Accelerating microplastic contamination in Pb dated sediment cores from an urbanized coastal lagoon (NW Mexico) since the 1990s.

The ubiquity of microplastics (MP) across all ecosystems raises concerns about their potential harm to the environment and living organisms. Sediments are a MP sink, reflecting long-term accumulation and historical anthropogenic impacts. Three Pb-dated sediment cores were used to understand the temporal variations of MP abundances (particles kg) and fluxes (particles m year) within the past century in Estero de Urías Lagoon, an urbanized coastal lagoon in the Mexican Pacific.

Potentially toxic elements fluxes in Pb-dated sediment cores from a large coastal lagoon (southern Gulf of Mexico) under environmental stress.

Terminos Lagoon (TL), in the southern Gulf of Mexico, has been under intensive anthropogenic pressure (e.g., oil-industry development) since the 1970s.

Regional assessment of the historical trends of mercury in sediment cores from Wider Caribbean coastal environments.

Spatial and temporal variations of mercury (Hg) concentrations, enrichment, and potential ecological risks were studied in a suite of lead-210 (Pb) dated sediment cores from 13 Wider Caribbean Region coastal environments. Broad variability of Hg concentrations (19-18761 ng g) was observed, encompassing even background levels (38-100 ng g). Most Hg concentration profiles exhibited a characteristic upward trend, reaching their peak values in the past two decades.

Global dataset of soil organic carbon in tidal marshes.

Tidal marshes store large amounts of organic carbon in their soils. Field data quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks provide an important resource for researchers, natural resource managers, and policy-makers working towards the protection, restoration, and valuation of these ecosystems. We collated a global dataset of tidal marsh soil organic carbon (MarSOC) from 99 studies that includes location, soil depth, site name, dry bulk density, SOC, and/or soil organic matter (SOM).

Vertical distribution and trace element contamination in sediment cores affected by gold mining in Colombia.

The vertical distribution, level of contamination, potential ecological risks, and historical fluxes of trace elements (Pb, As, and Hg) were evaluated from Pb-dated sediment cores in three different areas with gold mining impacts in northern Colombia: the Atrato River (AR), the Delicias Marsh (DM) and the Encaramada Marsh (EM). All cores spanned ∼100 years; the mass accumulation rates followed the order AR > DM > EM. The average trace elements concentrations in the sediment cores were: Pb 2.

Pb geochronology and metal concentrations in sediment cores recovered in the Alvarado Lagoon system, Veracruz, Mexico.

Three sediment cores recovered from the Alvarado Lagoon System (ALS) in the Gulf of Mexico were used to reconstruct the history of metals and metalloids and their environmental importance. The sedimentary profiles were dated with Pb and verified with Cs. Maximum ages of 77 and 86 years were estimated.

Microplastics transport in a low-inflow estuary at the entrance of the Gulf of California.

Microplastics (MPs) are recognized as a global emergent pollution impact, which can affect all food chains. Estimating MPs transport pathways in coastal ecosystems is needed to assess their likely effects. Here, we studied MPs accumulation and transport pathways in the Estero de Urias lagoon system (low-inflow estuary) using field data and a 3D particle model.

Accumulation and fluxes of potentially toxic elements in a large coastal lagoon (southern Gulf of Mexico) from Pb sediment chronologies.

Three Pb-dated sediment cores were used to evaluate the contamination degree and flux ratios of potentially toxic elements (PTEs; As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) in seagrass meadows from the northern margin of Términos Lagoon (TL), southern Gulf of Mexico. The sediments displayed minor Cd, Ni, V, and Zn enrichments but moderate to strong enrichment by As. Results from a chemometric analysis revealed that: 1) salinization and grain size, along with 2) the terrigenous inputs are the major factors influencing the PTEs accumulation.

Contrasting nutrient distributions during dry and rainy seasons in coastal waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico driven by the Grijalva-Usumacinta River discharges.

Globally, nutrient river discharges drive water quality of coastal ecosystems, and excess nutrients can cause eutrophication impacts. The Grijalva-Usumacinta River System (GURS) discharges in the southern Gulf of Mexico (SGoM) and it is the second largest riverine input to the Gulf. To study how contrasting GURS freshwater flow between rainy and dry seasons affects nutrients concentrations in the receiving coastal ecosystem, we evaluated nutrient variability in the water column during both seasons.

Microplastics in the tissues of commercial semi-intensive shrimp pond-farmed Litopenaeus vannamei from the Gulf of California ecoregion.

The omnipresence of microplastics (MPs) in marine and coastal environments has attracted attention owing to their effects on various organisms, including humans. We present the first study of MPs in the gastrointestinal tract (GT), gills (GI), and exoskeleton (EX) of the farmed whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei from commercial aquaculture facilities in northwestern Mexico that have operated semi-intensively for the last two decades. We found that the number of MP items per tissue was 7.

Climate change facilitated the early colonization of the Azores Archipelago during medieval times.

Humans have made such dramatic and permanent changes to Earth's landscapes that much of it is now substantially and irreversibly altered from its preanthropogenic state. Remote islands, until recently isolated from humans, offer insights into how these landscapes evolved in response to human-induced perturbations. However, little is known about when and how remote systems were colonized because archaeological data and historical records are scarce and incomplete.

Sedimentary record of the impact of management actions on pollution of Cartagena bay, Colombia.

The reconstruction of pollution in aquatic ecosystems is a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions. Cartagena Bay (Colombia, Caribbean Sea) is one of the most impacted coastal zones in Colombia by a wide variety of human activities. A sediment core was dated using Pb and used to reconstruct the historical input of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and organochlorinated pesticides to the bay.

Microplastic contamination and fluxes in a touristic area at the SE Gulf of California.

Microplastics (MPs) are long-lasting anthropogenic pollutants, observed in all types of natural environments. The MPs abundance and their temporal variability in beach sands, surface waters (manta trawl), and suspended sediments (sediment trap) were assessed in Mazatlán, Mexico, a tourism destination on the northern Pacific coast, under the hypothesis that MP contamination is influenced by rainfall and population density. The MP concentrations in beach sands from urban and rural areas nearby Mazatlán (4-36 MPs m) and in surface waters (1.

Family Environment and Child-To-Parent Violence: The Role of Emotional Insecurity.

Child-to-parent violence (CPV) constitutes a serious social problem due to its short and long-term consequences, which not only directly affect the victim but also generate a rupture of the family system. In this study, direct and indirect effects of exposition to violence within the family, insecurity in the family system (manifested as disengagement and/or preoccupation), and justification of violence on CPV toward mothers and fathers were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). Davies and Cummings emotional security theory (1994) was applied.

Exploring the Mediating Effect of Psychological Engagement on the Relationship between Child-to-Parent Violence and Violent Video Games.

Research into the effects of violent video games on levels of aggression has raised concerns that they may pose a significant social risk, especially among younger people. The objective of this study was to analyze, through structural equation models, the mediating role of psychological engagement in the relationship between the consumption of violent video games and child-to-parent violence (CPV) against the mother and the father. The sample consisted of 916 students from the third and fourth grades of compulsory secondary education, first and second grades of high school, and first cycle of vocational training (483 males and 433 females), of whom a total of 628 were video game players, aged between 13 and 19.

Plutonium in coral archives: A good primary marker for an Anthropocene type section.

While we officially live in the Holocene epoch, global warming and many other impacts of global change have led to the proposal and wide adoption of the Anthropocene to define the present geological epoch. The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) established that it should be treated as a formal stratigraphic unit, demonstrated by a reference level commonly known as "golden spike", still under discussion. Here we show that the onset of bomb-derived plutonium recorded in two banded massive corals from the Caribbean Sea is consistent (1955-1956 CE), so sites far from nuclear testing grounds are potentially suitable to host a type section of the Anthropocene.

Influence of agricultural system transition on trace element contamination in salt marsh and seagrass sediments from a coastal Ramsar site.

Vegetated coastal ecosystems have an important role as contaminant filters. Temporal variations in concentrations, enrichment factors (EF), and fluxes of trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) were evaluated in Pb-dated sediment cores from salt marsh and seagrass ecosystems at San Quintín Bay (Mexican northern Pacific). Trace element contamination was negligible in seagrass sediments, but minor to severe, depending on the element, in salt marsh cores, owing to higher organic carbon and fine sediment contents.

Anthropogenic and climate induced trace element contamination in a water reservoir in northwestern Mexico.

Water reservoirs are essential for regional economic development, as populations depend on them for agriculture irrigation, flood control, hydroelectric power generation, water supply for human consumption, and subsistence fishing activities. However, the reservoir environmental quality can be disturbed by enhanced sediment input and trace metal contamination, affecting human health as a consequence of contaminated water and fish consumption. With the purpose to understand the trends and extent of sediment accumulation and trace element contamination in the Oviachic reservoir (OV, northwestern Mexico) since its construction, the temporal variations of sediment accumulation, and As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations, enrichment, and fluxes, were evaluated through the study of two Pb-dated sediment cores.

Calibration and use of well-type germanium detectors for low-level gamma-ray spectrometry of sediments using a semi-empirical method.

Gamma-ray spectrometry is a widely used technique to quantify the presence of numerous radionuclides in environmental samples. In this work, we describe a methodology for efficiency calibration of four well-type germanium detectors and their use for the determination of low-level activities of gamma emitters in sediment samples. An experimental efficiency calibration for each detector was built with three materials for 17 energies, ranging from 46.

Pb-derived sediment accumulation rates across the Wider Caribbean Region.

The Wider Caribbean Region is an important tourist destination where agricultural, industrial and shipping activities are also carried on. Coastal zones are heavily populated and receive a high human pressure; however, few monitoring programmes allow assessing long-term anthropogenic impact trends in these areas, which are especially useful for integrated management programs. Through the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (project RLA/7/012), sediment core activities of Pb and Cs were used to evaluate changes in sedimentation rates in 11 relevant coastal areas of the region, where environmental information is scarce, but needed to support national environmental policies.

Absence of hypoxia events in the adjacent coastal waters of Grijalva-Usumacinta river, Southern Gulf of Mexico.

Globally, oxygen concentration in many coastal areas is depleting. River nutrient discharges may produce hypoxia events. The Southern Gulf of Mexico receives the discharges of the Grijalva-Usumacinta River System, the second largest in the Gulf of Mexico.

The southern Gulf of Mexico: A baseline radiocarbon isoscape of surface sediments and isotopic excursions at depth.

The southern Gulf of Mexico (sGoM) is home to an extensive oil recovery and development infrastructure. In addition, the basin harbors sites of submarine hydrocarbon seepage and receives terrestrial inputs from bordering rivers. We used stable carbon, nitrogen, and radiocarbon analyses of bulk sediment organic matter to define the current baseline isoscapes of surface sediments in the sGoM and determined which factors might influence them.