High-resolution measurements of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River plume regions

Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) was measured in the spring and summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico with the ECOShuttle, a towed, instrumented, undulating vehicle. A submersible pump mounted on the vehicle supplied continuously flowing, uncontaminated seawater to online instruments in the shipboard laboratory and allowed discrete samples to be taken for further analysis. CDOM in the northern Gulf of Mexico was dominated by freshwater inputs from the Mississippi River through the Birdfoot region and to the west by discharge from the Atchafalaya River. CDOM was more extensively dispersed in the high-flow period in the spring but in both time periods was limited by stratification to the upper 12 m or so. Thin, subsurface CDOM maxima were observed below the plume during the highly stratified summer period but were absent in the spring. However, there was evidence of significant in situ biological production of CDOM in both seasons.The Mississippi River freshwater end member was similar in spring and summer, while the Atchafalaya end member was significantly higher in the spring. In both time periods, the Atchafalaya was significantly higher in CDOM and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) than the Mississippi presumably due to local production and exchange within the coastal wetlands along the lower Atchafalaya which are absent along the lower Mississippi. Nearshore waters may also have higher CDOM due to outwelling from coastal wetlands. High-resolution measurements allow the differentiation of various water masses and are indicative of rapidly varying (days to weeks) source waters. Highly dynamic but conservative mixing between various freshwater and marine end members apparently dominates CDOM distributions in the area with significant in situ biological inputs (bacterial degradation of phytoplankton detritus), evidence of flocculation, and minor photobleaching effects also observed. It is clear that high-resolution measurements and adaptive sampling strategies allow a more detailed examination of the processes that control CDOM distributions in river-dominated systems.     

A Stable Carbon Isotope Study of the Food-web in a Freshwater-deprived South African Estuary, with Particular Emphasis on the Ichthyofauna

The importance of macrophytes as food sources for estuarine nekton is unclear. Previous carbon isotope investigations in the macrophyte-dominated, freshwater-deprived Kariega Estuary showed that the bivalveSolen cylindraceusdid not utilize the dominant estuarine macrophytes found within the estuary as a primary food source. This finding prompted questions as to what the nekton of this estuary utilize as primary energy sources. δ¹³C analyses of the principal autochthonous and allochthonous primary carbon sources, as well as the dominant invertebrate and fish species, indicate that there are two main carbon pathways within the Kariega Estuary. The littoral community, which incorporates the majority of crustaceans, gobies, mullet and a sparid, utilizes δ¹³C enriched primary food sources namelySpartina maritima,Zosteracapensis and epiphytes. The channel fauna, which includes the zooplankton, zooplanktivorous and piscivorous fish, utilizes a primary food source depleted in δ¹³C, which is most likely a mixture of phytoplankton, terrestrial plant debris and C₄macrophyte detritus. The C₃saltmarsh macrophytesSarcocornia perennisandChenolea diffusa, as well as benthic microalgae, appear to be less important as primary food sources to the nekton of the Kariega Estuary.     

Seasonal Changes in Nitrogen, Free Amino Acids, and C/N Ratio in Mediterranean Seagrasses

Abstract. Seasonal changes in nitrogen, free amino acids, and carbon were investigated in the three Mediterranean seagrasses Posidonia oceanica, Cymodocea nodosa , and Zostera noltii. Leaves, rhizomes, roots, as well as dead plant material were analysed separately. Highest N-concentrations were obtained in the winter months, regardless of species or plant part. In contrast to the other two species, the N-content in Posidonia was higher in the rhizomes than in the leaves.
In the investigated species, marked differences in the free amino acid (FAA) composition were detected between species: Proline, lacking in Posidonia , was the main component in Cymodocea. In Posidonia , FAA decreased from 320umol g^-1 (dry wt) in leaf sheaths to 1.5 umol g^-1 (dry wt) in the leaf tips. The function of proline as a possible storage and/or stress metabolite is discussed.
High C/N values in dead P. oceanica and C. nodosa rhizomes as well as in P. oceanica wrack seem to be related to considerable resistance to decomposition. Low C/N ratios did not increase in detached C. nodosa and Z. noltii leaves, which began to decompose shortly after detachment from the plants.     

Optical properties of low molecular weight and colloidal organic matter: Application of the ultrafiltration permeation model to DOM absorption and fluorescence

Cross-flow ultrafiltration (CFF) is often used to obtain separation and concentration of colloids from bulk natural water samples. Application of the ultrafiltration permeation model allows the quantitative determination of the low molecular weight material (LMW, < 1 kDa) and colloids in bulk dissolved organic matter (DOM) from measurements of time series permeate samples obtained from CFF. Detailed analysis of a Yukon River water sample shows that DOM absorption coefficient and fluorescence follow the permeation model and that the complex spectral optical properties of LMW DOM can be reconstructed from CFF data. A combination of measured and modeled data indicates that the LMW contribution to bulk DOM optical properties obtained from CFF can be grossly underestimated by the use of a low concentration factor (CF, the ratio of initial sample volume to retentate volume). Even at a relatively high CF of 19, optical properties of LMW DOM calculated from measurements of the retentate or integrated permeate would underestimate true values by 5–36%. In the Yukon River sample, LMW dissolved organic carbon represented 26% of the bulk concentration, but only 3–14% of the colored DOM was in the LMW fraction while 31–33% of bulk DOM florescence was due to LMW DOM. The contrasting optical properties of LMW and colloidal DOM support the concept that analysis of bulk DOM absorption and fluorescence properties reveals information about DOM molecular weight.     

福建近海主要经济渔业生物营养级和有机碳含量研究

本文研究了福建近海52种鱼类、6种虾类、4种蟹类、1种虾蛄和4种头足类的食性和营养级及其有机碳含量。结果表明：营养级以鱼类最高，为2．1～3．7级，平均2．65级；头足类为2．04～2．88级，平均2．60级；蟹类2．38～2．73级，平均2．58级；虾类最低，为1．64～2．21级，平均1．96级．干样有机碳含量百分率也以鱼类最高，为33．0％～76．2％(m／m)，平均46．25％(m／m)；头足类为27．80％～46．16％(m／m),平均40．24％(m／m)；虾类为30．60％～38．40％(m／m),平均34．90％(m/m)；蟹类最低,为25．00％～30．78％(m/m)，平均28．24％(m／m),鲜样有机碳含量百分率还是以鱼类最高,为4．80％～29．55％(m／m),平均13．75％(m／m)；蟹类为8．90％～12．68％(m／m),平均10．74％(m/m)；虾类为6．97％～11．53％(m/m)，平均9．55％(m/m)；头足类最低仅为7．38％～8．52％(m／m),平均7．95％(m/m),干样有机碳含量百分率和鲜样有机碳含量百分率与营养级均成正相关，但前者的相关性高于后者。     

海浪周期关系的研究

本文利用现场观测数据、实验室风浪槽观测数据和由文氏谱及JONSWAP谱生成的模拟数据,研究了有效周期与谱平均周期、谱峰周期与谱平均周期以及有效周期与谱峰周期的关系,通过数据拟合给出了相应的关系式.研究发现,有效周期与由谱的负阶矩计算的平均周期之间的关系更加稳定,并且有效周期与负2阶矩计算的平均周期几乎相等,均代表了海浪主导波对海浪平均周期的贡献.     

波群作用于垂直桩柱的峰力统计性质

研究具有窄谱和Ｗｅｉｂｕｌｌ波高分布的波群对非线性桩柱系统作用力的统计性质。求得了桩桩的波浪峰力的各种特征值及其比值。指出这些数值不仅是阻力一惯性力参数ｂＨ的函数，也随着波群因子而变化。本文模式更具广泛性。文中给出了一系列计算图表，可从理论计算波群作用于桩柱的波浪峰力。     

胶州湾海水中颗粒有机碳含量的分布与变化

本文报道了胶州湾表层海水及C_3和D_3站中层和底层水中的颗粒有机碳(POC)的分布与变化规律。结果表明,胶州湾POC年平均浓度为155～410μg/L;平面分布有明显的规律性,近岸和河口一带的含量较高,湾中部较低,湾口诸站为最低;垂直分布有个别数值偏高或偏低现象,但没有明显的规律;季节变化较明显,初春较高,秋季较低。     

Model simulations of carbon sequestration in the northwest Pacific by patch fertilization

Iron fertilization of nutrient-rich surface waters of the ocean is one possible way to help slow the rising levels of atmospheric CO₂ by sequestering it in the oceans via biological carbon export. Here, I use an ocean general circulation model to simulate a patch of nutrient depletion in the subpolar northwest Pacific under various scenarios. Model results confirm that surface fertilization is an inefficient way to sequester carbon from the atmosphere (Gnanadesikan et al., 2003), since only about 20% of the exported carbon comes initially from the atmosphere. Fertilization reduces future production and thus CO₂ uptake by utilizing nutrients that would otherwise be available later. Effectively, this can be considered as leakage when compared to a control run. This “effective” leakage and the actual leakage of sequestered CO₂ cause a significant, rapid decrease in carbon retention (only 30–45% retained after 10 years and less than 20% after 50 years). This contrasts markedly with the almost 100% retention efficiency for the same duration using the same model, when carbon is disposed directly into the northwest Pacific (Matsumoto and Mignone, 2005). As a consequence, the economic effectiveness of patch fertilization is poor in two limiting cases of the future price path of carbon. Sequestered carbon in patch fertilization is lost to the atmosphere at increasingly remote places as time passes, which would make monitoring exceedingly difficult. If all organic carbon from one-time fertilization reached the ocean bottom and remineralized there, acidification would be about −0.05 pH unit with O₂ depletion about −20 μmol kg⁻¹. These anomalies are probably too small to seriously threaten deep sea biota, but they are underestimated in the model because of its large grid size. The results from this study offer little to advocate purposeful surface fertilization as a serious means to address the anthropogenic carbon problem.