Meso- and bathy-pelagic fish parasites at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR): Low host specificity and restricted parasite diversity

Seven meso- and bathy-pelagic fish species from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) were firstly studied for fish parasites and feeding ecology. With a total of seven parasite species, the 247 meso- and bathy-pelagic deep-sea fish specimens belonging to the families Melamphaidae (3 spp.), Myctophidae (3 spp.) and Stomiidae (1 sp.) revealed low parasite diversity. The genetically identified nematodes Anisakis simplex (s.s.) and Anisakis pegreffii from the body cavity, liver and muscles of Myctophum punctatum were the most abundant parasites, reaching a prevalence of 91.4% and mean intensity of 3.1 (1–14). Anisakis sp. (unidentified) infected Chauliodus sloani and Poromitra crassiceps. Bothriocephalidean and tetraphyllidean cestode larvae infected Benthosema glaciale, the latter also occurring in C. sloani and Scopelogadus beanii, at low prevalences. Adult parasites at low infection rates included the digenean Lethadena sp. (2.9%), and the two copepod species Sarcotretes scopeli (5.7%) and Tautochondria dolichoura (5.3–11.4%). The myctophid Lampanyctus macdonaldi and the melamphaid Scopelogadus mizolepis mizolepis were free of parasites. Analyses of the stomach contents revealed crustaceans, especially copepods and euphausiids for the myctophids and also amphipods for the melamphaids as predominant prey items. While all stomachs showing distinct content comprising often unidentified ‘tissue’ (possibly gelatinous zooplankton), only C. sloani preyed upon fish. Though this feeding habit would enable transfer of a variety of crustacean-transmitted parasites into the fish, the parasite fauna in the meso- and bathy-pelagic fish was species poor. All observed parasites showed low host specificity, demonstrating no distinct pattern of host–parasite co-evolution. The MAR is no barrier for the parasite distribution in the North Atlantic meso- and bathy-pelagial.     

Heat extraction from hot,dry, crustal rock

Natural heat stored in the earth's interior represents an essentially inexhaustible energy supply which, at usefully high temperatures, is accessible at practical drilling depths from almost anywhere on the earth's land surface. The problems of extracting and using this heat are those of engineering and economics, and can be expected to vary with the local geology and value of thermal energy. The first major experimental system designed to investigate these problems in one common type of geologic environment has recently been completed in the crystalline rock underlying the Jemez Plateau of northern New Mexico. It consists principally of two boreholes connected at a depth of about 2.7 km by a system of hydraulic fractures produced in granitic rock at a temperature of approximately 185°C. Cool water injected through one hole is heated as it flows through the fractures, and is recovered through the second hole as pressurized, superheated water. In a surface heat-exchange system now being completed, this heat will be extracted and the cool water reinjected to maintain a continuous, closed, pressurized-water energy-extraction loop.     

Lunar deposits of possible pyroclastic origin

Glass droplets of possible pyroclastic origin are present in the lunar regolith at the Apollo 11, 15, and 17 sites. The droplets may be derived from deposits, interbedded with mare lava flows, which have been partly mixed into the regolith by impact processes. Orange glass droplets from the Apollo 17 site (spheres, ovoids, broken droplets) are both chemically and texturally homogeneous and have rare olivine phenocrysts. None of the droplets contain shock damaged crystals which are common in glass produced during meteorite impacts. The droplets are similar to those formed in terrestrial lava fountains and are here interpreted as tephra.The homogeneous glass droplets sampled at the Apollo 11, 15 and 17 sites are located on or close to mare basin rims. Vents for the youngest mare lava flows, located near basin rims, have been identified photogeologically. Dark mantle deposits, interpreted as pyroclastic blankets in some locations, and numerous rules are also present on the mare surface, near basin rims. The glass droplets, having ages nearly contemporaneous with the associated mare lavas, may be concentrated locally near such vent areas. This association is in accordance with the limited extent of ash deposits from terrestrial lava fountains (? km from the vent).     

Aquifer vulnerability to pesticide migration through till aquitards

This study investigates the influence of key factors-mainly recharge rate and degradation half-life--on downward migration of the widely used pesticide mecoprop (MCPP) through a typical clayey till aquitard. The study uses the numerical model FRAC3Dvs, which is a three-dimensional discrete fracture/matrix diffusion (DFMD) numerical transport model. The model was calibrated with laboratory and field data from a site near Havdrup, Denmark, but the overall findings are expected to be relevant to many other sites in similar settings. Fracture flow and MCPP transport parameters for the model were obtained through calibration using well-characterized laboratory experiments with large (0.5 m diameter by 0.5 m high) undisturbed columns of the fractured till and a field experiment. A second level of upscaling and sensitivity analysis was then carried out using data on hydraulic head, fracture spacing, and water budget from the field site. The simulations of downward migration of MCPP show that MCPP concentration and mass flux into the underlying aquifer, and hence the aquifer vulnerability to this pesticide compound, is mainly dependent on the degradation rate of the pesticide, the overall aquitard water budget, and the ground water recharge rate into the aquifer. The influence of flow rate, matrix diffusion, and degradation rate are intertwined. This results in one to four orders of magnitude higher MCPP flux into the aquifer from aquifer recharge rates of 20 and 120 mm/yr, respectively, for no degradation and MCPP half-life of 0.5 yr. From a sensitivity analysis it was found that the range of MCPP flux into the aquifer varied less than one order of magnitude due to (1) changing fracture spacing from 1 to 10 m, or (2) preferential flow along inclined thin sand layers, which represent common conditions for the current and other settings of clayey till in Denmark and other glaciated areas in Europe and North America. The results indicate that for aquifers overlain by fractured clayey tills, the vulnerability to contamination with pesticides (pesticide flux into the aquifer) and other widespread agricultural contaminants is going to vary strongly in the watershed as a function of the distribution of aquitard water budget (flow rate) and aquitard redox environment (controlling contaminant degradation rates), even if the thickness of the till is relatively constant. DFMD modeling of cause-effect relationships within such systems has great potential to support decisions in planning, regulation, and contaminant remediation.     

Long-term change in eelgrass distribution at Bahía San Quintín,Baja California,Mexico, using satellite imagery

Seagrasses are critically important components of many marine coastal and estuarine ecosystems, but are declining worldwide. Spatial change in distribution of eelgrass,Zostera marina L., was assessed at Bahía San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, using a map to map comparison of data interpreted from a 1987 Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre multispectral satellite image and a 2000 Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapping image. Eelgrass comprised 49% and 43% of the areal extent of the bay in 1987 and 2000, respectively. Spatial extent of eelgrass was 13% less (−321 ha) in 2000 than in 1987 with most losses occurring in subtidal areas. Over the 13-yr study period, there was a 34% loss of submerged eelgrass (−457 ha) and a 13% (+136 ha) gain of intertidal eelgrass. Within the two types of intertidal eelgrass, the patchy cover class (<85% cover) expanded (+250 ha) and continuous cover class (≥85% cover) declined (−114 ha). Most eelgrass losses were likely the result of sediment loading and turbidity caused by a single flooding event in winter of 1992–1993. Recent large-scale agricultural development of adjacent uplands may have exacerbated the effects of the flood. Oyster farming was not associated with any detectable losses in eelgrass spatial extent, despite the increase in number of oyster racks from 57 to 484 over the study period.     

The sediment and hydrographic characteristics of three horseshoe crab nursery beaches in hong kong

1　Introduction　Thelifecycleofhorseshoecrabsislengthywhencom paredtoothermarinearthropodssuchasbluecrabsandshrimpspecies (Sekiguchietal.,1988) .Thetwospecies,TachypleustridentatusandCarcinoscorpiusrotundicauda,knowntooccurinHongKongrequire ,respectively ,betweenthirteentofourteenandtentoelevenyearstomaturebeforedepartingtheirnurserybeachesfordeeperwaters (ChiuandMorton ,1999a ;Sekiguchietal.,1988) .Thelivingenvironmentofthenurserybeacheswheretheeggsarelaidandincu bated ,andfromwhichtheyoun…     

Sediment indicators of meromixis: comparison of laminations, diatoms, and sediment chemistry in Brownie Lake, Minneapolis, USA

Meromixis has several powerful effects on lakes, yet there is no single definitive sediment indicator of meromixis. In this study three sediment indicators of meromixis were compared in Brownie Lake, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a small eutrophic lake that became meromictic around 1925. The results show that in Brownie the onset of laminations and changes in the iron to manganese ratio most likely occurred before the development of permanently anoxic bottom water and that changes in the diatom assemblage occurred later, most likely only when meromixis was well developed.This is the 11th in a series of papers published in this special AMQUA issue. These papers were presented at the 1994 meeting of the American Quaternary Association held 19–22 June, 1994, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Dr Linda C. K. Shane served as guest editor for these papers.     

Paleolakes on Mars

Observational evidence such as outflow channels and valley networks suggest that in the past there was flowing water on Mars. The images of fluvial features on Mars logically suggest that there must exist downstream locations in which the water pooled and the sediment load deposited (i.e. lakes). Sediments and morphological features associated with the martian paleolakes are believed to occur in Valles Marineris, and several large basins including Amazonis, Chryse and Elysium planitia. As Mars became progressively colder over geological time, any lakes on its surface would have become seasonally, and eventually perennially ice-covered. We know from polar lakes on Earth that ice-covered lakes can persist even when the mean annual temperature falls below freezing. Thus, the most recent lacustrine sediments on Mars were probably deposited in ice-covered lakes. While life outside of the Earth's atmosphere has yet to be observed, there is a general consensus among exobiologists that the search for extraterrestrial life should be based upon liquid water. The inference that there was liquid water on Mars during an earlier epoch is the primary motivation for considering the possibility of life during this time. It would be of enormous interest from both an exobiological and paleolimnological perspective to discover lakes or the evidence of former lakes on another planet such as Mars. Limnology would then become an interplanetary science.     

Hydrothermal environments during the genesis of silver deposits in the Northwest Territories of Canada: Evidence from fluid inclusions

The Ag-Ni-Co-Bi-As-U veins in the Northwest Territories of Canada are hosted by volcano-sedimentary and intrusive rocks of the Great Bear Batholithic Complex. Fluid inclusion data from the gangue minerals of the veins suggest a wide range in salinity and temperature for the hydrothermal fluids. The salinities of the fluids range from about 15 to 35 wt.% NaCl equivalent. The homogenization temperatures range from 150° to 250°C for stage I fluids; 220° to 480°C for stage II fluids; 250° to 350°C for stage III fluids; 150° to 250°C for stage IV fluids and 90° to 250°C for stage V fluids. The coexistence of liquid-rich and vapour-rich inclusions in stages II and III minerals suggest that the hydrothermal fluids were boiling or effervescing. The coexistence of saturated and unsaturated inclusions in stages II and III minerals may be due to effervescence of a less saline fluid, whilst for stages IV and V it may be due to mixing of a highly saline fluid with a less saline fluid, or due to alternation of hydrostatic and lithostatic pressures at the time of trapping of the inclusions.