Types of saltwater intrusion of the Changjiang Estuary

The Changjiang Estuary is characterized by multi-order bifurcations, unsteady submerged sandbars, mid-channel sandbars, creeks and riffles. The following four types of saltwater intrusion are found: (1) direct intrusion from the sea; (2) intrusion during tidal flooding; (3) intrusion from tidal flats overflow; and (4) salt water coming upstream through other waterways. These result in a complicated temporal and spatial salinity distribution. A high chlorinity concentration zone exists from the Liuhekou to the Sidongkou along the South Branch. The salinity during neap tide or ordinary tide is higher than during spring tide.     

Pore-water anomalies in gas hydrate-bearing sediments of the deeper continental margins: Facts and problems

Naturally occurring gas hydrates, discovered under the deeper parts of the continental margins (generally below 500 m water depth) during the Deep Sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Program, impregnate terrigenous sediments 0.5 to 1 km thick. They form from biogenic as well as thermogenic hydrocarbon gases and are associated with characteristic chemical and isotopic anomalies in the pore waters resulting from hydrate decomposition. Typical downward trends derived from water samples squeezed on board ship show decreasing chlorinity coupled with increases in the heavy oxygen and hydrogen isotopes resulting from the combined effects of sediment compaction and salt and isotope fractionation by hydrates. Carbon isotopes can be used to differentiate between biogenic ( ¹³C < –55) and thermogenic ( ¹³C > –559) gas hydrates except where acetate-derived methane is involved. Smooth downward trends in the chemical and isotopic anomalies suggest steady increases in the proportion of hydrates among the pore-filling substances. Spikes are attributed to high local hydrate concentrations (or massive hydrate layers or nodules). Problems encountered in delineating the detailed relationships between hydrate occurrence and pore-water anomalies concern (i) the roof-effect of a hydrate zone which should be marked by a positive Cl^– and a negative ¹⁸O anomaly (the opposite of the hydrate decomposition effect) (ii) the composition ofin-situ pore waters from within hydrate zones; (iii) the suppression of a positive ¹⁸O hydrate-decomposition anomaly due to superposition of other oxygen-isotope fractionation effects (such as volcanic glass alteration); and (iv) the non-linear correlation between Cl^– depletion and¹⁸O enrichment, and the magnitude of the¹⁸O enrichment. The hydrate-decomposition mechanism still provides the most successful explanation for the chemical and isotopic porewater anomalies observed in hydrate-bearing sediments, but the problems encountered underscore the urgency for future research through deep-sea drilling in hydrate zones.Dedicated to Dr D. W. Davidson in honor of his great contributions to the sciences of inclusion phenomena.     

PREPARATION OF MONODISPERSE CROSSLINKED POLYMER MICROSPHERES HAVING CHLOROMETHYL GROUP BY DISTILLATION-PRECIPITATION POLYMERIZATION

Monodisperse crosslinked poly(chloromethylstyrene-co-divinylbenzene) (poly(CMSt-co-DVB)) microspheres were prepared by distillation-precipitation copolymerization of chloromethylstyrene (CMSt) and divinylbenzene (DVB) in neat acetonitrile. The polymer particles had clean surfaces due to the absence of any added stabilizer. The size of the particles ranges from 2.59 μm to 3.19 μm and with mono-dispersity around 1.002-1.014. The effects of monomer feed in copolymerization on the microsphere formation were described. The polymer microspheres were characterized by SEM and chlorinity elemental analysis.