ALBERT

Beschreibung: Wildfires are natural or anthropogenic phenomena increasing at alarming rates globally due to land-use alterations, droughts, climatic warming, hunting and biological invasions. Whereas wildfire effects on terrestrial ecosystems are marked and relatively well-studied, ash depositions into aquatic ecosystems have often remained overlooked but have the potential to significantly impact bottom-up processes. This study assessed ash-water-phytoplankton biomass dynamics using six plant species [i.e., three natives (apple leaf Philenoptera violacea, Transvaal milk plum Englerophytum magalismontanum, quinine tree Rauvolfia caffra) and three aliens (lantana Lantana camara, gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis, guava Psidium guajava)] based on a six-week mesocosm experiment with different ash concentrations (1 and 2 g L-1). We assessed concentrations of chemical elements, i.e., N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and B from ash collected, and we have observed significant differences among the species. High concentrations of P, K, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and B were recorded from Transvaal milk plum ash and low concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu and Zn were recorded from apple leaf. An increase in phytoplankton biomass (using chlorophyll-a concentration as a proxy) for all treatments i.e., 1 and 2 g L-1 for all plant species ash was observed a week after, followed by decreases in the following weeks, with the exception of 2 g L-1 for lantana, gum and control. Silicate concentrations (i.e., used as a proxy for diatom abundance) showed increasing patterns among all ash treatments, with exception of controls. However, no clear patterns were observed between native and alien plant ash on both chl-a and silicate concentrations. We found that ash has notable effects on water chemistry, particularly nitrate, which increased throughout the weeks, whereas, pH and conductivity were high at low ash concentrations. The impacts of ash on water chemistry, chl-a and silicate concentrations vary with individual species and the amount of ash deposited into the system.

Beschreibung: Phytoplankton form the base of the pelagic food web in inland waters. Unlike rooted plants with access to nutrients in the sediment, phytoplankton depend on the open water as their sole direct source of minerals. Phytoplankton comprise cyanobacteria and phylogenetically diverse eukaryotic algae that convert light energy and mineral nutrients into organic matter. Many species also exploit the elements and energy within dissolved organic compounds and particles produced in the catchment or within the water. Here, we describe the nutrient requirements of phytoplankton, their different modes of nutrition, the mechanisms they employ to acquire nutrients and the ecological consequences of their varying ability to exploit an often scarce and spatially and temporally variable resource. When nutrients are abundant, often as a result of human disruption of nutrient cycles, phytoplankton productivity, and often biomass, increases to the point that it causes a range of ecological consequences that reduce the value of the water resource for mankind.

Beschreibung: Quantification of phthalates or phthalic acid esters (PAEs) might be problematic due to matrix overlap, auto-self absorbance and background scattering noise by the plastic lab materials although plastics have been reported in the release of PAEs. These materials (ambient air, reagents bottles, sampling devices, and various analytical instruments), are ubiquitous in the laboratory environment, thereby making it more difficult to reliably analyze of trace concentration of PAEs. Thus, in the current study, a straight forward and reliable protocol has been established for the analysis of PAEs including control of blank contamination, and the experimental conditions such as extraction time and temperature were optimized. The mass of PAEs in blank tests of selected materials ranged from 3±0.7 to 35±6 ng for liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and from 5±1.8 to 63±15 ng for solid-phase extraction (SPE). For both extraction methods, higher blank values were measured for dibutyl phthalate (DBP) (35±6 ng, 12±3 ng), and DEHP (63±12 ng, 23±5 ng) in LLE and SPE, respectively. Average recoveries of PAEs in LLE were 90-97% and obtained with successive aliquots of 2 mL, 1 mL, and 1 mL dichloromethane (DCM). For SPE, recoveries up to 86-90% were achieved with successive aliquots of 5, 3, and 2 mL DCM at a sample flow rate of 5 mL min -1 . Under the optimized conditions, the method quantification limits (MQL) for PAEs was 10-20 ng L -1 for LLE and 10-35 ng L -1 for SPE. Moreover, the dissolved concentrations of PAEs from LDPE measured by the LLE method ranged 〈 1.5 to 5.83 ng cm -2, and those measured by SPE ranged from 1.0to256ngL -1 , in seawater samples of Sharm Obhur. The method has lower MQL values for LLE and SPE than average reported values of 10-100 ng L -1 and 30-100 ng L -1 , respectively.

Beschreibung: A key requirement for geological CO2 storage is site integrity management and monitoring during operation through to the post decommissioning period. This paper focuses on monitoring deformation of the ground surface and seabed as a proxy for overall deformation in the reservoir and surrounding layers. The objective is to inform, based on deformation data, on how the reservoir is responding to CO2 injection and to ensure any issues with regard to storage integrity are rapidly detected. The magnitude and pattern of deformation at the surface reveals geomechanical/hydromechanical processes that occur in reservoir due to CO2 injection. We acquired deformation data from the In Salah CO2 injection site and from four additional study cases during the course of this study; one in the onshore UK, the other a combined campaign onshore Norway and offshore Germany, and the third in onshore Japan. Significant developments in measurement techniques, processing tools and interpretation algorithms were developed through this project. Models were then developed to simulate the observed data and to couple surface deformation to displacement in the subsurface. The results show millimeter-scale deformations in the subsurface have a signature at the surface that can be captured by the tools and workflows developed in this project. These deformations, particularly the patterns, are important factors to consider when monitoring a CO2 storage site.