Graduation date: 1963

Ice formed from seawater, called sea ice, is both an important actor in and a sensitive indicator of climate change. Covering 7% of the World Ocean, sea ice damps the atmosphere-ocean exchanges of heat, radiation and momentum in polar regions. It also affects the oceanic circulation at a global scale. Recent satellite and submarine observations systems indicate a sharp decrease in the extent and volume of Arctic sea ice over the last 30 years. In addition, climate models project drastic sea ice reductions for the next century, in both hemispheres, with potentially large consequences on climate and ecosystems. Contrary to what is commonly believed, sea ice retains about 25% of the oceanic salt when it forms. As salt cannot lock in the ice crystalline lattice, it accumulates in liquid inclusions of salty water (brine). Under a temperature change, the inclusions freeze or melt and release or absorb huge amounts of latent heat. This affects heat transfer through and storage in sea ice, which may affect the mass balance of sea ice at a global scale. This is the central hypothesis of this work. In order to address this problem, the author develops two sea ice models and assesses their ability to simulate the recent evolution of the sea ice mass balance. Then, the physics of brine uptake and drainage are included in the models and sea ice desalination is investigated. Finally, the impact of sea ice salinity variations on the global sea ice mass balance is studied. The roles of sea ice thermal properties, of ice-ocean salt / fresh water fluxes and of oceanic feedbacks are evaluated. The new salinity module improves the simulation of ice and ocean characteristics compared to observations. Including salinity variations increases ice growth, reduces vertical mixing in the ocean and the ocean-to-ice heat flux. In conclusion, salinity variations should be included in future sea ice models used for climate projections.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisors: Steven K. Dentel and Pei C. Chiu, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Increasing salinity has been a growing concern for users of waters from the Pecos River and the reservoirs it feeds in the Texas portion of the River's watershed. Irrigation water diverted from the river in the northern reach of this watershed is often only suitable for a limited number of crops, reducing harvesting options for local farmers. In the south, the Pecos feeds into the International Amistad Reservoir along the border with Mexico. During the 1990s, total dissolved solids concentrations in the reservoir rose as much as 10 mg/L per year and often approached the drinking water standard for potable water (1000 mg/L). Since this time, control efforts have focused on reducing the river's salinity, requiring the identification of salt sources. Hydrologic trend analysis and geochemical identification methods were used to determine these sources for the reach of the river between Red Bluff Reservoir and Brotherton Ranch. Between Red Bluff Reservoir and Coyanosa, flow diversions remove much of the flow that carries the salts, resulting in decreased salt loads, but also making the river more sensitive to evapotranspirative concentration. This sensitivity is evident in the river between Coyanosa and Girvin, where salinity begins to increase to the highest levels within the study area. However, salt loads increase here as well, indicating external salt sources as a contributor. The most substantial increase in bromide ions and the Br-/Cl- ratio appears between Grandfalls and Imperial, although no conclusion could be drawn regarding the identity of the source. The ratio continues to increase up to Girvin, where it appears that evapotranspirative concentration again has a significant effect. Here, several points drifted to the right of the groundwater mixing zones, plotting at values that were uncharacteristic of these sources.

Upstream oil and gas production has caused soil salinity problems across western Canada. In this work we investigated the use of ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate) deaminase-producing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Glomus intraradices to enhance the efficiency and feasibility of phytoremediation of saline soils. This work involved laboratory and field research for three sites in south east Saskatchewan, Canada. The three research sites were Cannington Manor South (CMS), Cannington Manor North (CMN) and Alameda (AL). CMS and AL were highly saline, while the CMN site had moderate salinity. Indigenous PGPR were isolated from these sites and tested in greenhouse experiments using authentic salt-contaminated soils taken from the research sites. Increased plant biomass by PGPR and/or AMF was observed. This growth promotion effect varied with plant species, soil salinity and soil fertility. The combination treatment of two previously isolated PGPR Pseudomonas putida UW3 and UW4 (noted as UW3+4) from farm soil in Ontario consistently promoted shoot growth of both barley and oats grown in saline soils by approximately 100%. The indigenous PGPR Pseudomonas corrugata (CMH3) and Acinetobacter haemolyticus (CMH2) also promoted plant growth on par with UW3+4. In addition, in one experiment where alfalfa was tested, UW3+4, CMH2 and CMH3 treatments not only enhanced shoot biomass but also increased root nodulation. For AMF effects, G. intraradices enhanced biomass of oats and barley. Furthermore, the AMF+CMH3 was effective in promoting growth of Topgun ryegrass, while AMF+CMH2 was beneficial for Inferno tall fescue growth in salt impacted soils. The concentration of NaCl in the plants grown in salt-impacted soils ranged from 24 – 83 g/kg. There was no evidence of an increase in NaCl concentrations of plant tissue by PGPR and/or AMF treatments. In addition, to determine the importance of nutrient addition to research sites, liquid fertilizer was applied to 2-week old plants. Results demonstrated that fertilizer effectively increased biomass, and more importantly the biomass of PGPR treated plants supplied with fertilizer was approximately 20% higher than that of plants treated with fertilizer alone. Therefore, research sites were then amended with compost before planting of the 2007 field trial. Plant growth promotion by UW3+4 and CMH3 was tested in the summer of 2007 in the field. Prior to planting, soils were sampled from each site for soil salinity analysis. Barley, oats, tall fescue and ryegrass treated with and without PGPR were sown in plots. The plant coverage condition, NaCl concentrations and biomass of plant shoots were assessed to evaluate the PGPR effect. The results showed that PGPR promoted shoot dry weight by 30% - 175%. The NaCl concentrations of barley, oats and tall fescue averaged 53 g/kg, 66 g/kg and 35 g/kg, respectively. There was no evidence of an increase in NaCl concentrations of plant tissue by PGPR in the field. The salt removal of the CMN site was the highest among three sites due to the large amount of shoot biomass produced. The amount of salt accumulated in the shoots on the CMN site is estimated to be 1580 kg per hectare per year when both barley and ryegrass are planted together as a mix and treated with PGPR. Based on the field data, the estimated time required to remove 50% salt in the top 50 cm soil is seven years with PGPR treatments, while it takes fifteen years to do so without PGPR. In conclusion, PGPR-promoted phytoremediation was proven to be a feasible and effective remediation technique for soils with moderate salinity.

Upstream oil and gas production has caused soil salinity problems across western Canada. In this work we investigated the use of ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate) deaminase-producing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Glomus intraradices to enhance the efficiency and feasibility of phytoremediation of saline soils. This work involved laboratory and field research for three sites in south east Saskatchewan, Canada. The three research sites were Cannington Manor South (CMS), Cannington Manor North (CMN) and Alameda (AL). CMS and AL were highly saline, while the CMN site had moderate salinity. Indigenous PGPR were isolated from these sites and tested in greenhouse experiments using authentic salt-contaminated soils taken from the research sites. Increased plant biomass by PGPR and/or AMF was observed. This growth promotion effect varied with plant species, soil salinity and soil fertility. The combination treatment of two previously isolated PGPR Pseudomonas putida UW3 and UW4 (noted as UW3+4) from farm soil in Ontario consistently promoted shoot growth of both barley and oats grown in saline soils by approximately 100%. The indigenous PGPR Pseudomonas corrugata (CMH3) and Acinetobacter haemolyticus (CMH2) also promoted plant growth on par with UW3+4. In addition, in one experiment where alfalfa was tested, UW3+4, CMH2 and CMH3 treatments not only enhanced shoot biomass but also increased root nodulation. For AMF effects, G. intraradices enhanced biomass of oats and barley. Furthermore, the AMF+CMH3 was effective in promoting growth of Topgun ryegrass, while AMF+CMH2 was beneficial for Inferno tall fescue growth in salt impacted soils. The concentration of NaCl in the plants grown in salt-impacted soils ranged from 24 – 83 g/kg. There was no evidence of an increase in NaCl concentrations of plant tissue by PGPR and/or AMF treatments. In addition, to determine the importance of nutrient addition to research sites, liquid fertilizer was applied to 2-week old plants. Results demonstrated that fertilizer effectively increased biomass, and more importantly the biomass of PGPR treated plants supplied with fertilizer was approximately 20% higher than that of plants treated with fertilizer alone. Therefore, research sites were then amended with compost before planting of the 2007 field trial. Plant growth promotion by UW3+4 and CMH3 was tested in the summer of 2007 in the field. Prior to planting, soils were sampled from each site for soil salinity analysis. Barley, oats, tall fescue and ryegrass treated with and without PGPR were sown in plots. The plant coverage condition, NaCl concentrations and biomass of plant shoots were assessed to evaluate the PGPR effect. The results showed that PGPR promoted shoot dry weight by 30% - 175%. The NaCl concentrations of barley, oats and tall fescue averaged 53 g/kg, 66 g/kg and 35 g/kg, respectively. There was no evidence of an increase in NaCl concentrations of plant tissue by PGPR in the field. The salt removal of the CMN site was the highest among three sites due to the large amount of shoot biomass produced. The amount of salt accumulated in the shoots on the CMN site is estimated to be 1580 kg per hectare per year when both barley and ryegrass are planted together as a mix and treated with PGPR. Based on the field data, the estimated time required to remove 50% salt in the top 50 cm soil is seven years with PGPR treatments, while it takes fifteen years to do so without PGPR. In conclusion, PGPR-promoted phytoremediation was proven to be a feasible and effective remediation technique for soils with moderate salinity.

Soil salinity is a serious environmental stress threatening productivity of major crops worldwide. Among the various biotic and abiotic strategies that exist, transgenic technologies provide a promising avenue to reduce yield losses in crops under saline environments. Recently, transgenic technology involving the TMT gene encoding thiol methyltransferase enzyme has been suggested as an effective solution for engineering a chloride detoxification capability into a high value crops to improve tolerance against chloride ion toxicity under saline environments. This proposed mechanism, however, results in the emission of methyl chloride (CH3Cl) from plants, which has deleterious effects on stratospheric ozone. This study was performed to examine the relationship between salt tolerance and chloride volatilizing capacity of transgenic plants containing TMT gene as well as to explore the possibility of generating transgenic rice crop containing TMT gene for salinity tolerance. To achieve these objectives, transgenic tobacco plants containing TMT gene were grown in comparison with wild type tobacco plants under three levels of sodium chloride (NaCl) salinity (0, 100 and 200 mM), three levels of soil water content (40%, 60% and 80% of the field capacity) and their tolerance to NaCl and water stress was studied. Plant growth parameters recorded included plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, stem dry weight, leaf dry weight, root dry weight, plant dry biomass and root/shoot ratio. Similarly, both types of plants were exposed to five levels of NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM) and three levels of soil water content (40%, 60% and 80% of the field capacity), and the quantity of CH3Cl emitted was recorded. Significant decrease in plants growth parameters of both types of plants were recorded upon exposure to salinity and water stress. Under 100 mM NaCl, however, transgenic plants showed better tolerance to salinity by suffering less reduction in growth parameters compared to wild type plants. Under 200 mM NaCl, growth of both types of plants was completely inhibited. The interactive effects of salinity and water stress were more pronounced in wild type plants than in transgenic plants. Results also showed that all engineered plants acquired an ability to efficiently transform chloride ion to CH3Cl, and the rate of such transformation was higher under greater NaCl and soil water content compared to lower NaCl concentrations and soil water content. In order to explore the possibility of generating a transgenic food crop using TMT gene, a hypothetical transgenic rice crop was grown over 27 million hectares of the saline coastal areas of south and southeast Asia and the possible emission of CH3Cl from such ecosystem was inferred based on the CH3Cl emission data obtained from transgenic tobacco plants. The estimates showed that the possible CH3Cl emission from such ecosystem would be 219.21 Gg which is equivalent to 5.36 % of the global atmospheric emissions of CH3Cl.

Salinity is one of the most severe environmental factors that limits global crop yield. Enhanced phytoremediation using plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has proven to be an effective and environmentally responsible approach to remove salt from the surface soil and reclaim salt-impacted soil for crop production. PGPR enhanced phytoremediation systems (PEPS) were applied to two research sites, Cannington Manor North (CMN) and Cannington Manor South (CMS) in southern Saskatchewan. The sites were impacted by brine leakage during upstream oil and gas production. A salt mass balance study was performed based on data collected from these two sites. Both sites were planted in June. Soil samples were taken in June 2009 (beginning of the season), August (midseason) and October (end of the season). Soil salinity changes throughout the season were monitored by measuring soil electrical conductivity (EC). The average surface soil ECe decreased from 3.7 dS/m to 3.1 dS/m at CMN, and from 10.2 dS/m to 9.2 dS/m at CMS in 2009 season. Plant samples that were collected in August and October were analyzed for sodium and chloride concentrations. These values were then converted into predicted ECe changes for the soil to compare with the actual changes in soil ECe. Plant uptake of NaCl was calculated to account for 25.2% and 28.1% of the decrease in surface soil ECe at CMN and CMS, respectively. However, plant samples were washed prior to salt content analysis. A considerable amount of salt could have been lost during the washing process. Several plant samples from other salt-impacted sites in Saskatchewan and Alberta were selected to examine salt loss due to tissue washing. The salt ions lost by washing were determined to be 44.4% for Na+ and 63.8% for Cl-. After the adjustment of plant NaCl uptake data by the loss due to washing, plant accumulation of NaCl accounted for 59.9% of the decrease in surface soil ECe at CMN and 56.1% at CMS. When plant uptake of K+ and Ca2+ were also taken into consideration by a simulation study, the decrease in surface soil ECe that was caused by plant uptake of salt ions accounted for 107.5% at CMN and 117.5% at CMS. This indicated that plants can have a significant role in the remediation of salt-impacted soil. The effects of PGPR (Pseudomonas spp. UW4 and Pseudomonas corrugata CMH3) treatment on selected physiological indicators, such as proline, superoxide dismutase (SOD), membrane leakage and photosynthesis, were examined on annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum). Plants were grown under three saline conditions: non-saline topsoil, non-saline topsoil spiked with NaCl to 10 dS/m, and high saline soil collected from a salt-impacted site diluted with non-saline topsoil to reach 10 dS/m. The shoot fresh weight of plants grown in spiked salt soil decreased by 74% and in diluted salt soil by 44%, respectively, compared to control soil. Both types of salt soil increased SOD activities by approximately 50%, proline concentrations by 20 to 25 fold, and membrane leakage levels by 1.6 to 2.8 fold. Significant impairment of photosynthetic performances, as indicated by the decreases in the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters Fv/Fm, yield and qP, and a parallel increase in qN, was also observed using Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) fluorometry for plants in diluted impacted soil. PGPR moderately increased fresh weight and SOD activity. Both UW4 and CMH3 significantly increased proline concentration and lowered membrane leakage relative to untreated plants. Therefore, PGPR improve plant performance under salt stress by elevating proline levels, which can act as a quencher of destructive reactive oxygen species. PGPR treatment also restored all the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters nearly to the non-stressed level, indicating protection of photosynthetic tissues of PGPR treated plants under salt stress. Overall, PEPS was successfully applied to the salt-impacted sites. Plant uptake of salt played a major role in the decrease of surface soil ECe. PGPR’s role in enhancing plant performance under salt stress was suggested by the elevated proline concentrations, the decreased membrane leakage levels and the restored photosynthetic activity.

This study has investigated the gene expression of ubiquitin¡B20S proteasome beta subunit type 1 (20s£]1)¡Bubiquitin-conjugating enzyme e2 (ucee2)¡BATP-dependent caseinolytic protease regulatory subunit (clpC) in the marine macroalga Ulva fasciata Delile in relation to the hypersalinity-induced oxidative stress and protein oxidation. During the early stage (0-1 h), the water contents and TTC (2,3,5-tripheny tetrazolium chloride) reduction ability maintained unchanged but recovery ability and photosynthetic ability (PS II activity as indicated by Fv/Fm) were decreased along with accumulated H2O2, suggesting the occurrence of oxidative stress. Only ubiquitin expressed at this stage. During 1-3 h, water lost (approximately 33% of the control) with a further decrease in recovery ability, TTC reduction ability¡BPS II activity but more H2O2 accumulation and protein carbonyl compound. The transcripts of 20s£]1 and clpC and caseinolytic protease activity increased at this stage with the maximum of clpC at hour 3. In the 6-48 h, water lost seriously with high accumulated free amino acid at 6-12 h but low recovery ability. The transcript amounts of ubiquitin¡B20s£]1 and ucee2 increased marked during this stage, in which these might be related to programmed cell death caused by long-term exposure to hypersalinity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers inhibited H2O2 accumulation, caseinolytic proteolytic activity increase, carbonyl compound formation and gene expression of ubiquitin¡B20s£]1¡Bucee2¡BclpC, indicating a role of ROS in the regulation of protease genes. A role of polyamines in the regulation of protease gene expression was tested. Spermidine and spermine inhibited the gene expression of ubiquitin¡B20s£]1 and ucee2, the oxidation of proteins (carbonyl groups) and the induction of caseinolytic protease activity in 90‰-treated thalli, whereas putrescine inhibited clpC expression, the oxidation of proteins and caseinolytic protease activity but enhanced the gene expression of ubiquitin¡B20s£]1 and ucee2. In conclusion, the results of the present investigation show that the degradation of oxidatively damaged proteins under hypersalinity conditions by increased caseinolytic protease activity is driven by the up-regulation of clpC gene expression via ROS and polyamines. It seems likely that the induction of ubiquitin¡B20s£]1 and ucee2 gene expression might be associated with the hypersalinity-mediated programmed cell death.

Cephalopods become one of the most important commercial marine resources worldwide. The knowledge of the basic biology and population dynamics of these resources is the way to ensure the resource to be utilized properly. In Taiwan, cephalopods are traditionally used and prized as foods with high market price. Sepioteuthis lessoniana is an important fishery species. Its distribution is concentrated around the northeastern and the southern coasts of Taiwan, and the Peng-Hu Island. Although there are some investigations on the statolith of the adults, studies on early stages are scarce. In this study, we use the known-age statoliths incubated in the different conditions to relate with those factors, i.e., temperature, salinity, and photoperiod, which influenced the ring formations during the embryonic and larval stages. From April to September, several clusters of bamboos, 3 ~ 4 m long, 1 ~ 2 m wide, were set on the sea bed at a depth of 16 to 20 m to attract their spawning, and the egg-strings were then transported to the laboratory. When the development of the embryo reached stage 24, iris of eyes being prominent as a colour circle and statolith being formed, they were transferred into different rearing conditions, i.e., 20, 25, 30, 35 o/oo and 15, 20, 25, 30 oC. The durations from stage 24 to hatching were different among all different rearing conditions. The statoliths were extracted and mounted in Crystal Bond thermoplastic cement for reading their growth rings. In the normal condition (25 oC and 35 o/oo), the duration from stage 24 to hatching is 9 ~ 16 days. Although the rings can be counted in each specimen, the numbers do not match between the embryonic rings and the developmental duration. Changes on the shape of the statolith were observed among different incubated conditions. The shape of the statolith at hatching had obvious differences among different embryonic developmental conditions. The statolith developed in the colder environment had smaller dorsal dome, thinner and shorter rostrum than that developed in the warmer condition. Using the shape of this embryonic ring was to be applied to measure the variation of the shape of the statolith. This is a useful tool to know the temperature factor during embryonic development by comparing with the shape of the hatchling¡¦s statolith. After hatching, squid hatchlings were separated to incubate in two different photoperiod regimes, 12 hr: 12 hr and 24 hr constant light conditions. Squid larvae were maintained as long as possible. Although the trend which older squids have more increments on the statolith than younger squids is consistent, the slope between the increments and survival days is less than one. The time required to form one ring on the statolith is needed for more than one day. Bell-shaped distributions can be found in several analyses in this study, especially with large sample size in 25 oC at 35 o/oo. If the sample size was small, the bell-shaped distribution would be obscure. This may result in oversimplification in interpretating the result. Sometimes this kind of problem could be inevitable because collecting large enough sample size was difficult or impossible. In any validation exercise, it would be difficult to obtain data for the whole life cycle. This study indicated that the hypothesis of daily-increment for the whole life history required further verification with larger sample size and wider size ranges of the tropical squids in future.