Letters to the editor

A preliminary scuba survey of oligotrophic Lake Rotoma in 1972 revealed a vegetation mainly composed of native hydrophytes in which exotics were at an early stage of colonisation. In 1973 the presence of species was recorded in 5708 quadrats (625 cm²) at 1 m intervals along a total of 50 line transects placed systematically around the lake. Water depth was measured, and quadrat cover and substrate type were subjectively estimated. Species frequency calculations showed that the dominant vegetation pattern was a characean meadow of Chara fibrosa f. acanthopitys (A.Br.) R.D.W., Nitella leptostachys var. leonhardii (R.D.W.) R.D.W., and N. pseudoflabellata var. mucosa (Nordst.) Bailey. The charophytes extended over a depth range of 1–17.5 m on a wide variety of substrates and gradients. Native vascular plants were absent from many transects, and had a depth range only from 0 to 4.5 m, with most occurring above 3.5 m. The Low Mixed Community, found in shallow water less than 1.25 m in depth at the northeast end of the lake, provided this area with a high species diversity. Exotic hydrophytes had established in many areas around the lake. The distribution of Lagarosiphon major (Ridley) Moss and Elodea canadensis Michx. appeared to coincide with boating access and fallen submerged trees over a depth range of 0–6.0 m, although much of the available habitat had not yet been exploited. Emergent species were most abundant within the southwest inlet and also in the lagoons surrounding the lake where sheltered conditions and shallow gradients prevail.     

Letter to the Editor

Many shortcomings in the recent paper by Muraleedharan, Rao, Kurup, Unnikrishnan Nair and Sinha [Coastal Engineering, 2007, in press] are pointed out.     

Letter to the editor

It is a common observation that the mean length in a fish population progressively decreases as the biomass is reduced by fishing. However, this has not happened with the population of orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) on the Chatham Rise, New Zealand, even though the biomass is estimated to have declined by almost 80%. Because orange roughy are slow growing it might be expected that mean age (or its proxy, mean otolith weight) would be a more sensitive indicator of biomass decline than mean length. A simulation study shows that this is not true. With equal sample sizes, all three indicators are equally sensitive; on an equal cost basis, mean length is more sensitive than the others. A log transformation increases the sensitivity of age and otolith weight, but it is not clear whether this increase is sufficient to outweigh the much greater costs of measuring age and otolith weight, compared to length. Under the assumption of constant recruitment, it is more likely than not (P = 0.55–0.8) that a change in mean length would have been detected in the Chatham Rise population, given the estimated biomass decline.     

Letters to the editor

Re: Kirby, D. S.; Abraham, E. R.; Uddstrom, M. J.; Dean, H. 2003: Tuna schools/aggregations in surface longline data 1993–98. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 37: 633–644.     

Letters to the editor

Species composition and biomass of plankton samples taken on transects across an upwelling plume off Farewell Spit in February 1981 are presented. Copepods were numerically dominant, particularly Oithona similis and Paracalanus indicus. Also abundant were large phytoplankters (Chaetoceros sp. and Trichodesmium sp.), crustacean faecal pellets, and euphausiid larvae. The distribution of zooplankton species suggests mixing of inshore waters and neritic populations with upwelled waters. These data are discussed with respect to an interpretation of the upwelling system as a northwards transport of zooplankton and its enhanced productivity into the South Taranaki Bight.     

From the net to the plate

Of major concern to the UK fishing industry at present is how UK-caught fish may be marketed more effectively. This depends principally upon the objective of the marketing exercise. With respect to export markets, the principal objective is to get the catch sold for a realistic price. Where the export market is the principal outlet for the catch, it is argued that the floor price set by the EEC needs to reflect the world market price. Where the catch is to be sold on the home market, the objective is to increase the consumption of fresh fish, with the UK fisherman attempting to become the preferred supplier. This is the current policy of the Sea Fish Industry Authority (SFIA).     

Sources to the East Greenland Current and its contribution to the Denmark Strait Overflow

Data from the East Greenland Current in 2002 are evaluated using optimum multiparameter analysis. The current is followed from north of Fram Strait to the Denmark Strait Sill and the contributions of different source waters, in mass fractions, are deduced. From the results it can be concluded that, at least in spring 2002, the East Greenland Current was the main source for the waters found at the Denmark Strait Sill, contributing to the overflow into the North Atlantic. The East Greenland Current carried water masses from different source regions in the Arctic Ocean, the West Spitsbergen Current and the Greenland Sea. The results agree well with the known circulation of the western Nordic Seas but also add knowledge both to the quantification and to the mixing processes, showing the importance of the locally formed Greenland Sea Arctic Intermediate Water for the East Greenland Current and the Denmark Strait.     

继往开来奋发努力二次创业再铸辉煌

十五年前,中国极地研究所诞生在我国极地考察迎来第一次创业高潮的时代,我国第一个专门从事极地考察与研究的科研机构的诞生,翻开了中国极地考察事业重要的一页,标志着我国极地考察工作从考察与探索阶段走向系统开展科学研究时代的开始。十五年来,在邓小平同志“为人类和平利用南极做出贡献”光辉题词指引下,在国家海洋局党组的正确领导下,全体干部职工发扬“南极精神”,坚忍不拔,奋发努力,团结奉献,开拓进取,为我国极地考察事业的发展作出了重要贡献。2003年,经中央编委批准,中国极地研究所更名为中极地研究中心,这标志着极地中心将作为我国极地考察的科研与业务的核心单位,肩负起更加重要和光荣的使命,将为我国极地事业的全面发展奠定坚实的基础。     

Arclnfo到MicroStation的海图符号数据转换方法研究

针对当前海图符号数据转换中出现的新问题,在ArcInfo和MicroStation的海图符号制作基础上,提出了一种ArcInfo到MicroStation的海图符号数据转换方法.实验表明,所提方法解决了新增海图符号的转换问题,实现了从ArcInfo到MicroStation数据的平稳转换,为完善海图符号和提高工作效率提...     

Manganese fluxes to the oceans

Application of a simple model describing regional variations in the contents of manganese and associated minor metals in deep-sea sediments suggests that solid manganese phases are being removed from the <0.5 μm fraction of seawater at ～1–7 · 10¹²g yr^?1 in excess of the rate of stream-supplied manganese. This flux is consistent with: (1) the relative rates of sediment accumulation in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; (2) the contrast between the oceanic residence time of manganese calculated from stream-supply data (14 · 10³ yr) and from the flux of manganese precipitating in marine sediments or as manganese nodules (0.38–2.4 · 10³ yr); (3) the surplus mass of manganese revealed by geochemical balance calculations (22.9 · 10²g). On this basis excess manganese is accumulating in deep-sea sediments at 0.2–2.0 · 10^?6 g cm^?2yr^?1. Manganese supplied to the upper layers of marine sediments by diagenesis has been evaluated with the aid of vertical advection—diffusion—reaction models. The calculated diagenetic flux of manganese at the sediment surface in a near-shore environment is in agreement with the known accretion rate of manganese deposits (1.7 · 10^?2 g cm^?2 10^?3 yr^?1) and the regionally variable flux over the area assessed is consistent with the presence or absence of manganese nodules at or near the water-sediment interface. The diagenetic flux at the surface of deep-sea sediments has been calculated at 0.7 · 10^?4 g cm^?2 10^?3 yr^?1 when the upper, oxic, zone of the sediment is ～20 cm thick. A limiting factor on the in situ production flux of dissolved manganese in deep-sea sediments appears to be the availability of reducing agents for manganese dissolution rather than the rate of downward transport of manganese-rich sediment to a reaction boundary where dissolution takes place. Various estimates of the rate of upward-migrating manganese suggest that manganese precipitates in the oxic zone with a rate constant of ～10^?7 sec^?1 with the result that diagenetic processes cannot supply the flux of excess manganese through more than ～0.25 m of oxic sediment. However, estimates of the flux of manganese to the oceans by submarine volcanic processes (0.79–1.1 · 10¹²g yr^?1) are similar to the surplus mass of manganese detected by geochemical balance calculations (0.7 · 10¹²g yr^?1). If submarine hydrothermal solutions provide only 10% of this excess then their computed discharge rate (39 g cm^?2 yr^?1) and residence time in the upper layer of oceanic crust (130,000 yr) agree well with these parameters for continental thermal springs.     

重返中生代

许多被我们称之为“怪兽”的物种，实际上在遥远的过去真实存在过。在某个慵懒的下午，我们神游到中生代，目睹那些重返海洋的大型爬行动物如何称霸当时的海洋。如果要给中生代的海洋怪兽进行实力排名，在这份“顶级优势掠食海怪”的名单上至少要出现鱼龙、蛇颈龙和海王龙三个名字。     

预防赤潮发生 洗涤剂禁磷刻不容缓

近年来随着经济的发展,我国近海污染也在不断的加剧,对海洋经济危害最大的是海洋赤潮。据《2001年中国环境状况公报》报道:2001年近岸海域主要受到活性磷酸盐和无机氮影响。中国海域赤潮发生次数增多,发生时间提前,主要赤潮生物种类增多,总次数和累计影响均比上年有大幅度增加。全国海域共发生赤潮77次,累计面积达15 000km2余,比上年增加49次,增加面积达5 000km2。赤潮频发海域多为无机氮和磷酸盐污染较严重的海域。大面积赤潮主要集中在东海、渤海和黄海海域。一、洗涤剂中磷酸盐对赤潮产生的影响洗涤剂包括洗衣粉、金属清洗剂、油污清洗剂…     

A new analytical approach to the characterisation of macro-epibenthic habitats: linking species to the environment

A challenge for marine ecologists is to explain distinct and recurrent patterns in the distribution of marine faunas by developing new methods that identify and link environmental processes responsible for these patterns. Methods that describe and predict the distribution of benthic faunas using single factors such as sediment type or water depth are generally inadequate, particularly when applied on a broad scale. When a combination of factors such as near-bed tidal velocity, surface seawater temperature and salinity are evaluated in conjunction with sediment type and depth, however, they more clearly characterise benthic habitats. Using principal component analysis (PCA) patterns in the distribution and abundance of different echinoderm and crustacean species were shown to be predictable and characterised by a suite of physical factors. Characterising benthic habitats using factors from the environment provided a potential mechanism for predicting patterns in their spatial distribution. A new analytical method for characterising a species habitat was constructed using a combination of PCA and a generalised additive model. The method is able to predict the habitat preferences of individual species based on their association with physical factors characterising their habitat. These preferences were then used to describe the probability of a species occurring across a range of different habitats, which is referred to as the habitat-envelope. This method enables one species habitat range to be compared directly to another. The strong correlation between species patchiness and its habitat-envelope was used to develop an index to identify species that are potentially more sensitive to habitat change. Distinct patterns in the habitat preferences of echinoderms were generally stronger than those identified for crustaceans. Thus, crustaceans were found more likely to exploit a wider range of habitats than echinoderms, suggesting that they may be less sensitive to habitat change.     

A method to determine the horizontal ice loads on the vertical steel structures which adfreeze to the ice level

In this work the estimation of the load from the ice level on freeze into the ice structure is presented. Nowadays a big uncertainty exists when estimating a freeze-in effect. Considerable inexactness in the ice loads estimation could lead to great differences in the cost of the structures. Proper estimation of ice loads will reduce the cost of constructions. If the structure is freezing-in during no change of sea level — ice collars are occurring. Ice collars could lead to increase of the horizontal ice load from the ice level on the structure. The overview of the existing recommendations is presented. The thermo-dynamical task for calculating ice collar profile was investigated during the present work. The numerical methods were used to calculate an increase of the load when freeze-in effect occurs. Physical experiments were conducted to verify the models. Results of the work provide provisional method for estimation of the ice loads on the freeze into the ice structures.