Chung Chi Chen

Monsoon-forced chlorophyll distribution and primary production in the South China Sea: Observations and a numerical study

Although the South China Sea (SCS) exchanges water constantly with the western Philippine Sea, its nutricline is much shallower and its chlorophyll level in surface waters is twice as high. Analysis of CZCS-SeaWiFS data and shipboard data reveals a strong seasonality of chlorophyll in the SCS in three upwelling regions. A three-dimensional numerical model with coupled physics and biogeochemistry is developed to study the effect of monsoonal forcing on nutrient upwelling and phytoplankton growth in the SCS. The model has a horizontal resolution of 0.41 in the domain 2–24.81N and 99–124.61E and 21 layers in the vertical. The circulation is driven by monthly climatological winds. The nitrogen-based ecosystem model has four compartments: dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), phytoplankton, zooplankton and detritus. The chlorophyll-to-phytoplankton ratio depends on light and DIN availability. The biological equations and parameters are taken from previous modeling studies of the Sargasso Sea. The model simulates the nitrate profile, the strong subsurface chlorophyll maximum, and the primary production in the central basin with reasonable success. It also generates intense chlorophyll patches in the monsoon-driven upwelling regions northwest of Luzon and north of the Sunda Shelf in winter and off the east coast of Vietnam in summer. The results are in reasonable agreement with shipboard observations and CZCS-SeaWiFS data. The primary production derived from SeaWiFS data shows a strong peak in winter and weak peak in summer with an annual mean of 354 mg C m � 2 d � 1 for the whole basin. The modeled primary production displays seasonal variation resembling the trend derived from SeaWiFS data, but the magnitude (280 mg C m � 2 d � 1 ) is smaller by 20%. The model also predicts an export fraction of 12% from the primary production in the euphotic zone. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

SCALING AQUATIC PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY: EXPERIMENTS UNDER NUTRIENT‐ AND LIGHT‐LIMITED CONDITIONS

To explore the interactive effect of physical dimension and nutrient conditions on primary productivity, experimental planktonic–benthic ecosystems were initiated in different-sized cylindrical containers scaled in two ways. One series of experimental ecosystems was scaled for a constant depth (1.0 m) as volume was increased from 0.1 to 1.0 to 10 m3. The other series was scaled for a constant shape (radius/depth = 0.56) across an identical range of volumes. Triplicate systems of each size and shape were housed in a temperature-controlled room illuminated with fluorescent and incandescent lights, and mixed by means of large, slow-moving impellers. All experimental ecosystems received an exchange of filtered estuarine water (10%/d). Nutrient concentrations, and ecosystem primary productivity and respiration, were traced over time during spring, summer, and fall experiments. During the nutrient-rich spring experiment, systems in the constant-shape series exhibited similar gross primary productivity (GPP) whe...

Cr(VI) Removal on Fungal Biomass of Neurospora crassa: the Importance of Dissolved Organic Carbons Derived from the Biomass to Cr(VI) Reduction

Interactions of toxic Cr(VI) with renewable biomaterials are considered an important pathway for Cr(VI) removal in ecosystems. Biomaterials are susceptible to dissolution, and their dissolved derivatives may provide an alternative to surface-involved pathway for scavenging of Cr(VI). In this study, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) derived from Neurospora crassa biomass was investigated. The proportion of Cr(VI) reduction by DOC to that on biomass was determined to evaluate the importance of DOC to Cr(VI) reduction. A rapid increase in DOC concentration from 145.6 to 193.7 mg L(-1) was observed when N. crassa-biomass was immersed in 0.01 M KCl solution at pH of 1-5, and polysaccharides, peptides, and glycoproteins with carboxyl, amide, and -NH functional groups, are the major compositions of DOC. On reaction of 96.2 microM Cr(VI) with N. crassa-biomass or DOC, it was estimated that DOC contributed approximately 53.8-59.5% of the total Cr(VI) reduction on biomass in the dark. Illumination enhanced Cr(VI) reduction via photo-oxidation of biomass/DOC under aeration conditions, which formed superoxide for Cr(VI) reduction. At pH 1, photoinduced Cr(VI) reduction by DOC proceeded more rapidly than reduction on the biomass surface. However, at pH >3, with a decrease in Cr(VI) reduction by DOC, photon-excited biomass may become an important electron source for Cr(VI) photoreduction.

A long-term survey on anthropogenic impacts to the water quality of coral reefs, southern Taiwan

Before 2001, the ecological protection area in the Kenting National Park (KTNP), southern Taiwan, was poorly described. In this study, a set of four-year data (2001-2004) of seawater qualities at 19 sampling sites around the Nanwan Bay in the KTNP was used to explore anthropogenic impacts to ecological environment, especially coral reefs. The parameters of water quality were analyzed immediately after collection. The results showed that higher values of nutrients and suspended solids were attributed to the higher run-off around Nanwan Bay. The fluxes of nutrients and suspended solids were consistently correlated to rainfall. Hence, equations were developed to calculate nutrient fluxes and suspended solids by using only rainfall data. Our results show that suspended solids and ammonia were the dominant factors leading to the drop in coral coverage. In summary, the water quality in the intertidal zone of Nanwan Bay has been degraded and required greater attention.

Chromate reduction by zero-valent Al metal as catalyzed by polyoxometalate.

In spite of a high reduction potential of zero-valent Al (ZVAl), its ability to reduce Cr(VI), a widespread pollutant, to less toxic Cr(III) remains to be uncovered. In the present study, Cr(VI) reduction by ZVAl was conducted to evaluate the potential application of Al as a reductant for Cr(VI). Polyoxometalate (POM, HNa(2)PW(12)O(40)), a catalyst, was used to accelerate Cr(VI) reduction by Al. The reaction of 0.192mM Cr(VI) on ZVAl was investigated in the presence of N(2) or O(2) at pH 1. A slight decrease in Cr(VI) concentration was observed on as-received (uncleaned) ZVAl due to the presence of oxide layer with a low surface area (ca. 3.4x10(-3)m(2)/g) of ZVAl. On addition of 0.1mM POM, Cr(VI) reduction on uncleaned ZVAl increased significantly. This is attributed to the unique properties of POM, which has a Brphinsted acidity higher than usual inorganic acids such as H(2)SO(4) and HCl. Thus, POM could remove rapidly the oxidize layer on ZVAl, followed by acting as a shuttle for electron transfer from ZVAl to Cr(VI). Under a N(2) atmosphere, one- or two-electron reduction of POM by ZVAl was responsible for Cr(VI) reduction in the early stage of the reaction. However, during reaction with ZVAl over 120min, three-electron reduction of POM predominated over Cr(VI) reduction. On interaction of O(2) with reduced POM, the formation of H(2)O(2) was responsible for subsequent Cr(VI) reduction. The results suggest that POM is an efficient catalyst for Cr(VI) reduction by Al due to the extremely rapid consumption of reduced POM or H(2)O(2) by Cr(VI).

A mechanism study of light-induced Cr(VI) reduction in an acidic solution.

The mechanisms of photo-catalytic reduction of Cr(VI) were investigated in acidic solutions with and without Fe(III). In a system without Fe(III), no Cr(VI) reduction was observed in dark conditions; conversely, under light conditions, the reduction reaction rate increased to 0.011 and 0.020microM min(-1) at pH 2 and pH 1, respectively, indicating the occurrence of Cr(VI) photo-reduction. The Cr(VI) photo-reduction reaction was induced by the photolysis of water molecules, leading to O(2) production. Upon the addition of Fe(III), the photo-reduction rate of Cr(VI) was significantly enhanced due to the formation of Fe(II), which is the photolytic product of FeCl(2)(+) and the electron donor for Cr(VI) reduction. However, with the same concentration of FeCl complexes, a strong inhibition of Cr(VI) reduction at pH 2 was observed, compared with pH 1. A possible explanation is that FeOH(2+) becomes predominant with increasing pH and that its photolytic product, the OH free radical, is an oxidant for Fe(II) and Cr(III) and can compromise Cr(VI) reduction. The kinetic result of each photo-reduction reaction pathway shows zero-order kinetics, suggesting that the photolysis reaction of H(2)O or FeCl(2+) is the rate-determining step in each pathway. The results also show the potential of developing a homogeneous photo-catalytic method to treat Cr(VI)-containing water.

A trophic model of fringing coral reefs in Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan suggests overfishing

Several coral reefs of Nanwan Bay, Taiwan have recently undergone shifts to macroalgal or sea anemone dominance. Thus, a mass-balance trophic model was constructed to analyze the structure and functioning of the food web. The fringing reef model was comprised of 18 compartments, with the highest trophic level of 3.45 for piscivorous fish. Comparative analyses with other reef models demonstrated that Nanwan Bay was similar to reefs with high fishery catches. While coral biomass was not lower, fish biomass was lower than those of reefs with high catches. Consequently, the sums of consumption and respiratory flows and total system throughput were also decreased. The Nanwan Bay model potentially suggests an overfished status in which the mean trophic level of the catch, matter cycling, and trophic transfer efficiency are extremely reduced.

Chromate reduction on humic acid derived from a peat soil – Exploration of the activated sites on HAs for chromate removal

Humic substances are a major component of soil organic matter that influence the behavior and fate of heavy metals such as Cr(VI), a toxic and carcinogenic element. In the study, a repetitive extraction technique was used to fractionate humic acids (HAs) from a peat soil into three fractions (denoted as F1, F2, and F3), and the relative importance of O-containing aromatic and aliphatic domains in humic substances for scavenging Cr(VI) was addressed at pH 1. Spectroscopic analyses indicated that the concentrations of aromatic C and O-containing functional groups decreased with a progressive extraction as follows: F1>F2>F3. Cr(VI) removal by HA proceeded slowly, but it was enhanced when light was applied due to the production of efficient reductants, such as superoxide radical and H(2)O(2), for Cr(VI). Higher aromatic- and O-containing F1 fraction exhibited a greater efficiency for Cr(VI) reduction (with a removal rate of ca. 2.89 mmol g(-1) HA under illumination for 3 h). (13)C NMR and FTIR spectra further demonstrated that the carboxyl groups were primarily responsible for Cr(VI) reduction. This study implied the mobility and fate of Cr(VI) would be greatly inhibited in the environments containing such organic groups.

Influence of chemical compositions and molecular weights of humic acids on Cr(VI) photo-reduction

Humic acids (HA) strongly affect the fate of trace metals in soils and aquatic environments. One of the remarkable properties of HA is its ability to reduce Cr(VI), an extremely toxic anion. However, it is unclear which HA components are involved in Cr(VI) reduction and possess the photo-induced properties. In this study, an ultrafiltration technique was used to fractionate HAs into four fractions of different nominal molecular weights (M(w)): >100, 50-100, 10-50 and <10 kDa. Each HA fraction was characterized by spectroscopic analyses followed by examining Cr(VI) removal on each fraction of HA at pH 1-5. Spectroscopic results indicated that low-M(w) HA was enriched with polar and aromatic domains. These polar, including polar C in aliphatic region, and aromatic groups were the major sites for Cr(VI) reduction because they disappeared rapidly upon interaction with Cr(VI). As a result, low M(w) of HA exhibited greater efficiency of Cr(VI) reduction. Light induced the rapid transfer of electrons between chromate-phenol/carboxyl ester, or the formation of peroxide radicals or H(2)O(2) through the ready decay of peroxy radicals associated with polar substituents, explained the rapid scavenging of Cr(VI) on polar and aromatic groups of HAs under illumination.

Photolysis and photocatalytic decomposition of sulfamethazine antibiotics in an aqueous solution with TiO2

Photo-decomposition of sulfamethazine (SMT) involves photolytic and photo-catalytic reactions, which occur simultaneously. The relative contributions of these two reactions to the overall SMT photo-decompositions by TiO2 and the intermediates of SMT photo-decompositions were systematically examined with the effects of TiO2 loading, and the pH and the initial SMT concentrations in the solutions. The apparent rate constants of SMT photo-decomposition reactions, which were well described by the pseudo-first-order kinetic model, ranged from 0.24 to 1.61 h−1. The overall photo-decomposition efficiencies of 0.072 mM SMT were the highest at pH 5.5 with 0.5 g L−1 TiO2 due to the adsorption-induced photocatalytic decomposition of SMT on TiO2. However, the SMT photolysis occurred more rapidly at pH 10. Two reactive species of holes and hydroxyl radicals concurrently participated in the photocatalytic decomposition of SMT, and the latter dominated the oxidative reactions of SMT on TiO2. Eight intermediates of SMT photo-decomposition were determined using LC-MS. Their time-dependent distributions indicated that the photo-decomposition of SMT was triggered by hydroxylation on aniline and dimethylpyrimidinyl moieties, followed by the cleavage of the S–N bond of SMT. Our results illustrated that the intermediates with dimethylpyrimidinyl groups possess strong resistance to photo-decomposition and played a determinant role in the photo-decomposition of SMT.