Exposure to hydrocarbons 10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: evidence from cytochrome P4501A expression and biliary FACs in nearshore demersal fishes

Three biomarkers of hydrocarbon exposure, CYP1A in liver vascular endothelium, liver ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), and biliary fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs), were examined in the nearshore fishes, masked greenling (Hexagrammos octogrammus) and crescent gunnel (Pholis laeta), collected in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 7-10 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). All biomarkers were elevated in fish collected from sites originally oiled, in comparison to fish from unoiled sites. In 1998, endothelial CYP1A in masked greenling from sites that were heavily oiled in 1989 was significantly higher than in fish collected outside the spill trajectory. In 1999, fishes collected from sites adjacent to intertidal mussel beds containing lingering Exxon Valdez oil had elevated endothelial CYP1A and EROD, and high concentrations of biliary FACs. Fishes from sites near unoiled mussel beds, but within the original spill trajectory, also showed evidence of hydrocarbon exposure, although there were no correlations between sediment petroleum hydrocarbon and any of the biomarkers. Our data show that 10 years after the spill, nearshore fishes within the original spill zone were still exposed to residual EVOS hydrocarbons.     

Biophysical models of larval dispersal in the Benguela Current ecosystem

We synthesise and update results from the suite of biophysical, larval-dispersal models developed in the Benguela Current ecosystem. Biophysical models of larval dispersal use outputs of physical hydrodynamic models as inputs to individual-based models in which biological processes acting during the larval life are included. In the Benguela, such models were first applied to simulate the dispersal of anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and sardine Sardinops sagax ichthyoplankton, and more recently of the early life stages of chokka-squid Loligo reynaudii and Cape hakes Merluccius spp. We identify how the models have helped advance understanding of key processes for these species. We then discuss which aspects of the early life of marine species in the Benguela Current ecosystem are still not well understood and could benefit from new modelling studies.     

Aragonite and magnesite in eclogites from the Jæren nappe,SW Norway: disequilibrium in the system CaCO3–MgCO3 and petrological implications

Eclogites from the Jæren nappe in the Caledonian orogenic belt of SW Norway contain aragonite, magnesite and dolomite in quartz‐rich layers. The carbonates comprise composite grains that occur interstitially between phases of the eclogite facies assemblage: garnet + omphacite + zoisite + clinozoisite + quartz + apatite + rutile ± dolomite ± kyanite ± phengite. Pressure and temperature conditions for the main eclogite stage are estimated to be 2.3–2.8 GPa and 585–655 °C. Published ultrahigh pressure (UHP) experiments on CaO‐, MgO‐ and CO₂‐bearing systems have shown that equilibrium assemblages of aragonite and magnesite form as a result of dolomite breakdown at pressures >5 GPa. As a result, recognition of magnesite and aragonite in eclogite facies rocks has been used as an indicator for UHP conditions. However, petrological testing showed that the samples studied here have not experienced such conditions. Aragonite and magnesite show disequilibrium textures that indicate replacement of magnesite by aragonite. This process is inferred to have occurred via a coupled dissolution–precipitation reaction. The formation of aragonite is constrained to eclogite facies conditions, which implies that the studied rocks have experienced metasomatic, reactive fluid flow during their residence at high pressure (HP) conditions. During decompression, the bimineralic carbonate aggregates were overgrown by rims of dolomite, which partially reacted with aragonite to form Mg‐calcite. The well‐preserved carbonate assemblages and textures observed in the studied samples provide a detailed record of the reaction series that affected the rocks during and after their residence at P–T conditions near the coesite stability field. Recognition of the HP mechanism of magnesite replacement by aragonite provides new insight into metasomatic processes that occur in subduction zones and illustrates how fluids facilitate HP carbonate reactions that do not occur in dry systems at otherwise identical physiochemical conditions. This study documents that caution is warranted in interpreting aragonite‐magnesite associations in eclogite facies rocks as evidence for UHP metamorphic conditions.     

20th-CENTURY CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE IN THE MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF CENTRAL EUROPE

Daily maximum and minimum temperatures from 29 low-lying and mountain stations of 7 countries in Central Europe were analyzed. The analysis of the annual variation of diurnal temperature range helps to distinguish unique climatic characteristics of high and low altitude stations. A comparison of the time series of extreme daily temperatures as well as mean temperature shows a good agreement between the low-lying stations and the mountain stations. Many of the pronounced warm and cold periods are present in all time series and are therefore representative for the whole region. A linear trend analysis of the station data for the period 1901–1990 (19 stations) and 1951–1990 (all 29 stations) shows spatial patterns of similar changes in maximum and minimum daily temperatures and diurnal temperature range. Mountain stations show only small changes of the diurnal temperature range over the 1901–1990 period, whereas the low-lying stations in the western part of the Alps show a significant decrease of diurnal temperature range, caused by strong increase of the minimum temperature. For the shorter period 1951–1990, the diurnal temperature range decreases at the western low-lying stations, mainly in spring, whereas it remains roughly constant at the mountain stations. The decrease of diurnal temperature range is stronger in the western part than in the eastern part of the Alps.     

The West Falmouth oil spill after 20 years: Fate of fuel oil compounds and effects on animals

The barge Florida spilled No. 2 fuel oil into Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts on 29 September 1969. Sediments from five of the original stations were sampled in August 1989 and analysed for fuel oil hydrocarbons. Two subtidal and one intertidal marsh station showed no evidence of fuel oil. One subtidal mud core had traces of biodegraded fuel oil at 10–15 cm. One marsh core contained 10⁻⁶ g g⁻¹ dry wt of weathered and biodegraded fuel oil aromatic hydrocarbons and cycloalkanes at 5–10 cm with lesser concentrations at 0–5 and 10–15 cm. Although present in trace concentrations, these hydrocarbons appear to be slightly inducing cytochrome P4501A in marsh fish (Fundulus heteroclitus).