A technique for conducting seismic refraction experiments on the ocean bed using bottom shots

A technique has been devised for firing arrays of bottom shots on the ocean bed in depths upto 4000 m or more. Ten kilogram explosive charges are dropped from the surface while the shooting ship is navigated acoustically. They are detonated at preset times by an electronic timer which initiates an electrical detonator, detonating cord and cast PETN/TNT explosive. Ranges to ocean bottom seismographs, and the shot instants, can be calculated from the arrival-time differences of the direct and surface-reflected water waves. The accuracy, which is dependent on water-depth and range, was better than 22 m in range and 14 msec in shot instant for our experiments.     

Wave group statistics from numerical simulations of a random sea

Two commonly used methods of simulating random time series, given a target power spectrum, are discussed. Wave group statistics, such as the mean length of runs of high waves, produced by the different simulation schemes are compared. The target spectra used are obtained from ocean measurements, and cover a wide range of ocean conditions. For a sufficiently large number of spectral components, no significant differences are found in the wave group statistics produced by the two simulation techniques.     

A nomogram method for predicting the movement of oil slicks

In order to obtain quick initial guidance on a first estimation of motion of the spilled oil, a simple manual procedure incorporating advection and spreading processes has been devised. This procedure involves the utilization of a nomogram based on simplified equations. Spill displacements throughout a given forecast period can be easily read from the nomogram. The technique is demonstrated with a real spill case.     

Virgin plastic granules on some beaches of Eastern Canada and Bermuda

A survey has been made of the quantities of small virgin plastic pellets and granules present in the litter stranding on shores of eastern Canada and Bermuda. Whilst particularly abundant on beaches of Bermuda, they are most uncommon on those of Nova Scotia and Sable Island—this, it is interpreted, reflects broad oceanic circulation patterns, lengthy residence times and distant sources, for there are no significant local ones. The polyethylene character of the granules was confirmed through burning characteristics and infra-red spectrophotometry. Polystyrene spherules were not identified. These plastic granules are commonly associated with pelagic tar balls and many have a tarry coating.The granules support a restricted, encrusting pseudoplanktonic biota, including serpulid worms and coralline algae, similar to that found on floating Sargassum. It is concluded, however, that their environmental consequence is not great.Although plastic granules progressively disappear through oxidative ageing and other degradational processes, they are an unnecessary contaminant of marine waters and evidence of evergrowing oceanic litter.     

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.     

Patterns and controls of surface sediment distribution: west-central Florida inner shelf

The west-central Florida inner shelf represents a transition between the quartz-dominated barrier-island system and the carbonate-dominated mid-outer shelf. Surface sediments exhibit a complex distribution pattern that can be attributed to multiple sediment sources and the ineffectiveness of physical processes for large-scale sediment redistribution. The west Florida shelf is the submerged extension of the Florida carbonate platform, consisting of a limestone karst surface veneered with a thin unconsolidated sediment cover. A total of 498 surface sediment samples were collected on the inner shelf and analyzed for texture and composition. Results show that sediment consists of a combination of fine quartz sand and coarse, biogenic carbonate sand and gravel, with variable but subordinate amounts of black, phosphorite-rich sand. The carbonate component consists primarily of molluskan fragments. The distribution is patchy and discontinuous with no discernible pattern, and the transition between sediment types is generally abrupt. Quartz-rich sediment dominates the inner 15 km north of the entrance into Tampa Bay, but south of the Bay is common only along the inner 3 km. Elsewhere, carbonate-rich sediment is the predominate sediment type, except where there is little sediment cover, in which cases black, phosphorite-rich sand dominates. Sediment sources are likely within, or around the periphery of the basin. Fine quartz sand is likely reworked from coastal units deposited during Pleistocene sea-level high stands. Carbonate sand and gravel is produced by marine organisms within the depositional basin. The black, phosphorite-rich sand likely originates from the bioerosion and reworking of the underlying strata that irregularly crop out within the study area. The distribution pattern contains elements of both storm- and tide-dominated siliciclastic shelves, but it is dictated primarily by the sediment source, similar to some carbonate systems. Other systems with similar sediment attributes include cool-water carbonate, sediment-starved, and mixed carbonate/siliciclastic systems. This study suggests a possible genetic link among the three systems.     

Changes in soils and vegetation in a Mediterranean coastal salt marsh impacted by human activities

This paper reports changes in vegetation distribution and species cover in relation to soil factors and hydrology in a semiarid Mediterranean salt marsh adjacent to the Mar Menor saline lagoon. Species cover, soil salinity, and the groundwater level were monitored between 1991 and 1993 and between 2002 and 2004, and total organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, nitrates, ammonium and exchangeable phosphorus were measured in the soils in both study periods. In addition, three soil profiles were described in August 1992 and August 2004. The results indicate an elevation of the water table throughout the 13-year period, which was attributable to water flowing from areas with intensive agriculture. Flooding increased and soil salinity dropped in the most saline sites and increased in the least saline ones. The morphology of the soil profiles reflected the increase in flooding periods, due to the appearance of a greyer matrix in the deeper horizons and a more diffuse pattern of Fe mottles. Following these environmental changes, Sarcocornia fruticosa, Phragmites australis and Juncus maritimus strongly expanded at the wettest sites, which led to the disappearance of the original zonation pattern. The cover of Limonium delicatulum, in turn, decreased with the increase in moisture but increased following the increase in salinity. Changes in soil nutrients were only very evident in the sandy soils of the beach, probably due to the influence of organic debris deposited on the shoreline by the storms and due to the strong increase in the colonisation of this habitat by perennial species. According to the results obtained, control measures are needed in order to preserve habitat diversity in this and other salt marshes of this area. Monitoring of the vegetation distribution could be a useful tool to identify environmental impacts, in order to implement remedial actions.     

Spectrophotometric determination of pH in seawater off Taiaroa Head,Otago, New Zealand: Full-spectrum modelling and prediction of pCO2 levels

Accurate measurement of seawater pH has long been sought by marine chemists (for example: [Dickson, A.G. 1993a. The measurement of sea water pH. Marine Chemistry, 44, 131–142, Dickson, A.G. 1993b. pH buffers for sea water media based on the total hydrogen ion concentration scale. Deep-Sea Research, 40, 107–118; Zhang, 1996; Tapp, M., Hunter, K.A., Currie, K. and Macaskill, B. 2000. Apparatus of continuous-flow underway spectrophotometric measurement of surface water pH. Marine Chemistry 72(2–4), 193–202; Friis, K., Koetzinger, A., Wallace, D.W.R. 2004. Spectrophotometric pH measurement in the ocean: Requirements, design and testing of an autonomous charge-coupled device detector system. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 2, 126–136]. Recently, such attempts have taken on greater significance as anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions may create rapidly changing oceanic pH. Spectrophotometric techniques have been accepted generally as the best for determination of seawater pH. Here we report a new technique using thymol blue as the indicator dye and fitting the entire spectrum from 400 to 900 nm rather than measuring the absorbance values at only two or three points in the spectrum. This full-spectrum modelling enables a reduction in signal to noise over other techniques. In the laboratory, we find with seawater samples a pH precision increase of five-fold “within” a sample and seven-fold “between” samples when comparing the full spectrum to the three-point method of analysis [Zhang, H., Byrne, R.H. 1996. Spectrophotometric pH measurements of surface seawater at in-situ conditions: absorbance and protonation behaviour of thymol blue. Marine Chemistry 52, 17–25].