http://www.happynews.com/news/292009/study%20reveals%20iron%20sea%20floor%20feeds%20life%20surface.htm
Study Reveals Iron from Sea Floor Feeds Life at Surface
University of Southern California
FEBRUARY 09, 2009
Iron dust, the gold of the oceans and rarest nutrient for most marine life, can be washed down by rivers or blown out to sea or – a surprising new study finds – float up from the sea floor.
The discovery, published online Feb. 8 in Nature Geoscience, connects life at the surface to events occurring at extreme depths and pressures.
The two worlds were long assumed to have little interaction.
A team from the University of Southern California, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory took samples from the East Pacific Rise, a volcanic mid-ocean ridge.
The group found that organic compounds capture some iron spewed by hydrothermal vents, enabling it to be carried away in seawater.
Iron trapped in this way does not rust.
For the scientists, discovering shiny iron in the ocean was like fishing a dry sponge out of a bath.
"Everything we know about the chemical properties of iron tells us that it should be oxidized. It should be rusted," said team leader Katrina Edwards of USC.
The metal's purity has practical value. Aquatic organisms metabolize pure iron much more easily than its rusted form, Edwards said.
How much captured iron floats into surface waters remains unknown. But any that does would nourish ocean life more efficiently than the oxidized iron from regular sources.
"This is one potential mechanism of creating essentially a natural iron fertilization mechanism that's completely unknown," Edwards said.
Some marine scientists have called for iron fertilization because of the metal's crucial place in the aquatic food chain. Iron is the limiting nutrient in most parts of the oceans, meaning that its scarcity is the only thing standing in the way of faster growth.
Iron's equivalent on land is nitrogen. Crop yields rose dramatically during the 20th century in part because of increased nitrogen fertilization.
The expedition team discovered the phenomenon of iron capture serendipitously. Edwards and her collaborators were studying deep-sea bacteria that catalyze the iron rusting reaction.
Of the possible reactions that support microbial communities on rocks, iron oxidation is one of the most important, Edwards explained.
Unfortunately, she added, "it's probably the least well understood major metabolic pathway in the microbial world."
The bacteria involved do not grow well in culture, so the researchers are using a range of molecular techniques to search for genes related to iron oxidation.
One major question involves the importance of bacteria-catalyzed oxidation versus the conventional rusting process. How much of the world's iron is deposited with bacterial help? And how much escapes both bacteria and the natural oxidation process?
The sea floor holds the answer.
The samples were collected continuously using a remote sampling device deployed and retrieved from the research vessel Atlantis between May 16 and June 27, 2006.
The other team members were Brandy Toner of Woods Hole, who was first author on the Nature Geoscience study; Steven Manganini, Cara Santelli, Olivier Rouxel and Christopher German, also of Woods Hole; James Moffett, professor of biological sciences at USC; and Matthew Marcus of the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Chesapeake 2000 - Targets
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/content/publications/cbp_12081.pdf
Nutrients and Sediments
Continue efforts to achieve and maintain the 40 percent nutrient reduction goal agreed to in 1987, as well as the goals being adopted for the tributaries south of the Potomac River.
By 2010, correct the nutrient- and sediment-related problems in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries sufficiently to remove the Bay and the tidal portions of its tributaries from the list of impaired waters under the Clean Water Act. In order to achieve this:
1. By 2001, define the water quality conditions necessary to protect aquatic living resources and then assign load reductions for nitrogen and phosphorus to each major tributary;
2. Using a process parallel to that established for nutrients, determine the sediment load reductions necessary to achieve the water quality conditions that protect aquatic living resources, and assign load reductions for sediment to each major tributary by 2001;
3. By 2002, complete a public process to develop and begin implementation of revised Tributary Strategies to achieve and maintain the assigned loading goals;
4. By 2003, the jurisdictions with tidal waters will use their best efforts to adopt new or revised water quality standards consistent with the defined water quality conditions. Once adopted by the jurisdictions, the Environmental Protection Agency will work expeditiously to review the new or revised standards, which will then be used as the basis for removing the Bay and its tidal rivers from the list of impaired waters; and
5. By 2003, work with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and others to adopt and begin implementing strategies that prevent the loss of the sediment retention capabilities of the lower Susquehanna River dams.
------------------
It appears that these goals have not been met.
Nutrients and Sediments
Continue efforts to achieve and maintain the 40 percent nutrient reduction goal agreed to in 1987, as well as the goals being adopted for the tributaries south of the Potomac River.
By 2010, correct the nutrient- and sediment-related problems in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries sufficiently to remove the Bay and the tidal portions of its tributaries from the list of impaired waters under the Clean Water Act. In order to achieve this:
1. By 2001, define the water quality conditions necessary to protect aquatic living resources and then assign load reductions for nitrogen and phosphorus to each major tributary;
2. Using a process parallel to that established for nutrients, determine the sediment load reductions necessary to achieve the water quality conditions that protect aquatic living resources, and assign load reductions for sediment to each major tributary by 2001;
3. By 2002, complete a public process to develop and begin implementation of revised Tributary Strategies to achieve and maintain the assigned loading goals;
4. By 2003, the jurisdictions with tidal waters will use their best efforts to adopt new or revised water quality standards consistent with the defined water quality conditions. Once adopted by the jurisdictions, the Environmental Protection Agency will work expeditiously to review the new or revised standards, which will then be used as the basis for removing the Bay and its tidal rivers from the list of impaired waters; and
5. By 2003, work with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and others to adopt and begin implementing strategies that prevent the loss of the sediment retention capabilities of the lower Susquehanna River dams.
------------------
It appears that these goals have not been met.
Chesapeake Bay's health not improving
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090319/NEWS01/90319011/1002
Report: Chesapeake Bay's health not improving
The Associated Press • March 19, 2009
WASHINGTON — A report finds the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay did not improve last year, despite increased restoration efforts.
An annual study on the nation’s largest estuary released Thursday by the Chesapeake Bay Program found that the bay continues to have poor water quality and degraded habitats. The report cited pollutants caused by agriculture and suburban runoff.
The report found that the population of the bay’s hallmark blue crabs declined last year to 120 million, a decrease of 23 million from 2007.
There was some good news, however. There was an 18 percent increase in underwater bay grasses from 2007. The grasses are important because they filter excess nutrients from the water and provide habitat and food for fish.
------------------
The lack of improvement is inspite of introduction of Nutrient trading in Pennsylvania to reduce Nutrient level in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay.
Report: Chesapeake Bay's health not improving
The Associated Press • March 19, 2009
WASHINGTON — A report finds the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay did not improve last year, despite increased restoration efforts.
An annual study on the nation’s largest estuary released Thursday by the Chesapeake Bay Program found that the bay continues to have poor water quality and degraded habitats. The report cited pollutants caused by agriculture and suburban runoff.
The report found that the population of the bay’s hallmark blue crabs declined last year to 120 million, a decrease of 23 million from 2007.
There was some good news, however. There was an 18 percent increase in underwater bay grasses from 2007. The grasses are important because they filter excess nutrients from the water and provide habitat and food for fish.
------------------
The lack of improvement is inspite of introduction of Nutrient trading in Pennsylvania to reduce Nutrient level in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay.
Nutrient Trading (Nitrogen and Phosphorus)
http://www.nutrientnet.org/about.cfm
World Resources Institute
About NutrientNet
What is NutrientNet?
Who is building NutrientNet?
Who uses NutrientNet?
Who are the NutrientNet partners?
Can NutrientNet be adapted for use in my watershed?
What is NutrientNet?
NutrientNet is a suite of web-based tools used to facilitate market-based approaches to improving water quality. NutrientNet has been used extensively for water quality trading programs, but it also has been used for other market-based approaches, such as reverse auctions.
Through a series economic analyses, including Fertile Ground: Nutrient Trading's Potential to Cost-Effectively Improve Water Quality., the World Resources Insitute determined that a number of factors affect the adoption of market-based approaches to water quality improvement. These include high transaction costs, the credibility of nonpoint source reductions, and public participation and oversight. By developing a tool that reduces transaction costs, standardizes the calculation of nonpoint source reductions, and allows the public to view market activity, WRI recognized that it encourage the adoption of market-based approaches. NutrientNet was created to achieve these goals.
Reducing Transaction Costs: NutrientNet provides a system for buyers and sellers to trade nutrient credits, as well as an easy way for program administrators to track projects, credits and trades.
Standardized Calculations of Nonpoint Source Reductions: NutrientNet provides an easy-to-use web-based interface for calculating nutrient reductions and credits. Users only need to login to NutrientNet and enter in characteristics of their agricultural operation, such as field size and soil type. NutrientNet's calculation engine uses the latest scientific research to accurately calculate nutrient reductions for best management practices.
Public Participation and Oversight: NutrientNet makes market activity available to the public. For example, in water quality trading programs, the public can average market prices and completed trades. NutrientNet also provides general information about nutrient trading and seeks to share lessons learned across watersheds.
Who is building NutrientNet?
The creation of NutrientNet is led by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a non-profit environmental group that provides information, ideas and solutions to global environmental problems.
Who uses NutrientNet?
NutrientNet has been developed for 4 watersheds in 5 states (plus the District of Columbia).
Potomac and Kalamazoo Watershed Pilot Project: Developed in 2002-2003, this site was a proof-of-concept for water quality trading in the Potomac and Kalamazoo (MI) watersheds.
Conestoga Watershed (PA) Reverse Auction Site: Developed in 2005, this site was used to conduct two reverse auctions that allocated $486,000 to agricultural management practices based on the lowest cost-per-pound of phosphorus reduction. A total of 92,000 pounds of phosphorus was estimated to be reduced over the lifespan of the projects.
» Read the WRI policy note: Paying for Environmental Performance: Using Reverse Auctions to Allocate Funding for Conservation
Kalamazoo Watershed NutrientNet: Starting in 2005, WRI developed a full-featured version of NutrientNet for Michigan's water quality trading program in the Kalamazoo watershed. This version contains phosphorus and sediment calculation tools for over 20 agricultural management practices, and a marketplace is current in development.
» Visit the website: Kalamazoo Watershed NutrientNet
Pennsylvania State Trading Program: Developed for Pennsylvania's state nutrient trading program, this version of NutrientNet contains nitrogen and phosphorus credit calculation tools, a robust marketplace and an extensive administrative system for trading program managers at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. This project involves trading in both the Susquehanna and Potomac watersheds.
» Visit the website: Pennsylvania NutrientNet
West Virginia Potomac Watershed: WRI is working with West Virginia University, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and watershed stakeholders to develop NutrientNet for the Potomac Watershed in West Virginia. This site is currently under development and is expected to be released in 2008.
Who are the NutrientNet partners?
A number of organizations and agencies are parterning with WRI to develop NutrientNet, including:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, United States
EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, United States
Gun Lake Tribe, United States
Keiser and Associates, United States
Lancaster County Conservation District, United States
Michigan State University (MSU), United States
Natsource, United States
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP ), United States
Pennsylvania Environmental Council, United States
Pennsylvania State University, United States
Texas A & M University, United States
University of Arkansas, United States
US Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States
West Virginia University (WVU)
Can NutrientNet be adapted for use in my watershed?
World Resources Institute
About NutrientNet
What is NutrientNet?
Who is building NutrientNet?
Who uses NutrientNet?
Who are the NutrientNet partners?
Can NutrientNet be adapted for use in my watershed?
What is NutrientNet?
NutrientNet is a suite of web-based tools used to facilitate market-based approaches to improving water quality. NutrientNet has been used extensively for water quality trading programs, but it also has been used for other market-based approaches, such as reverse auctions.
Through a series economic analyses, including Fertile Ground: Nutrient Trading's Potential to Cost-Effectively Improve Water Quality., the World Resources Insitute determined that a number of factors affect the adoption of market-based approaches to water quality improvement. These include high transaction costs, the credibility of nonpoint source reductions, and public participation and oversight. By developing a tool that reduces transaction costs, standardizes the calculation of nonpoint source reductions, and allows the public to view market activity, WRI recognized that it encourage the adoption of market-based approaches. NutrientNet was created to achieve these goals.
Reducing Transaction Costs: NutrientNet provides a system for buyers and sellers to trade nutrient credits, as well as an easy way for program administrators to track projects, credits and trades.
Standardized Calculations of Nonpoint Source Reductions: NutrientNet provides an easy-to-use web-based interface for calculating nutrient reductions and credits. Users only need to login to NutrientNet and enter in characteristics of their agricultural operation, such as field size and soil type. NutrientNet's calculation engine uses the latest scientific research to accurately calculate nutrient reductions for best management practices.
Public Participation and Oversight: NutrientNet makes market activity available to the public. For example, in water quality trading programs, the public can average market prices and completed trades. NutrientNet also provides general information about nutrient trading and seeks to share lessons learned across watersheds.
Who is building NutrientNet?
The creation of NutrientNet is led by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a non-profit environmental group that provides information, ideas and solutions to global environmental problems.
Who uses NutrientNet?
NutrientNet has been developed for 4 watersheds in 5 states (plus the District of Columbia).
Potomac and Kalamazoo Watershed Pilot Project: Developed in 2002-2003, this site was a proof-of-concept for water quality trading in the Potomac and Kalamazoo (MI) watersheds.
Conestoga Watershed (PA) Reverse Auction Site: Developed in 2005, this site was used to conduct two reverse auctions that allocated $486,000 to agricultural management practices based on the lowest cost-per-pound of phosphorus reduction. A total of 92,000 pounds of phosphorus was estimated to be reduced over the lifespan of the projects.
» Read the WRI policy note: Paying for Environmental Performance: Using Reverse Auctions to Allocate Funding for Conservation
Kalamazoo Watershed NutrientNet: Starting in 2005, WRI developed a full-featured version of NutrientNet for Michigan's water quality trading program in the Kalamazoo watershed. This version contains phosphorus and sediment calculation tools for over 20 agricultural management practices, and a marketplace is current in development.
» Visit the website: Kalamazoo Watershed NutrientNet
Pennsylvania State Trading Program: Developed for Pennsylvania's state nutrient trading program, this version of NutrientNet contains nitrogen and phosphorus credit calculation tools, a robust marketplace and an extensive administrative system for trading program managers at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. This project involves trading in both the Susquehanna and Potomac watersheds.
» Visit the website: Pennsylvania NutrientNet
West Virginia Potomac Watershed: WRI is working with West Virginia University, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and watershed stakeholders to develop NutrientNet for the Potomac Watershed in West Virginia. This site is currently under development and is expected to be released in 2008.
Who are the NutrientNet partners?
A number of organizations and agencies are parterning with WRI to develop NutrientNet, including:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, United States
EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, United States
Gun Lake Tribe, United States
Keiser and Associates, United States
Lancaster County Conservation District, United States
Michigan State University (MSU), United States
Natsource, United States
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP ), United States
Pennsylvania Environmental Council, United States
Pennsylvania State University, United States
Texas A & M University, United States
University of Arkansas, United States
US Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States
West Virginia University (WVU)
Can NutrientNet be adapted for use in my watershed?
Friday, March 27, 2009
China launches vast water clean-up
http://us.oneworld.net/article/361235-china-launches-vast-water-clean-up
China launches vast water clean-up
From: SciDev.Net
Weixiao Chen and Yidong Gong
17 March 2009
[BEIJING] A project to improve water quality in China has been launched by the government, which says it is the largest expenditure on environmental protection since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.
Water pollution is a grave problem in China
Flickr/A-Wix
The project, which has an estimated budget of more than 30 billion Chinese yuan (around 4.4 billion US dollars) over 12 years, aims to counter the deteriorating water quality affecting millions of Chinese people and their livelihoods.
The Water Pollution Control and Management Project - known as 'Water Special Project' - will focus on the treatment of whole river basins instead of the conventional approach of end-pipe treatment, according to Meng Wei, chief engineer of the project and director of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
By taking this approach the treatment of the highly polluted Lake Tai, for example, the third largest freshwater lake in China, will benefit not just Shanghai but also the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Coordinated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the aim of the project is to guarantee safe drinking water and improve the overall water environment, Meng said.
The safety of drinking water has become a great concern in China. Some 64 per cent of the water reaching urban areas is categorised as suitable only for industrial or agricultural purposes and half of cities have suffered groundwater pollution to some degree, according to Liu Yanhua, vice minister of science and technology, at the launch of the project last month (19 February).
In the summer of 2007 an outbreak of algae around Taihu Lake left more than one million people in the city of Wuxi - in the economically-advanced Jiangsu Province - without access to drinking water for two days.
And when a drought reached its peak in early February it was affecting 10.7 million hectares of farmland in at least 12 provinces in northern China. (See China's water deficit 'will create food shortage')
A number of demonstration projects will be carried out at major rivers across China, such as Haihe, Huaihe, Liaohe and Songhuajiang, as well as Lake Tai and the Three Gorges.
But Qin Boqiang, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, said the government should focus on controlling the sources of pollution instead of treating it after it happens.
"We cannot develop economy at the expense of the environment," he told SciDev.Net
The water programme is one of the 16 key projects listed in the National Mid-Term and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020) issued by the State Council in 2006, which provides guidelines for China's science and technology development for the next 15 years.
China launches vast water clean-up
From: SciDev.Net
Weixiao Chen and Yidong Gong
17 March 2009
[BEIJING] A project to improve water quality in China has been launched by the government, which says it is the largest expenditure on environmental protection since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.
Water pollution is a grave problem in China
Flickr/A-Wix
The project, which has an estimated budget of more than 30 billion Chinese yuan (around 4.4 billion US dollars) over 12 years, aims to counter the deteriorating water quality affecting millions of Chinese people and their livelihoods.
The Water Pollution Control and Management Project - known as 'Water Special Project' - will focus on the treatment of whole river basins instead of the conventional approach of end-pipe treatment, according to Meng Wei, chief engineer of the project and director of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
By taking this approach the treatment of the highly polluted Lake Tai, for example, the third largest freshwater lake in China, will benefit not just Shanghai but also the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Coordinated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the aim of the project is to guarantee safe drinking water and improve the overall water environment, Meng said.
The safety of drinking water has become a great concern in China. Some 64 per cent of the water reaching urban areas is categorised as suitable only for industrial or agricultural purposes and half of cities have suffered groundwater pollution to some degree, according to Liu Yanhua, vice minister of science and technology, at the launch of the project last month (19 February).
In the summer of 2007 an outbreak of algae around Taihu Lake left more than one million people in the city of Wuxi - in the economically-advanced Jiangsu Province - without access to drinking water for two days.
And when a drought reached its peak in early February it was affecting 10.7 million hectares of farmland in at least 12 provinces in northern China. (See China's water deficit 'will create food shortage')
A number of demonstration projects will be carried out at major rivers across China, such as Haihe, Huaihe, Liaohe and Songhuajiang, as well as Lake Tai and the Three Gorges.
But Qin Boqiang, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, said the government should focus on controlling the sources of pollution instead of treating it after it happens.
"We cannot develop economy at the expense of the environment," he told SciDev.Net
The water programme is one of the 16 key projects listed in the National Mid-Term and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020) issued by the State Council in 2006, which provides guidelines for China's science and technology development for the next 15 years.
N, P and Si in Oceans - non-siliceous phytoplankton vs siliceous phytoplankton
http://www.nies.go.jp/gaiyo/bunya/aquaterra-e.html
Effects of Changes in Nutrient Ratios of River Water on Marine Ecosystems
As human activities increase, the inflowing of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) into oceans is also augmented. On the other hand, the amount of silicon (Si) that flows into oceans tends to decrease since silicon settles and gets trapped in still bodies of water such as dam reservoirs. It is therefore likely that, in these conditions, non-siliceous phytoplankton (including the harmful red tide algae) can thrive better than siliceous phytoplankton, which are mostly harmless. Our research aims to clarify these ecological changes through ocean observation by ferry and ecosystem modeling.
http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/gem/sea/SE_Pacific/me.html
------------------------------
This study and approach confirms our views that Diatoms (siliceous phytoplankton) are good and Green, Blue Green Algae and Red Tides (non-siliceous phytoplankton)are not useful or are even harmful.
Effects of Changes in Nutrient Ratios of River Water on Marine Ecosystems
As human activities increase, the inflowing of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) into oceans is also augmented. On the other hand, the amount of silicon (Si) that flows into oceans tends to decrease since silicon settles and gets trapped in still bodies of water such as dam reservoirs. It is therefore likely that, in these conditions, non-siliceous phytoplankton (including the harmful red tide algae) can thrive better than siliceous phytoplankton, which are mostly harmless. Our research aims to clarify these ecological changes through ocean observation by ferry and ecosystem modeling.
http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/gem/sea/SE_Pacific/me.html
------------------------------
This study and approach confirms our views that Diatoms (siliceous phytoplankton) are good and Green, Blue Green Algae and Red Tides (non-siliceous phytoplankton)are not useful or are even harmful.
Green Algae in an Aquarium Tank
The dissolved oxygen level is 41.5 mg / litre at 2 pm in the afternoon.
This is supersaturation of over 460 % of the saturation limit of 9 mg / litre.
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