The transgressive infill of an inherited-valley system: The Springhill Formation (lower Cretaceous) in southern Austral Basin, Argentina

The Berriasian-Valanginian Springhill Formation of the Austral Basin of southern South America comprises fluvial to marine deposits. In order to interpret depositional systems and unravel the stratigraphic architecture of this unit in the southern region of the basin (Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina), 500 m of cores combined with well-log data from 41 wells were studied. Facies associations corresponding to fluvial (A1-A6), estuarine (B1-B5) and open-marine (C1-C4) depositional environments were identified. These facies associations succeed each other vertically across the entire study area (6800 km²) forming a ∼120-m-thick transgressive succession. This unit filled a north-south-oriented valley system, developed in the underlying Jurassic volcanic complex.Lowstand fluvial deposits of the first stage of the valley-system fill occur in downdip segments of the system above a sequence boundary (SB). These fluvial deposits are overlain by coastal-plain and tide-dominated estuarine strata across an initial transgressive surface (ITS). In the northern sector the earliest valley infill is characterized by a transgressive fluvial succession, overlying a merged SB/ITS that is probably time-equivalent of marginal-marine deposits of the southern sector. The fluvial strata in the north are overlain by wave-dominated estuarine deposits. A drastic change to open-marine conditions is marked by a marine flooding surface, with local evidence of marine erosion (FS-RS). Open-marine strata are thin (<10 m) and dominated by lower-shoreface and offshore-transition deposits. They are capped by a younger flooding surface (FS), which represents the onset to offshore conditions across the study area due to a continuous long-term transgression that persisted until the Barremian.Although the interpreted depositional systems and stratigraphic architecture of the Springhill Formation resemble transgressive incised-valley-fill successions, the greater thickness and larger size of the Springhill valleys suggest inherited rift topography rather than valley development during a relative sea-level fall.     

People helping turtles, turtles helping people: Understanding resident attitudes towards sea turtle conservation and opportunities for enhanced community participation in Bahia Magdalena, Mexico

In Pacific Mexico, all five sea turtle species have declined over the past century due to intense overexploitation of meat and eggs, fisheries bycatch, and degradation of marine and nesting habitats. One of the most heavily impacted areas has been the Baja California peninsula, where sea turtle populations remain historically low despite existing conservation measures that include a complete moratorium on the use of sea turtles, over three decades of widespread protection of nesting beaches, and in-water monitoring of sea turtles at coastal foraging areas. We recognize the need for alternative sea turtle conservation strategies that rely on increased participation of civil society and Mexican citizens. The purpose of this paper was to identify resident attitudes towards sea turtle conservation and opportunities for enhanced community participation in Bahia Magdalena, a region in Baja California Sur, Mexico experiencing high levels of sea turtle poaching and bycatch in fisheries. Through semi-structured interviews we found that while residents were overwhelmingly interested in participating in sea turtle conservation, peer pressure and conflict within the community presented major challenges. The majority of residents indicated that sea turtle voluntourism would have a positive impact on their community. Economic incentives and increased protection for sea turtles were mentioned as benefits of sea turtle voluntourism, whereas peer pressure, difficulty obtaining permits and producing effective marketing materials, and doubt about direct economic benefits were cited as constraints. We discuss our results in terms of opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for improving community-focused sea turtle conservation throughout the region.     

Hierarchical classification of marine rocky landscape as management tool at southeast Mediterranean coast

The existence and distribution of European marine reef habitat (1170), defined as rocky substrates and biogenic concretions in the UE habitats Directive, remain incomplete especially for the Mediterranean region. It is necessary to cartography the habitats but also it is important to classify and develop tools to asses at adequate management scales. Rocky habitats occur in a variety of spatial configurations and pattering landscape. It is necessary to define a typology of landscape to permit a realistic comparison of similar units recognizing, for example, its favourable conservation status. The aim of this study is to identify the rocky landscape units and to propose a hierarchical classification, for identifying the units with a favourable conservation status, based on the presence of listed species. Non-parametric multivariate techniques were used to classify the 88 landscape units based on presence of different biocoenoses and environmental factors. A hierarchical typology was recognised according to the increase of complexity. The study comprises six sorts of landscape typologies included in two major groups. High correlations of selected environmental variables with biocenosis composition were obtained depending on the scale of analysis. We observed that both geomorphologic structure and depth influence presence of biocenosis. The reef landscape typology proposal can be the base for the definition of reference ecological conditions or the favourable conservation state of the habitats, it is also an interesting tool for decision-making in the marine management.     

Characterisation of water masses and phytoplankton nutrient limitation in the East Australian Current separation zone during spring 2008

This study focuses on the comparison of oceanic and coastal cold-core eddies with inner-shelf and East Australian Current (EAC) waters at the time of the spring bloom (October 2008). The surface water was biologically characterised by the phytoplankton biomass, composition, photo-physiology, carbon fixation and by nutrient-enrichment experiments. Marked differences in phytoplankton biomass and composition were observed. Contrasted biomarker composition suggests that biomarkers could be used to track water masses in this area. Divinyl chlorophyll a, a biomarker for tropical Prochlorophytes, was found only in the EAC. Zeaxanthin a biomarker for Cyanophytes, was found only within the oceanic eddy and in the EAC, whereas chlorophyll b (Chlorophytes) was only present in the coastal eddy and at the front between the inner-shelf and EAC waters.This study showed that cold-core eddies can affect phytoplankton, biomass, biodiversity and productivity. Inside the oceanic eddy, greater phytoplankton biomass and a more complex phytoplankton community were observed relative to adjacent water masses (including the EAC). In fact, phytoplankton communities inside the oceanic eddy more closely resembled the community observed in the inner-shelf waters. At a light level close to half-saturation, phytoplankton carbon fixation (gC d⁻¹) in the oceanic eddy was 13-times greater than at the frontal zone between the eddy and the EAC and 3-times greater than in the inner-shelf water. Nutrient-enrichment experiments demonstrated that nitrogen was the major macronutrient limiting phytoplankton growth in water masses associated with the oceanic eddy. Although the effective quantum yield values demonstrate healthy phytoplankton communities, the phytoplankton community bloomed and shifted in response to nitrogen enrichments inside the oceanic eddy and in the frontal zone between this eddy and the EAC. An effect of Si enrichment was only observed at the frontal zone between the eddy and the EAC. No response to nutrient enrichment was observed in the inner-shelf water where ambient NO_x, Si and PO₄ concentrations were up to 14, 4 and 3-times greater than in the EAC and oceanic eddy. Although results from the nutrient-enrichment experiments suggest that nutrients can affect biomass and the composition of the phytoplankton community, the comparison of all sites sampled showed no direct relationship between phytoplankton biomass, nutrients and the depth of the mixed layer. This is probably due to the different timeframe between the rapidly changing physical and chemical oceanography in the separation zone of the EAC.     

Ichnological data as a useful tool for deep-sea environmental characterization: a brief overview and an application to recognition of small-scale oxygenation changes during the Cenomanian�CTuronian anoxic event

The oceanic anoxic event at the Cenomanian?CTuronian transition (OAE-2) is a worldwide phenomenon related with variations in atmosphere?Cocean dynamics. This event coincides with significant changes in the palaeoenvironment determining marine mass extinction affecting numerous groups of organisms. Ichnological analysis of the Cenomanian?CTuronian boundary interval has been conducted in three selected sections from different ecological and depositional settings in the western Tethys. Indeed, a brief overview of existing knowledge in this domain highlights increasing recognition of the usefulness of trace fossils in the characterization of even minor-scale deep-sea environmental changes linked to sea-level dynamics. At the study sites, variations in ichnological features, including trace fossil composition, tiering patterns and ichnofabrics, can be related to fluctuations in bottom- and pore-water oxygenation during the Cenomanian?CTuronian interval. In the Barnasiówka section (Polish Outer Carpathians), changes between oxic/dysoxic??characterized by Chondrites, Planolites and even Thalassinoides??and euxinic conditions, without trace fossils or only with Chondrites, can be explained by variations in gravity flows influencing the benthic habitat. In the El Chorro and Hedionda sections (Betic Cordillera), longer anoxic intervals during the OAE-2, characterized by the absence of trace fossils, are interrupted by shorter dysaerobic and aerobic sub-events associated with Chondrites, Palaeophycus, Planolites, Thalassinoides, Trichichnus and Zoophycos, but showing significant differences between these two sections related to the palaeogeographically differentiated influence of upwelling conditions.     

The Middle Miocene to Recent Davis Strait Drift Complex: implications for Arctic�CAtlantic water exchange

A large-scale contourite drift complex has been recognised on multi-channel 2D reflection seismic data acquired in the south-eastern Davis Strait and adjacent Labrador Sea slope offshore West Greenland between 63°?C66°N. Based on well-tie data, the drift complex developed from the Middle Miocene to the Recent. It has been mapped in a wide variety of water depths ranging from about 700?m, at a NNW-ESE-elongated crest located above structural highs in the Davis Strait, to more than 2,000?m beyond the slope to the Labrador Sea. The overall drift geometry has been described by subdivision into two first-order seismic units, enabling the generation of time-isochore maps. The reflection patterns demonstrating current-related deposition are illustrated by seismic examples. The time-isochores of the two first-order seismic units show lateral changes in their depocentres: the lower unit is absent in a zone slightly displaced south-westwards of the present-day crest, indicating changes in the prevailing deepwater current system during the Early Pliocene. The observations can be explained by two alternative palaeoceanographic scenarios: (1) either the present-day oceanographic setting with Arctic?CAtlantic water exchange across the Davis Strait was largely established by the mid-Miocene, with only minor adjustments during the Early Pliocene caused by tectonic movements, or (2) it became established during the Early Pliocene as a consequence of enhanced northward flow across the Davis Strait due to lowering of the sill depth.     

A geomorphological mapping approach for the assessment of seabed geohazards and risk

Exploration and development of offshore hydrocarbon resources has advanced into remote deepwater regions over the last decade and poses significant technical challenges for the design and installation of wells and facilities at extreme water depths. Seafloor and shallow subsurface processes and conditions in these areas are complex and generally poorly understood, and the geohazards to development are larger scale and fundamentally different to those encountered onshore; consequently the geohazard risk to deepwater development projects is potentially significant and requires careful evaluation and mitigation during the front-end planning and engineering design stages of projects. There are no established industry standards or methods for the assessment of geohazards and engineering-quality geophysical data at the scale of development. The paper describes an integrated and systematic map-based approach for the assessment and mitigation of seabed geohazards and risk to proposed deepwater development. The approach employs a multi-disciplinary team working with engineering-quality field calibrated data to accurately map and assess seafloor ground conditions and ensure that development proposals are not exposed to intolerable geohazard risk. The approach taken is very similar to the practice of establishing geological models for land-based engineering projects, in which the complete geological history of the site is used to characterise and predict the performance of the ground. Such an approach is routine for major projects on land but so far does not seem to be common practice in the offshore industry. The paper illustrates the seafloor geomophological mapping approach developed. The products are being used to optimise development layouts to avoid geohazards where possible and to support site-specific engineering design of facilities based on a detailed understanding of the potential geohazard loadings and associated risk.     

Filter-based differential hygroscopicity analyzer of aerosol particles

We describe a new differential analyzer implementing a technique for studying the hygroscopic properties of filter-precipitated aerosol particles based on a katharometric measurement of the amount of water vapor absorbed by an aerosol sample. The instrument has been tested on particles of sodium chloride and ammonium sulphate. A comparison of our data with the results of analogous measurements described in literature shows that the suggested technique has several important advantages, i.e., (1) higher sensitivity, which allows the measurement of particles of no more than 0.1 mg in mass; (2) a wide range of relative humidity variations (up to 99% at an accuracy of 0.06% RH at the upper-range value); (3) the absence of intermediate measurement steps connected with the need to account for water absorption by elements of a measurement system; and (4) the absence of restrictions to the size and shape of particles studied. In addition, the measurement technique rules out the possibility of errors caused by the kinetic effects of mass transport in the aerosol-water vapor system.     

Deep-sea suprabenthos assemblages (Crustacea) off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean): Mesoscale variability in diversity and production

The composition of suprabenthic crustacean assemblages, their diversity, production (P) and production/biomass (P/B) ratios, were analyzed at species level along two transects situated to the north (N) and south (S) of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean) at depths between 134 m and 760 m, based on a ca. bi-monthly sampling performed between August 2003 and June 2004. Differences with depth and season in assemblage composition and diversity were analyzed as a function of the contrasting environmental features (e.g. water mass dynamics) of the two areas. We identified 187 species (18 decapods, 5 euphausiids, 16 mysids, 76 gammaridean amphipods, 13 hyperiids, 1 caprellid, 21 isopods and 37 cumaceans). Substantial mesoscale variability in the deep-sea suprabenthic assemblages coupled with diversity trends between the N and S transects were found. Seasonality was the most important gradient influencing the dynamics of suprabenthos over the upper (350 m) and middle (650–750 m) slope in the N area. Conversely, the S area appeared to be more stable temporally with depth as the main gradient inducing assemblage differences. Different depth-related patterns were observed both for diversity and P/B. To the north diversity was very low at the shelf-break, increasing on the upper-slope (H′ > 3.00) and then decreasing again on the middle-slope. To the south diversity increased smoothly downward, reaching the highest values on the middle-slope. Regarding productivity, P/B was highest at intermediate depths to the north (over ca. 450–500 m), while to the south highest P/Bs were found deeper (over ca. 600–650 m). The higher P/B at intermediate depths found along N are likely due to higher % of organic matter (OM) in sediments, a product of oceanographic frontal systems. In particular, P/B was higher along N among omnivores and detritus feeders (e.g. Andaniexis mimonectes, Lepechinella manco and combined cumaceans), coupled to enriched OM in sediments, while along S mesoplanktonic carnivores (Rhachotropis spp.) had higher P/Bs. We conclude that on the north slope the influence of frontal systems and more active flow dynamics of different water masses (WIW and LIW) increases natural disturbance in the area, increasing productivity and diversity of suprabenthic peracarids in the Benthic Boundary Layer. Also, species showed a displacement of their average distributions (their Centres of Gravity, CoG) to shallower depths along N, which is another indicator of more favorable habitat conditions for suprabenthos in the 400–500 m range at N.     

Spatial variation in river runoff into a coastal area — An ecological approach

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were used to investigate spatial variation in terrestrial particulate organic matter (POM) input to a coastal area off the Tagus river estuary. Isotopic variation in higher trophic level organisms was also examined, along the coast. This study was carried out in late summer, after a period of 3 months of low river flow. The overall aim was to determine if under such conditions the coastal area is enriched by the river plume and, particularly, if lower secondary productivity should be expected in some areas. Spatial variation was detected as a gradient of decreasing terrestrial input with increasing distance from the river. It was concluded that terrestrial carbon input was also incorporated into higher trophic levels and that organisms with lower mobility are more sensitive to the gradient in terrestrial input. Even in low flow conditions the whole fishing area remained under the influence of the river plume, which still accounted for 24% of the total POM 30 km from the river mouth. Additionally, δ¹⁵N values indicated pollution input from the river Tagus.