Interaction of haematopoietic tissue cultures of the Dublin Bay Prawn, Nephrops norvegicus (L.), with the causal agent of luminous vibriosis Vibrio harveyi

Vibrio harveyi cells (dose—<10³ cells mL⁻¹) and extracellular products (ECP; >25 μmg mL⁻¹ of total protein concentration) destroyed haematopoietic cultures of Nephrops norvegicus within 24 h of exposure. Cytopathic effects (CPE) started after 4h of exposure to the bacterial cells, with some granularity in the cytoplasm, mostly in cells in the outer periphery of the explant growth. At the end of the infection, a considerable number of nuclei remained attached to the substrate, apparently unaffected. Following exposure to ECP, initial deterioration was observed at 2 h with the presence of granularity in the cytoplasm of<20% cells, and few cells displayed small vacuoles around the nuclei. Parallel results were obtained using whole animal experiments, with V. harveyi cells being lethal to nephrops within 24 h.     

Heterotrophic bacterial floras in industrial area and unpolluted marine environments around Qingdao

From Oct. 1999 to Oct. 2000, the heterotrophic bacterial floras in the industrial marine environment around the Qingdao Power Plant (QPP) and in the unpolluted marine environments were investigated. The results showed that the numbers of the heterotrophic bacteria around QPP were much higher than those in unpolluted environments, and the average numbers in QPP Seawater, QPP Sediment, Unpolluted Seawater and Unpolluted Sediment were 5.4×10⁴cfu(mL)⁻¹, 5.0×10⁵cfug⁻¹, 3.0×10²cfu(mL)⁻¹ and 1.3×10⁵cfug⁻¹ respectively. Totally, 118 strains were isolated from QPP and 99 of them were Gram-negative. One hundred and twenty one strains were isolated from the unpolluted environments and 104 of them were Gram-negative. All the Gram-negative bacteria belonged to 13 genera. The distribution of the bacteria was varied in different marine environments. The results showed that the unpolluted marine environments contained much more Vibrio than seawater and sediment around QPP.     

Airborne Laser Sensing of Scottish Coastal Waters

An Nd:YAG-based airborne lidar system has been used to measure the optical properties of littoral waters off the northwest Scottish coast. The small-scale structure of subsurface scattering layers was also investigated. Methods of solving the Lidar Sensing Equation in the single scattering approximation are described and the values of the derived extinction indices presented. The extinction index averaged over a series of five flights to the northeast of the Gulf Stream was ε= 0.224 m -1 with a standard deviation of 0.212 m -1 . Further, it was demonstrated that, in coastal waters, optical inhomogeneities with dimensions between 50 m and 200 km obey the power law Sp ε ~ k -P with the parameter P close to two. In turbid or transparent areas, the water extinction index can change by several tenths of a percent with respect to the surrounding water mass. This suggests that the observed nonmonotonic behavior of the power spectra of the water extinction index fluctuations is caused by the outer scale of turbulence, in particular, by the bottom depth at the measurement site.     

A SPECIFICATION AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT FOR TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEYS

A second joint meeting between members of the Society, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institution of Highway Engineers was held on 20th May, 1971. Since the first meeting (Record, 6(36): 521 -536) in December 1969, the Directorate of Highways, Department of the Environment (formerly the Ministry of Transport) has published a Specification and Conditions of Contract for Topographic Surveys. The purpose of this second meeting was to hear the comments of an engineer and a photogrammetrist on the new document and to discuss and criticise the document from the engineering and surveying points of view.     

The delineation of rain areas from visible and IR satellite data for GATE and mid‐latitudes

Abstract

Two‐dimensional pattern matching has been used to delineate raining areas of clouds from GATE and Montreal GOES visible and IR satellite data, with radar as ground truth. For the cases examined, the cloud cover was of the order of 4 times larger than the rain area, requiring skill to separate out low‐thick or high‐thin non‐precipitating clouds from cumulus systems, which is difficult using a single threshold. The more flexible approach described here has allowed useful rain maps to be generated for all the types of weather systems examined. The optimum boundary separating raining from non‐raining areas is relatively insensitive to diurnal and day‐to‐day variations, but is different for the tropical Atlantic and for Montreal.     

Underwater video reveals decreased activity of rocky intertidal snails during high tides and cooler days

Nearly all of our understanding of rocky inter‐tidal ecology comes from studies conducted at low tide. To study inter‐tidal organisms at high tide, we anchored waterproof digital GoPro^® video cameras in wave‐exposed tidepools and recorded the daytime movements of the black turban snail, Tegula funebralis, over the tidal cycle between May and August 2012 near Bodega Bay, California. Overall, snails moved more quickly and presumably foraged more during low tides and on days with warmer air and perhaps water temperatures. This is similar to other ectotherms that exhibit increased metabolic rates, movement and foraging in warmer conditions. Snails also moved less during flood and high tides, may have moved downward in tidepools at flood tides, and showed evidence of reduced activity on days with larger waves. This inactivity and refuge seeking may have been a strategy to avoid dislodgment by waves. Analysis of snail trajectories showed foraging bouts indicated by alternating zig‐zagging and straight movement. There was no effect of temperature, wave height, or tidal phase on distribution of snail turning angles, suggesting that they may have foraged consistently but moved faster during warm conditions and low tides, thereby grazing a larger area. This is one of few direct recordings of inter‐tidal organisms on wave‐exposed rocky shores during high tide. The methods used here are easily transferable to other studies, which are needed to increase our understanding of behaviors that structure rocky shore communities during high tide.     

Comparing dispersivities and soil chloride concentrations of turfgrass-covered undisturbed and disturbed soil columns

Research relating to soil leaching properties under turfgrass conditions has often been conducted on disturbed soils where macropore structure has been destroyed. The objective of this study was to compare the solute movement characteristics of undisturbed and disturbed soil columns covered with turfgrass. Dispersivities and chloride (Cl) breakthrough curves of undisturbed and disturbed soils were investigated. Soil columns were excavated into three sections after testing, for which the mean bulk density was 1.33 Mg M⁻³ for the undisturbed columns and 1.16 Mg m⁻³ for the disturbed columns. The dispersivity for the undisturbed columns was over three times greater than for the disturbed columns. Chloride concentration found in Layer 1 (0–6.7 cm), Layer 2 (6.7–13.4 cm), and Layer 3 (13.4–20.0 cm) were 2.8, 5.3, and 4.8 times higher, respectively, for the disturbed soils than for the undisturbed. Applying conclusions from solute movement studies using repacked columns covered with turfgrass to actual undisturbed field conditions could lead to errors in interpretation because of the effect of macropores.     

Migration of recharge waters downgradient from the Santa Catalina Mountains into the Tucson basin aquifer, Arizona, USA

 Aquifers in the arid alluvial basins of the southwestern U.S. are recharged predominantly by infiltration from streams and playas within the basins and by water entering along the margins of the basins. The Tucson basin of southeastern Arizona is such a basin. The Santa Catalina Mountains form the northern boundary of this basin and receive more than twice as much precipitation (ca. 700 mm/year) as does the basin itself (ca. 300 mm/year). In this study environmental isotopes were employed to investigate the migration of precipitation basinward through shallow joints and fractures. Water samples were obtained from springs and runoff in the Santa Catalina Mountains and from wells in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Stable isotopes (δD and δ¹⁸O) and thermonuclear-bomb-produced tritium enabled qualitative characterization of flow paths and flow velocities. Stable-isotope measurements show no direct altitude effect. Tritium values indicate that although a few springs and wells discharge pre-bomb water, most springs discharge waters from the 1960s or later. Received, February 1997 · Revised, September 1997 · Accepted, September 1997     

The Arctic Ocean—the management of change in the northern seas

This paper covers some of the pressing problems of the Arctic Ocean, the existing structures and how cooperation in the region may develop. The region is surrounded by the lands of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, who together formed the Arctic Council in recognition of the fact that the issues facing the north exceed the capabilities and capacities of any one country and that successful solutions must be built on common actions. The expense and difficulty of operating in extreme conditions of the Arctic forced much of the significant arctic research into cooperative bilateral or multilateral projects, usually with a discrete research objective. Global organizations including the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) sponsor specific climate related programs in the Arctic. The warming trends in the Arctic provide the motivation for renewed attention on the Arctic, which is changing rapidly both environmentally and socially. The climate and pollution issues, both anthropogenic in origin, have created some priorities in governmental thinking and led to limited additional funding in recent years. Industry needs to be responsive and innovative in incorporating stringent control and monitoring into development projects and in contributing to research and environmental management. Collective efforts by all interested governments will be needed to address the scarcity of research and observations, extending from the oceans to the coastal areas and drainage basins of the hinterlands. Arctic countries must also pursue global arrangements to protect the Arctic from the impacts of pollution from outside areas. The work started by the Arctic Council needs to be bolstered by the establishment of a regional convention for the Arctic, which will confer more responsibility upon governments to continue with the programs.