Inorganic Carbon System

Abstract This paper reviews on the soil condition for three rivers at Carey Island namely Air Hitam, Judah and Keluang River. The activities on the island such as palm oil industries are believed affect the soil. Thus a study was carried out to determine the parameters of pH value, total sulphates, chloride content, total organic carbon (TOC), inorganic carbon (IC) and nitrogen in soil. The tests that have been conducted are Moisture Content Test, Specific Gravity Test, Atterberg Limit Test, pH Test, Total Sulphates Test and Total Chloride ...

The massive output of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) since the dawn of the industrial revolution in the late 1700s, regarded primarily as the principle driving force behind recent global climate change, poses an ancillary threat: one to the world’s oceans. For decades scientists have analyzed how Earth’s oceans absorb atmospheric CO2 and transform it into carbonic acid (H2CO3), causing a steady increase in ocean acidity. This rising acidity of seawater affects both numerous underwater ecosystem and the nations that depend on them. One ecosystem most vulnerable to this crisis is the coral reefs that surround tropical shorelines across the globe. This manuscript examines how Earth’s oceans absorb CO2, how CO2 affects the acidity of seawater, how acidic seawater affects the growth and stability of coral reefs, the implications to the ocean environment, and what plausible steps can be taken to remedy this crisis.

Olivine weathering is a natural process that takes time, years to decades when applied to suitable environments. Contrary to CCS, the effect is not instantaneous, but in the course of the coming decades in which society will continue to produce CO2 and to be threatened by continued greenhouse warming, the annual addition of large volumes of olivine to suitable environments will counteract the rise of CO2 level of the atmosphere and the acidification of ocean waters.

A 6.61-m-long sediment core (ZIR03-I) from the northern shore of Zirahuén lake (Michoacán, Mexico) represents the last 17 kyr with a hiatus between 12.1 and 7.16 kyr. Changes in plant communities and their relationship with the environment are documented with pollen analysis. Magnetic susceptibilitytotal organic and inorganic carbon analyses (TOC and TIC) and charcoal particles are used as proxies to infer paleohydrologic conditions in the basin and to document periods with abundant fire in the surroundings. The palynological record suggests slow change in local and regional vegetation during 17–12.1 kyr. Cool and dry conditions during 17–13.5 kyr are inferred from abundant Pinus forest and more subaquatic micro- and macrospores (Isoetes t-1). A change towards humid conditions at ca. 13.5 kyr is marked by increases in Alnus and Quercus and reduction in Isoetes t-1. Another period of higher moisture between 7.1 and 3.7 kyr is documented by an increase in mesophytic taxa. Canonical co...

A 6.61-m-long sediment core (ZIR03-I) from the northern shore of Zirahuén lake (Michoacán, Mexico) represents the last 17 kyr with a hiatus between 12.1 and 7.16 kyr. Changes in plant communities and their relationship with the environment are documented with pollen analysis. Magnetic susceptibilitytotal organic and inorganic carbon analyses (TOC and TIC) and charcoal particles are used as proxies to infer paleohydrologic conditions in the basin and to document periods with abundant fire in the surroundings. The palynological record suggests slow change in local and regional vegetation during 17–12.1 kyr. Cool and dry conditions during 17–13.5 kyr are inferred from abundant Pinus forest and more subaquatic micro- and macrospores (Isoetes t-1). A change towards humid conditions at ca. 13.5 kyr is marked by increases in Alnus and Quercus and reduction in Isoetes t-1. Another period of higher moisture between 7.1 and 3.7 kyr is documented by an increase in mesophytic taxa. Canonical co...

Partly deuterated hydrotalcite, Mg6Al2(CO3)3(OD, OH)16.n(D2O,H2O) was prepared
under carefully controlled conditions and characterised by infrared and Raman
spectroscopy in order to come to a detailed assignment of the low wavenumber bands
associated with M-O and M-OH/OD vibrational modes.

In this work, nitrification and changes in the composition of the total bacterial community under inorganic carbon (IC)-limited conditions, in a nitrifying moving bed biofilm reactor, was investigated. A culture-independent analysis of cloning and sequencing based on the 16S rRNA gene was applied to quantify the bacterial diversity and to determine bacterial taxonomic assignment. IC concentrations had significant effects on the stability of ammonia-oxidation as indicated by the reduction of the nitrogen conversion rate with high NH4(+)-N loadings. The predominance of Nitrosomonas europaea was maintained in spite of changes in the IC concentration. In contrast, heterotrophic bacterial species contributed to a high bacterial diversity, and to a dynamic shift in the bacterial community structure, under IC-limited conditions. In this study, individual functions of heterotrophic bacteria were estimated based on taxonomic information. Possible key roles of coexisting heterotrophic bacteri...

Dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium sp. Freud.) are an obligatory endosymbiont of the reef-building corals. Recent changes to the environment surrounding coral reefs (e.g., global warming) have demonstrated that this endosymbiotic relationship between corals and Symbiodinium is particularly sensitive to environmental changes. Therefore, understanding gene expression patterns of Symbiodinium is critical to understanding why coral reefs are susceptible to global climate change. This study identified 1456 unique expression sequence tags (ESTs) generated for Symbiodinium (clade C3) from the staghorn coral Acropora aspera following exposure to a variety of stresses. Of these, only 10% matched previously reported dinoflagellate ESTs, suggesting that the conditions used in the construction of the library resulted in a novel transcriptome. The function of 561 (44%) of these ESTs could be identified. The majority of these genes coded for proteins involved in posttranslational modification, protein turnover, and chaperones (12.3%); energy production and conversion (12%); or an unknown function (18.6%). The most common transcript found was a homologue to a bacterial protein of unknown function. This algal protein is targeted to the chloroplast and is present in those phototrophs that acquired plastids from the red algal lineage. An additional 48 prokaryote-like proteins were also identified, including the first glycerol-phosphate:phosphate antiporter from dinoflagellates. A protein with similarity to the fungi–archael–bacterial heme catalase peroxidases was also found. A variety of stress genes, in particular heat-shock proteins and proteins involved in ubiquitin cascades, were also identified. This study is the first transcriptome from the unicellular component of a eukaryote–eukaryote symbiosis.

Abstract This paper reviews on the soil condition for three rivers at Carey Island namely Air Hitam, Judah and Keluang River. The activities on the island such as palm oil industries are believed affect the soil. Thus a study was carried out to determine the parameters of pH value, total sulphates, chloride content, total organic carbon (TOC), inorganic carbon (IC) and nitrogen in soil. The tests that have been conducted are Moisture Content Test, Specific Gravity Test, Atterberg Limit Test, pH Test, Total Sulphates Test and Total Chloride ...

Algae can provide large amounts of oxygen to bacteria, which significantly reduces operation cost in wastewater treatment. However, current algal-bacterial consortia require 2–10 days for efficiently removing pollutants from domestic wastewaters. The high hydraulic retention times (HRTs) indicate that these consortia are not efficient and require high reactor footprints. A novel algal-bacterial biofilm reactor was developed, aiming at a much lower HRT. Results showed that a HRT of 12 hours ensured 90% removal of organic matters and ammonium, and phosphate removal was around 3 mg/L. Decreasing the HRT to 8 hours significantly deteriorated the reactor’s pollutant removal efficiencies, and increasing the HRT to 24 hours did not improve these efficiencies. Organic matter and ammonium removal rates resulting from oxygen released by algae were 70% and 50% of the rates when dissolved oxygen concentration was maintained at 2 mg/L, respectively. Ammonium removal rate was approximately 10390 mg NH4+-N/m2.d while the reactor was aerated and 5000 mg NH4+-N/m2.d when the reactor was illuminated only, which were significantly higher than reported nitrification rates. Furthermore, among current known chemical signals, which are excreted by algae or bacteria, that have impacts on the activities of bacteria and algae, urocanic acid was the only chemical signal that was detected in the reactor. The concentration of urocanic acid in the reactor was 19.5 μg/L that was much lower than reported functional concentrations and significantly reduced chlorophyll a concentration. Moreover, Oscillatoria sp dominated in the biofilm, while other rapid growing algae almost disappeared. Finally, heterotrophic bacteria, autotrophs, phosphate accumulation bacteria, and algae coexisted and functioned in the reactor. These results showed that an algal-bacterial biofilm reactor with a low reactor footprint was developed.