Late Holocene estuarine–inner shelf interactions; is there evidence of an estuarine retreat path for Tampa Bay, Florida?

The purpose of this study was to determine if and how a large, modern estuarine system, situated in the middle of an ancient carbonate platform, has affected its adjacent inner shelf both in the past during the last, post-glacial sea-level rise and during the present. An additional purpose was to determine if and how this inner shelf seaward of a major estuary differed from the inner shelves located just to the north and south but seaward of barrier-island shorelines. Through side-scan sonar mosaicking, bathymetric studies, and ground-truthing using surface grab samples as well as diver observations, two large submarine sand plains were mapped – one being the modern ebb-tidal delta and the other interpreted to be a relict ebb-tidal delta formed earlier in the Holocene. The most seaward portion of the inner shelf studied consists of a field of lobate, bathymetrically elevated, fine-sand accumulations, which were interpreted to be sediment-starved 3D dunes surrounded by small 2D dunes composed of coarse molluscan shell gravel. Additionally, exposed limestone hardbottoms supporting living benthic communities were found as well. This modern shelf sedimentary environment is situated on a large, buried shelf valley, which extends eastward beneath the modern Tampa Bay estuary. These observations plus the absence of an incised shelf valley having surficial bathymetric expression, and the absence of sand bodies normally associated with back-tracking estuarine systems indicate that there was no cross-shelf estuarine retreat path formed during the last rise in sea level. Instead, the modern Tampa Bay formed within a mid-platform, low-relief depression, which was flooded by rising marine waters late in the Holocene. With continued sea-level rise in the late Holocene, this early embayment was translated eastward or landward to its present position, whereby a larger ebb-tidal delta prograded out onto the inner shelf. Extensive linear sand ridges, common to the inner shelves to the north and south, did not form in this shelf province because it was a low-energy, open embayment lacking the wave climate and nearshore zone necessary to create such sand bodies. The distribution of bedforms on the inner shelf and the absence of seaward-oriented 2D dunes on the modern ebb-tidal delta indicate that the modern estuarine system has had little effect on its adjacent inner shelf.     

Sea Grant in Latin America?: Adapting the US Sea Grant model of linked applied research,extension, and education to a Latin American Context—Is there a fit?

This paper explores the application of the US Sea Grant model of applied research, extension, and education to two case studies in Latin America: Coastal Ecuador and the Gulf of Fonseca. The analysis is based on a series of meetings and roundtables with in-country partners and leaders of the US Sea Grant program. We conclude that the Sea Grant model provides an institutional structure that Latin America lacks and the model's features would improve governance of marine and coastal resources through more effective linkages between coastal communities, universities, and policy/decision makers at local, national, and international levels.     

Heavy metals in marine sediments of Taranto Gulf (Ionian Sea, Southern Italy)

Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti and Zn concentrations have been determined in surface sediment samples collected in the Taranto Gulf (Ionian Sea, Southern Italy) in order to evaluate their levels and spatial distribution in this important area of the Mediterranean Sea. For various metals, the geoaccumulation index has been calculated as a criterion to assess if their concentrations represent contamination levels or can be considered as background levels. The results show that metals concentrations in sediments can be considered near the background levels found in the Mediterranean Sea.Analytical results have been elaborated by using a Geographical Information System (GIS) software to show metals accumulation areas. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we evaluate the possibility to distinguish the sampling stations, in relation to their geographical position. Results have showed metals distribution in the Taranto Gulf is principally influenced by industrial and urban wastes, located mostly in the northern coastal area of the Ionian Sea. Rivers in the Basilicata region and prevailing anticlockwise marine currents are further factors influencing metal accumulation in sediments.     

Phytoplankton and iron: validation of a global three-dimensional ocean biogeochemical model

The JGOFS program and NASA ocean-color satellites have provided a wealth of data that can be used to test and validate models of ocean biogeochemistry. A coupled three-dimensional general circulation, biogeochemical, and radiative model of the global oceans was validated using these in situ data sources and satellite data sets. Biogeochemical processes in the model were determined from the influences of circulation and turbulence dynamics, irradiance availability, and the interactions among four phytoplankton functional groups (diatoms, chlorophytes, cyanobacteria, and coccolithophores) and four nutrients (nitrate, ammonium, silica, and dissolved iron).Annual mean log-transformed dissolved iron concentrations in the model were statistically positively correlated on basin scale with observations (P<0.05) over the eight (out of 12) major oceanographic basins where data were available. The model tended to overestimate in situ observations, except in the Antarctic where a large underestimate occurred. Inadequate scavenging and excessive remineralization and/or regeneration were possible reasons for the overestimation.Basin scale model chlorophyll seasonal distributions were positively correlated with SeaWiFS chlorophyll in each of the 12 oceanographic basins (P<0.05). The global mean difference was 3.9% (model higher than SeaWiFS).The four phytoplankton groups were initialized as homogeneous and equal distributions throughout the model domain. After 26 years of simulation, they arrived at reasonable distributions throughout the global oceans: diatoms predominated high latitudes, coastal, and equatorial upwelling areas, cyanobacteria predominated the mid-ocean gyres, and chlorophytes and coccolithophores represented transitional assemblages. Seasonal patterns exhibited a range of relative responses: from a seasonal succession in the North Atlantic with coccolithophores replacing diatoms as the dominant group in mid-summer, to successional patterns with cyanobacteria replacing diatoms in mid-summer in the central North Pacific. Diatoms were associated with regions where nutrient availability was high. Cyanobacteria predominated in quiescent regions with low nutrients.While the overall patterns of phytoplankton functional group distributions exhibited broad qualitative agreement with in situ data, quantitative comparisons were mixed. Three of the four phytoplankton groups exhibited statistically significant correspondence across basins. Diatoms did not. Some basins exhibited excellent correspondence, while most showed moderate agreement, with two functional groups in agreement with data and the other two in disagreement. The results are encouraging for a first attempt at simulating functional groups in a global coupled three-dimensional model but many issues remain.     

Regional variation in springtime ichthyoplankton assemblages in the northeast Pacific Ocean

The coastal regions of the northeast Pacific support large, economically valuable fishery resources and provide nursery areas for many fish species. Over the last few decades, there have been dramatic shifts in species abundance and composition in this area. In this paper, we examine the springtime spatial patterns in the ichthyoplankton of three oceanographically different regions, the Southeast Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska and the U.S. West Coast. The data examined are a subset of a larger database (comprising data from cruises conducted from 1972 to 1997) that is being used to investigate spatial, seasonal and interannual patterns in ichthyoplankton of the northeast Pacific in relation to environmental conditions. Ichthyoplankton were collected during seven cruises using 60-cm bongo nets. Spatial patterns of ichthyoplankton were examined using both classification and ordination techniques. Relative Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficients calculated from the log₁₀ (n+1) of abundance data were used as input to the numerical classification of species and stations. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling was also applied to the abundance data to examine geometric patterns in the data. The numerical analyses of the species abundance data sets for each cruise revealed spatial patterns in the ichthyoplankton that suggest the occurrence of geographically distinct assemblages of fish larvae in each region. For all three sampling regions, the assemblage structure is primarily related to bathymetry, and Shelf, Slope, and Deep-Water assemblages are described. This shallow to deep-water gradient in species occurrence and abundance reflects the habitat preference and spawning location of the adult fish. Another degree of complexity is superimposed on this primary assemblage structure in each region and seems to be related to local topography and the prevailing current patterns. The patterns in ichthyoplankton assemblages of the three regions in the northeast Pacific Ocean described here form the basis for future investigations of spatial and temporal patterns in the ichthyoplankton of the subarctic Pacific.Regional Index Terms: Northeast Pacific Ocean, Southeast Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, U.S. West Coast.     

酶解鲐鱼蛋白制备低分子肽制品

介绍了以鲐鱼为原料 ,采用双酶水解技术 ,制备高质量的低分子肽粉末制品的最佳工艺。对鲐鱼水解液 4种脱苦脱腥的方法进行了比较 ,认为活性碳脱除法既可脱腥 ,又可脱苦、脱色 ,是鲐鱼水解液脱苦脱腥较好的方法。经正交试验得其最佳组合 :每升水解液中活性碳的用量为 1 0 g;时间为 40 min;温度为 40℃。制品为一种淡黄色粉末 ,含有较多的二肽、三肽等低分子肽 ,氨基酸种类齐全 ,富含人体所需矿物质元素的高质量的食品原料。     

Usefulness of classification and index properties of clay-rich sediments in evaluating sea-bed environmental conditions

A comprehensive study of undisturbed, mostly silty clay samples, taken from large-diameter surface cores collected in the North Atlantic and its bordering seas, shows that measurement of the Atterberg limits, water content, specific gravity of grains and grain-size distribution can provide the basis for predicting many seabed geotechnical and geophysical properties which can lead to a quick assessment of environmental conditions. Thus, the sediment compression curve can be reconstructed, acoustic properties assessed, electrical and thermal resistivities deduced and an indication of the shearing forces, which have affected the sediment, inferred.     

The utility of the terms "bioavailability" and "bioavailable fraction" for metals

Because concentrations of total or dissolved metal usually are not good predictors of the acute toxicity of metals to aquatic biota (i.e. not all of the metal appears to be bioavailable), it has been tempting for researchers and regulators to attempt to identify a form or combination of forms of a metal that is the bioavailable fraction. But from geochemical, biological, and analytical perspectives, the term 'bioavailable fraction" is context-specific (i.e. not generalizable) and quantitatively elusive. Although the term "bioavailability" conveys a useful, general concept and should be retained in the aquatic-toxicology lexicon, the term "bioavailable fraction" should be avoided.     

An initial demonstration of underwater acoustic communication using time reversal

In July 1999, an at-sea experiment to measure the focus of a 3.5-kHz centered time-reversal mirror (TRM) was conducted in three different environments: an absorptive bottom, a reflective bottom, and a sloping bottom. The experiment included a preliminary exploration of using a TRM to generate binary-phase shift keying communication sequences in each of these environments. Broadside communication transmissions were also made, and single-source communications were simulated using the measured-channel response. A comparison of the results is made and time reversal is shown to be an effective approach for mitigating inter-symbol interference caused by channel multipath.     

Biomarkers of Exposure and Effects for Assessing Toxicological Risk of Endocrine Disrupters in Top Predators of the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract. Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) have the potential to alter hormone pathways that regulate reproductive processes in wildlife and fisheries. In this research the unexplored hypothesis that Mediterranean top predator species (such as large pelagic fish and marine mammals) are potentially at risk due to EDCs is investigated. In the Mediterranean environment, top predators accumulate high concentrations of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs) and toxic metals, incurring high toxicological risk. Here we illustrate the need to develop sensitive biomarkers for evaluation of toxicological risk in top marine predators (Xiphias gladius, Thunnus thynnus thynnus) and non-lethal techniques, such as non-destructive biomarkers, for the hazard assessment of threatened species exposed to EDCs, such as marine mammals ( Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus, Delphinus delphis and Balaenoptera physalus ).