“Us” and “them”. Fishermen from Gandía and the loss of institutional legitimacy

This paper analyses, using a qualitative methodology, some of the possible causes of the recognised failure of fisheries policy concerning traditional fisheries. Through a case study in a Spanish Mediterranean port (Gandia), it concludes that the basic problem is the lack of legitimacy of political institutions for fishermen. Any attempt to implement an effective fisheries management must recover this legitimacy, by harnessing existing social capital of these communities through the adoption of new models of fisheries co-management and the revaluation of local knowledge.     

Discussion/comments regarding “Trends in<Emphasis Type="Italic"> p</Emphasis>CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and sea–air CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> flux over the global open oceans for the last two decades” by Y. Iida,A. Kojima,Y. Takatani,T. Nakano,H. Sugimoto,T. Midorikawa,M. Ishii

A paper by Iida et al. that was recently published in this journal (J Oceanogr 17:637–661, 2015) presented trends in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in surface seawater and the estimated sea–air carbon dioxide flux over the global open oceans for the last two decades. The purpose of the present discussion is to demonstrate that the formula used by Iida et al. in their assessments can also be employed to estimate the sea–air carbon dioxide flux based on long-term wind statistics, i.e., based on data showing how the mean wind speed 10 m above the sea surface has varied over a long period. Examples of the application of this approach are given here, based on long-term wind statistics for the northern North Sea and the North West Shelf of Australia.     

Reply to J.J. Muñoz-Perez et al. Comments on “Confirmation of beach accretion by grain-size trend analysis: Camposoto beach, Cádiz, SW Spain” by E. Poizot et al. (2013) Geo-Marine Letters 33(4)

In a novel finding for a beach environment, Poizot et al. (2013) identified an FB+ trend (sediments becoming finer, better sorted and more positively skewed upshore) on a well-developed swash bar on the upper foreshore of the Camposoto beach of Cádiz in SW Spain. In their Discussion of that paper, Muñoz-Perez et al. (2014) provide some supporting arguments and also report grain-size, beach profile and other data from nearby beaches which differ from those of Poizot and colleagues for Camposoto beach, pointing out that a trend observed on one beach may not apply to a neighbouring beach. However, even though the absolute values differ, the overall trends actually do show the same general behaviour. In our Reply to their comments, we also address some difficulties in comparing granulometric datasets generated by different analytical techniques.     

Answers to V. M. Fedorov’s Comments to the Paper “A New Theory of the Earth Insolation Change over Millions of Years against Marine Isotope Stages” by J. J. Smulsky

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - V.M. Fedorov has published comments regarding my paper on the new astronomical theory of climate change developed by us and the appendix to it. In this...     

Discussion of “A simple method to determine breaker height and depth for different deepwater wave height/length ratios and sea floor slopes”, by J.P. Le Roux [Coastal Engineering 54 (2007) 271–277]

In the recent paper by J.P. Le Roux [Coastal Engineering 54 (2007) 271–277], the author provides a simplified approach to calculating the depth, length, and height of waves at the onset of depth-induced breaking (i.e. at the breaker line). However, the proposed methodology and the comparisons to other methods suffer from a large number of inconsistencies and basic calculation errors. In addition, there are a number of erroneous physical interpretations and many of the conclusions are based on erroneous data. The remaining conclusions are either not new or based on circular logic, such as to render them moot. In the following, we will not attempt to point out all the errors or inconsistencies that we found, instead we focus on major points of contention.     

Toxicity of sediments from Bahía de Chetumal, México, as assessed by hepatic EROD induction and histology in nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus.

The effect of environmental pollutants present in sediments obtained from Bahía de Chetumal, a bay on the border between Mexico and Belize, was studied in nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) intraperitoneally injected with sediment extracts from six different sites of the Bay. Sediment samples used for the study contained a variety of organic chemicals such as organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Total cytochrome P-450 and EROD activity were measured in fish liver. Haematological and histological analyses were also carried out. Hepatic P-450 content in treated fish increased from 43 to 240%, and EROD activity from 85 to 160% compared to controls. Extracts from two sampling sites inhibited EROD activity. There were positive significant correlations between P-450 content and the levels of PCBs 44 and 128. EROD activity correlated to HCB, op'-DDE, pp'-DDE, pp'-DDD, mirex and PCB 18 concentrations. Blood examination showed cell degeneration and binucleated leukocytes with abnormal chromatin. Extract treatment also resulted in foci of hyperplasia on the basement of gill lamellae, hypertrophy and oedema in gills and liver necrosis. Control fish showed no abnormalities. The results demonstrate that sediments from Bahía of Chetumal have the potential to cause histopathological, haematological and biochemical alterations in fish. The administration of sediment extracts to fish may serve as a useful test to screen the toxicity of sediments from different areas.     

The music of the spheres and the prosaicness of statistical criteria: A response to B.L. Berry’s paper “Heliogeophysical and other natural processes,periods of their oscillations,and forecasts”

According to B.L. Berry’s “harmonic model,” any natural or social process is a superposition of several cosmic rhythms. The author assumes that stability of these rhythms allows prediction of earth phenomena over an unlimited time. We show that the statistical criteria supposedly substantiating the harmonic model were applied incorrectly. The initial data for the analysis were biased and selected incompetently; the adequacy of the methods used was not verified. Predictions of natural catastrophes (earthquakes, weather anomalies, etc.) and various social events according to Berry’s model are unsatisfactory. Statistics do not confirm that these predictions are at least slightly better than random guessing. Berry’s model is unacceptable; it is untenable both in detail and in general.     

Petrography and stable isotope aspects of cold-vent activity imprinted on Miocene-age “calcari aLucina” from Tuscan and Romagna Apennines,Italy

Over 20 occurrences of discontinuous limestone blocks, locally called calcari aLucina, were mapped in the Tuscan—Romagna region of the northern Italian Apennines. The limestones, consisting of a variable mixture of authigenic carbonates (calcite, dolomite, and aragonite), sulfides (primarily pyrite), and allogenic silicates, occur in association with turbidite and hemipelagite units that were deposited in foredeep basins during early to late Miocene times. The limestone blocks are interpreted to represent relicts of carbonate buildups formed around methane-rich fluid vents on the basis of their (1) striking petrographic similarities to carbonates from cold vents in the modern oceans; (2) unique chemosynthetic-like fauna, and (3) anomalously negative ¹³C values ( ¹³C = – 16 to – 58 PDB). The contemporaneous tectonism of the Apennine orogeny is likely to be the primary cause for the expulsion of the methane-rich fluids to the seabed in a manner analogous to the fluid-flow processes occurring at modern accretionary prisms.     

Discussion for comments of Ehrenberg and Bjørlykke on paper “Formation mechanism of deep Cambrian dolomite reservoirs in the Tarim basin,northwestern China”

In the paper “Formation mechanism of deep Cambrian dolomite reservoirs in the Tarim basin, northwestern China” (Zhu et al., 2015), we concluded that hydrothermal alteration further enhanced porosity in the deep Cambrian dolomite reservoirs in the Tarim Basin, NW China. Professor Ehrenberg and Bjørlykke made comments that the hydrothermal dolomitization and increase in porosity were not well supported and casted doubt on the exploration potential. We insist the influence of hydrothermal alteration on and large exploration potential in the deep Cambrian dolomite reservoirs due to the unique geological conditions and the recent exploration results.     

Bathymetric reconstructions of the Miocene-age “calcari aLucina” (northern Apennines,Italy) from oxygen isotopes and benthic Foraminifera

Two independent methods of paleobathymetry, applicable to hydrocarbon-derived carbonates, are explored in this study. The oxygen isotope method exploits the temperature decline with depth that leaves a measurable imprint on the ¹⁸O composition of pristine products of venting comprised of aragonites and dolomites. The other method makes use of the bathymetric preferences of benthic foraminiferal taxa entrapped in the carbonate buildups. These two methods were tested on the calcari aLucina limestones hosted in turbidites and mudstones infilling the Miocene-age Marnoso-arenacea basin. The limestone blocks, rich in fossils of chemosymbiotic-like fauna, preserve a 10-Ma record of hydrocarbon venting from Langhian to lower Messinian times. Our results indicate that carbonate accretion and lithification occurred at upper bathyal depths in waters not shallower than 200–250 m. The ¹⁸O of venting products contains the imprints of profound hydrographic changes that occurred in the ancient Mediterranean basin from the lower Serravallian to the lower Messinian.