Offshore marine conservation policies in the North East Atlantic: Emerging tensions and opportunities

An inherent tension exists between legal approaches to nature conservation and fisheries management in the European Union, as the former remains the remit of Member States while the latter is under the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the European Community (EC). This tension is of particular importance when addressing the conservation of habitats or species that are under threat from fishing activities. This article examines recent developments in offshore marine conservation in the North-East Atlantic in light of the legislative developments and political frameworks that are currently evolving. By analysing the emergency closure of the Darwin Mounds area of cold-water corals and the UK pair-trawl ban, it becomes evident that the precautionary principle is a key factor in the tension between fisheries management and marine nature conservation, and is not always taken into account.     

Probabilistic Models for the Probability of Wave Breaking and Whitecap Coverage Based on Kinematic Breaking Criterion

More and more researches show that neither the critical downward acceleration nor the critical slope of water waves is a universal constant. On the contrary, they vary with particular wave conditions. This fact moders the models either for the probability of wave breaking B or for the whitecap coverage W based on these criteria difficult to apply. In this paper and the one which follows we seek to develop models for the prediction of both B and W based on the kinematical criterion. First, several joint probabihstic distribution functions (PDFs) of wave characteristics are derived, based on which the breaking properties B and W are estimated. The estimation is made on the assumption that a wave breaks ff the horizontal velocity of water particles at its crest exceeds the local wave celerity, and whitecapping occurs in regions of fluid where water particles travel faster than the waves. The consequent B and W depend on wave spectral moments of orders 0 to 4.Then the JONSWAP spectrum is used to represent the fetch-limited sea waves in deep water, so as to relate the probahility of wave breaking and the whitecap coverage with wind parameters. To this end, the time-averaging technique proposed by Glazman (1986) is applied to the estimation of the spectral moments involved, and furthermore, the theoretical models are compared with available observations collected from published literature. From the comparison, the averaging time scale is determined. The final models show that the probability of wave breaking as well as the whitecap coverage depends on the dimensionless fetch. The agreement between these models and the database is reasonable.     

夏季东海西部表层海水中的pCO2及海-气界面通量

根据2001年夏季长江口及东海西部海域表层海水pCO     

Parabolic Wave Propagation Modelling in Orthogonal Coordinate Systems

This paper presents a numerical model study of the propagation of water waves using the parabolic approximation of the mild-slope equation in the orthogonal coordinate system. Two types of coordinate systems are studied: (a) a general form of orthogonal coordinate system and (b) the conformal system, a special form of orthogonal coordinate system. Two typical examples, namely, expanded breakwaters and a circular channel, are studied to validate the model. First, the examples are studied by use of the general orthogonal coordinates. Then the same examples are computed by use of the confonnal system. The computational results show that the confonnal coordinate system generally gives better predictions than the general orthogonal system. A numerical technique for generating the conformal grid is combined with the numerical model to improve the practicability of the model. The comparison between the result from the numerical grid system and that from the analytical grid system shows that reliable computational results can be obtained by use of the numerical confonnal grid system.     

莱西市水资源管理系统的人机互动功能

本文结合莱西市水资源管理的基本特性,采用人机交互管理方式,成功地运用地理信息系统(GIS),实现了界面良好的莱西市水资源信息系统的各种功能,为规范水资源业务管理的程序、开展地区水资源管理信息系统化建设,提供了有力的技术支持。     

凡纳滨对虾咸淡水养殖系统内细菌群落组成的PCR-DGGE分析

采用PCR(polym erase chain reaction)-DGGE(denaturing grad ient gel electrophoresis)及传统的微生物培养方法对凡纳滨对虾Litopenaeus vannam ei咸淡水养殖系统内各种环境的细菌群落组成进行了比较研究。传统的微生物培养计数表明,从海湾水、养殖池水到对虾粪样,细菌和弧菌的数量表现出依次增加的趋势,粪样及肠壁中弧菌的数量高出外界水环境1—4个数量级。相对于外界水环境,粪样中有很高的芽孢杆菌孢子含量,但是肠壁定植细菌中不存在芽孢杆菌(孢子)。PCR-DGGE及聚类分析结果表明,从海湾沿岸、养殖池、对虾粪便到对虾肠壁,细菌群落的多样性由高到低,无论是在哪种环境,群落的优势种都十分明显,且只有2—4种。来自同一环境各样品间的细菌群落组成非常相似,来自不同环境的样品,其细菌群落组成差别较大。聚类图上各簇的排列顺序反映了样品在取样空间分布上的毗邻次序和它们的相似程度。     

Different cardiac response to copper in limpets from metal polluted and clean shores of Hong Kong

The gastropod limpet, Cellana grata, is common on moderately exposed to exposed Hong Kong rocky shores. On the basis of the existing literature on trace metal contamination in Hong Kong, four sites were identified, representative of highly polluted (Aberdeen and Lei Yue Mun) and clean (Cape d'Aguilar and Clear Water Bay) conditions. Limpets from the two polluted sites showed similar, but significantly higher body concentrations of copper than limpets from the two clean sites, which were also similar. Non-invasive measurements of cardiac activity of limpets from the four sites showed between site differences in baseline heart rates under standard seawater, irrespective of pollution level. When acutely exposed to water borne copper (2 h, 0.5+/-0.06 SD ppm), however, limpets from clean sites showed a significantly higher increase in inter-beating time (bradycardia) than those from polluted sites. These results highlight the potential use of cardiac activity to assess the exposure of natural populations of limpets to trace metal pollution.     

On the effectiveness of the ocean's biological pump in global CO2 scenarios

An evaluation is made of the effectiveness of the ocean's biological pump in driving the deep-sea excess CO₂ from the atmosphere. It is based on sediment-trap data available in the literature and on estimates of present and future inputs of anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorous. The fraction of annual CO₂ production from fossil fuel combustion going into this sink turns out to be insignificant in the total budget of man-made CO₂. A discussion is presented on the formation of macroflocs under oceanic conditions, a process that has been believed to be important for the effectiveness of the biological pump.     

福建闽江口外海岸植物生态

记录了福建闽江口266种海岸高等植物,其中草本占70.2%、灌木占21.4%、藤本和乔木占8.4%.喜盐种在河口的内侧、中区和外侧占总数的百分比分别为5.7%,6.8%和11.8%.二叶红薯、南方碱蓬和番杏是盐碱土的指示种.在内侧近淡水区有繁茂的咸水草、芦苇和芦竹     

Seismic evidence of small-scale lacustrine drifts in Lake Baikal (Russia)

High resolution, single-channel seismic sparker profiles across the Akademichesky Ridge, an intra-basin structural high in Lake Baikal (Russia), reveal the presence of small sediment mounds and intervening moats in the upper part of the sedimentary cover. Such features interrupt the generally uniform and even acoustic facies and are not consistent with the hemipelagic sedimentation, which is expected on such an isolated high and which would produce a uniform sediment drape over bottom irregularities. The influence of turbidity currents is excluded since the ridge is an isolated high elevated more than 600-1000 m above adjacent basins. The mounded seismic facies, including migrating sediment waves and non-depositional/erosional incisions, strongly suggest that sediment accumulation was controlled by bottom-current activity. We interpret the mounds as small-scale (< few tens of km² in area) lacustrine drifts. Four basic types of geometry are identified: 1) slope-plastered patch sheets; 2) patch drifts; 3) confined drifts; 4) fault-controlled drifts. The general asymmetry in the sedimentary cover of the ridge, showing thicker deposits on the NW flank, and the common location of patch drifts on the northeast side of small basement knolls indicate that deposition took preferentially place at the lee sides of obstacles in a current flowing northward or sub-parallel to the main contours. Deep-water circulation in the ridge area is not known in detail, but there are indications that relatively cold saline water masses are presently flowing out of the Central Basin and plunging into the deep parts of the North Basin across the ridge, a process that appears to be driven mainly by small differences in salinity. We infer that the process responsible for the observed bottom-current-controlled sedimentary features has to be sought in these large-scale water-mass movements and their past equivalents. The age of the onset of the bottom-current-controlled sedimentation, based on an average sedimentation rate of 4.0 cm/ky, is roughly estimated to be as least as old as 3.5 Ma, which is generally regarded as the age of the onset of the last major tectonic pulse of rift basin development in the Baikal region.