A geomorphological and statistical analysis of slope canyons from the northern KwaZulu-Natal continental margin is documented
and compared with submarine canyons from the Atlantic margin of the USA. The northern KwaZulu-Natal margin is characterized
by increasing upslope relief, concave slope-gradient profiles and features related to upslope growth of the canyon forms.
Discounting slope-gradient profile, this morphology is strikingly similar to canyon systems of the New Jersey slope. Several
phases of canyon incision indicate that downslope erosion is also an important factor in the evolution of the northern KwaZulu-Natal
canyon systems. Despite the strong similarities between the northern KwaZulu-Natal and New Jersey slope-canyon systems, key
differences are evident: (1) the concavity of the northern KwaZulu-Natal slope, contrasting with the ∼linear New Jersey slope;
(2) the relative isolation of the northern KwaZulu-Natal canyons, rather than the dense clustering of the New Jersey canyons;
and (3) the absence of strongly shelf-breaching canyons along the northern KwaZulu-Natal margin. In comparison with the New
Jersey margin, we surmise a more youthful stage of canyon evolution, a result of either the canyons themselves being younger
or the formative processes being less active. Less complicated patterns of erosion resulting from reduced sediment availability
have developed in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The reduction in slope concavity on the New Jersey margin may be the result of grading
of the upper slope by intensive headward erosion, a process more subdued—or less evident—on the KwaZulu-Natal margin. 相似文献
This session presented a wide range of papers on cooperativeresearch, design of alternative gears and fishing strategies,and new analyses to support management. The contributed papersreflected a real desire to explore different approaches andstrategies to fishery management. It is apparent that fishery policy has had a mixed record ofsuccess and failure at best. In most regions of the world, manystocks are still being overfished or have been severely overfishedin the past. Although rebuilding programmes for overfished stockshave been developed, nationally as well as internationally,only a few have been successful, many others are works in progressand, in too many cases, rebuilding 相似文献
The bioaccessibility of metals (Al, Ca, Fe, Mn, Ag, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn, Zn) in oxic estuarine sediments has been evaluated using solutions of a commercially available protein (bovine serum albumin; BSA) that mimic the chemical conditions encountered in the gut environment of many deposit-feeding organisms. Over a 20 h incubation period with 5 g L− 1 BSA, metal mobilisation was generally biphasic in that a relatively short period of rapid release was succeeded by more gradual release or approach to equilibrium, although in some cases metal readsorption was evident during the time-courses. Availability to BSA, defined as metal released after 20 h relative to metal extracted by boiling aqua regia, was greatest for Cd, Ni, Ca and Zn and lowest for Fe and Mn, and correlated well with, but was an order of magnitude lower than, metal digested by acidified hydrogen peroxide. Time-courses conducted in the absence of the protein revealed that significant quantities of Ca and Mn were water-soluble, reflecting the partial dissolution of carbonates and hydrous Mn oxides, respectively. Additional experiments indicated a net increase in metal release with increasing BSA concentration and, with the exception of Ca and Mn, a substantial increase in metal mobilisation after sediment organic matter had been digested by peroxidation. These observations suggest that, apart from Ca and Mn, metal release proceeds via complexation with component amino acids of the protein, denudation of organic host phases, and exposure of inorganic, metal-bearing minerals. Accordingly, the bioaccessibility of a metal is predicted to be dependent on its (i) affinity for proteinaceous ligands, (ii) association with components of digestible sediment organic matter, and (iii) degree of binding at relatively weak sites on sediment phases that are exposed or modified by the action of proteins and other chemical constituents of the gut environment. 相似文献
The standard toxicity test organism, Corophium volutator, exhibits a behavioural response to contaminated sediments that causes increased turbidity of overlying water. We quantify the effects of this response to an estuarine sediment spiked with copper and hydrocarbon contaminated sediments from an oil installation in the North Sea. Turbidity measured 24 h after the start of a toxicity test shows a strong relationship with contaminant concentrations and with mortality after 10 days. Turbidity measurements can therefore give a rapid indication of sediment toxicity, permitting a reduction in storage time of sediments to be used in dilution series and toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) tests, reducing the likelihood of contaminants degrading prior to testing. 相似文献
This issue marks a change in the editorial team of the ICESJournal of Marine Science, in that we have bid farewell to ourformer Editor-in-Chief, Niels Daan, after six years of sterlingservice, and to our Elsevier Publishing Editor, Andrew Richford,after an even longer period of years. Both deserve credit fortheir energy and vision that has left us the legacy of a journalas widely read and cited as the ICES Journal now is, but theyleave a gap that will be a huge challenge for us to meet. However,in my new capacity as Editor-in-Chief and in Els Bosma's capacityas Elsevier's Publishing Editor, I 相似文献
Deep-sea benthic ecosystems are sustained largely by organic matter settling from the euphotic zone. These fluxes usually
have a more or less well-defined seasonal component, often with two peaks, one in spring/early summer, the other later in
the year. Long time-series datasets suggest that inter-annual variability in the intensity, timing and composition of flux
maxima is normal. The settling material may form a deposit of “phytodetritus” on the deep-seafloor. These deposits, which
are most common in temperate and high latitude regions, particularly the North Atlantic, evoke a response by the benthic biota.
Much of our knowledge of these responses comes from a few time-series programmes, which suggest that the nature of the response
varies in different oceanographic settings. In particular, there are contrasts between seasonal processes in oligotrophic,
central oceanic areas and those along eutrophic continental margins. In the former, it is mainly “small organisms” (bacteria
and protozoans) that respond to pulsed inputs. Initial responses are biochemical (e.g. secretion of bacterial exoenzymes)
and any biomass increases are time lagged. Increased metabolic activity of small organisms probably leads to seasonal fluctuations
in sediment community oxygen consumption, reported mainly in the North Pacific. Metazoan meiofauna are generally less responsive
than protozoans (foraminifera), although seasonal increases in abundance and body size have been reported. Measurable population
responses by macrofauna and megafauna are less common and confined largely to continental margins. In addition, seasonally
synchronised reproduction and larval settlement occur in some larger animals, again mainly in continental margin settings.
Although seasonal benthic responses to pulsed food inputs are apparently widespread on the ocean floor, they are not ubiquitous.
Most deep-sea species are not seasonal breeders and there are probably large areas, particularly at abyssal depths, where
biological process rates are fairly uniform over time. As with other aspects of deep-sea ecology, temporal processes cannot
be encapsulated by a single paradigm. Further long time-series studies are needed to understand better the nature and extent
of seasonality in deep-sea benthic ecosystems.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
The formation of incised valleys on continental shelves is generally attributed to fluvial erosion under low sea level conditions. However, there are exceptions. A multibeam sonar survey at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua, mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 m deep that extends for more than 90 km across the continental shelf. This is the deepest shelf valley yet found in the Great Barrier Reef and is well below the maximum depth of fluvial incision that could have occurred under a − 120 m, eustatic sea level low-stand, as what occurred on this margin during the last ice age. These valleys appear to have formed by a combination of reef growth and tidal current scour, probably in relation to a sea level at around 30–50 m below its present position.
Tidally incised depressions in the valley floor exhibit closed bathymetric contours at both ends. Valley floor sediments are mainly calcareous muddy, gravelly sand on the middle shelf, giving way to well-sorted, gravely sand containing a large relict fraction on the outer shelf. The valley extends between broad platform reefs and framework coral growth, which accumulated through the late Quaternary, coincides with tidal current scour to produce steep-sided (locally vertical) valley walls. The deepest segments of the valley were probably the sites of lakes during the last ice age, when Torres Strait formed an emergent land-bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Numerical modeling predicts that the strongest tidal currents occur over the deepest, outer-shelf segment of the valley when sea level is about 40–50 m below its present position. These results are consistent with a Pleistocene age and relict origin of the valley.
Based on these observations, we propose a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. Tidal erosion on meso- to macro-tidal, rimmed carbonate shelves is enhanced during sea level rise and fall when a tidal, hydraulic pressure gradient is established between the shelf-lagoon and the adjacent ocean basin. Tidal flows attain a maximum, and channel incision is greatest, when a large hydraulic pressure gradient coincides with small channel cross sections. Our tidal-incision model may explain the observation of other workers, that sediment is exported from the Great Barrier Reef shelf to the adjacent ocean basins during intermediate (rather than last glacial maximum) low-stand, sea level positions. The model may apply to other rimmed shelves, both modern and ancient. 相似文献