Positive feedback fishery: Population consequences of ‘crab-tiling’ on the green crab Carcinus maenas

Collection of marine invertebrates for use as fishing bait is a substantial activity in many parts of the world, often with unknown ecological consequences. As new fisheries develop, it is critical for environmental managers to have high quality ecological information regarding the potential impacts, in order to develop sound management strategies. Crab-tiling is a largely unregulated and un-researched fishery, which operates commercially in the south-west UK. The target species is the green crab Carcinus maenas. Those crabs which are pre-ecdysis and have a carapace width greater than 40 mm are collected to be sold to recreational anglers as bait. Collection involves laying artificial structures on intertidal sandflats and mudflats in estuaries. Crabs use these structures as refugia and are collected during low tide. However, the effect that this fishery has on populations of C. maenas is not known. The impact of crab-tiling on C. maenas population structure was determined by sampling crabs from tiled estuaries and non-tiled estuaries using baited drop-nets. A spatially and temporarily replicated, balanced design was used to compare crab abundance, sizes and sex ratios between estuaries. Typically, fisheries are associated with a reduction in the abundance of the target species. Crab-tiling, however, significantly increased C. maenas abundance. This was thought to be a result of the extra habitat in tiled estuaries, which probably provides protection from natural predators, such as birds and fish. Although crabs were more abundant in tiled estuaries than non-tiled estuaries, the overall percentage of reproductively active crabs in non-tiled estuaries was greater than in tiled estuaries. As with most exploited fisheries stocks, crabs in exploited (tiled) estuaries tended to be smaller, with a modal carapace width of 20–29 mm rather than 30–39 mm in non-tiled estuaries. The sex ratio of crabs however; was not significantly different between tiled and non-tiled estuaries. These results illustrate the potential to manage fished populations using habitat provision to mitigate the effects of fishing pressure.     

Normal fault growth influenced by basement fabrics: The importance of preferential nucleation from pre‐existing structures

Reactivation of pre‐existing intra‐basement structures can influence the evolution of rift basins, yet the detailed kinematic relationship between these structures and overlying rift‐related faults remains poorly understood. Understanding the kinematic as well as geometric relationship between intra‐basement structures and rift‐related fault networks is important, with the extension direction in many rifted provinces typically thought to lie normal to fault strike. We here investigate this problem using a borehole‐constrained, 3D seismic reflection dataset from the Taranaki Basin, offshore New Zealand. Excellent imaging of intra‐basement structures and a relatively weakly deformed, stratigraphically simple sedimentary cover allow us to: (a) identify a range of interaction styles between intra‐basement structures and overlying, Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults; and (b) examine the cover fault kinematics associated with each interaction style. Some of the normal faults parallel and are physically connected to intra‐basement reflections, which are interpreted as mylonitic reverse faults formed during Mesozoic subduction and basement terrane accretion. These geometric relationships indicate pre‐existing intra‐basement structures locally controlled the position and attitude of Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults. However, through detailed 3D kinematic analysis of selected normal faults, we show that: (a) normal faults only nucleated above intra‐basement structures that experienced late Miocene compressional reactivation, (b) despite playing an important role during subsequent rifting, intra‐basement structures have not been significantly extensionally reactivated, and (c) preferential nucleation and propagation of normal faults within late Miocene reverse faults and folds appears to be the key genetic relationship between contractionally reactivated intra‐basement structures and rift‐related normal faults. Our analysis shows that km‐scale, intra‐basement structures can control the nucleation and development of newly formed, rift‐related normal faults, most likely due to a local perturbation of the regional stress field. Because of this, simply inverting fault strike for causal extension direction may be incorrect, especially in provinces where pre‐existing, intra‐basement structures occur. We also show that a detailed kinematic analysis is key to deciphering the temporal as well as simply the spatial or geometric relationship between structures developed at multiple structural levels.     

Ramifications of high in-situ temperatures for laboratory testing and inferred stress states of unlithified sediments – A case study from the Nankai margin

The recovery of drill cores involves changes in pressure and temperature conditions, which inevitably alter the mechanical properties of unlithified sediments. While expansion from unloading after core recovery is well studied, the effects from cooling on standard geotechnical tests are commonly neglected. Along the central portion of the Nankai margin sediments were recovered from high in-situ temperatures of up to 110 °C during IODP Leg 190. So far, the interpretation of the consolidation state of the Lower Shikoku Basin facies (LSB) entering the accretionary Nankai margin is ambiguous. Results from laboratory consolidation tests at room temperature show high pre-consolidation stresses. These were interpreted as hardening caused by cementation, while the field-based porosity vs. depth trend points towards normal consolidation. As an explanation for this discrepancy, the change of the mechanical properties by cooling from in-situ to laboratory conditions is proposed. In this paper, the results of a thermo-mechanical model are compared to published field data. This comparison suggests that the observed hardening is at least partially an artefact from cooling during core recovery, and that the strata may be considered normally consolidated to slightly overconsolidated. The latter can be explained by minor cementation or the influence of secondary consolidation. The results suggest that cooling from high in-situ temperatures may be important for the interpretation of the consolidation state of other sedimentary successions elsewhere.     

Nearshore suspended sediment variations,central Surinam coast

Nearshore suspended sediment concentration along the muddy Surinam coast is highly variable; maximum values are many times greater than on other muddy coasts. Water samples taken at four field stations during various stages of the tide range in concentration from 15 to 3,700 mg/l near the surface and from 100 to 30,000 mg/l near the bottom. Highest overall concentrations and greatest variability in concentration occur in water over large banks of fluid mud (thixotropic gel) that extend 2–3 km offshore and 5–10 km along-shore. On both the intertidal and subaqueous portions of these mudbanks highest concentrations are found at low tide. Results provide evidence that an exchange between fluid mud and suspended sediment takes place during each tidal cycle.     

Preliminary investigation of the surficial sediments in the Cap-Breton Canyon (southwest France) and the surrounding continental shelf

A total of 120 grab samples of the surficial sediments in the Cap-Breton submarine canyon and surrounding continental shelf were collected and analyzed by grain-size sieving. A Q-mode Factor Analysis was made on the grain-size data in order to define the most meaningful facies types. Four distinct lithological facies were found to exist: silt and clay, very fine sand, fine sand, and coarse sand. Comparison with previous work and a ¹⁴C date on the silt and clay facies showed that the facies are not contemporaneous. The sands and coarse sands on the shelf were emplaced during the pre-Würm and Würm regressions, and later probably reworked during the Holocene (Flandrian) transgression. The silty clays found in the canyon and on the shelf to the south are younger and represent sediments brought in as suspended load by the Adour and other nearby rivers during the Holocene (Flandrian) transgression.     

Process length variation of the cyst of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum in the North Pacific and Baltic‐Skagerrak region: calibration as an annual density proxy and first evidence of pseudo‐cryptic speciation

Process length variation of cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum (Claparède et Lachmann) Bütschli in surface sediments from the North Pacific was investigated. The average process length showed a significant inverse relation to annual seawater density: σ_{t annual} = ?0.8674 × average process length + 1029.3 (R² = 0.84), with a standard error of 0.78 kg m^?3. A sediment trap study from Effingham Inlet in British Columbia revealed the same relationship between average process length and local seawater density variations. In the Baltic–Skagerrak region, the average process length variation was related significantly to annual seawater density: σ_{t annual} = 3.5457 × average process length ? 993.28 (R² = 0.86), with a standard error of 3.09 kg m^?3. These calibrations cannot be reconciled, which accentuates the regional character of the calibrations. This can be related to variations in molecular data (small subunit, long subunit and internal transcribed spacer sequences), which show the presence of several genotypes and the occurrence of pseudo‐cryptic speciation within this species. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variograms with zonal anisotropies and noninvertible kriging systems

Zonal anisotropies are usually simply defined as those that are not geometric (i.e., that cannot be removed by an affine transformation). Such anisotropies have often been associated with zonations and models have been proposed to reflect that association. It is shown by example that such models can lead to noninvertible coefficient matrices in kriging systems, because the models are only (conditionally) semidefinite instead of positive definite. The relationship to the construction used in turning bands algorithm and also to spatial-temporal models is discussed.     

Origin and history of hydrothermal fluids of the Reykjanes and Krafla geothermal fields,Iceland

The Reykjanes and Krafla geothermal fields are both examples of active high temperature systems and show similar assemblages of alteration minerals, but the fluid at Reykjanes is dominantly sea water whereas that at Krafla is meteoric. Oxygen isotope analyses of surface rock and of drill chip samples from different depths are presented, together with results for the Krafla fluid, which is close to local precipitation (δ ¹⁸ O = ?11.9‰, δD= ?86.8‰). Calcite in both systems is apparently in equilibrium with the present deep fluid at the present field temperature, except for the upper 250 m at Reykjanes where the fluid may be more meteoric than at depth. Feldspar gives similar results. Quartz separates at Reykjanes are anomalously lighter than coexisting feldspar and give exceptionally high quartz-fluid temperatures. It is suggested that quartz originally grew when the fluid was more nearly meteoric (? glacial period) and has not re-equilibrated. Bulk-rock ¹⁸ O depletion supports this interpretation of the history of the Reykjanes system. Quartz in the Krafla system is mostly in equilibrium at the present field conditions but anomalies occur near the boundary between the upper and lower parts of the system, suggesting that this is not entirely stable. A high fluid:rock ratio (10–100 minimum) is indicated for the Krafla field.     

Stable isotopic characterisation of francolite formation

Stable isotopic data are presented for 112 samples of francolite from 18 separate phosphate deposits. Values ofδ¹³C andδ³⁴S in most offshore deposits suggest formation within oxic or suboxic environments either by carbonate replacement or direct precipitation of francolite from water of normal marine compositions. The exceptions are concretionary francolite from Namibia, which has an isotopic composition in keeping with its formation within organic-rich sediments, and that from offshore Morocco, which has an isotopic signature of the anoxic/suboxic interface. Onshore deposits from Jordan, Mexico, South Africa and, possibly, the Permian Phosphoria Formation in the western U.S.A., are substantially depleted in¹⁸O: they appear to be too altered for deductions to be made about their environments of formation. In other onshore deposits which are unaltered, or minimally altered, the isotopic composition suggests that some formed within sulphate-reducing sediments (Sedhura, Morocco) whilst francolite from the Georgina Basin of Australia formed at the oxic/anoxic boundary, where oxidation of biogenic H₂S decreases theδ³⁴S of pore water. In general, pelletal samples show non-oxic isotopic signatures, whilst non-pelletal samples show oxic isotopic signatures, but samples from Namibia, Peru (Ica Plateau) and the Californian and Moroccan margins are exceptions to this rule. Morphology may therefore be a misleading indicator of francolite genesis as no definitive relation exists between phosphorite type and isotopic signature.     

Dynamics of lava flow fronts, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Arenal Volcano has effused basaltic andesite lava flows nearly continuously since September, 1968. The two different kinds of material in flows, lava and lava debris, have different rheologic properties and dynamic behavior. Flow morphology depends on the relationship between the amount and distribution of the lava and the debris, and to a lesser extent the ground morphology.Two main units characterize the flows: the channel zone and the frontal zone. The channel zone consists of two different units, the levées and the channel proper. A velocity profile in the channel shows a maximum value at the plug where the rate of shear is zero, and a velocity gradient increasing outward until, at the levées, the velocity becomes zero. Cooling produces a marked temperature gradient in the flow, leading to the formation of debris by brittle fracture when a critical value of shear rate to viscosity is reached. When the lava supply ceases, much of this debris and part of the lava is left behind after the flow nucleus drains out, forming a collapsed channel.Processes at the frontal zone include levée formation, debris formation, the change in shape of the front, and the choice of the flow path. These processes are controlled primarily by the rheological properties of the lava.Frontal zone dynamics can be understood by fixing the flow front as the point of reference. The lava flows through the channel into the front where it flows out into the levées, thereby increasing the length of the channel and permitting the front to advance. The front shows a relationship of critical height to the yield strength (τ₀) surface tension, and slope; its continued movement is activated by the pressure of the advancing lava in the channel behind. For an ideal flow (isothermal, homogeneous, and isotropic) the ratio of the section of channel proper to the section of levées is calculated and the distance the front will have moved at any time t_x can be determined once the amount of lava available to the front is known. Assuming that the velocity function of the front {G(t)} during the collapsing stage is proportional to the entrance pressure of the lava at the channel-front boundary, an exponential decrease of velocity through time is predicted, which shows good agreement with actual frontal velocity measurements taken on two flows. Local variations in slope have a secondary effect on frontal velocities.Under conditions of constant volume the frontal zone can be considered as a machine that consumes energy brought in by the lava to perform work (front advancement). While the front will use its potential energy to run the process, the velocity at which it occurs is controlled by the activation energy that enters the system as the kinetic energy of the lava flowing into the front. A relation for the energy contribution due to frontal acceleration is also derived. Finally the entrance pressure, that permits the front to deform, is calculated. Its small value confirms that the lava behaves very much like a Bingham plastic.