Habitat characteristics and spatial arrangement affecting the diversity of fish and decapod assemblages of seagrass (Zostera marina) beds around the coast of Jersey (English Channel)

Recent research and management plans for seagrass habitats have called for landscape level approaches. The present study examines the spatial utilisation of subtidal seagrass beds by fish and decapods around the coast of Jersey (49°N 02° W). A hierarchical scale of landscape configuration and the plant characteristics of eight seagrass beds were measured and the contributions of these variables as predictors of the properties of the fish and decapod assemblages were evaluated using multiple linear regression models. The results indicated that total diversity had a negative relationship with transect heterogeneity and total species number had a weak negative association with increasing fragmentation. Both total diversity and total species number showed a positive relationship with depth. In fact, in all models of species number and densities, values were higher in deeper seagrass beds. Total decapod density increased with aggregation of seagrass patches within a landscape. In addition to landscape configuration, smaller-scale structural changes in both canopy height and epiphyte load appeared to influence densities of decapod crustaceans. At night, fewer patterns could be explained by the independent variables in the model.     

Geoacoustic Characterisation of Fine-grained Sediments using Single and Multiple Reflection Data

Fine-grained sediments commonly occur in areas of the continental shelf where wave and current energy are weak. Bulk density, compressional wave speed and attenuation are fundamental physical properties of these sediments required for predicting the response of the seabed for diverse branches of marine science. The traditional coring approach is time and labor-intensive, with large uncertainties associated with sediment disturbance in the sampling phase. Acoustic methods offer the advantages of remote sensing, i.e., sampling the sediment structure without mechanical disturbance and a significantly larger seabed coverage rate per unit time. Two different acoustic methods are described: one using short-range single-bounce interactions with the seabed, and the second using long-range modal propagation to infer the sediment properties. The relative strengths and sensitivities of each approach are explored through simulations guided by experience with measured data.     

Cross-Calibration and Long-Term Monitoring of the Microwave Radiometers of ERS, TOPEX, GFO, Jason, and Envisat

The radiometers on board the satellites ERS-1, TOPEX/Poseidon, ERS-2, GFO, Jason-1, and Envisat measure brightness temperatures at two or three different frequencies to determine the total columnal water vapor content and wet tropospheric path delay, a major correction to the altimeter range measurements. In order to asses the long-term stability of the path delay, the radiometers are calibrated against vicarious cold and hot references, against each other, and against several atmospheric models. Four of these radiometers exhibit significant drifts in at least one of the channels, resulting in yet unmodeled errors in path delay of up to 1 mm/year, thus limiting the accuracy at which global sea level rise can be inferred from the altimeter range measurements.     

A Sensitivity Analysis of the Waterline Method of Constructing a Digital Elevation Model for Intertidal Areas in ERS SAR scene of Eastern England

A sensitivity analysis of the waterline method of constructing a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of an intertidal zone using remote sensing and hydrodynamic modelling is described. Variation in vertical height accuracy as a function of beach slope is investigated using a set of nine ERS Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images of the Humber/Wash area on the English east coast acquired between 1992 and 1994. Waterlines from these images are heighted using a hydrodynamic tide-surge model and interpolated using block kriging. On 1:500 slope beaches, an average block height estimation standard deviation of 18–22 cm is achieved. This rises to 27 cm on 1:100 slope beaches, and 32 cm on 1:30 slope beaches. The average heighting error at different slopes is decomposed into components due to waterline heighting error, inadequate sensor resolution and interpolation inaccuracy. It is shown that, at 1:500 slope, waterline heighting error and interpolation inaccuracy are the main error sources, whilst at 1:30 slope, errors due to inadequate sensor resolution become dominant. The ability of the technique to generate intertidal DEMs for almost the entire coastal zone in a complete ERS SAR scene covering 100×100 km is demonstrated.     

Nomenclature for hydrocarbon-inducible cytochrome P450 in fish

A growing number of studies concerning organic chemical pollutant induction of cytochrome P450 mixed function oxidases in fish stimulate a need for common terminology. Similar names for proteins might be based on similarities in function, in regulation, and in their structure. Under the current guidelines for P450 proteins, classification is based on measured or inferred amino acid sequence. At present, a single teleost hydrocarbon-inducible P450 (rainbow trout) can conclusively be termed 1A1: a second (scup P450E) can be so termed on the basis of partial sequence. The lack of primary sequence information makes it difficult to assign a specific identity to hydrocarbon inducible P450s in other fish. Nevertheless, the sum of information on catalytic activities, introduction and immunological cross-reactivities provides a weight of evidence sufficient to assume (but not prove) gene family (I) and subfamily (A) identities for hydrocarbon-inducible proteins in many species. Reference to these proteins as P4501 or IA (or CYPI or IA) in fish species where sequence data are lacking is suggested as more appropriate than reference to them as P450IAI (or CYPIAI). Additional primary sequence data are required to further define orthologous relationships among P450IA genes in fish, and to determine whether IAI is a correct designation for a hydrocarbon-inducible P450 in many species.     

The Mid-atlantic Ridge (31°S–34°30′S): Temporal and spatial variations of accretionary processes

The ridge located between 31° S and 34°30′S is spreading at a rate of 35 mm yr⁻¹, a transitional velocity between the very slow (≤20 mm yr⁻¹) opening rates of the North Atlantic and Southwest Indian Oceans, and the intermediate rates (60 mm yr⁻¹) of the northern limb of the East Pacific Rise, and the Galapagos and Juan de Fuca Ridges. A synthesis of multi-narrow beam, magnetics and gravity data document that in this area the ridge represents a dynamically evolving system. Here the ridge is partitioned into an ensemble of six distinct segments of variable lengths (12 to 100 km) by two transform faults (first-order discontinuities) and three small offset (< 30 km) discontinuities (second-order discontinuities) that behave non-rigidly creating complex and heterogeneous morphotectonic patterns that are not parallel to flow lines. The offset magnitudes of both the first and second-order discontinuities change in response to differential asymmetric spreading. In addition, along the fossil trace of second-order discontinuities, the lengths of abyssal hills located to either side of a discordant zone are observed to lengthen and shorten creating a saw-toothed pattern. Although the spreading rate remains the same along the length of the ridge studied, the morphology of the spreading segments varies from a deep median valley with characteristics analogous to the rift segments of the North Atlantic to a gently rifted axial bulge that is indistinguishable from the shape and relief of the intermediate rate spreading centers of the East Pacific Rise (i.e., 21°N). Like other carefully surveyed ridge segments at slow and fast rates of accretion, the along-axis profiles of each ridge segment are distinctly convex upwards, and exhibit along-strike changes in relief of 500m to 1500 between the shallowest portion of the segment (approximate center) and the segment ends. Such spatial variations create marked along-axis changes in the morphology and relief of each segment. A relatively low mantle Bouguer anomaly is known to be associated with the ridge segment characterized by a gently rifted axial bulge and is interpreted to indicate the presence of focused mantle upwelling (Kuo and Forsyth, 1988). Moreover, the terrain at the ends of each segment are known to be highly magnetized compared to the centers of each segment (Carbotte et al, 1990). Taken together, these data clearly establish that these profound spatial variations in ridge segment properties between adjoining segments, and along and across each segment, indicate that the upper mantle processes responsible for the formation of this contrasting architecture are not solely related to passive upwelling of the asthenosphere beneath the ridge axis. Rather, there must be differences in the thermal and mechanical structure of the crust and upper mantle between and along the ridge segments to explain these spatial variations in axial topography, crustal structure and magnetization. These results are consistent with the results of investigations from other parts of the ridge and suggest that the emplacement of magma is highly focused along segments and positioned beneath the depth minimum of a given segment. The profound differences between segments indicate that the processes governing the behavior of upwelling mantle are decoupled and the variations in the patterns of axis flanking morphology and rate of accretion indicate that processes controlling upwelling and melt production vary markedly in time as well. At this spreading rate and in this area, the accretionary processes are clearly three-dimensional. In addition, the morphology of a ridge segment is not governed so much by opening rate as by the thermal structure of the mantle which underlies the segment.