Seagrass landscape-scale changes in response to disturbance created by the dynamics of barrier-islands: A case study from Ria Formosa (Southern Portugal)

This study documents long-term changes of a Zostera noltii landscape induced by a natural cyclic event in a coastal lagoon. The barrier-islands forming this system are very dynamic with drifting movements controlling ecological patterns and processes occurring in this area. Changes in the areal extent of the Z. noltii meadows were assessed using historical aerial photographs from 1940, 1980, 1989, 1996 and 1998. Landscape indices such as total patch area (TA), mean patch size (MPS), number of patches (NP), mean shape coefficient of variation (CV) and landscape fractal dimension (D) were calculated for each year and related to an index of disturbance intensity. The spatial distribution of the Z. noltii meadows varied greatly during the studied period and changes observed were related to the disturbance created by the barrier-islands' spatial dynamics. After an artificial inlet relocation the Z. noltii area, number of patches, patch mean size and coefficient of variation decreased. The fractal dimension of the Z. noltii landscape increased by 50% showing that besides a decrease in total area, number of patches, and patch mean area, patch fragmentation was an important consequence of this anthropogenic disturbance.Seagrass natural distribution patterns changed in response to natural and human-induced activities. This study emphasizes the importance of the landscape approach and the historical perspective when studying seagrass changes and the importance of taking into consideration long-term changes in seagrass landscapes to avoid confusion between man-induced effects with natural cyclic events.     

Preliminary attempt to characterize the rotation of seafloor in the Pito Deep area of the Easter Microplate using a submersible magnetometer

Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the rotation of the nearly north-south abyssal hill fabric formed on the East Pacific Rise north of the Easter Microplate to the nearly east-west trends in the northern microplate interior. Proposed mechanisms include rigid microplate rotation, transform fault – parallel shear, and bookshelf faulting during the transfer of lithosphere from the Nazca Plate to the microplate. We used a submersible magnetometer on a NAUTILE dive program to measure the magnetic vector rotation of a pillow basalt and dike spur near Pito Deep, the present location of the tip of the propagating rift system that created the microplate. Our results, although too limited to draw strong conclusions from, suggest clockwise rotations of the seafloor magnetic vectors inconsistent with the transform-parallel shear model, and larger than can be explained solely by rigid microplate rotation.     

Problems with biogenic silica measurement in marginal seas

Surface sediment samples from the Bohai, Yellow Sea, and the Pacific were used to assess biogenic silica (BSi) content and to study uncertainties in BSi measurements. The contents of BSi in the Bohai and Yellow Sea are all less than 1%. The dissolution of BSi in sediments from the Bohai and Yellow Sea is very important to maintain high levels of silicate in the water column. The non-biogenic silica from clay minerals has an obvious effect on BSi of sediment samples in the Bohai and Yellow Sea with low BSi and high clay minerals. The solid to solution ratio was found to have a great influence on BSi measurement, which can induce uncertainties up to 75%. The effect of loss by sorption and centrifugation is negligible. Interlaboratory comparison of techniques for BSi measurement by the wet alkaline extraction technique of Mortlock and Froelich [Deep-Sea Res. 36 (1989) 1415-1426] with clay correction was suggested to give no significant differences. However, differences in sediment compositions and reagent to sample ratio may limit the application of the wet alkaline extraction method.     

The Equatorial Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel: An Ultra High-Resolution Image of Its Burial History Based on TOPAS Profiles

Multibeam bathymetric and ultra high-resolution seismic data reveal that the distal course of the Equatorial Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel (EAMOC) extends further east and south than was previously known, and is controlled by the presence of morphologic highs related to the Fernando de Noronha Fracture Zone. Distal course of the EAMOC is buried by sediments, and does not have bathymetric expression on the seafloor. The channel fill consists of three seismic sequences, suggesting that the recent geological evolution of the channel is composed of successive phases of decreasing sedimentary activity that finally resulted in its complete burial. Tectonic and volcanic activity related to the Fernando de Noronha Fracture Zone and Ridge, together with the effect of strong pulses of the Antarctic bottom water current during the upper Pliocene are suggested to have contributed to the progressive burial and the final abandonment of the EAMOC.     

The capacity of marine plankton, macrophytes and particulate matter to adsorb Cu in the presence of Mg

A complexometric titration technique was employed to measure the total capacity of a variety of marine organisms to adsorb Cu²⁺. Measured adsorption capacities were 0.22 meq g⁻¹ for phytoplankton, 0.3–1.0 meq g⁻¹ for macrophytes, 1.0–2.5 meq g⁻¹ for zooplankton and 0.3 meq g⁻¹ for suspended particulate matter. The capacity of these materials to adsorb Cu²⁺ was reduced significantly in the presence of Mg²⁺ at seawater concentrations. Competition between Mg^t2+ and Cu²⁺ for adsorption sites at pH 6 is described by an average conditional equilibrium constant of 10^3.7. This constant is such that very little Cu²⁺ may be adsorbed onto particulates and marine phytoplankton in the presence of Mg²⁺. Further, primary productivity data and estimates of the detrital carbon sedimentation in Long Island Sound suggest that the flux of particulate carbon is insufficient to remove significant amounts of Cu from the water column to sediments by adsorption mechanisms.     

Measurement of alkaline and earthy ions in fish otolith and sea water using a high performance ion chromatography

Fish growth and the relation between growth and environmental conditions offer a good opportunity for measuring alkaline and earthy ions in fish otoliths.The analytical method must involve high sensitivity when attempting to discriminate between fish growth and environmental conditions.The aim of this paper is to propose a chromatographic method, with low detection limits, as a new approach in determining some important micronutrients present in sea water and fish otoliths.The work samples are: coastal, off-shore and sediment waters and fish otoliths (Engraulis encrasicholus, Mullus barbatus, Umbrina cirrhosa, Sciaena umbra, Pagellus erythrinus) in the Adriatic Sea and the Canal of Sicily.The analytical method includes an IONPAC CS12A chromatographic column and a 18 mM methanesulfonic acid eluent.The detection limit readings obtained with this method, for one E. encrasicholus fish otolith, weighing 2.6 mg are equal or inferior to 0.1 μg/L for lithium (Li), 59 μg/L for sodium (Na), 46 μg/L for ammonium (NH₄), 23 μg/L for potassium (K), 13 μg/L for magnesium (Mg), 88 μg/L for manganese (Mn), 2.567 μg/L for calcium (Ca) and 13 μg/L for strontium (Sr).The HPIC method minimizes overlaps such as Na on Li, and NH₄ in seawater and Ca on Mg and Sr in fish otolith. These elements are an essential constituent present in otoliths when describing the relation between growth and environmental conditions.Good separation among analytes is achieved within 16 min.     

Inverse reconstructions of ecosystem flows in investigating regime shifts: impact of the choice of objective function

Inverse analysis is increasingly used in ecosystem modelling to objectively reconstruct a large number of unknown flows or interactions from a small number of observations. This type of analysis may be useful in relating observed regime shifts in ecosystem structure to underlying processes. Inversions of ecosystem flow networks currently use a constrained least-squares solution which at the same time minimizes the squared norm (the sum of squares) of the reconstructed flows. This minimum norm (MN) inversion is thought to be a parsimonious solution to the ecosystem flow inverse problem, but it may well not reflect how ecosystems are organised. It has been proposed instead that ecosystems evolve to maximize energy/mass flows or that they maximize the information content of the network weighted by ecosystem flows (ascendancy). We used simulated inverse experiments, where inverse analyses are applied to simulations of flow networks, to explore objective functions different than the MN generally used. We could not compute inverse solutions that maximize ascendancy because the objective function is unbounded. We could calculate inversions that maximize flows; however, these generally overestimated the simulated flows, even though the simulations were designed to maximize flows. It appears that the ecosystem flow inverse problem is too under-determined (too few data relative to the number of unknowns) to allow the use of these maximizing goal functions. We introduce a new minimization that simultaneously minimizes the squared flows and the squared differences between flows. This smoothing minimization makes the inverse flows as even as possible and it helps with some technical issues with MN inversions. The simulated inverse experiments indicated that this smoothed norm (SM) is the most robust in comparative analyses of contrasting ecosystem states, such as those that can be associated with regime shifts. Like the MN inversion, the SM inversion has no ecological basis. However, it is a conservative norm that is less likely to produce false differences between the dynamics of regimes.     

An improved Ewing heat probe frame

The standard Ewing heat probe frame has been improved through the design of a new takedown model whose parts are held together by lynch pins. When a 600 lb (272 kg) unit of this type is taken apart, the heaviest single piece of the dismantled unit weighs only 75 lb (34 kg).This makes it feasible for one person to handle, transport, and assemble the new unit. A central, main support member of a heat probe using this frame can be suspended over the side of a research vessel while the heavier temperature recorder and ballast weights are attached by means of the quickaction lynch pins. This makes it possible to use this device on relatively small vessels which are not designed for coring work, having a minimum of free deck space and without launching platforms or hydraulic A-frame booms.