This work analyses a 30year water quality data set collated from chemical analyses of Kuwait's marine waters. Spatial patterns across six sites in Kuwait Bay and seven sites located in the Arabian Gulf are explored and discussed in terms of the changing influences associated with point and diffuse sources. Statistical modelling demonstrated significant increases for dissolved nutrients over the time period. Kuwait marine waters have been subject to inputs from urban development, untreated sewage discharges and decreasing river flow from the Shatt al-Arab River. Chlorophyll biomass showed a small but significant reduction; the high sewage content of the coastal waters from sewage discharges likely favouring the presence of smaller phytoplankton taxa. This detailed assessment of temporal data of the impacts of sewage inputs into Kuwait's coastal waters establishes an important baseline permitting future assessments to be made as sewage is upgraded, and the river continues to be extracted upstream.

The concentrations of monosaccharide anhydrides (levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan), monocarboxylic acids (alkanoic acids C7 – C20 and two unsaturated fatty acids, palmitoleic and oleic acids) and organic and elemental carbon in PM1 aerosol samples were measured in two cities of the Czech Republic (Brno and Šlapanice) in winter and summer seasons of 2009 and 2010.Mass concentrations of PM1 aerosols (determined by weighing filters with collected aerosol) were higher in winter than in summer in both 2009 and 2010, in Brno as well as in Šlapanice.Organic compounds were analysed by GC–MS. The sum of average atmospheric concentration of monosaccharide anhydrides (MAs) in PM1 aerosol in Brno and Šlapanice was 273 and 646 ng m−3 in winter and 20–42 ng m−3 in summer. The higher concentrations of MAs in PM1 aerosols in winter seasons indicate higher frequency of biomass combustion than in summer seasons. Levoglucosan was the most abundant monosaccharide anhydride. Contrary to MAs, the concentrations of majority monocarboxylic acids were higher in summer (153–221 ng m−3) than in winter (116–206 ng m−3) in both cities in 2009 and in 2010. Palmitic acid was the most abundant monocarboxylic acid.The concentrations of both organic (OC) and elemental (EC) carbon were higher in winter than in summer, which corresponds especially to higher biomass burning and coal combustion in the frame of residential heating within winter seasons. Mass concentrations of the analysed aerosol samples were counted, i.e., OCBB and ECBB (biomass burning), OCFF and ECFF (fossil fuel combustion), and OCBIO (biogenic sources).Higher concentrations of MAs and PM1, OC and EC in winter seasons, could be caused not only by larger emissions from biomass or coal combustion, but also by less dispersion due to different atmospheric conditions.

A study of the total benthic foraminifera was carried out in 173 surficial sediment samples collected from the north Minjiang River Estuary and two bays. Foraminiferal assemblages are dominated by Ammonia tepida and subordinately by Elphidium advenum. Trace metal analyses reveal that the study area is unpolluted to moderately polluted with As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. The metal distribution has an affinity with fine-grained sediment. Five metal groups are recognized based on their distribution patterns: (1) As, Cr, Cu, Ga, Ni, V, and Zn, (2) Hg, Pb, and Sb, (3) Ba and Zr, (4) Rb and Y, and (5) Sr. The species-environment relationship showed that the species composition is adversely influenced by Cr, Cu, Ga, Pb, Rb, Zn, and Zr, whereas sand may exert a positive influence on Quinqueloculina. This study supports the adaptability of using benthic foraminifera as bio-monitors of trace metal pollution in marginal marine environments.

A method for assessing environmental contamination in harbour sediments and designing the forthcoming monitoring activities in enlarged coastal ecosystems is proposed herein. The method is based on coupling principal component analysis of previous sampling campaigns with a discrete optimisation of a value for money function. The objective function represents the utility derived for every sum of money spent in sampling and chemical analysis. The method was then used to assess actual contamination and found to be well suited for reducing the number of chemicals to be searched during extended monitoring activities and identifying the possible sources of contamination. Data collected in Savona Harbour (Porto Vado), Italy, where construction of a new terminal construction is planned, were used to illustrate the procedure. 23 chemicals were searched for within a total of 213 samples in 68 sampling points during three monitoring campaigns. These data were used to test the procedure. Subsequently, 28 chemicals were searched for within 14 samples in 10 sampling points and collected data were used to evaluate the experimental error and to validate the proposed procedure.

To investigate concentrations of pelagic micro- (<5mm in size) and mesoplastics (>5mm) in the East Asian seas around Japan, field surveys using two vessels were conducted concurrently in summer 2014. The total particle count (pieceskm−2) was computed based on observed concentrations (piecesm−3) of small plastic fragments (both micro- and mesoplastics) collected using neuston nets. The total particle count of microplastics within the study area was 1,720,000pieceskm−2, 16 times greater than in the North Pacific and 27 times greater than in the world oceans. The proportion of mesoplastics increased upstream of the northeastward ocean currents, such that the small plastic fragments collected in the present surveys were considered to have originated in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea southwest of the study area.

To characterize the chemical composition, size distributions, and fractional Fe solubility of atmospheric particles over Asian marginal seas, South Indian Ocean and Australian coast, selected water–soluble inorganic and organic species in aerosols and precipitation, trace metals and soluble Fe in aerosols were analyzed by multi–instruments. Results showed that sea salt and non–sea–salt sulfate (nss–SO42–) were the main components in aerosols. Over Asian marginal seas, Cl– and Na+ were the dominant ions in precipitation, accounting for ˜;72% of the total ions. Both SO42– and NO3– accounted for −26% of the total anions, controlling the acidity of the precipitation. Non–sea–salt Ca2+ (nss–Ca2+) accounted for 6.9% of the total cations, dominating the neutralizing component in rainwater. Observed methane sulfonate (MSA) concentrations and MSA/nss–SO42– increased southward. The concentrations of sea salt were affected by wind speeds, which was mainly accumulated in particle size >10μm. Particle size distributions of nss–SO42– and NH4+ mainly peaked in the fine mode, while NO3– was mainly accumulated in the coarse mode. Oxalate presented a bimodal size distribution pattern in both fine and coarse modes. Based on the air mass back trajectories, enrichment factors and Fe/Al, V/Al ratios, aerosol samples collected over Asian marginal seas could be affected by both long–range transported dust and anthropogenic emissions. Good relationship was found between total dissolved iron and nss–SO42–, indicating that acid processing during long–range transport could play an important role in fractional iron solubility in aerosols. The inverse relationship between atmospheric total Fe and fractional Fe solubility fitted in the global–scale trend. This study implicates that dust and acidic air pollutants from continental sources can interact and affect iron solubility in aerosols in the marine atmosphere. However, due to the small size of samples in this study, more investigations need to be conducted in future.

We investigated the total concentrations of heavy metals in surface sediments and nekton, along with sediment metal chemical partitioning in Qinzhou Bay of the Beibu Gulf. Cd was preferentially associated with the acid-soluble fraction and Pb mainly with the reducible fraction, whereas a major portion of Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn was strongly associated with the residual fractions. A principal component analysis (PCA) in sediment metal speciation revealed three groupings (Cd; Pb; Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn) that mainly resulted from different distributions of the metals in the various fractions. The Cr concentrations in nekton species were higher than maximum Cr concentrations permitted by the Chinese National Standard (GB 2762-2012). Taking as a whole, surface sediments of Qinzhou Bay had a 21% incidence calculation of adverse biological effects, based on the mean probable-effects-levels quotient. A human health risk assessment indicated no significant adverse health effects from consumption of nekton.

Aerosol haze degrades visibility by the process of absorption and scattering of aerosols. In the present study an attempt has been made to characterize the physical and optical properties of aerosols during a haze event on 29 March 2012 and assess its implication on radiative forcing. In this context representative clear (2 March 2012) and normal (19 March 2012) days were identified in terms of their Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) loading over Hyderabad. On the hazy day, a huge spread of haze was observed over the eastern part of India by MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board Terra satellite which is represented by high Aerosol Optical Depth at 550nm. In-situ observations on hazy day showed an enhancement of columnar AOD500 respectively by 4.5 and 1.8 fold in comparison to clear and normal days. Significant increase in the scattering coefficient and a moderate enhancement of Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) are observed on hazy day compared to normal day. Study also showed that Diffuse-to-Direct- beam irradiance Ratio (DDR) had increased 4.5 times at 496.6nm spectral band on hazy day. LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) observations on hazy night showed a threefold increase in aerosol backscattering below the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) compared to normal representative night. The hazy day is characterized by large negative surface forcing (−87.82W m−2) when compared to normal day (−53.90W m−2). A large positive enhancement of atmospheric forcing of 30.56W m−2 is observed on hazy day compared to normal day.

We investigated the phenology and spatial patterns in Halophila decipiens by assessing biomass, reproduction and seed density in ~400 grab samples collected across nine sites (8 to 14m water depth) between June 2011 and December 2012. Phenology correlated with light climate which is governed by the summer monsoon (wet period). During the wet period, sedimentary seed banks prevailed, varying spatially at both broad and fine scales, presenting a source of propagules for re-colonisation following the unfavourable growing conditions of the monsoon. Spatial patterns in H. decipiens biomass following monsoon conditions were highly variable within a landscape that largely comprised potential seagrass habitat. Management strategies for H. decipiens and similar transient species must recognise the high temporal and spatial variability of these populations and be underpinned by a framework that emphasises vulnerability assessments of different life stages instead of relying solely on thresholds for standing stock at fixed reference sites.

The mobilisation of sediments and related contaminants connected to dredging activities is one of the most critical issues to the environmental risk and exposure assessment of a dredging project. The aim of this paper was an investigation of the mobilisation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) due to the dredging of the Port of Genoa (Italy) to identify the temporal and spatial extent of the contaminant transport, and the influence of the dredging and the boundary conditions on it. The results showed relatively low background PAH concentrations in the water column and confirmed the dredging as the primary rising factor of concentrations in the water column, but also showed a complex scenario in which the different environmental and dredging factors forced the concentrations at different levels and moments. The post dredging phase showed PAH values close to the background conditions and the concentrations remained relatively high only for a few PAHs.