Outgassing from Amazonian rivers and wetlands as a large tropical source of atmospheric CO2

Terrestrial ecosystems in the humid tropics play a potentially important but presently ambiguous role in the global carbon cycle. Whereas global estimates of atmospheric CO2 exchange indicate that the tropics are near equilibrium or are a source with respect to carbon, ground-based estimates indicate that the amount of carbon that is being absorbed by mature rainforests is similar to or greater than that being released by tropical deforestation (about 1.6 Gt C yr-1). Estimates of the magnitude of carbon sequestration are uncertain, however, depending on whether they are derived from measurements of gas fluxes above forests or of biomass accumulation in vegetation and soils. It is also possible that methodological errors may overestimate rates of carbon uptake or that other loss processes have yet to be identified. Here we demonstrate that outgassing (evasion) of CO2 from rivers and wetlands of the central Amazon basin constitutes an important carbon loss process, equal to 1.2 +/- 0.3 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. This carbon probably originates from organic matter transported from upland and flooded forests, which is then respired and outgassed downstream. Extrapolated across the entire basin, this flux-at 0.5 Gt C yr-1-is an order of magnitude greater than fluvial export of organic carbon to the ocean. From these findings, we suggest that the overall carbon budget of rainforests, summed across terrestrial and aquatic environments, appears closer to being in balance than would be inferred from studies of uplands alone.     

Export of dissolved organic carbon from peatlands under elevated carbon dioxide levels

Peatlands represent a vast store of global carbon. Observations of rapidly rising dissolved organic carbon concentrations in rivers draining peatlands have created concerns that those stores are beginning to destabilize. Three main factors have been put forward as potential causal mechanisms, but it appears that two alternatives--warming and increased river discharge--cannot offer satisfactory explanations. Here we show that the third proposed mechanism, namely shifting trends in the proportion of annual rainfall arriving in summer, is similarly unable to account for the trend. Instead we infer that a previously unrecognized mechanism--carbon dioxide mediated stimulation of primary productivity--is responsible. Under elevated carbon dioxide levels, the proportion of dissolved organic carbon derived from recently assimilated carbon dioxide was ten times higher than that of the control cases. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon appear far more sensitive to environmental drivers that affect net primary productivity than those affecting decomposition alone.     

Reducing uncertainty about carbon dioxide as a climate driver

The lack of an adequate ancient analogue for future climates means that we ultimately must use and trust climate models, evaluated against modern observation and our best geologic records of warm and cold climates of the past. Armed with an elevated confidence in the models, we will then be able to make reliable predictions of the Earth's response to our risky experiment with the climate system.     

Quantification and implications of two types of soluble organic matter from brackish to saline lake source rocks

Two types of soluble organic matter, the free and adsorbed, were obtained and quantified from the brackish to saline lake source rocks. The adsorbed type was extracted with chloroform, solvent mixtures of methanol：acetone：chloroform （MAC） and CS2：N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone （CSz/NMP）. The total amounts of the two types of soluble organic matter from some immature source rocks are 〉830 mg/g TOC, more than 63% of the total organic matter in these samples. This result indicates that the majority of the organic matter in the immature source rocks in the brackish to saline lake basin is soluble, and is significant for study of petroleum formation and helpful for petroleum exploration in the brackish to saline lake basin.     

Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

Globally, soil organic matter (SOM) contains more than three times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or terrestrial vegetation. Yet it remains largely unknown why some SOM persists for millennia whereas other SOM decomposes readily--and this limits our ability to predict how soils will respond to climate change. Recent analytical and experimental advances have demonstrated that molecular structure alone does not control SOM stability: in fact, environmental and biological controls predominate. Here we propose ways to include this understanding in a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models, thereby improving predictions of the SOM response to global warming.     

Photosensitized reduction of nitrogen dioxide on humic acid as a source of nitrous acid

Nitrous acid is a significant photochemical precursor of the hydroxyl radical, the key oxidant in the degradation of most air pollutants in the troposphere. The sources of nitrous acid in the troposphere, however, are still poorly understood. Recent atmospheric measurements revealed a strongly enhanced formation of nitrous acid during daytime via unknown mechanisms. Here we expose humic acid films to nitrogen dioxide in an irradiated tubular gas flow reactor and find that reduction of nitrogen dioxide on light-activated humic acids is an important source of gaseous nitrous acid. Our findings indicate that soil and other surfaces containing humic acid exhibit an organic surface photochemistry that produces reductive surface species, which react selectively with nitrogen dioxide. The observed rate of nitrous acid formation could explain the recently observed high daytime concentrations of nitrous acid in the boundary layer, the photolysis of which accounts for up to 60 per cent of the integrated hydroxyl radical source strengths. We suggest that this photo-induced nitrous acid production on humic acid could have a potentially significant impact on the chemistry of the lowermost troposphere.     

Pre-biotic organic matter from comets and asteroids

Several authors have suggested that comets or carbonaceous asteroids contributed large amounts of organic matter to the primitive Earth, and thus possibly played a vital role in the origin of life. But organic matter cannot survive the extremely high temperatures (>10(4) K) reached on impact, which atomize the projectile and break all chemical bonds. Only fragments small enough to be gently decelerated by the atmosphere--principally meteors of 10(-12)-10(-6) g--can deliver their organic matter intact. The amount of such 'soft-landed' organic carbon can be estimated from data for the infall rate of meteoritic matter. At present rates, only approximately 0.006 g cm-2 intact organic carbon would accumulate in 10(8) yr, but at the higher rates of approximately 4 x 10(9) yr ago, about 20 g cm-2 may have accumulated in the few hundred million years between the last cataclysmic impact and the beginning of life. It may have included some biologically important compounds that did not form by abiotic synthesis on Earth.     

Polysaccharide aggregation as a potential sink of marine dissolved organic carbon

The formation and sinking of biogenic particles mediate vertical mass fluxes and drive elemental cycling in the ocean. Whereas marine sciences have focused primarily on particle production by phytoplankton growth, particle formation by the assembly of organic macromolecules has almost been neglected. Here we show, by means of a combined experimental and modelling study, that the formation of polysaccharide particles is an important pathway to convert dissolved into particulate organic carbon during phytoplankton blooms, and can be described in terms of aggregation kinetics. Our findings suggest that aggregation processes in the ocean cascade from the molecular scale up to the size of fast-settling particles, and give new insights into the cycling and export of biogeochemical key elements such as carbon, iron and thorium.     

上海城市内河中有机碳含量的时空变化及影响因素分析

2015年12月至2016年12月间,对苏州河、黄浦江4个固定站点的表层水样进行逐月采集,测定溶解态有机碳(dissolved organic carbon, DOC)和颗粒态有机碳(particulate organic carbon, POC)的含量,结合总悬浮颗粒物(total suspended matter, TSM)和稳定碳同位素(δ~(13)C)等参数,研究有机碳的时空变化,并对其影响因素进行初步分析.结果显示,苏州河非汛期时上游DOC质量浓度(4.52±0.48 mg·L~(–1))明显高于下游(3.66±0.32 mg·L~(–1)),而汛期上下游DOC质量浓度无明显差异,推测在汛期与非汛期DOC在上下游输送过程中的停留时间不同可能是DOC空间分布存在差异的主要因素.苏州河汛期颗粒物δ~(13)C(–29.1‰±1.0‰)比非汛期(–28.1‰±0.6‰)更负,表明汛期浮游生物的生长对POC贡献更大.苏州河汛期与非汛期POC质量分数(POC%)则无明显差异,但非汛期POC%平均值(6.01%±2.27%)略高于汛期(4.10%±0.99%).黄浦江DOC(年平均值3.56±0.31 mg·L~(–1))和POC%(年平均值2.18%±0.56%)上下游差异不明显, DOC呈现冬高夏低的特征.汛期更负的δ13C(–28.1‰±0.9‰)与更低的TSM(79.1±26.4 mg·L~(–1))显示黄浦江汛期时主要受到了太湖来水的影响, POC%表现出汛期高、非汛期低的特征.两条河的有机碳输送均以DOC输送为主,水体自净能力的差异使得苏州河DOC/POC变化范围大于黄浦江.从历史数据比对分析来看, 2005—2016年黄浦江DOC质量浓度逐渐降低,一定程度上表明了污水治理三期工程对黄浦江的有机污染治理初显成效,但总有机碳(total organic carbon, TOC)质量浓度的高值表明黄浦江有机污染仍处于较高水平.     

Efficient export of carbon to the deep ocean through dissolved organic matter

Oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) constitutes one of the largest pools of reduced carbon in the biosphere. Estimated DOC export from the surface ocean represents 20% of total organic carbon flux to the deep ocean, which constitutes a primary control on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. DOC is the carbon component of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and an accurate quantification of DOM pools, fluxes and their controls is therefore critical to understanding oceanic carbon cycling. DOC export is directly coupled with dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphorus export. However, the C:N:P stoichiometry (by atoms) of DOM dynamics is poorly understood. Here we study the stoichiometry of the DOM pool and of DOM decomposition in continental shelf, continental slope and central ocean gyre environments. We find that DOM is remineralized and produced with a C:N:P stoichiometry of 199:20:1 that is substantially lower than for bulk pools (typically >775:54:1), but greater than for particulate organic matter (106:16:1--the Redfield ratio). Thus for a given mass of new N and P introduced into surface water, more DOC can be exported than would occur at the Redfield ratio. This may contribute to the excess respiration estimated to occur in the interior ocean. Our results place an explicit constraint on global carbon export and elemental balance via advective pathways.     

典型煤种的二氧化碳气化特性研究

利用非等温热重分析对3种典型煤种二氧化碳气化的反应动力学进行了研究.探讨了典型煤种二氧化碳气化活化能及特征温度变化情况,运用Doyle 近似函数和Coats-Redfem近似函数计算了反应动力学参数,并对3种煤二氧化碳气化特性进行了分析,获得了3种典型煤种二氧化碳气化反应动力学方程.     

沣河洪水过程溶解有机物的荧光特征及来源分析研究

利用三维荧光光谱技术对陕西西安境内的沣河秦渡镇水文站和高桥水文站的暴雨期间洪水过程的溶解有机物进行研究,讨论了荧光溶解有机物的来源、组成、分子结构等特征.结果表明强降水带来了更多荧光溶解有机物,表现为冲刷效应,洪水过程河流溶解有机物的荧光峰主要以代表陆源有机物的类富里酸荧光为主,类蛋白荧光较弱或没有检测出,表明人为污染影响较小.结构特征为腐化程度高、芳香性大,以大分子的有机物为主.春季首次强降水冲刷的有机物结构成分较为复杂,点源污染稀释作用和水库泄洪作用对洪水过程有机物的浓度、组成、结构等变化特征也有很大影响.     

土豆为缓释碳源负载SRB处理模拟含镉酸性废水

利用土豆作为缓释碳源负载微生物诱导成矿来固化重金属Cd2＋.对比经典碳源乳酸钠确定土豆作为缓释碳源的实用性,再通过单因素实验确定了土豆作为缓释碳源负载硫酸盐还原菌的最适生长条件及除镉能力.通过在最优条件下对比土豆和乳酸钠处理镉污染废水的效果,以及对矿化产物进行SEM和EDS分析.结果表明土豆不仅可以作为碳源还能为硫酸盐还原菌提供更加持久稳定的生长环境,土豆对重金属还有一定的吸附作用,实现对镉离子固定效益的最大化.     

垃圾填埋场渗滤液有机物质量浓度的预测

用假设垃圾填埋场液固相中的有机物按一级反应降解而推导出的有机物质量浓度计算模型,并利用其来预测渗滤液中COD质量浓度,根据F.G.Pohland(循环、非循环)和M.E.Tittlehaum的实验数据验证,结果表明:所建立的模型能够较准确地预测垃圾场渗滤液中的COD质量浓度,Pohland循环、Pohland非循环和Tittlehaum循环3种模式下的模型参数相关系数分别为0.892 5,0.947 4和0.916 4.以娄底市垃圾填埋场为例,最终选用了由Pohland非循环模式确定的方程及参数对垃圾渗滤液中的COD质量浓度进行预测.预测结果表明,娄底市垃圾填埋场渗滤液中的COD质量浓度在填埋初期呈逐步上升趋势,最大COD质量浓度出现在填埋后的第210 d左右,为18.324 g/L;随后浓度开始缓慢下降,在填埋后的第720 d左右时浓度约为4.649 g/L.通过与其他城市已建成的垃圾填埋场的监测数据比较,预测结果具有较高的可信度,说明该模型及其参数能够满足垃圾填埋场设计的需要,可为填埋场水处理设施的设计提供依据.     

源岩活化能分布最小值与有机质成熟度的关系

提出了一种确定源岩中干酪根活化能分布最小值的方法,并通过东营凹陷南斜坡东段沙四段源岩的动力学特征研究,发现源岩活化能分布最小值与有机质成熟度之间没有明显的正相关关系,而可溶有机质抽提后的源岩活化能分布最小值与有机质成熟度之间存在较为明显的线性正相关关系.     

Carbonaceous meteorites as a source of sugar-related organic compounds for the early Earth.

The much-studied Murchison meteorite is generally used as the standard reference for organic compounds in extraterrestrial material. Amino acids and other organic compounds important in contemporary biochemistry are thought to have been delivered to the early Earth by asteroids and comets, where they may have played a role in the origin of life. Polyhydroxylated compounds (polyols) such as sugars, sugar alcohols and sugar acids are vital to all known lifeforms-they are components of nucleic acids (RNA, DNA), cell membranes and also act as energy sources. But there has hitherto been no conclusive evidence for the existence of polyols in meteorites, leaving a gap in our understanding of the origins of biologically important organic compounds on Earth. Here we report that a variety of polyols are present in, and indigenous to, the Murchison and Murray meteorites in amounts comparable to amino acids. Analyses of water extracts indicate that extraterrestrial processes including photolysis and formaldehyde chemistry could account for the observed compounds. We conclude from this that polyols were present on the early Earth and therefore at least available for incorporation into the first forms of life.