Rapid dissipation of a Loop Current eddy due to interaction with a severe Gulf of Mexico hurricane

Ocean Dynamics - Loop Current Eddies (LCEs) are warm-core, anticyclonic rings that shed from the Loop Current and migrate westward providing kinetic and potential energy to the Gulf of...     

Rapid changes in the sodium exosphere of Mercury

We imaged Mercury in sodium D₁ and D₂ emission for 6 days during the period 13–20 November 1997 using a 10×10-arc s aperture image slicer coupled to a high-resolution spectrograph. We corrected the sodium images for smearing by the terrestrial atmosphere by computing the actual seeing function from surface reflection images, and used this function to correct the sodium images. During the period of observation, large daily changes took place in both the total amount of sodium and its distribution over the planet. Total sodium increased by a factor of about 3 during this period. The sodium emission was brightest at longitudes near the subsolar longitude in the range 130–150°, with excess sodium at northern latitudes on some days, and excess sodium at southern latitudes on other days. There are no obviously outstanding geologic features at this longitude. The rapid changes observed during this period suggest a connection with solar activity, since the planet itself is apparently geologically inactive. The F10.7 cm solar flux during this period varied only slightly, with an increase of about 15%, probably insufficient to account for the observed changes. However, there were a number of coronal mass ejection (CME) events, some of which were directed towards the general area of Mercury. We suggest that the changes in the visible neutral sodium atmosphere might be a result of the effect of CMEs on Mercury.     

Bathymetry of three deep-sea channels in the northeast and central Tufts Abyssal Plain

The drainage pattern in the northeast and central Tufts Abyssal Plain is described in detail. Satellite navigation on the systematic survey has allowed precise location of the major channel systems of the northeast Pacific Ocean. Two hundred channel profiles were collected from the echograms showing the Moresby-Scott, Mukluk, and Horizon Channel Systems trending in either a southwestward or westward direction across this section of the Tufts Plain. The channel profiles illustrate the prominence of the higher and wider right-hand levee (facing downstream). The Moresby-Scott Channel System disperses in the form of several distributaries throughout the area studied, and is probably responsible for much of the sediment deposits. Unlike the Moresby-Scott, the Mukluk extends throughout the survey area as a solitary channel with one minor branch. The Horizon Channel crosses the Sedna Fracture Zone east of the Sedna Seamount and terminates in distributary fashion in the central portion of the Tufts Plain. The Moresby-Scott, Mukluk, and Horizon Channels form one major system which encompasses the entire northeast and central Tufts Abyssal Plain.     

Constraints on Mercury’s Na exosphere: Combined MESSENGER and ground-based data

We have used observations of sodium emission obtained with the McMath-Pierce solar telescope and MESSENGER’s Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) to constrain models of Mercury’s sodium exosphere. The distribution of sodium in Mercury’s exosphere during the period January 12-15, 2008, was mapped using the McMath-Pierce solar telescope with the 5″ × 5″ image slicer to observe the D-line emission. On January 14, 2008, the Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer (UVVS) channel on MASCS sampled the sodium in Mercury’s anti-sunward tail region. We find that the bound exosphere has an equivalent temperature of 900-1200 K, and that this temperature can be achieved if the sodium is ejected either by photon-stimulated desorption (PSD) with a 1200 K Maxwellian velocity distribution, or by thermal accommodation of a hotter source. We were not able to discriminate between the two assumed velocity distributions of the ejected particles for the PSD, but the velocity distributions require different values of the thermal accommodation coefficient and result in different upper limits on impact vaporization. We were able to place a strong constraint on the impact vaporization rate that results in the release of neutral Na atoms with an upper limit of 2.1 × 10⁶ cm⁻² s⁻¹. The variability of the week-long ground-based observations can be explained by variations in the sources, including both PSD and ion-enhanced PSD, as well as possible temporal enhancements in meteoroid vaporization. Knowledge of both dayside and anti-sunward tail morphologies and radiances are necessary to correctly deduce the exospheric source rates, processes, velocity distribution, and surface interaction.     

Are assemblages of black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) in different estuaries genetically distinct?

Samples of the estuarine-spawning teleostAcanthopagrus butcheri were collected from nine estuaries and a coastal lake, located in the Pilbara and South-western drainage divisions of Western Australia and distributed along a coastline covering a distance of nearly 2,000 km. The patterns of allozyme variation in these samples were used to explore the extent to which there was variation in the genetic compositions of black bream assemblages in geographically-isolated estuarine systems, and whether or not any such variation could be related to the geographical location or type of estuary. Although only three of 36 scorable loci (Gpi-1, Ldh andMdh-2) exhibited variation that could be used for analysis, there was considerable variation in allele frequencies at these loci among the different samples (mean F_ST=0.166). Much of the detected variation was attributable to differences between the samples collected from the two drainage divisions, which are located in very different climatic regions. Furthermore, the genetic compositions of samples from neighbouring estuaries were typically more similar to each other than to those of samples collected from more distantly-located systems. However, the assemblages in one west coast and two south coast estuaries, that are closed to the ocean for extensive periods of time during the year, all showed very similar genetic compositions. Nevertheless, it is crucial to recognise that, pairwise comparisons of samples collected from the different estuaries, both within and between the two drainage divisions, almost invariably showed statistically significant differences in allele frequencies at one or more loci. Thus, our results indicate that the local populations of black bream in individual estuaries are genetically distinct, which is probably a consequence of both a limited movement by individuals between estuaries and the effects of differences in regional and local environmental conditions.     

Comparisons between the reproductive biology of black bream Acanthopagrus butcheri (Teleostei: Sparidae) in four estuaries with widely differing characteristics

The reproductive biology of Acanthopagrus butcheri has been studied in the permanently open Swan River and intermittently open Moore River estuaries on the lower west coast of Australia (31--32 °S) and in the permanently open Nornalup Walpole and normally closed Wellstead estuaries on the southern coast of Western Australia (34--35 °S). Trends exhibited by gonadosomatic indices, gonadal maturity stages and the sizes and developmental stages of the oocytes demonstrate that A. butcher typically spawns in spring and early summer. However, spawning occurred in salinities ranging from as low as 3.5-8 g L^–1 in the Moore River Estuary to as high as 41-45 g L^–1 in the Wellstead Estuary. Furthermore, water temperatures during spawning were greater in the two northern estuaries (19.7--28.5 °C) than in the two southern and cooler estuaries (17.5--23.4 °C). Histological studies strongly indicate that A. butcheri spawn more than once in a breeding season and demonstrate that the development of its oocytes exhibits group synchrony sensu de Vlaming (1983). The ages and total lengths at which, on average, female and male A. butcheri both first attain maturity in the Swan River Estuary were ca 2 years and ca 215 mm. However, the age at which individual fish in that system reach maturity was influenced by body size. This suggests that the attainment of first maturity at an older age but smaller length in the Moore River and Nornalup Walpole estuaries than is the case in the Swan River Estuary is a consequence of the slower growth rates of A. butcheri in those estuaries. The combination of the young age (ca 2 years) but small length (ca 145 mm) at which maturity is first attained in the Wellstead Estuary could have resulted from selection pressures brought about by high mortality rates and/or heavy fishing pressure in this estuary. The mean fecundity of A. butcheri, based on the combined number of yolk vesicle and yolk granule oocytes found in ovaries just prior to the onset of spawning, was 1580 × 10³. The significance of the sizes at first maturity, minimum legal length for capture, mesh selectivity data and closure of certain regions of estuaries to fishing for the management of the recreational and commercial fishery for A. butcheri is discussed.