The uptake and accumulation of Ni by Cerastoderma edule and its effect on mortality,body condition and respiration rate

The concentration of Ni in C. edule ranges from 17·8 μg/g to 53·82 μg/g with the highest concentration in the gills and mantle and the lowest in the foot and adductor muscles. The concentration does not change with either size or season.There is no significant increase in mortality even in the highest Ni concentration (100 μg/litre), nor is body condition correlated with experimental Ni concentrations. The rate of uptake of Ni (y) is described by the equation:

$\text{y=?16·903+11·674x}{}_1\text{+0·437x}{}_2$

where x₁ = Ni concentration (μg/litre) and x₂ = time (h).The respiration rates did not significantly change up to the highest Ni concentration used (1000 μg/litre).It is postulated that the main pathway for Ni uptake is through the gills, possibly through mucus sheet or transmembrane absorption, with a secondary uptake route via the viscera.C. edule may therefore be a suitable indicator species for Ni.     

Ionic activity coefficients in aqueous mixtures of NaCl and MgCl2

Methods developed earlier, based on hydration numbers for individual ionic species, have been extended to the calculation of ionic activity coefficients in aqueous systems of two electrolytes MX and NX₂ with a common unhydrated anion (X⁻). The data required include the mean activity coefficients of MX and NX₂ in the mixtures, together with the osmotic coefficient. The procedure is illustrated by a calculation of γ_Na, γ_Mg, and γ_Cl in a mixture of NaCl and MgCl₂ closely approximating the composition of seawater with salinity of 35‰.     

Fine-grained sediments in deep water: An overview of processes and facies models

There appears to be a continuum of processes affecting the transport and deposition of fine-grained sediments in the deep sea. This results in a facies continuum within which we can recognize three broadly different facies groups: turbidites, contourites, and pelagites/hemipelagites. Several distinct facies models can be defined for each group on the basis of their chief structural, textural, and compositional attributes.     

The role of damped equatorial waves in the oceanic response to winds

In inviscid shallow water models currents generated by spatially uniform winds are transient and are eliminated by Rossby and equatorial Kelvin waves excited at the eastern and western coasts, respectively. The inclusion of mixing processes can lead to an entirely different steady state in which currents are present. It is shown that the mixing of heat affects the steady state more than does the mixing of momentum because the waves that are important in the oceanic adjustment are divergent.     

Estimation of the leeway drift of small craft

Small craft (<6·4 m) leeway is determined as a function of the wind speed in the range of 5–20 knots (3·6–10·3 m/sec). Leeway is calculated relative to the surface current by measurement of the separation distance of the small craft from a dyed patch of surface water at sea, using time-sequenced aerial photography. Leeway increases linearly with wind speed for small craft equipped with or without a sea anchor in the wind range studied. Leeway for small craft without sea anchor can be calculated from the equation U_L = 0.07 U_W + 0.04 where U_W is the wind speed at 2 m elevation. Leeway for small craft drifted off the be calculated from the equation U_LD = 0·05 U_W − 0·12. The small craft drifted off the downwind direction in about 80% of the experiments. The drift angle is variable and difficult to predict.     

The influence of the gulf’s geometry on seiche oscillations in an enclosed basin

The finite-elements technique is applied to study the effect of a basin’s geometry (bays, harbours) and location of the characteristics of seiche oscillations in the basin and in the gulf proper. An increase of the length of the bay is shown to contribute to the periods of natural oscillations and to cause their restructuring. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Kirsch problem and the lower natural frequencies of a clamped square-plate

A clamped square-plate is subjected to a uniform state of stress in the x-direction. The present study deals with the basic question of determining the variation of the lower natural frequencies of transverse vibration of a plate as a small diameter, central hole is made in it, introducing a stress concentration field.     

A pockmark field in the Patras Gulf (Greece) and its activation during the 14/7/93 seismic event

During a recent oceanographical-geophysical survey carried out in the southeastern part of the Gulf of Patras in Western Greece for the construction of an outfall, an active pockmark field was found. The pockmark field was formed in soft layered Holocene silts. The pockmarks are associated with acoustic anomalies attributed to gas-charged sediments. The pockmarks vary in size and shape from 25 to 250 m in diameter and from 0.5 to 15 m in depth and are among the largest and deepest observed in the world.

On July 14th, 1993, during the survey, a major earthquake of magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale occurred in the area. During the 24 hour period prior to the earthquake the bottom water temperature anomalously increased on three occasions, whilst for a few days after the earthquake it was noted that the majority of the pockmarks were venting gas bublles.

It is considered that the three abrupt sea-water temperature increases were probably the result of upward migrating high-temperature gas bubbles in the water column. It is further suggested that the earthquake was the triggering mechanism and that the gas expulsion was caused by the reduction in the pore volume in the sediments resulting from changes in the stress regime prior to the earthquake. Therefore, it can be suggested that in seismic areas adjacent to pockmark fields, earthquake prediction may be achieved by monitoring the water temperature and/or the rate of gas venting in the pockmark field.

Our analysis indicates that the pockmark field in the Patras Gulf has formed slowly during the Holocene by continuous gas venting, which is periodically being interrupted by short-duration events of enhanced gas seepage triggered by earthquakes.