Circannual Cycle and Oxygen Consumption in Eudendrium glomeratum (Cnidaria, Anthomedusae): Studies on a Shallow Water Population

Abstract. The oxygen consumption of Eudendrium glomeratum was measured monthly, throughout the period of active presence of the species in the field, to obtain indications on its physiological condition in the different phases of the cycle. Sets of one hundred polyps were assayed in the laboratory under normothermic (according to field temperature: 14–19°C) and hyperthermic conditions (22–25°C). The different response to identical temperatures at the extremes of the cycle, together with a differential ability to face stressful conditions in the same periods, suggests that other factors, besides temperature, regulate the seasonal cycle of Eudendrium glomeratum.     

Magnitude-frequency relationship of coastal sand delivery by a southern California stream

Coastal sand delivery by a stream in southern California is estimated based on a numerical model which stimulates unsteady flow, sediment transport, and the associated channel adjustments for a stream-delta system. An average annual sediment yield of 51,400 m³/yr is estimated for the San Dieguito River, which drains a semiarid watershed controlled by dams. Of the total sand delivery by the stream, 20.5 percent is contributed from floods greater than the 100-year flood; 17.6 percent from those between the 50- and 100-year events; 28.4 percent from those between the 25- and 50 year floods; and 33.5 percent from those smaller than the 25-year flood.     

Tide-induced residual currents with Stokes and Ekman layers over an undulatory sea floor

Residual currents induced by the tidal current flowing over a rotating ridge, which is infinitely elongated in they-direction and the width of which is so large that the nonlinear effect is weak enough, have been analysed theoretically. The currents are restrained by Stokes and Ekman layers which are given through a constant viscosity. This study shows that the direction of the cross-isobath residual current just above the sea floor varies with the value off ^*(=Coriolis parameter/tide frequency), that the along-isobath residual current forms a clockwise circulation around the rotating ridge and that it is stronger asf ^* grows larger.     

The role of marine spatial planning in sea use management: The Belgian case

The expansion of offshore activities and the increasing need to meet international and national commitments to biodiversity conservation have led to an enhanced interest in marine spatial planning (MSP) as a tool for sea use management. Several European countries, on their own initiative or driven by European legislation and policy, have taken global leadership in implementing MSP. This article will discuss the Belgian experiences with MSP. It will give a short historical overview based on legal developments and review the implementation process of a ‘Master Plan’ as a spatial management policy for the Belgian Part of the North Sea. Additionally, this article will reflect on the research that has been done in Belgium to apply a land-use planning approach to the marine environment. The MSP process in Belgium shows that a spatial approach to sea use management is possible despite the lack of a legal zoning framework. However, it concludes that a legal basis for MSP, in addition to the current permit system, would provide a more strategic and integrated framework for ecosystem-based, sea use management.     

Field observations of waves generated by passing ships: A note

This short contribution reports the results of a field study on the nearshore characteristics of waves generated by both conventional and high speed passenger ferries. The field observations took place in the late summer of 2005, at a beach close to the port of Mytilene (Island of Lesbos, Greece), and involved the visual observation of ship waves, using digital video recordings and image processing techniques. The results showed that passage of the fast ferry was associated with a longer, more complex and energetic nearshore event; this event not only did include higher nearshore waves (up to 0.74 m) and was organised in different wave packets, but it was also an order of magnitude longer (∼ 680 s) than the conventional ferry event. Regarding the effects on beach sediment dynamics, the fast ferry waves were estimated to be very efficient in mobilising the nearshore sediments in contrast to those of the conventional ferry. The fast ferry service appears to generate daily prolonged nearshore events, which contain waves with higher energy than those expected from the normal summer wind wave regime of the area; these events also include some high and very steep waves, which can be particularly erosive. Therefore, fast ferry wakes may have considerable impacts on the seasonal beach sediment dynamics/morphodynamics and the nearshore benthic ecology, as well as they may pose significant risks to bathers, affecting the recreational use of the beaches exposed to fast ferry traffic. Finally, the study has shown that satisfactory field observations of the nearshore characteristics of ship-generated (and wind) waves can be obtained using inshore deployments of calibrated poles, digital video cameras and appropriate image processing algorithms.     

An optimized method for automated analysis of algal pigments by HPLC

A recent development in algal pigment analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the application of automation. An optimization of a complete sampling and analysis protocol applied specifically in automation has not yet been performed. In this paper we show that automation can only be successful if the various methodological aspects of the sampling and analysis protocol are considered in coherence. We introduce an optimized protocol that involves freeze-drying of the sample, subsequent extraction in 90% acetone and the application of water-packing during analysis. The method was evaluated on both natural plankton populations and a broad spectrum of microalgal cultures: Thalassiosira weisflogii (Bacillariophyceae), Emiliania huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae), Phaeocystis globosa and Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) and Pyramimonas sp. (Prasinophyceae). Whereas pigment extracts were unstable in methanol, with recorded chlorophyll a losses from 10% to 60% per day, pigment degradation rates in acetone were generally less than 1% over 18 h storage in the autosampler (4 °C). In addition, it was found that the extraction efficiency of acetone significantly increased upon freeze-drying prior to extraction. Increases as high as 50–60% were measured in P. antarctica. The application of water-packing of the sample during injection resulted in improved peak shape and peak separation, without diluting the pigment concentrations. Automation is especially beneficial for application in the field, when mixed algal assemblages and low biomass put a high demand on the sensitivity as well as reproducibility of the method.     

Analysis of medaka cytochrome P450 3A homotropic and heterotropic cooperativity

We have previously demonstrated that medaka CYP3A is associated with metabolism of several endobiotics including steroids and bile acids. In this study, we demonstrate that medaka CYP3A catalysis exhibits unusual kinetic behaviors consistent with allosteric interaction which cannot be described by hyperbolic kinetic models. Using 7-benzyloxy-4-(trifluoromethyl)-coumarin (BFC) and nonylphenol as CYP3A substrates, we describe both homotropic and heterotropic cooperative interactions. Given the role of CYP3A in maintaining the homeostatic balance for numerous endobiotics, enzymatic activation/inhibition by endocrine disruptors (EDCs) represents a putative (non-genomic) mechanism for endocrine disruption.     

Transformation of the Level of Barotropic Ocean under an Elliptic Region of Disturbances of a Baric Field

We study elevations of the level of a homogeneous ocean caused by a large-scale elliptic anomaly of the field of atmospheric pressure and determine the conditions under which Earth's rotation and the asymmetry of the region of disturbances of the baric field lead to significant deviations of the ocean level from its values given by the law of inverted barometer. Our investigation is based on the numerical analysis of the integral solution of the linear problem. It is shown that the deviations from the law of inverted barometer are especially pronounced in shallow-water regions, at high latitudes, and for strongly asymmetric regions of disturbances of atmospheric pressure.     

Fluxes and sources of suspended organic matter in an estuarine turbidity maximum region during low discharge conditions

Water column concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS), particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate nitrogen (PN) were measured at three different depths in four different locations bracketing the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) along the main channel of a temperate riverine estuary (Winyah Bay, South Carolina, USA). Measurements were carried out over full tidal cycle (over 24 h). Salinity, temperature, current magnitude and direction were also monitored at the same time throughout the water column. Tidally averaged net fluxes of salt, TSS, POC and PN were calculated by combining the current measurements with the concentration data. Under the extreme low river discharge conditions that characterized the study period, net landward fluxes of salt were measured in the lower part of the study area, suggesting that the landward transport through the main channel of the estuary was probably balanced by export out through the sides. In contrast, the net fluxes of salt in the upper reaches of the study area were near zero, indicating a closed salt balance in this part of the estuary. In contrast to salt, the net fluxes of TSS, POC and PN in the deeper parts of the water column were consistently landward at all four sites in Winyah Bay indicating the non-conservative behavior of particulate components and their active transport up the estuary in the region around the ETM.The carbon contents (%POC), carbon:nitrogen ratios (org[C:N]a) and stable carbon isotopic compositions (δ¹³C_POC) of the suspended particles varied significantly with depth, location and tidal stage. Tidally averaged compositions showed a significant increase up the estuary in the %POC and org[C:N]a values of suspended particles consistent with the preferential landward transport of carbon-rich particles with higher vascular plant debris content. The combination of tidal resuspension and flood-dominated flow appeared to be responsible for the hydrodynamic sorting of particles along the estuary that resulted in denser, organic-poor particles being transported landward less efficiently. The elemental and isotopic compositions indicated that vascular C₃ plants and estuarine algae were the major sources of the particulate organic matter of all the samples, without any significant contributions from salt marsh C₄ vegetation (Spartina alterniflora) and/or marine phytoplankton.     

Numerical Solution of Lock-Release Gravity Current with Viscous Self-Similar Regime

Lock-release gravity currents with a viscous self-similar regime are simulated by use of the renormalization group(RNG) k - ε model for Reynolds-stress closure. Besides the turbulent regime with initially a slumping phase of a conslant current front speed and later an inviseid self-similar phase of front speed decreasing as t^-1/3(where t is the time measured from release), the viseous self-similar regime is satisfactorily reproduced with front speed decreasing as t^-4/5,consistent with well known experimental observations.