Seasonal Changes in the Biochemical Composition of the Edible Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus Echinodermata: Echinoidea in a Lagoonal Environment

Abstract. Monthly soluble and insoluble protein, carbohydrate, lipid and ash levels and energetic content were measured in tissues of Paracentrotus lividus adults living in a lagoonal environment over a 1-year period to increase our understanding of resource allocation to the different tissues. The biochemical composition of P. lividus individuals in this environment is similar to that observed in other environments. The gonad and gut contained a high level of proteins soluble or insoluble, a lesser amount of lipids and, finally, a low level of carbohydrates. The main component of the test was ash, followed by protein levels. The lipid and carbohydrate levels in the test were very low. Seasonal variability in the biochemical composition of the different body parts was observed. In the gonad, an increase in the level of lipids was recorded concomitant to an increase in gonad weight. The lipids and carbohydrates, after an initial increase, decreased with the maturation of the gonad. The biochemical variations observed in the gut seem to be linked to both the reproductive cycle and the sea urchin's trophic activity. Variability in the test was low and irregular for all of the observed biochemical components. As P. lividus is an important member of the benthic community in the Urbinu lagoon, this echinoid represents an important store of materials and energy within this lagoonal environment.     

Thermal bending of thin, anisotropic, clamped elliptic plates

The present note deals with the exact analytical solution of thermal bending of clamped, anisotropic, elliptic plates in the case where the thermal field is given by an expression of the type T(x,y,z)=z(Ax²+Cxy+By²).The problem is of basic interest in some ocean and mechanical structural systems since anisotropic materials are commonly used in those fields. Obviously the case of an orthotropic material constitutes a particular situation of the problem under study.     

Spatial and temporal variability of particulate matter in the benthic boundary layer at the N.W. European Continental Margin (Goban Spur)

Near bottom water samples and sediments were taken during five cruises to 6 stations forming a transect across the N.W. European Continental Margin at Goban Spur. Flow velocity spot measurements in the benthic boundary layer (BBL) always increased from the shelf to the upper slope (1470 m) from 5 to 9 cm s⁻¹ in spring/summer and from 15 to 37 cm s⁻¹ in autumn/winter. Decreasing values were detected at the lower slope (2000 m) and the lowest values of ca. 2 cm s⁻¹ at the continental rise at 4500 m water depth. Long term measurements with a benthic lander at 1470 m show that currents have a tidal component and reach maximum velocities up to 20 cm s⁻¹, sufficiently high periodically to resuspend and transport phytodetritus. During these long-term observations, currents were always weaker in spring/summer than in autumn/winter. Critical shear velocities of shelf/slope sediments increased with depth from 0.5 to 1.7 cm s⁻¹ and major resuspension events and Intermediate Nepheloid Layers (INLs) should occur around 1000 m. Chloroplastic Pigment Equivalents (CPE) ranged from 0.0 to 0.21 μg dm⁻³, Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) from 12 to 141 μg dm⁻³ and Total Particulate Matter (TPM) from 0.2 to 10.0 mg dm⁻³. Aggregates in the BBL occurred with a median diameter of 152 to 468 μm. Data on suspended particulate matter in the near-bottom waters showed that hydrodynamic sorting within the particulate organic fraction occurred. Phytodetritus was packaged in relatively large aggregates and contributed little to the total organic carbon pool in nearbottom waters (CPE/POC ca.0.2%). The main organic fraction has low settling velocities and high residence times within the benthic boundary layer. As POC was not concentrated in the near bed region the degree to which carbon is accessible to the benthic community depends on aggregate formation, subsequent settling and/or biodeposition of the POC. Close to the sea bed downslope transport may dominate. Under flow conditions high enough to resuspend fresh phythodetritus from sediments at the productive shelf edge, this could be transported to 1500 m (Goban Spur) or abyssal depth (Canyon site between Meriadzek and Goban Spur) within 21 days.     

Normal faulting vs regional subsidence and sedimentation rate

Normal faults occur in a variety of geodynamic environments, both in areas of subsidence and uplift. Normal faults may have slip rates faster or slower than regional subsidence or uplift rates. The total subsidence may be defined as the sum of the hangingwall subsidence generated by the normal fault and the regional subsidence or uplift rate. Positive total subsidence obviously increases the accommodation space (e.g., passive margins and back-arc basins), in contrast with negative total subsidence (e.g., orogens). Where the hangingwall subsidence rate is faster than the sedimentation rate in cases of both positive and negative total subsidence, the facies and thickness of the syntectonic stratigraphic package may vary from the hangingwall to the footwall. A hangingwall subsidence rate slower than sedimentation rate only results in a larger thickness of the strata growing in the hangingwall, with no facies changes and no morphological step at the surface. The isostatic footwall uplift is also proportional to the amount and density of the sediments filling the half-graben and therefore it should be more significant when the hangingwall subsidence rate is higher than sedimentation rate.     

A perturbation theory for Love waves in anelastic media

Summary. We give a systematic formulation and a rigorous justification of a perturbation technique for the computation of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of Love waves (and toroidal oscillations by an appropriate change for variables) in an anelastic medium with a constitutive law modelling geophysical media of current interest such as the Kelvin—Voigt Solid, the Maxwell Solid, the Standard Linear Solid, and the Standard Linear Solid with a continuous spectrum of relaxation times. We develop expressions relating the eigenvalues of eigenfunctions for Love waves in a continuously varying vertically stratified anelastic half-space to the corresponding elastic eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Analytically, our correspondence principle has the form of a regular perturbation expansion in terms of a parameter for both the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. The identification of ɛ is motivated by the dissipativity principle of viscoelasticity theory. Moreover, we show that our correspondence principle applies respectively only in the high and low frequency range for the Maxwell and Kelvin—Voigt Solids. Outside of the applicable range of frequencies, our correspondence principle yields no useful information. For the family of Standard Linear Solids it is uniformly applicable for all non-zero frequencies.
We also derive an explicit formula to estimate the radius of convergence of our perturbation expansions. This estimate of the radius of convergence for each eigenvalue and eigenfunction is functionally defined by the constitutive model for the anelastic medium. The estimate is frequency dependent and depends on the separation distance between the eigenvalue and the remainder of the spectrum of the corresponding elastic problem.     

Relativistic effects for near-earth satellite orbit determination

The relativistic formulations for the equations which describe the motion of a near-Earth satellite are compared for two commonly used coordinate reference systems (RS). The discussion describes the transformation between the solar system barycentric RS and both the non-inertial and inertial geocentric RSs. A relativistic correction for the Earth's geopotential expressed in the solar system barycentric RS and the effect of geodesic precession on the satellite orbit in the geocentric RS are derived in detail. The effect of the definition of coordinate time on scale is also examined. A long-arc solution using 3 years of laser range measurements of the motion of the Lageos satellite is used to demonstrate that the effects of relativity formulated in the geocentric RS and in the solar system barycentric RS are equivalent to a high degree of accuracy.     

Book review

Geotechnical Aspects of Coastal and Offshore Structures. Edited by Yudhair and A. S. Balasubramaniam. Proceedings of the Symposium on Geotechnical Aspects of Coastal and Offshore Structures, Bangkok, December 14–18,1981. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema, 1983. 280 pp. $40.00.

The Seaside Naturalist: A Guide to Nature Study at the Seashore. Written and illustrated by D. A. Coulombe. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1984. 246 pp. $12.95.

Ichnology, Trace Fossils in Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. By A. A. Ekdale, R. G. Bromley, and S. G. Pemberton. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Short Course No. 15. Tulsa, Okla.: S.E.P.M., 1984. 317 pp. S.E.P.M. members, $16.00; non‐members, $20.00.     

Beneficiation and digestion of Georgia offshore phosphates

Abstract

The U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted beneficiation and digestion tests to evaluate the potential of recovering P₂O₅ from an apatite deposit located 10 nautical miles offshore Savannah, GA, in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). A 1.8 metric ton sample containing 1.0–1.5% P₂O₅ was obtained in a cooperative drilling project involving the Bureau of Mines, the Marine Minerals Technology Center‐Continental Shelf Division, the Minerals Management Service, and the Georgia Nonenergy Minerals Offshore Task Force. Beneficiation methods were evaluated with the goal of producing a 29–31% P₂O₅ concentrate with a CaO: P₂O₅ratio of less than 1.6: 1. These specifications were obtained using a combination of gravity separation and flotation. Comparative leaching tests conducted using EEZ, Idaho, and Florida phosphate concentrates showed that these EEZ phosphates behaved similarly to land‐based phosphates. The results suggest that as land‐based phosphate deposits are depleted, ocean phosphates represent a feasible alternate source.     

Terminology and units in optical oceanography

Abstract

This document presents fundamental terms describing the transfer of radiative energy and relevant optical properties of natural waters. These are primarily based upon the terminology of the “Système International d'Unités (SI)”; and the “International Commission on Illumination (CIE).’’ Quantities and Symbols as proposed in the present terminology follow and extend the terminology that was recommended by the Committee on Radiant Energy in the Sea (of the International Association of Physical Oceanography, IAPO), as published by Jerlov (1968, Optical Oceanography Elsevier Oceanography Series, Vol. 5; 1976, Marine Optics Elsevier Oceanography Series, Vol. 14).