辽东半岛东部晚第四纪海面变迁

本文依据辽东半岛东部海岸堆积地貌分布、晚第四纪沉积层序与时代,以及沉积物中所含贝类、微体古生物和孢粉化石等资料,分析了晚第四纪海水进退对沉积环境演变及海岸形成与发育的影响,以及现代海岸的淤长趋势,指出全新世海侵前本区海岸曾为山前洪积-冲积平原,7000—6000年前海侵时海岸沿河谷平原内伸5—15km,并形成了沿岸丘陵低地上高8—10m的贝壳堤和海成阶地岸线,近5000年来又形成了三道贝壳堤岸线。     

珠江口外陆架晚第四纪最低海面的发现

根据珠江口外陆架海洋地质调查获得的地质-地球物理调查及钻井资料,从沉积相、地貌、微体古生物,~(14)C测年等多方面研究,以充分的证据,阐明了该区末次冰期结束时为距今13700±600a.当时海面低于现今海面131m。     

浙江沿岸晚第四纪地层中的有孔虫及海面变化

本文通过对浙江沿岸浅水区5个钻孔岩芯的底栖有孔虫分析,并结合~(14)C、孢粉和浅地层等分析资料,主要讨论该地区晚更新世末期40000年以来的沉积环境、海侵层厚度和海面变化过程等问题。     

澳大利亚大堡礁的新测年龄值

不久前 ,澳大利亚的海洋学家测定了沿澳大利亚东北海岸延伸达 2 0 0 0km的大堡礁的年龄。结果显示 ,由珊瑚礁及珊瑚岛组成的巨大水下构筑物的年龄是 60 0ka。这个测年数据是根据对深度分别为 86m和 2 1 0m的两个钻孔岩心的研究而得出的。独立的锶同位素对比关系分析证实了这个年龄 ,而磁法—地层学的研究表明 ,在地球磁场最近一次倒转之后 ,珊瑚礁体在继续生长。澳大利亚大堡礁的新测年龄值@朱佛宏     

海面温度对西北太平洋副热带高压的影响

本文在两次相关分析的基础上,讨论了海流区海温与副高特征量相关的特点及高相关区的时空演变特征。发现大部分高相关区的演变可分成移动型和准静止型两种。相关区移动或摆动的起点多集中在黑潮区、洪堡德海流区和热带东太平洋海区。同时对几个相关现象的可能物理原因做了初步分析,表明海温影响副高的途径是多种多样的;有下垫面的直接加热的影响;有下垫面加热影响其它环流系统,再通过此系统与副高的相互制约进而影响副高;还有通过经向垂直环流影响等等。     

北黄海西部晚第四纪浅层地震剖面层序分析

结合前人工作对北黄海西部7条浅层地震剖面测线进行解译，所揭示的晚第四纪U1-U4沉积单元的特征是：U1围绕山东半岛形成楔状沉积体，厚度从近岸地区的大于40m向海减薄到0m；U2平均厚度为15m，分布稳定，在研究区由东北向西南增厚；U3平均厚度为20m左右，西南薄，东北厚；U4只在部分剖面上有记录。测线显示，U2单元层中存在埋藏古河道，大部分被天然气充填，形成两条NE-SW向延伸的分支河道，初步认为其属于古黄河北支水系，位于全新世地层之下的晚更新世地层中，为黄河在晚更新世末期（15～9 kaBP）流经北黄海西部的产物。     

温度对江蓠生长的影响

江蓠是一种富含琼胶的重要经济海藻,随着世界各国琼胶生产的不断发展,作为主要原料海藻的石花菜日益不能满足琼胶生产的需要,以江蓠作原料提取琼胶的工作,已引起有关国家的广泛重视。早在一百多年前,日本就开始用江蓠作提取琼胶的辅助原料,进入二十世纪初期,北美、南非和澳大利亚,也利用当地的自然资源,逐渐发展起以江蓠为原料的琼胶生产。但是,近些年来,工农业生产和科学技术的飞跃发展,对琼胶的需要量也大为增加。据初步了解,目前全世界每年的琼胶消费量,大约为一万多吨,其中仅日本每年就需要二千多     

Late Quaternary siliciclastic/carbonate sedimentation model for the Capricorn Channel,southern Great Barrier Reef province,Australia

A model is presented for hemipelagic siliciclastic and carbonate sedimentation during the last glacial–interglacial cycle in the Capricorn Channel, southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Stable isotope ratios, grainsize, carbonate content and mineralogy were analysed for seven cores in a depth transect from 166 to 2892 m below sea level (mbsl). Results show variations in the flux of terrigenous, neritic and pelagic sediments to the continental slope over the last sea level cycle.During the glacial lowstand terrigenous sediment influenced all the cores down to 2000 mbsl. The percentages of quartz and feldspar in the cores decreased with water depth, while the percentage of clay increased. X-ray diffraction analysis of the glacial lowstand clay mineralogy suggests that the siliciclastic sediment was primarily sourced from the Fitzroy River, which debouched directly into the northwest sector of the Capricorn Channel at this time. The cores also show a decrease in pelagic calcite and an increase in aragonite and high magnesium calcite (HMC) during the glacial. The influx of HMC and aragonite is most likely from reworking of coral reefs exposed on the continental shelf during the glacial, and also from HMC ooids precipitated at the head of the Capricorn Channel at this time. Mass accumulation rates (MARs) are high (13.5 g cm^? 3 kyr^? 1) during the glacial and peak at ~ 20 g cm^? 3 kyr^? 1 in the early transgression (16–14 ka BP). MARs then decline with further sea level rise as the Fitzroy River mouth retreats from the edge of the continental shelf after 13.5 ka BP. MARs remain low (4 cm^? 3 kyr^? 1) throughout the Holocene highstand.Data for the Holocene highstand indicate there is a reduction in siliciclastic influx to the Capricorn Channel with little quartz and feldspar below 350 mbsl. However, fine-grained fluvial sediments, presumably from the Fitzroy River, were still accumulating on the mid slope down to 2000 mbsl. The proportion of pelagic calcite in the core tops increases with water depth, while HMC decreases, and is present only in trace amounts in cores below 1500 mbsl. The difference in the percentage of HMC in the deeper cores between the glacial and Holocene may reflect differences in supply or deepening of the HMC lysocline during the glacial.Sediment accumulation rates also vary between cores in the Capricorn Channel and do not show the expected exponential decrease with depth. This may be due to intermediate or deep water currents reworking the sediments. It is also possible that present bathymetry data are too sparse to detect the potential role that submarine channels may play in the distribution and accumulation of sediments.Comparison of the Capricorn Channel MARs with those for other mixed carbonate/siliciclastic provinces from the northeast margin of Australia indicates that peak MARs in the early transgression in the Capricorn Channel precede those from the central GBR and south of Fraser Island. The difference in the timing of the carbonate and siliciclastic MAR peaks along the northeast margin is primarily related to differences in the physiography and climate of the provinces. The only common trend in the MARs from the northeast margin of Australia is the near synchronicity of the carbonate and siliciclastic MAR peaks in individual sediment cores, which supports a coeval sedimentation model.     

New evidence for drowned shelf edge reefs in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

We present four new high-resolution multibeam bathymetry datasets from the shelf edge of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Analysis of these data, combined with Chirp sub-bottom profiles and existing submersible observation data provides a fresh insight into the detailed morphology and spatial distribution of submerged reefs and terraces at the shelf edge. An extensive and persistent line of drowned shelf edge reefs exist on the GBR margin in about 40 to 70 m. They appear as barrier reefs up to 200 m wide and comprising twin parallel ridges of rounded pinnacles. Subtle yet consistent terrace and step features lie between 78 and 114 m seaward of the shelf edge reefs in the southern study area. Submersible observations confirm that the drowned reefs now provide a favorable hard substrate for live soft corals and algae. They form a consistent and extensive seabed habitat that extends for possibly 900 km along the GBR shelf edge. The submerged reef and terraces features may reflect a complex history of growth and erosion during lower sea-levels, and are now capped by last deglaciation reef material.     

Tidally incised valleys on tropical carbonate shelves: An example from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The formation of incised valleys on continental shelves is generally attributed to fluvial erosion under low sea level conditions. However, there are exceptions. A multibeam sonar survey at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua, mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 m deep that extends for more than 90 km across the continental shelf. This is the deepest shelf valley yet found in the Great Barrier Reef and is well below the maximum depth of fluvial incision that could have occurred under a − 120 m, eustatic sea level low-stand, as what occurred on this margin during the last ice age. These valleys appear to have formed by a combination of reef growth and tidal current scour, probably in relation to a sea level at around 30–50 m below its present position.

Tidally incised depressions in the valley floor exhibit closed bathymetric contours at both ends. Valley floor sediments are mainly calcareous muddy, gravelly sand on the middle shelf, giving way to well-sorted, gravely sand containing a large relict fraction on the outer shelf. The valley extends between broad platform reefs and framework coral growth, which accumulated through the late Quaternary, coincides with tidal current scour to produce steep-sided (locally vertical) valley walls. The deepest segments of the valley were probably the sites of lakes during the last ice age, when Torres Strait formed an emergent land-bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Numerical modeling predicts that the strongest tidal currents occur over the deepest, outer-shelf segment of the valley when sea level is about 40–50 m below its present position. These results are consistent with a Pleistocene age and relict origin of the valley.

Based on these observations, we propose a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. Tidal erosion on meso- to macro-tidal, rimmed carbonate shelves is enhanced during sea level rise and fall when a tidal, hydraulic pressure gradient is established between the shelf-lagoon and the adjacent ocean basin. Tidal flows attain a maximum, and channel incision is greatest, when a large hydraulic pressure gradient coincides with small channel cross sections. Our tidal-incision model may explain the observation of other workers, that sediment is exported from the Great Barrier Reef shelf to the adjacent ocean basins during intermediate (rather than last glacial maximum) low-stand, sea level positions. The model may apply to other rimmed shelves, both modern and ancient.     

Photochemical activity in waters of the Great Barrier Reef

Photochemical activity in waters of the Great Barrier Reef was investigated through studies on the vertical, horizontal and temporal distribution of hydrogen peroxide and factors influencing its generation and decay processes. Surface hydrogen peroxide concentrations varied from 15 to 110 nM and generally decreased with depth, though a number of anomalies were detected. Photochemical activity decreased with increasing distance from the coast reflecting the positive influence of terrestrial inputs to the hydrogen peroxide generation and decay processes. Increases in photochemical activity were observed in the proximity of coral reefs. Hydrogen peroxide concentrations in the region were influenced by wind-induced mixing processes, atmospheric inputs, anthropogenic activity and seasonal light regimes.     

Influence of Trichodesmium blooms on cadmium and iron speciation in Great Barrier Reef lagoon waters

Studies carried out on lagoon, coastal and estuarine waters of the Great Barrier Reef region at Townsville have established marked changes in the chemical speciation of cadmium and iron during blooms of the blue-green alga Trichodesmium. Cadmium speciation was monitored using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry on unacidified, acidified and ultra-violet irradiated samples. Dissolved and particulate forms of iron were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. It was established that during Trichodesmium blooms, labile forms of cadmium, and dissolved and particulate forms of iron markedly increased, and that these increases occurred during high concentrations of ‘marine humic acid’, associated with the presence of Trichodesmium.     

Dynamics of hypersaline coastal waters in the Great Barrier Reef

The coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are hypersaline (salinity ∼37) during the dry season as a result of evaporation greatly exceeding rainfall, of shallow waters, and of the presence of numerous bays along the coast preventing rapid flushing. These hypersaline waters are not flushed out by salinity-driven baroclinic currents because these waters are vertically well-mixed. Instead these waters are transported by a longshore residual current and thus form a coastal boundary layer of hypersaline waters. As a result the hypersalinity distribution is 2-D with both cross-shelf and longshore gradients of salinity. The cross-shelf gradients are largely controlled by turbulent diffusion, while the longshore gradients are controlled by the residual currents that transport hypersaline waters longshore south ward in the central and southern regions of the GBR. Because every bay supplies hypersaline waters, the width of the coastal hypersaline layer increases southwards. Steady state is reached in about 100 days, which is the typical duration of the dry season. The dynamics of the GBR hypersaline coastal boundary layer thus differ from the classical inverse hypersaline systems, e.g. in Saloum River Estuary, Laguna San Ignacio, Mission Bay, Tomales Bay, San Diego Bay, Hervey Bay, Shark Bay, Coorong Coast Lagoon, Spencer Gulf, Gulf of California and many others where the salinity gradient is mainly 1-D with a dominant along-channel salinity gradient.     

Mesozooplankton dynamics in nearshore waters of the Great Barrier Reef

Zooplankton dynamics (community composition, juvenile somatic growth rate, adult egg production, secondary production) were studied in coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Two sectors were compared, one adjacent to a catchment of near-pristine land use patterns, the other to a more intensively farmed catchment. Sampling was conducted in the austral winter (August) and summer (January–March) of two succeeding years. Gradients in zooplankton community composition were weak, with only moderate effects of season and sector. Overall, 37% of zooplankton biomass was in the 73–150 μm size fraction, 26% in the 150–350 μm fraction, and 38% was >350 μm. There was no biomass difference and only small differences in community composition between samples taken during the day and at night; ostracods and large calanoid copepods were occasionally more common at night. Carbon-specific growth rates averaged 0.29 d⁻¹ for cyclopoid copepods and 0.35 d⁻¹ for calanoid copepods, with no difference between sectors. Calanoid copepod growth showed a significant relationship to chlorophyll concentration, but cyclopoid copepods did not. Copepod egg production was low (7.9 ± 5.9 eggs female⁻¹ d⁻¹) and apparently food-limited. Copepod secondary production was lower in August (mean = 2.6, range 1.4–4.0 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹) than in January–March (mean = 8.5, range 2.4–15.5 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹). Secondary production by mesozooplankton in the 73–100 μm size range averaged 0.9% of total phytoplankton production.     

The value of recreational fishing in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: A pooled revealed preference and contingent behaviour model

Given the focus on protecting natural assets in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia, it is important for managers and policy makers to understand the value of recreational fishing in the area, and how changes in management may affect those recreational values. Travel cost methods were used to estimate the value of recreational fishing in the Capricorn Coast in Central Queensland using data from on-site surveys conducted at boat ramps. The study also uses contingent behaviour models to estimate the change in the value of recreational fishing as conditions vary. Results indicate that there are high values associated with recreational fishing activity along the Capricorn Coast, and that the demand for recreational fishing is inelastic and that values are relatively insensitive to changes in catch rates.     

High-sediment tolerance in the reef coral Turbinaria mesenterina from the inner Great Barrier Reef lagoon (Australia)

Sedimentation is an important stressor on coral reefs subjected to run-off, dredging and resuspension events. Reefs with a history of high-sediment loads tend to be dominated by a few tolerant coral species. A key question is whether such species live close to their tolerance thresholds or near their niche optima. Here, we analyse experimentally the sediment tolerance of a spatially dominant coral, Turbinaria mesenterina (Dendrophylliidae), at nearshore reefs in the central Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Testing was conducted in a 5-week tank experiment under manipulated sediment loading and flow conditions. Physiological stress was assessed based on the behaviour of three key response variables: skeletal growth rate, energy reserves (lipid content) and photosynthetic performance. Because sediment effects are likely to vary between flow regimes, sediment and flow responses were tested using a full factorial design. Sediment loads greater than 110 mg cm⁻² had no effect on any of the physiological variables, regardless of flow (0.7–24 cm s⁻¹). Turbinaria mesenterina is thus tolerant to sediment loads an order of magnitude higher than most severe sediment conditions in situ. Likely mechanisms for such tolerance are that: (1) colonies covered in sediment (60–120 μm) in low-flow were able to clear themselves rapidly (within 4–5 h); and (2) sediment provides a source of food. These results suggest that intensified sediment regimes on coastal reefs may shift coral communities towards dominance by a few well-adapted species.