Evaluating the effects of catch-and-release angling on Cape stumpnose Rhabdosargus holubi in a South African estuary

Fisheries managers are increasingly promoting catch-and-release (C&R) to manage recreationally angled fish stocks. Despite this, there is a scarcity of information on the effects of C&R on estuarine-dependent species. Cape stumpnose Rhabdosargus holubi dominates the recreational fisheries catch and provides an important source of food for subsistence fishers in some temperate South African estuaries. The health and survival of R. holubi exposed to a C&R event was investigated by examining their physiological stress response (blood glucose and lactate), reflex impairment (reflex action mortality predictors [RAMP]) and short-term (12-hour) survival. Fish were captured and exposed to one of three air-exposure treatments: 0 s, 30 s or 90 s. Stress and health were measured either immediately (immediate) or one hour after (delayed) the C&R event. There was no significant difference in blood glucose between air-exposure treatments, but there was a significant difference between the mean immediate and delayed glucose levels within each treatment (F_(2,143) = 81.8, p < 0.01). In contrast, blood lactate level was significantly higher in the 90-s treatment (p < 0.05). Immediate blood lactate levels were significantly lower than the delayed samples for each treatment (F = 4.29, p = 0.02; n = 169). Although all fish exhibited at least one reflex impairment, the RAMP score was significantly higher in the 90-s air-exposure treatment (H_(2,86) = 9.73, p = 0.007). Also, RAMP scores were significantly lower in the delayed samples (p < 0.01). Although short-term mortality was relatively low (2.3%) for this species, it was highest in the 90-s treatment (7%). These results suggest that physiological stress is higher when R. holubi are exposed to longer periods of air exposure and that the physiological stress of fish subject to a C&R event is best measured after a delay.     

Defect properties of albite

Knowledge of the defect properties of Lunar and Mercurian minerals has recently become important, with the advent of models which attempt to explain the formation of the thin exosphere of these celestial bodies. Here, we have calculated the formation energies of sodium and oxygen vacancies in the mineral albite (NaAlSi₃O₈), as well as the Schottky defect energy for the removal of a Na₂O unit. We have employed both the supercell and Mott–Littleton approaches, using Kohn–Sham density functional theory and classical interatomic potential methods. As well as reporting the defect energies and structures, we comment upon the relative merits of the methods used.     

A quasi-similarity between wind waves and solid surfaces in their roughness characteristics

A formulation for the aerodynamic roughness length of air flow over wind waves $$z_0 = \gamma {\text{ }}u_* /\sigma p$$ which was proposed by Toba (1979) and Toba and Koga (1986) from dimensional considerations with some data analysis, is shown to correspond with a formulation for irregular solid surfaces $$(z_0 /h) = a(h/l)^{1 + \beta } $$ which resulted from work by Woodinget al. (1973) and Kustas and Brutsaert (1986);u _* is the friction velocity,σ _p the spectral peak frequency of wind waves,h the mean height of the solid obstacles,l the mean distance between their crests, andα,Β, andγ are constants. This correspondence is reached by the existence of a statistical 3/2-power law and an effective dispersion relationship for wind waves. Because both approaches of parameterizingz ₀ were arrived at independently, they provide each other mutual reinforcement.     

Analysis of COMPTEL gamma-ray burst locations and spectra

In its first three years of operation, the COMPTEL instrument on theCompton Gamma-Ray Observatory has measured the locations (mean accuracy 1°) and spectra (0.75-30 MeV) of 18 gamma-ray bursts and continues to observe new events at a rate of 1/month. With good angular resolution and sensitivity at MeV energies, the growing COMPTEL burst catalog is an important new piece of evidence in the on-going GRB mystery. The COMPTEL burst locations are consistent with an isotropic distribution of sources, yet the spatial coincidence of two of the bursts indicates the possibility of repetition. The COMPTEL burst spectra are in most cases consistent with a single power law model with spectral index in the range 2–3. However, two bursts show evidence of a spectral break in the MeV range. Measurement of rapid variability at MeV energies in the stronger bursts provides evidence that either the sources are nearby (within the Galaxy) or the gamma-ray emission is relativistically beamed. We present an overview of analysis results obtained from the COMPTEL burst catalog concentrating on the search for burst repetition and the implications of highly variable MeV emission.     

Microfossils in the ‘Complexe de base’ of the Prealpine Helminthoid Flysch (Dranse nappe,Switzerland). - Preliminary results

The Swiss Prealpine Dranse nappe consists of the badly known shaley Complexe de base series and the overlying Campanian to Maastrichtian Helminthoid Flysch. Our preliminary data from the shaley series indicate an Albian to Early Campanian age. It represents mid-slope to abyssal plain starved basin sediments. The occurrence of similar and coeval series in the Carpathians and Ligurian Alps suggest common tectonic and oceanographic conditions.     

Monte Carlo simulation of mixing in Ca3Fe2Ge3O12–Ca4Ge4O12 garnets and implications for the thermodynamic stability of pyrope–majorite solid solution

Static lattice energy calculations, based on empirical pair potentials, were performed for a large set of structures differing in the arrangement of octahedral cations within the garnet 2 × 2 × 2 supercell. The compositions of these structures varied between Ca₃Fe₂Ge₃O₁₂ and Ca₄Ge₄O₁₂. The energies were cluster expanded using pair and quaternary terms. The derived ordering constants were used to constrain Monte Carlo simulations of temperature-dependent mixing properties in the ranges of 1,073–3,673 K and 0–10 GPa. The free energies of mixing were calculated using the method of thermodynamic integration. The calculations predict a wide miscibility gap between Fe-rich (cubic) and Fe-pure (tetragonal) garnets consistent with recent experimental observations of Iezzi et al. (Phys Chem Miner 32:197–207, 2005). It is shown that the miscibility gap arises due to a very strong cation ordering at the Fe-pure composition, driven by the charge difference between Ca²⁺ and Ge⁴⁺ cations. The structural and thermodynamic analogies between Ca–Ge and Mg–Si systems suggest that a similar miscibility gap should exist between pyrope and Mg–Si-majorite.     

Statistical analysis for the hydrogeological evaluation of the fracture networks in hard rocks

The hydrogeological effectiveness of fracture sets is determined and evaluated by the fuzzy c-mean and hierarchical clustering. These cluster analyses combine the geological spatial attributes and the hydraulic relevant attributes of fractures. Based on the results of the clustering the fracture set volumes are estimated.     

Detrital thermochronology – a new perspective on hinterland tectonics, an example from the Andean Amazon Basin, Ecuador

In order to understand the significance of detrital grain ages in sedimentary basins, a new approach is presented. Five characteristic paths, identified by the change in age of detrital grain populations combined with the change in lagtime over time, can be related to different geodynamic settings in the source regions. When lagtime and grain age increase over time, a change in source must be invoked – this is usually a direct response to a geological event. A constant cooling age, a vertical path, associated implicitly with increasing lagtime, implies erosion of materials that had passed through the closure temperature rapidly – exhuming sufficient rock to supply detritus over the time of the path. Constant lagtimes, regardless of the lagtime itself, are indicative of thermochronological stability in the source region. This can involve fast or slow cooling. Finally, decreasing lagtimes support the notion of increasing cooling rates in the source regions over time. A test study is presented from sediments of the northern Ecuadorian Sub‐Andean Zone where geological events had previously been identified using alternative methods. The addition of heavy‐mineral studies increased the precision in the interpretation. At 90 Ma, rapidly decreasing lagtimes point to a phase of tectonic activity. From about 85 Ma until about 60 Ma the lagtimes were approximately zero. This represents a phase of rapid exhumation of the source regions correlating with the previously identified Pallatanga event. An associated increase of metamorphic minerals occurs over this time span, pointing to increased erosion from deeper horizons. At about 70 Ma, the oldest source region, the shield to the east, was switched off. This timing correlates with a change from marine to continental conditions in the basin, a change in palaeocurrent directions from the east to the west, as well as an associated influx of material from the growing Cordillera Real. At about 55 Ma, a change in source is identified by a change in slope of the lagtime curve together with a change in heavy minerals. From 50 to 35 Ma a renewed period of tectonism in the source region is correlated with the docking of the Macuchi terrane which clearly had an effect of increased erosion in the Cordillera Real bringing in higher grade metamorphic minerals. From about 32 Ma onwards the lagtime has been somewhat constant at about 30 Myr. This does not imply, however, a steady‐state environment as it is well known from other geological evidence that there have been other events within this time frame. One must be cautious about over‐interpreting the lagtime as a method to determine steady state in any region. It is a matter of scale.