The transfer of reprocessing wastes from north-west Europe to the Arctic

The discharge of radioactive waste, from nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, into the coastal waters of north-west Europe has resulted in a significant increase in the inventories of a number of artificial radionuclides in the North Atlantic. Radiocaesium, ⁹⁰Sr and ⁹⁹Tc, which behave conservatively in seawater, have been used widely as tracers of water movement through the North Sea, Norwegian Coastal Current, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, Fram Strait, Eurasian Basin, East Greenland Current and Denmark Strait overflow. These studies are summarised in the present paper. It has been estimated that 22% of the ¹³⁷Cs Sellafield discharge has passed into the Barents Sea, en route to the Nansen Basin, via the Bjomoya-Fugloya Section, with another 13% passing through the Fram Strait. This amounts to 14 PBq ¹³⁷Cs. Quantifying the influx of other radionuclides has been more problematic. The inflowing Atlantic water now appears to be diluting waters in the Arctic Basin, which were contaminated in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a result of the substantial decrease in the discharge of reprocessing wastes. Sellafield (U.K.) has dominated the supply of ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ⁹⁹Tc and Pu, whereas La Hague (France) has contributed a larger proportion of ¹²⁹I and ¹²⁵Sb.     

Study of the fauna inhabiting the holdfasts of Laminaria hyperborea (gunn.) fosl. along some environmental and geographical gradients

A survey of the holdfast fauna of Laminaria hyperborea was carried out at thirty-five sites around the UK, mostly along the North Sea and south coasts.Data from different age classes of holdfast from a polluted and unpolluted site indicate that volume of holdfast space is a most important measurement of sample size, a minimum size of sample being one litre and, preferably, three.Gradients of increased heavy metals were defined down the North Sea and west coasts and, by utilising measurements of kelp penetration, water clarity gradients were determined as increasing northwards on the west coast and both north and southwards on the North Sea coast from a point near Tyne and Wear county. Analysis of holdfast fauna showed numerous gradients of total numbers, species and diversity which correlate closely with the heavy metal and water clarity gradients, or with undetermined parameters analogous to latitude and longitude. Where there were increases of heavy metals or decreases of water clarity, various reciprocal relationships between suspension feeders and all other trophic groups were commonly observed. In the North Sea numbers of suspension feeders increased while numbers of all other trophic groups declined. On the west coast a heavy metal increase correlated with a decreasing species richness of all trophic categories except suspension feeders, while with total numbers only suspension feeders showed an increase. On the south coast transect neither gradient existed, and only here did all trophic categories covary, except at one very polluted site where the same reciprocal relationship was again indicated.In terms of species similarity the North Sea showed a greater pool of common species than occurred between sites of other regions and between North Sea sites with other regions, despite the widest range of heavy metal levels and wate clarity that existed there. Between-site similarity appeared to be much more dependent on geographical proximity than on the two measured environmental factors. It is suggested that effects of clarity-reduction can be measured by trophic analysis more successfully than by species presence or absence, and that changes of holdfast fauna along the North Sea coast are due largely to pollution.     

Protecting the North-East Atlantic: enhancing synergies by institutional interplay

This article examines the interplay between three different international institutions on marine pollution in the North Sea and the wider North-East Atlantic: the International North Sea Conferences (INSC), the OSPAR-Convention and preceding conventions as well as the European Union (EU). It argues that interplay between these institutions have proved synergetic in two ways. First, the INSC-process has speeded up decision-making within OSPAR and the EU by means of leadership, change in membership and institutional arrangements. Second, OSPAR and the EU have subsequently facilitated domestic implementation of the North Sea Conference Declarations by means of higher authoritativeness and enforcement competence. These three institutions have fulfilled different functions all of which are needed to make international environmental cooperation effective.     

6′x 10′ Free air gravity anomalies of Europe including marine areas

A set of 103 997 free air gravity anomalies in 6′x 10′ blocks has been compiled covering Europe including the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea and parts of the North Atlantic Ocean. Concerning sea areas, this data set is based on a collection of point free air gravity anomalies. Anomalies for land areas have been compiled resp. computed from free air gravity anomaly maps or Bouguer anomaly maps and partly from supplied mean values of convenient small block size. Remaining gaps have been interpolated by means of least squares prediction filtering. The precision of the compiled mean free air gravity anomalies is estimated to ±7 mgal, verified by a comparison of independent gravity anomaly sets.     

Holocene excursions of the Northwest European geoid

Computer-assisted analyses of more than 600 radiocarbon-dated sea-level indicators from northwestern Europe, concentrated around the North Sea margin, indicate that vertical crustal movements are more important that eustatic sea-level change in determining the locus of Holocene shoreline positions through time. For the past 14,000 radiocarbon years, the divergence of sea-level data for the northwest European sectors exceeds the maximum estimated sea-level rise by a factor of two or more. Projecting these data to a single meridian demonstrates the remarkable variety of vertical crustal movement in northwestern Europe.Accumulating radiocarbon-dated sea-level indicators into millennial cohorts, we generate isobase maps which begin to specify areas of notable vertical crustal mobility. These isobase maps appear to confirm that eustatic sea-level rise is subordinate to postglacial geoidal excursions in determining the locus of contemporary northwestern European shorelines.     

It's Scotland's oil?: Hypothetical boundaries in the North Sea — a case study

The author explores the issues involved in the delimitation, in the event of Scotland gaining independence from the UK, of the boundaries of Scotland's continental shelf in the North Sea. The exploration involves an analysis of the rules of both international conventional law and international customary law, either of which might be applicable, depending on the policy adopted by an independent Scotland. Moreover, since it is possible that a new Caracas Convention on the Law of the Sea will emerge from UNCLOS III, the author also considers the latest version of the draft rules under discussion at the Conference.     

Black-legged kittiwakes as indicators of environmental change in the North Sea: Evidence from long-term studies

Top predators, particularly seabirds, have repeatedly been suggested as indicators of marine ecosystem status. One region currently under pressure from human fisheries and climate change is the North Sea. Standardized seabird monitoring data have been collected on the Isle of May, an important seabird colony in the northwestern North Sea, over the last 10-20 years. Over this period oceanographic conditions have varied markedly, and between 1990 and 1999 a major industrial fishery for sandlance (Ammodytes marinus), the main prey of most seabird species, was prosecuted nearby. Sandlance fishing grounds close to seabird colonies down the east coast of the UK were closed in 2000 in an attempt to improve foraging opportunities for breeding seabirds, particularly black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). Initially this closure seemed to be beneficial for kittiwakes with breeding success recovering to pre-fishery levels. However, despite the ban continuing, kittiwakes and many other seabird species in the North Sea suffered severe breeding failures in 2004. In this paper, we test the predictive power of four previously established correlations between kittiwake breeding success and climatic/trophic variables to explain the observed breeding success at the Isle of May in 2004. During the breeding season, kittiwakes at this colony switch from feeding on 1+ group to 0 group sandlance, and results up until 2003 indicated that availability of both age classes had a positive effect on kittiwake breeding success. The low breeding success of kittiwakes in 2004 was consistent with the late appearance and small body size of 0 group sandlance, but at odds with the two variables likely to operate via 1 group availability (lagged winter sea surface temperature and larval sandlance cohort strength in 2003). The reason for the discrepancy is currently unknown, but analysis of 1 group sandlance body composition indicated that lipid content in 2004 was extremely low, and thus fish eaten by kittiwakes during pre-breeding and early incubation were likely to be of poor quality. Monitoring of reproductive success of kittiwakes, although useful, was clearly not sufficient to tease apart the complex causation underlying the 2004 event. Monitoring programs such as this, therefore, need to be complemented by detailed research to identify the mechanisms involved, and to attribute and predict the effects of natural and human-induced environmental change.     

Control of Aptian palaeobathymetry on turbidite distribution in the Buchan Graben,Outer Moray Firth,Central North Sea

It is widely recognised that palaeobathymetry is a key control on the distribution of turbidite deposits. Thus, the utilisation of palaeobathymetric surfaces as an input for numerical turbidity current modelling offers a potentially powerful method to predict the distribution of deep marine sands in ancient (subsurface or outcrop) successions. Such an approach has been tested on an Aptian turbidite deposit from the Buchan Graben, UK Central North Sea, where modelled sand distributions could be quality controlled against available well data.     

Nitrogen cycling in the southern North Sea: consequences for total nitrogen transport

Nitrate and ammonium uptake rates were measured during a series of cruises in the well-mixed region of the southern North Sea from February to September. Water column-integrated uptake rates ranged between 0.01 and 8.7 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.01 and 12.2 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹ for nitrate and ammonium, respectively, with ammonium uptake dominating after the phytoplankton spring bloom in May. A moored buoy continuously measuring nitrate and chlorophyll a and seabed current meters were also deployed in the central southern North Sea in the region of the East Anglian plume—a permanent physical feature which transports nutrients towards continental Europe. This enabled the flux of water and hence of nutrients across the southern North Sea to be determined and an assessment of the contribution of freshwater nutrients to the flux to be made. A simple box model is developed to relate the phytoplankton uptake of nitrate and ammonium to the transport of nitrate, ammonium and particulate organic matter (POM) across the southern North Sea. This showed the importance of the plume region of the North Sea in the processing of nitrogen, with nitrate dominating total nitrogen transport prior to the spring bloom (10 340×10³ kg N inflow to the plume in March) and transport of nitrogen as ammonium, nitrate and POM in approximately equivalent amounts during summer (2560, 2960 and 2151×10³ kg N inflow to the plume, respectively, in July). The box model also demonstrates more generally the need to assess nitrogen transport as nitrate, ammonium and POM if an improved understanding of the impact of nutrient input in shelf seas is to be achieved.     

Distribution of suspended particulate matter in the North Sea as inferred from NOAA/AVHRR reflectance images and in situ observations

Distribution patterns of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the surface water of the North Sea were calculated on the basis of: (1) the 1973–1993 data base of the EC MAST North West European Shelf Programme (NOWESP); and (2) composite reflectance images constructed from data that were collected by the NOAA/AVHRR satellite in 1990–1991. Three models were used for interpolating the in situ data: (1) a distance-weighted interpolation algorithm in which only the in situ data are taken into account; (2) an algorithm in which the ratios between the measured SPM concentrations and reflectances are interpolated, and the distribution of SPM is calculated from the field of interpolated ratios and the synoptic reflectance image; and (3) a distance-weighted algorithm similar to model-1, but with an additional weight factor that is based on local differences in reflectance. The models were tested for periods of 1 and 3 weeks in September 1990 and January 1991, and for the merged set consisting of all in situ data measured in September and January, respectively, between 1973 and 1993. Model-2 and -3 gave largely similar results and had a performance superior to model-1, particularly because they showed more detailed structures in the spatial distributions. Validations and cross-validations showed that the absolute concentrations of SPM predicted by the models were too low at high in situ concentrations and too high at low in situ concentrations. This shortcoming was due to the relatively high degree of smoothing that we applied in the models to account for the large variance of the in situ data. Semivariograms and correlograms indicated that the in situ data had substantial variability and were poorly correlated even at short distances. Only for the 20-year-merged data set did some correlation ( %) exist for stations km from each other. Monthly distributions of SPM were calculated with model-3 and the 20-year data set. The distributions confirm the main patterns previously found by others, such as the turbidity plume crossing the North Sea from southeast England towards the depository in the Skagerrak and the Norwegian Channel. The distributions indicate that materials from this plume may be deposited in the central North Sea in spring and summer and eroded again in autumn and winter. Areas with maximum SPM concentrations were identified off the Belgian coast and north of the Wadden Sea, particularly in winter, from which particles are entrained into the main current in a narrow strip along the continental coast to the German Bight. The results suggest that the two main fluxes of SPM in the North Sea, off England and along the continental coast, remain largely separated until they both end in the Skagerrak.     

Spatial variation in life history characteristics of common megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) on the Northern Shelf

In recent years stock structure recommendations for megrim on the Northern Shelf have varied, primarily due to a lack of biological and fishery data. In this study, we compared a number of life history characteristics of the common megrim Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (Walbaum) between the northern North Sea and Rockall, the latitudinal extremes of the species’ distribution on the Northern Shelf. Reproductive timing, sex ratio, maturity and growth were different between the two study areas. Reproductive timing in the northern North Sea was more protracted than at Rockall and other areas. There were differences in sex ratio between the study areas and female megrim in the northern North Sea exhibited different growth rates and larger size at maturity than at Rockall. The results of this study support the recent changes to the definition of the Northern Shelf stocks which recommend that the northern North Sea be treated separately to Rockall.     

The environmental management of oil tanker routes in UK waters

The recent Haven, Braer, Aegean Sea and Sea Empress incidents have highlighted the need for protective measures against the risks posed by the shipping industry to the UK coast. This is particularly the case in the vicinity of environmentally sensitive areas. The principal objectives of this paper are to investigate the state of environmental management of tanker traffic in the UK by putting the geography of shipping into its environmental context. Regional traffic levels, accident rates, oil spills, and their potential consequences upon the environment have been summarised via a risk assessment which also considers coastal sensitivity. An assessment of measures available at international level then sets the scene for a review of marine traffic management schemes in operation around the UK. The state of management and its approaches are also discussed and a number of recommendations put forward during marine conferences in the last welve months are considered.     

Geoid and gravity anomalies in the North Sea Area derived from SEASAT-altimeter data

As part of the work of the SEASAT user research group of Europe altimeter data of SEASAT-1, preprocessed by Jet Propulsion Laboratories, have been used to derive a high-precision geoid as well as gravity anomalies für the North Sea Area. The altimeter data have been corrected first for tidal effects; the tidal signal was computed at the Institute of Oceanographic Science, Bidston, using a high precision tidal model for the North Sea.     

The 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy's system of governance—rhetoric or reality?

The 2002 Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was claimed to be a radical overhaul of a failing system. Several EU fish stocks—particularly North Sea cod—had reached dangerously low levels, and there was widespread dissatisfaction with the way in which the CFP was operating. The European Commission took the opportunity of the legal requirement to review some features of the CFP (principally access provisions) in 2002, to undertake a broader reappraisal of the CFP. One of the features of this reappraisal was an attempt to improve the CFP's system of governance by increasing the amount of stakeholder participation, decentralisation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness and coherence. In this paper, the conclusion is reached that this attempt to improve the quality of governance in the 2002 CFP reform package has been more rhetorical than real.     

北大西洋秋季“三极子”海温结构对冬季大气环流场的影响

利用NCEP再分析资料、Hadley中心的海表面温度(SST)资料等,从北大西洋秋季海表面温度异常(SSTA)变化入手,对其影响后期冬季大气环流场的机制进行了分析。研究结果如下:(1)北大西洋SST异常与大气环流异常之间存在着相互作用;(2)秋季北大西洋SSTA具有较好的持续性,"正负正"海温异常空间分布导致12月巴伦支海上空500hPa位势高度异常偏高;(3)异常环流形势对应的海表面风异常场(SSWA)通过阶段性风-蒸发-SST异常反馈机制(WES机制)利于海温异常分布的持续及对上空异常大气环流的反馈;(4)三极子海温结构中负异常海温自10月份开始有自西向东的移动,风作用下蒸发加大,伴随上升运动自欧洲西部爱尔兰群岛出现自西向东移动的降水正异常区,潜热释放有利于冬季巴伦支海上空的异常高压脊发展。研究表明,北大西洋秋季SSTA通过阶段性海气相互作用机制影响海洋温度分布和大气环流异常,对后期冬季中国东北部的气候变化产生影响。     

Trans-Atlantic responses of Calanus finmarchicus populations to basin-scale forcing associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation

Populations of the copepod species Calanus finmarchicus often dominate the springtime biomass and secondary production of shelf ecosystems throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. Recently, it has been hypothesised that interannual to interdecadal fluctuations observed in such populations are driven primarily by climate-associated changes in ocean circulation. Here, we compare evidence from the North Sea and Gulf of Maine/Western Scotian Shelf (GoM/WSS) linking fluctuations in C. finmarchicus abundance to changes in ocean circulation associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A particularly striking contrast emerges from this Trans-Atlantic comparison: whereas the North Sea C. finmarchicus population exhibits a negative correlation with the NAO index, the GoM/WSS population exhibits a more complex, positive association with the index. The physical processes underlying these contrasting population responses are discussed in the context of regional- to basin-scale circulation changes associated with the NAO.     

The Decline of the North Sea Whelk (Buccinum undatum L.) Between 1970 and 1990: A Natural or a Human-Induced Event?

Abstract. Recent surveys in the southern and central North Sea and the Dutch Wadden Sea revealed that the whelk Buccinun undarum L. can no longer be found in areas where whelks were abundant twenty or more years ago.
The decline of whelk populations tends to coincide with areas of various, intense human activities, which may cause either pollution or physical damage. Potential causes for the decline of whelks from the southern North Sea and coastal areas are discussed and considered in view of North Sea ecology and protective policies for the North Sea.     

南海北部次表层盐度的变化及其与北赤道流分叉点的关系

吕宋海峡是南海与外界水交换的重要通道,黑潮作为北太平洋最强的1支西边界流,在经过吕宋海峡时会对南海北部的环流和环境产生重要影响。本文用1991—2011年期间CTD断面实测资料和高度计资料,提取23.0~25.5 kg/m³等密度面之间的盐度极大值,研究了南海北部不同年月盐度极大值变化、黑潮入侵方式与强弱,以及盐度极大值变化与北赤道流分叉点南北移动的关系,结果表明:(1)黑潮入侵南海方式多样,既有分支形式,也有弯曲、流套形式。(2)不同年月间,黑潮入侵南海的强弱存在较大差别,120°E断面的次表层盐度极大值的变动可超过0.3。(3)北赤道流分叉点位置的南北变动对黑潮入侵南海的强弱具有重要影响:北赤道流分叉点位置偏北,黑潮入侵南海较强;北赤道流分叉点位置偏南,则黑潮入侵相对较弱。     

On the influence of the freshwater supply on the Baltic Sea mean salinity

The sensitivity of the Baltic Sea mean salinity to climatic changes of the freshwater supply is analyzed. The average salinity of the Baltic Sea is about 6‰. The low salinity is an effect of a large net freshwater supply and narrow and shallow connections with the North Sea. As a result of mixing in the entrance area, a large portion of the outflowing Baltic Sea water returns with the inflowing salty water and thus lowers the salinity of the Baltic Sea deep-water considerably. This recycling of the Baltic Sea water is a key process determining the salinity of today's Baltic Sea. The sensitivity of this recycling, and thus of the Baltic Sea salinity, to climatic changes in the freshwater supply is analyzed. A simple model is formulated for the variations of the Baltic Sea freshwater content. Historical data of the freshwater supply and the salinity in the Baltic Sea are used in the model to achieve an empirical expression relating variations of the recycling of Baltic Sea water to the variations of the freshwater supply. The recycling is found to be very sensitive to the freshwater supply. We find that an increase of freshwater supply of 30% is the level above which the Baltic Sea would turn into a lake. Recent climate modeling results suggest that river runoff to the Baltic Sea may increase dramatically in the future and thus possibly put the Baltic Sea into a new state.     

欧洲北海海域波高区间分布概率研究

为了研究欧洲北海海域的波高全区域概率分布情况,从而为海洋平台等海洋浮式结构物的选址和结构设计提供依据。首先基于Global Waves Statistics(GWS)提供的实测数据,确定典型计算工况的发生概率;同时考虑实测数据中极端波浪环境下的数据缺失导致大波高分布概率偏小的问题,利用三参数Weibull分布确定不同重现期下的极值风速,作为典型计算工况的补充。以不同风速、风向的定常风场为输入项,利用第三代海浪数值模型SWAN模型,对北海全区域波高进行数值模拟。将数值模拟的稳态形式依照各工况的发生概率进行归一化累加处理,认为其结果可以表征全区域的波高概率分布情况。以波高概率分布的计算结果为依据,分析北海海域波浪环境的统计学特征,发现有效波高为7 m以上的大波高频发区在北海北部区域有大范围分布;有效波高4～5 m为北海东北区域的多发海况,极端海况下的有效波高主要分布于7～14 m区间,在地形突变区域的波高发生显著变化。