Spatiotemporal characteristics of summer hypoxia in Mirs Bay and adjacent coastal waters,South China

Mirs Bay is a semi-enclosed bay neighboring the Zhujiang(Pearl)River estuary,one of the largest estuarine systems in the world.The long-term historical observational data(1994-2017)of temperature,salinity,dissolved oxygen(DO),and biochemical parameters were used to examine the spatiotemporal distribution of hypoxia in Mirs Bay and adjacent coastal waters.Results show that bottom hypoxia varied seasonally and interannually.Hypoxia mainly occurred from June to September in Mirs Bay and the transition zone in the southern waters of Hong Kong,and the recorded hypoxia events have increased from 2007.The density difference between the bottom and surface layers was positively related to the bottom apparent oxygen utilization(AOU)(R=0.620,P<0.001)and negatively related to the bottom DO(R=0.616,P<0.001),indicating that water column stratification was an essential prerequisite for the formation of bottom hypoxia in summer.The bottom oxygen consumption and hypoxia had higher positive correlation with the seasonal thermocline(R=0.683,P<0.001)than the halocline(R=0.540,P<0.001),including in the area was affected by freshwater plume.The insignificant relationship between AOU and nutrients indicated that local eutrophication was not the only important factor in the formation of the hypoxic zone during summer.The decrease in phosphorous owing to the pollutant reduction policy and the increase in nitrate may have led to an increase in hypoxia events in the bay where waters therein are characterized by nitrogen-limitation.The increase in chemical oxygen demand in wastewater also promoted oxygen consumption.Compared to the adjacent coastal waters influenced by Zhujiang River plume water,the Mirs Bay experienced more hypoxia events.The high concentrations of ammonium and total Kjeldahl nitrogen in the sediment of Mirs Bay increased the oxygen depletion in the bottom water.The long residence time of the near-bottom water in Mirs Bay increased the risk of bottom hypoxia events,although the nutrient concentrations were lower than those in the transition zone.These factors lead to differences in hypoxia occurrence in Mirs Bay and adjacent coastal waters.

Timing of advanced water flooding in low permeability reservoirs

It is very important to design the optimum starting time of water injection for the development of low permeability reservoirs. In this type of reservoir the starting time of water injection will be affected by a reservoir pressure-sensitive effect. In order to optimize the starting time of water injection in low permeability reservoirs, this effect of pressure change on rock permeability of low permeability reservoirs was, at first, studied by physical simulation. It was shown that the rock permeability decreases exponentially with an increase in formation pressure. Secondly, we conducted a reservoir engineering study, from which we obtained analytic relationships between formation pressure, oil production rate, water production rate and water injection rate. After our physical, theoretical and economical analyses, we proposed an approach which takes the pressure-sensitive effect into consideration and designed the optimum starting time of water injection, based on the principle of material balance. Finally, the corresponding software was developed and applied to one block of the Jiangsu Oilfield. It is shown that water injection, in advance of production, can decrease the adverse impact of the pressure-sensitive effect on low permeability reservoir development. A water-flooding project should be preferably initiated in advance of production for no more than one year and the optimum ratio of formation pressure to initial formation pressure should be maintained at a level between 1.05 and 1.2.

Time lag characteristics of sap flow in seed-maize and their implications for modeling transpiration in an arid region of Northwest China

Plant capacity for water storage leads to time lags between basal stem sap flow and transpiration in various woody plants. Internal water storage depends on the sizes of woody plants. However, the changes and its influencing factors in time lags of basal stem flow during the development of herbaceous plants including crops remain unclear. A field experiment was conducted in an arid region of Northwest China to examine the time lag characteristics of sap flow in seed-maize and to calibrate the transpiration modeling. Cross-correlation analysis was used to estimate the time lags between stem sap flow and meteorological driving factors including solar radiation（R_s） and vapor pressure deficit of the air（VPD_（air））. Results indicate that the changes in seed-maize stem sap flow consistently lagged behind the changes in R_s and preceded the changes in VPD_（air） both on hourly and daily scales, suggesting that light-mediated stomatal closures drove sap flow responses. The time lag in the maize＇s sap flow differed significantly during different growth stages and the difference was potentially due to developmental changes in capacitance tissue and/or xylem during ontogenesis. The time lags between stem sap flow and R_s in both female plants and male plants corresponded to plant use of stored water and were independent of total plant water use. Time lags of sap flow were always longer in male plants than in female plants. Theoretically, dry soil may decrease the speed by which sap flow adjusts ahead of shifts in VPD_（air） in comparison with wet soil and also increase the speed by which sap flow adjusts to R_s. However, sap flow lags that were associated with R_s before irrigation and after irrigation in female plants did not shift. Time series analysis method provided better results for simulating seed-maize sap flow with advantages of allowing for fewer variables to be included. This approach would be helpful in improving the accuracy of estimation for canopy transpiration and conductance using meteorological measurements.

New insights into eutrophication management:Importance of temperature and water residence time

Eutrophication and harmful cyanobacterial blooms threaten water resources all over the world.There is a great controversy about controlling only phosphorus or controlling both nitrogen and phosphorus in the management of lake eutrophication.The primary argument against the dual nutrients control of eutrophication is that nitrogen fixation can compensate the nitrogen deficits.Thus,it is of great necessary to study the factors that can significantly affect the nitrogen fixation.Due to the difference of climate and human influence,the water quality of different lakes(such as water temperature,N:P ratio and water residence time)is also quite different.Numerous studies have reported that the low N:P ratio can intensify the nitrogen fixation capacities.However,the effects of temperature and water residence time on the nitrogen fixation remain unclear.Thus,30 shallows freshwater lakes in the eastern plain of China were selected to measure dissolved N_(2) and Ar concentrations through N_(2):Ar method using a membrane inlet mass spectrometer to quantify the nitrogen fixation capacities and investigate whether the temperature and water residence time have a great impact on nitrogen fixation.The results have shown that the short lake water residence time can severely inhibit the nitrogen fixation capacities through inhibiting the growth of nitrogenfixing cyanobacteria,changing the N:P ratio and resuspending the solids from sediments.Similarly,lakes with low water temperature also have a low nitrogen fixation capacity,suggesting that controlling nitrogen in such lakes is feasible if the growth of cyanobacteria is limited by nitrogen.

Characteristics of Water Infiltration in Layered Water-Repellent Soils

Water-repellent(WR) soil greatly influences infiltration behavior. This research determined the impacts of WR levels of silt loam soil layer during infiltration. Three column scenarios were utilized, including homogeneous wettable silt loam or sand, silt loam over sand(silt loam/sand), and sand over silt loam(sand/silt loam). A 5-cm thick silt loam soil layer was placed either at the soil surface or 5 cm below the soil surface. The silt loam soil used had been treated to produce different WR levels, wettable, slightly WR, strongly WR, and severely WR. As the WR level increased from wettable to severely WR, the cumulative infiltration decreased. Traditional wetting front-related equations did not adequately describe the infiltration rate and time relationships for layered WR soils. The Kostiakov equation provided a good fit for the first infiltration stage. Average infiltration rates for wettable, slightly WR, strongly WR, and severely WR during the 2 nd infiltration stage were 0.126, 0.021, 0.002, and 0.001 mm min^(-1) for the silt loam/sand scenario,respectively, and 0.112, 0.003, 0.002, and 0.000 5 mm min^(-1) for the sand/silt loam scenario, respectively. Pseudo-saturation phenomena occurred when visually examining the wetting fronts and from the apparent changes in water content(?θ_(AP)) at the slightly WR,strongly WR, and severely WR levels for the silt loam/sand scenario. Much larger ?θAPvalues indicated the possible existence of finger flow. Delayed water penetration into the surface soil for the strongly WR level in the silt loam/sand scenario suggested negative water heads with infiltration times longer than 10 min. The silt loam/sand soil layers produced sharp transition zones of water content. The WR level of the silt loam soil layer had greater effects on infiltration than the layer position in the column.

Estimation of mean water vapour residence time during tropical cyclones using a Lagrangian approach

Tropical cyclone(TC)-related rainfall mostly depends on the atmospheric moisture uptake from local and remote sources.In this study,the mean water vapour residence time(MWVRT)was computed for precipitation related to TCs in each basin and on a global scale by applying a Lagrangian moisture source diagnostic method.According to our results,the highest MWVRT was found for the TCs over the South Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean basins(~3.08 days),followed by the Western North Pacific Ocean,Central and East North Pacific Ocean,North Indian Ocean,and North Atlantic Ocean basins(which exhibited values of 2.98,2.94,2.85,and 2.72 days,respectively).We also found a statistically significant(p<0.05)decrease in MWVRT,at a rate of~2.4 h/decade in the North Indian Ocean and~1.0 h/decade in the remaining basins.On average,the MWVRT decreased during the 24 h before TCs made landfall,and the atmospheric parcels precipitated faster after evaporation when TCs moved over land than over the ocean.Further research should focus on the relationship between global warming and MWVRT of atmospheric parcels that precipitate over TC positions.

New exact solutions for the time fractional coupled Boussinesq-Burger equation and approximate long water wave equation in shallow water

The aim of the article is to construct exact solutions for the time fractional coupled Boussinesq-Burger and approximate long water wave equations by using the generalized Kudryashov method.The fractional differential equation is converted into ordinary differential equations with the help of fractional complex transform and the modified Riemann-Liouville derivative sense.Applying the generalized Kudryashov method through with symbolic computer maple package,numerous new exact solutions are successfully obtained.All calculations in this study have been established and verified back with the aid of the Maple package program.The executed method is powerful,effective and straightforward for solving nonlinear partial differential equations to obtain more and new solutions with the integer and fractional order.

Water renewal time of the Yellow River mainstream based on reservoir action

This note analyzes the change in water renewal time characteristics based on res- ervoir action and then establishes calculation models for the water renewal time in the Yellow River mainstream. The results indicate that the amount of renewable water with reservoir action can meet the annual water demand and that water flows naturally at the Lijin station near estuary. Initial storage dynamics is an important factor in water resource renewable capacity at a certain time, and rational reservoir action can promote sustainable water re- source utilization. When the initial storages in the Longyang Gorge reservoir are 9,343 and 5.343 billion m3, the water renewal times are 28 and 33.9 d, respectively. Flow stoppage appears in April and May.

Reclamation of oil-induced soil hydrophobicity in the hyper-arid Evrona Nature Reserve,southern Israel

Two oil spills occurred in the Evrona Nature Reserve(southern Israel),in 1975 and 2014.This oil contamination induced highly persistent soil hydrophobicity.The objective of this study was to investigate the decrease in oil-induced soil hydrophobicity under different environmental conditions and to assess the relationship between the hydrophobicity and hydrocarbon content.A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted over 1.5 years to monitor the soil hydrophobicity and total hydrocarbon concentration under different environmental conditions.We hypothesized that the addition of water(20% or 50% saturation),nutrients,and biosurfactants can accelerate the reduction in hydrophobicity and decomposition of hydrocarbons.Water drop penetration time and molarity of ethanol droplet tests were used to assess soil hydrophobicity.In parallel,alkane composition and total petroleum hydrocarbons were evaluated to indicate oil attenuation.The addition of water,nutrients,and biosurfactants resulted in a concomitant reduction in hydrophobicity and hydrocarbon concentration of varying degrees,exhibiting enhanced degradation and hydrophobicity reduction observed in treatments to which nutrients and biosurfactants were added.At the end of the incubation,however,soil hydrophobicity in all treatments remained severe,even though total petroleum hydrocarbon removal was fairly high and reached 40%–80%in the treatments to which water with or without nutrients and/or surfactants was added.