Channelled erosion through a marine dump site of dredge spoils at the mouth of the Puyallup River, Washington State, USA

Channels are relatively common on river-mouth deltas, but the process by which they arise from river sediment discharge is unclear because they can potentially be explained either by negatively buoyant (hyperpycnal) flows produced directly from the river outflow or by flows generated by repeated failure and mobilisation of sediment rapidly deposited at the delta front. Channels eroded through a dump site of dredge spoils are described here from multibeam and older sonar data collected in Commencement Bay, at the mouth of the Puyallup River. Shallow channels on the seaward upper surface of the dump site, away from any flows that could have been produced by delta front failures, suggest that at least some hyperpycnal flows were produced directly from the positively buoyant river outflow up to 200 m from the edge of the river mouth platform. The form of channel bed erosion is revealed by the longitudinal shape of the main eroded channel compared with the adjacent dump site profile. It suggests that the channel evolved by its steep front retreating, rather than by simple vertical entrenchment or diffusive-like evolution of the profile, a geometry interpreted as evidence that repeated failure of the bed occurred in response to shear stress imposed by bottom-travelling flows. Model calculations based on shear strengths back-calculated from the geometry of channel wall failures suggest that, if the main channel were eroded solely by hyperpycnal flows, their generation was remarkably efficient in order to create flows vigorous enough to cause channel bed failure. Besides the sediment concentration and discharge characteristics that have been considered to dictate the ability of rivers to produce hyperpycnal flows, it is suggested that the timing of floods with respect to the tidal cycle should also be important because extreme low tides may be needed to ensure that coarse sediment is transferred vigorously to the edge of river mouth platforms.     

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.     

藓羽藻(Bryopsis hypnoides)核酮糖-1，5-二磷酸羧化酶／加氧酶的分离与活性测定

采用硫酸铵分部沉淀与凝胶过滤的方法，进行藓羽藻Rubisco的分离研究。结果表明，分离的藓羽藻Rubisco经SDS-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳检测呈两条清晰条带，分别为Rubisco大亚基与小亚基；与菠菜相比，藓羽藻Rubisco大亚基分子量与菠菜基本相同，而小亚基较之稍大一些。藓羽藻Rubisco活力测定结果表明，Rubisco分离过程中用硫酸铵分部沉淀后活力降低许多，分离后活力有所上升，但仍比粗提液活力弱；在Rubisco活力测定过程中，藓羽藻Rubisco的活化温度与其它物种Rubisco活化的温度不同，在低温下活化效果较好。这些结果说明Rubisco的酶活力受硫酸铵的影响而且藓羽藻Rubisco相对陆地高等植物结构不稳定。     

Long term prediction of non-linear vertical bending moments on a fast monohull

An assessment is made of the maximum wave induced bending moment expected to occur during the operational lifetime of a fast monohull, based on long term distribution calculations of the non-linear vertical bending moment at mid-ship. The ship is assumed to operate in the Northern North Sea, with an operational life of 25 years. A succession of short-term stationary ship responses represented by Rayleigh distributions of peaks results in the long-term distribution of the structural loads. Non-linear pseudo transfer functions are used in the procedure to calculate the variances of the short-term responses. The amplitudes of these transfer functions are calculated by a non-linear time domain seakeeping program. The results are compared with rules minimum required values and also with results from simpler calculation procedures such as adopting design sea states.     

Validation of a time-domain strip method to calculate the motions and loads on a fast monohull

The paper presents a comparison between experimental data and numerical results of the hydrodynamic coefficients and also of the wave induced motions and loads on a fast monohull model. The model with 4.52 m length was constructed in Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP), and made up of 4 segments connected by a backbone in order to measure sectional loads. The objective of the investigation was to assess the capability of a nonlinear time domain strip method to represent the nonlinear and also the forward speed effects on a displacement high speed vessel advancing in large amplitude waves. With this objective in mind the experimental program included forced oscillation tests in heaving and pitching, for a range of periods, three different amplitudes and several speeds of advance. In head regular waves comprehensive ranges of wave periods, wave steepness and speeds, were tested in order to measure heave, pitch and loads in three cross sections.

The numerical method assumes that the radiation and diffraction hydrodynamic forces are linear and the nonlinear contributions arise from the hydrostatics and Froude–Krilov forces and the effects of green water on deck. The assumption of linearity of the radiation forces is validated by comparing calculated hydrodynamic coefficients with experimental data for three different amplitudes of the forced oscillations. Both global coefficients and sectional coefficients are compared. The motions and loads in waves are compared in terms of first and higher harmonic amplitudes and also in terms of sagging and hogging peaks.     

Environmental change and oyster colonization within the Hudson River estuary linked to Holocene climate

Geophysical mapping and sampling data provide a record of changing environmental and faunal conditions within the Hudson River estuary during the mid- to late Holocene. On the shallow, broad marginal flats of the mesohaline Hudson, fossil oyster beds (Crassostrea virginica) are found exposed on the river bottom and buried by sediment. The shallowest beds are well imaged in chirp sub-bottom and side-scan sonar data and form discrete flow-perpendicular bands, 0.6–1.0 km wide and up to 3 km long, which cover 30% of the river bottom. Radiocarbon-dated sediment cores indicate oysters thrived within two time periods from ~500–2,400 and ~5,600–6,100 cal. years b.p. Sediment and physical property data indicate a changing depositional regime consistent with the oyster chronology. Similar changes in oyster presence are found in local shell midden sites of the Lower Hudson Valley as well as elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, and may reflect climatic controls associated with warm–cool cycles during the Holocene. Oysters flourished during the mid-Holocene warm period, disappeared with the onset of cooler climate at 4,000–5,000 cal. years b.p., and returned during warmer conditions of the late Holocene. The most recent demise of oysters within the Hudson at 500–900 cal. years b.p. may have accompanied the Little Ice Age.     

Glucuronidation in the polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

Polar bears bioaccumulate lipophilic pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), into their bodies from their exclusive diet of marine organisms. Hydroxylated PCB metabolites (OH-PCBs) have been found in plasma, presumably due to CYP-dependent biotransformation of PCBs in liver. Little is known about the phase 2 metabolism of hydroxylated xenobiotics in polar bears. The objective of this study was to examine UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activity with OH-PCBs and a hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, 3-hydroxy-benzo(a)pyrene (3-OH-BaP), in polar bear liver. Samples of frozen polar bear liver were used to prepare microsomes. UGT activity with 3-OH-BaP in Brij-treated microsomes, measured by a fluorescence assay, was readily measurable with protein concentrations in assay tubes of up to 10 g/ml, but dropped off very sharply at higher protein concentrations. The apparent Km for 3-OH-BaP was 1.71 +/- 0.04 microM, and Vmax 1.26 +/- 0.16 nmol/min/mg protein (mean +/- SD, n=3). UGT activities with a model tetrachloro-OH-PCB (4'-OH-CB72) and a model hexachloro-OH-PCB (4'-OH-CB159) were assayed with [14-C]-UDPGA and separation of the [14-C]-glucuronide by ion-pair extraction and thin-layer chromatography. [14-C]-glucuronide conjugates were readily formed by polar bear liver microsomes in the absence of added substrate, apparently from contaminants present in liver. This phenomenon was not observed using hepatic microsomes from laboratory-held catfish. Glucuronidation efficiency was much higher with 4'-OH-CB72 (Km 7.3 microM; Vmax 1.55 nmol/min/mg) than 4'-OH-CB159 (Km 16.1 microM; Vmax 0.46 nmol/min/mg). The identities of the aglycones present in polar bear liver are not known, but could include OH-PCBs or hydroxylated metabolites of other persistent organic pollutants. This study demonstrates that UGT with high activity for 3-OH-BaP and other substrates is present in polar bear liver.     

The Dynamics of Covering Behaviour in Dominant Echinoid Populations from American and European West Coasts

Abstract.  The so-called 'covering behaviour' of echinoids is known to vary with habitat according to the types of covering items available, but the full extent of the role played by habitat characteristics in this behaviour is not known. Moreover, whether or not different species inhabiting similar environmental conditions and habitats also show similar patterns of this particular behaviour has yet to be investigated. In this study, two prominent west coast echinoid species, Paracentrotus lividus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus , were examined with respect to covering behaviour and spatial organisation. Populations of both species are found in exposed intertidal zones, occupying boreholes within tidepools. Important similarities were found in the spatial organisation of both species' populations, with lowest densities in upper shore pools. However, the size distributions of the two populations differed significantly; P. lividus within upper shore pools were significantly larger than those in mid or lower shore pools, whereas S. purpuratus on the lower shore were significantly larger than those at other shore heights. We found significant between-species variability in covering item use, although the number of covering items available at both sites was not significantly different. For example, greater densities of covering items were used by P. lividus than by S. purpuratus . We also found that the percent of echinoid surface area covered varied significantly in space for both species. These data emphasise the complex and multifaceted nature of covering behaviour, but most importantly, they also strongly suggest that habitat characteristics can only partly explain the extent of this behavioural variability amongst echinoid species.