces of the large aerosol particles. By comparison, nearly all of the stable iron is bound in the mineral phase of aerosol particles. This difference in the chemical and physical forms of the radioactive and stable iron isotopes results in the /sup 55/Fe being more biologically available than is the stable iron. This difference in availability is responsible for the transfer of a much higher specific activity /sup 55/Fe to certain ocean organisms and man relative to the specific activity of the total aerosol or of sea water. This differential biological uptake of the radioactive element and its stable element counterpart points out that natural levels of stable elements in the marine environment may not effectively dilute radioelements or other stable elements of anthropogenic sources. The effectiveness of dilution by natural sources depends on the chemical and physical forms of the materials in both the source terms and the receiving environments. The large difference in specific activities of /sup 55/Fe in aerosols and sea water relative to ocean organisms reflects the independent behaviors of /sup 55/Fe and stable iron

Photodegradation of mutagens in solvent-refined coal liquids

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate any changes in the chemical composition and microbial mutagenicities of two representative solvent-refined coal (SRC) liquids as a function of exposure time to sunlight and air. This information was desired to assess potential health hazards arising from ground spills of these liquids during production, transport and use. Results of microbial mutagenicity assays using Salmonella typhimurium TA98, conducted after exposure, showed that the mutagenicities of both an SRC-II fuel oil blend and an SRC-I process solvent decreased continuously with exposure time to air and that the decrease was accelerated by simultaneous exposure to simulated sunlight. The liquids were exposed as thin layers supported on surfaces of glass, paper, clay or aluminum; but the type of support had little effect on the results. The contrast between these results and the reported increases of mutagenesis in organisms exposed simultaneously to coal liquids and near-ultraviolet light suggested that short-lived mutagenic intermediates, e.g., organic free radicals, were formed in the liquids during exposure to light. The highest activities of microbial mutagenicity in the SRC liquids were found in fractions rich in amino polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (amino PAH). After a 36-hour exposure of the fuel oil blend to air in the dark, the mutagenicity of its amine-rich fraction was reduced by 65%; whereas a 36-hour exposure in the light reduced the mutagenicity of this fraction by 92%. Similar rates of reduction in mutagenicity were achieved in exposures of the process solvent. The mutagenicities of other chemical fractions remained low during exposure

Beds comprising debrite sandwiched within co-genetic turbidite: origin and widespread occurrence in distal depositional environments

Co-genetic debrite–turbidite beds occur in a variety of modern and ancient turbidite systems. Their basic character is distinctive. An ungraded muddy sandstone interval is encased within mud-poor graded sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. The muddy sandstone interval preserves evidence of en masse deposition and is thus termed a debrite. The mud-poor sandstone, siltstone and mudstone show features indicating progressive layer-by-layer deposition and are thus called a turbidite. Palaeocurrent indicators, ubiquitous stratigraphic association and the position of hemipelagic intervals demonstrate that debrite and enclosing turbidite originate in the same event. Detailed field observations are presented for co-genetic debrite–turbidite beds in three widespread sequences of variable age: the Miocene Marnoso Arenacea Formation in the Italian Apennines; the Silurian Aberystwyth Grits in Wales; and Quaternary deposits of the Agadir Basin, offshore Morocco. Deposition of these sequences occurred in similar unchannellized basin-plain settings. Co-genetic debrite–turbidite beds were deposited from longitudinally segregated flow events, comprising both debris flow and forerunning turbidity current. It is most likely that the debris flow was generated by relatively shallow (few tens of centimetres) erosion of mud-rich sea-floor sediment. Changes in the settling behaviour of sand grains from a muddy fluid as flows decelerated may also have contributed to debrite deposition. The association with distal settings results from the ubiquitous presence of muddy deposits in such locations, which may be eroded and disaggregated to form a cohesive debris flow. Debrite intervals may be extensive (> 26 x 10 km in the Marnoso Arenacea Formation) and are not restricted to basin margins. Such long debris flow run-out on low-gradient sea floor (< 0.1?) may simply be due to low yield strength (<<50 Pa) of the debris–water mixture. This study emphasizes that multiple flow types, and transformations between flow types, can occur within the distal parts of submarine flow events