George R. Harvey

The Mussel Watch

The levels of four sets of pollutants (heavy-metals, artificial radionuclides, petroleum components, and halogenated hydrocarbons), have been measured in U.S. coastal waters, using bivalves as sentinel organisms. The strategies of carrying out this programme are outlined and the results from the first years work are given. Varying degrees of pollution in U.S. coastal waters have been indicated by elevated levels of pollutants in the bivalves, which comprised certain species of mussels and oysters and were collected at over one hundred localities.

Polystyrene Spherules in Coastal Waters

Polystyrene spherules averaging 0.5 millimeter in diameter (range 0.1 to 2 millimeters) are abundant in the coastal waters of southern New England. Two types are present, a crystalline (clear) form and a white, opaque form with pigmentation resulting from a diene rubber. The spherules have bacteria on their surfaces and contain polychlorinated biphenyls, apparently absorbed from ambient seawater, in a concentration of 5 parts per million. White, opaque spherules are selectively consumed by 8 species of fish out of 14 species examined, and a chaetognath. Ingestion of the plastic may lead to intestinal blockage in smaller fish.

Methane in Lake Kivu: New Data Bearing on Its Origin

Lake Kivu, an African rift lake, contains about 50 cubic kilometers of methane (at standard temperature and pressure) in its deep water. Data resulting from two recent expeditions to the lake and a reevaluation of earlier data suggest that most of the methane was formed by bacteria from abiogenetic carbon dioxide and hydrogen, rather than being of volcanic origin or having formed from decomposing organic matter.

The isolation of humic substances and alcohol-soluble organic matter from seawater*

Abstract The practical details of a method for the recovery of humic substances and alcohol-soluble organic matter from large volumes of seawater are described. Low levels of contamination make it useful for chemical characterization studies of these fractions of the dissolved organic matter.

Atmospheric transport of polychlorobiphenyls to the North Atlantic

Concentrations of polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) were measured in the atmosphere over the western North Atlantic. Both the particulate and vapor phase were extracted, using a new sampler designed for this work. Previously PCB levels ranged from 5 ng m−3 near the northeast coast of the U.S. to 0.05 ng m−3 on the Grand Banks. The PCB concentration in the atmosphere decreases expotentially with distance from land. It is concluded that wind transport is the major source of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the oceans.

Structural studies on marine humus: a new reduction sequence for carbon skeleton determination☆

Abstract A new reduction sequence designed to transform polyfunctional molecules to hydrocarbons is applied to fulvic acid isolated from Sargasso Sea and coastal water. Following methylation, samples are reduced by high-pressure hydrogenation. These products are treated with dibromotriphenylphosphorane to brominate alcohols and phenols and to cleave ether linkages. Finally, the brominated products are reduced by low pressure hydrogenation and hydrocarbons are isolated by liquid-solid chromatography. The hydrocarbons produced indicate that marine lipids are important structural components and that terrestrial sources are minor, even in coastal samples. Also, an unusual series of aromatic structures was obtained, the source of these is unknown.

Synthesis of carbohydrates and lipids on kaolinite

Abstract In the presence of kaolinite and at temperatures not exceeding 80°C, polysaccharides were synthesized from aqueous solutions of paraformaldehyde; pentoses and hexoses were preferentially formed. Kaolinite is also instrumental in esterification reactions of fatty acids in water to form glycerides. Addition of calcium phosphate to an aqueous mixture of kaolinite, glycerol and palmitic acid produces compounds which appear by electron micrographs to be phospholipid monolayers which are deposited in epitaxial order with a 40 A periodicity on the crystal surface of kaolinite.

Dispersal Pathways for Particle-Associated Pollutants

Particle-associated pollutants (totaling 107 metric tons per year) are introduced into the New York Bight by ocean dumping, estuarine discharge, sewage outfalls, eolian transport, and shipping waste and spillage. Oceanic and estuarine circulation processes dilute and transport the particles by a natural dispersal system that also tends to be highly distributive; particle-associated pollutants apparently seek the same sinks in the Hudson River shelf valley and intracoastal weltlands, regardless of their point of introduction.

PCB and hydrocarbon contamination of plankton by nets

Conclusions1.Nylon nets are in equilibrium with hydrocarbon materials in the water column.2.Plankton can extract adsorbed hydrocarbons from the net.3.In a plankton tow the entire water column (water, detritus, plankton, etc.) is really being sampled for hydrocarbons and PCB.4.Care must be exercised in interpreting PCB or hydrocarbon analyses of plankton. Several short tows would be more valuable than one long tow, because the latter might partially equilibrate with an area of high contaminant level encountered near the end of the tow.5.Washing the nets with a good clean solvent prior to towing appears to be beneficial in reducing contamination from nets