Holocene sedimentation of a wave-dominated barrierisland shoreline: Cape Lookout, North Carolina

The sedimentary record of 130 km of microtidal (0.9 m tidal range) high wave energy (1.5 m average wave height) barrier island shoreline of the Cape Lookout cuspate foreland has been evaluated through examination of 3136 m of subsurface samples from closely spaced drill holes. Holocene sedimentation and coastal evolution has been a function of five major depositional processes: (1) eustatic sea-level rise and barrier-shoreline transgression; (2) lateral tidal inlet migration and reworking of barrier island deposits; (3) shoreface sedimentation and local barrier progradation; (4) storm washover deposition with infilling of shallow lagoons; and (5) flood-tidal delta sedimentation in back-barrier environments.

Twenty-five radiocarbon dates of subsurface peat and shell material from the Cape Lookout area are the basis for a late Holocene sea-level curve. From 9000 to 4000 B.P. eustatic sea level rose rapidly, resulting in landward migration of both barrier limbs of the cuspate foreland. A decline in the rate of sea-level rise since 4000 B.P. resulted in relative shoreline stabilization and deposition of contrasting coastal sedimentary sequences. The higher energy, storm-dominated northeast barrier limb (Core and Portsmouth Banks) has migrated landward producing a transgressive sequence of coarse-grained, horizontally bedded washover sands overlying burrowed to laminated back-barrier and lagoonal silty sands. Locally, ephemeral tidal inlets have reworked the transgressive barrier sequence depositing fining-upward spit platform and channel-fill sequences of cross-bedded, pebble gravel to fine sand and shell. Shoreface sedimentation along a portion of the lower energy, northwest barrier limb (Bogue Banks) has resulted in shoreline progradation and deposition of a coarsening-up sequence of burrowed to cross-bedded and laminated, fine-grained shoreface and foreshore sands. In contrast, the adjacent barrier island (Shackleford Banks) consists almost totally of inlet-fill sediments deposited by lateral tidal inlet migration. Holocene sediments in the shallow lagoons behind the barriers are 5–8 m thick fining-up sequences of interbedded burrowed, rooted and laminated flood-tidal delta, salt marsh, and washover sands, silts and clays.

While barrier island sequences are generally 10 m in thickness, inlet-fill sequences may be as much as 25 m thick and comprise an average of 35% of the Holocene sedimentary deposits. Tidal inlet-fill, back-barrier (including flood-tidal delta) and shoreface deposits are the most highly preservable facies in the wave-dominated barrier-shoreline setting. In the Cape Lookout cuspate foreland, these three facies account for over 80% of the sedimentary deposits preserved beneath the barriers. Foreshore, spit platform and overwash facies account for the remaining 20%.     

Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary

Submarine groundwater discharge(SGD) has received increasing attention by studies on coastal areas; however,its effects on biogeochemical zonation have not been investigated to date. The Huanghe River Estuary(HRE) is a world class river estuary with high turbidity, and heavy human regulation. This study investigated how SGD is related to the benthic biogeochemistry of the HRE. Based on the distribution of several parameters(e.g., salinity,temperature, dissolved oxygen(DO) levels, p H, radium iso...     

Relevance of intracellular partitioning of metals in prey to differential metal bioaccumulation among populations of mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Intracellular partitioning of trace metals is critical to metal tolerance in aquatic organisms and may also influence metal trophic transfer in ecosystems. In this study, we tested the relevance of metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) intracellular partitioning in prey as an indicator of metal trophic availability to benthic forage fish, mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus), in chronically metal-polluted salt marshes in New York, USA. Two common prey of mummichogs in the study area, Palaemonetes pugio and Nereis acuminata, generally stored increasingly higher proportions of non-essential metals (particularly Pb) in insoluble (less trophically available) cellular components, as the whole body burdens increased. In contrast, intracellular partitioning of essential metals (Cu and Zn) in invertebrate prey varied relatively little among sites. Differential Cd and Pb intracellular partitioning patterns within P. pugio among sites were significantly associated with Cd and Pb whole body burdens in mummichogs, respectively (i.e., prey-driven bioreduction of metals), while bioaccumulation of Cu and Zn in mummichogs was similar among populations. The findings in this study suggest that metal intracellular partitioning within prey may be partially responsible for metal trophic availability to a predator in metal-polluted habitats, while there was also evidence that some predator-dependent processes may offset differential trophic availabilities from prey.     

The restoration of fishing services and the conveyance of risk information in the Southern California Bight

Southern California's marine areas are heavily contaminated with dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCBs), and fish consumption advisories (FCAs) have been issued throughout the region. Between 2002 and 2003, the Montrose Angler Survey, a large-scale survey of subsistence anglers, was developed and implemented on site in Orange and Los Angeles counties. This survey was intended to assist natural resource trustees in the development of restoration programs that will address injuries to natural resources and restore lost economic services for anglers, but the data were never fully analyzed. The trustees have shown a clear preference for ecological restoration programs that may take years to improve fishing services. In contrast, this analysis, which includes a random-parameter fishing site choice model, demonstrates that simple, inexpensive programs such as better signage to warn of FCAs and transportation to clean sites have the potential to yield substantial benefits quickly. This paper also focuses on how different ethnic minority groups are affected by FCAs, and determines how best to communicate risk information and change fishing behavior through outreach programs.     

Breaking wave loads at vertical seawalls and breakwaters

This paper presents recent advances in knowledge on wave loads, based on experimental work carried out in the CIEM/LIM large flume at Barcelona within the framework of the VOWS (Violent Overtopping by Waves at Seawalls) project. Both quasi-static and impact wave forces from the new data set have been compared with predictions by empirical and analytical methods. The scatter in impact forces has been found to be large over the whole range of measurements, with no existing method giving especially good predictions. Based on general considerations, a simple and intuitive set of prediction formulae has been introduced for quasi-static and impact forces, and overturning moments, giving good agreement with the new measurements. New prediction formulae have been compared with previous measurements from physical model tests at small and large scale, giving satisfactory results over a relatively wide range of test conditions. The time variation of wave impacts is discussed, together with pressure distribution up the wall, which shows that within experimental limitations the measured pressures are within existing limits of previous study.     

Scaling wave impact pressures on vertical walls

It is widely recognized that the use of Froude similarity for scaling up wave impact pressures recorded during physical model tests may lead to over-estimation of impact maxima. Based on reviewing historical work dating back to the 30s and further developments in the 60s and 80s, a general method is presented that is suitable for scaling up impact pressures and rise times measured during small scale physical model tests. The method accounts for the effect of air leakage and is applicable to most wave impact loads. The model is applied to scale wave impact pressures on vertical walls and similar structures, and consistent correction factors for the Froude scaling law are derived.     

Spatial and temporal patterns in the hyperbenthic community structure in a warm temperate southern African permanently open estuary

The spatial and temporal patterns in the hyperbenthic community structure (>500 μm) in the warm temperate, permanently open Kariega Estuary situated along the south-eastern coastline of South Africa was investigated monthly over a period of twelve months. Data were collected using a modified hyperbenthic sledge at six stations along the length of the estuary. Physico-chemical data indicate the presence of a constant reverse salinity gradient, with highest salinities measured in the upper reaches and lowest at the mouth of the estuary. Strong seasonal patterns in temperature, dissolved oxygen and total chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration were evident. Total average hyperbenthic densities ranged between 0.4 and 166 ind.m⁻³ in the lower net and between 0.2 and 225 ind.m⁻³ in the upper net. Hyperbenthic biomass values ranged between 0.02 and 11.9 mg.dry weight.m⁻³ in the lower net and between 0.02 and 17.4 mg.dry weight.m⁻³ in the upper net. Both the lower and upper nets were numerically dominated by decapods (mainly brachyuran crab zoea) with the exception of June and July 2008 when mysids (mainly Mesopodopsis wooldridgei) dominated, comprising up to 72.4 ± 58.14% of the total abundance in the lower net. A redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that 99.2% of the variance in the hyperbenthic community structure could be explained by the first two canonical axes. Axis one, which accounted for 96.8% of the total variation detected in the ordination plot was highly correlated with sedimentary organic content and to a lesser extent the chl-a concentration within the Kariega Estuary. The correlations with the second canonical axis (2.4%) were less obvious, however, salinity and seston concentration were weakly correlated with this axis.     

Impact of Alaskan Stream eddies on chlorophyll distribution in the North Pacific

The impact of the Alaskan Stream (AS) eddies on the chlorophyll a (chl-a) distribution in the central subarctic North Pacific was investigated through analysis of chl-a and altimetry data from satellite observations. Altimetry observations provided the locations of mesoscale eddies in time and space within the maps of chlorophyll distributions. The climatological chl-a distributions averaged in the area and time showing presence of AS eddies suggested that AS eddies contributed significantly to the chl-a distribution in the deep-sea region of the subarctic North Pacific. The chl-a distribution was closely related to the AS eddies regardless of whether the eddy was located in or detached from the AS. A combination of two or three AS eddies sometimes formed high chl-a concentration belts that injected chlorophyll and coastal nutrient-rich waters southward from the Aleutian Islands far into the deep-sea region of the subarctic North Pacific. These results indicate that chl-a distribution in the central subarctic North Pacific was strongly impacted by AS eddies.     

The circulation of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

During the 1950s and 1960s, an extensive field study and interpretive effort was made by researchers, primarily at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, to sample and understand the physical oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific. That work was inspired by the valuable fisheries of the region, the recent discovery of the equatorial undercurrent, and the growing realization of the importance of the El Niño phenomenon. Here we review what was learned in that effort, and integrate those findings with work published since then as well as additional diagnoses based on modern data sets.Unlike the central Pacific, where the winds are nearly zonal and the ocean properties and circulation are nearly independent of longitude, the eastern tropical Pacific is distinguished by wind forcing that is strongly influenced by the topography of the American continent. Its circulation is characterized by short zonal scales, permanent eddies and significant off-equatorial upwelling. Notably, the Costa Rica Dome and a thermocline bowl to its northwest are due to winds blowing through gaps in the Central American cordillera, which imprint their signatures on the ocean through linear Sverdrup dynamics. Strong annual modulation of the gap winds and the meridional oscillation of the Intertropical Convergence Zone generates a Rossby wave, superimposed on the direct forcing, that results in a southwestward-propagating annual thermocline signal accounting for major features of observed thermocline depth variations, including that of the Costa Rica Dome, the Tehuantepec bowl, and the ridge–trough system of the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC). Interannual variability of sea surface temperature (SST) and altimetric sea surface height signals suggests that the strengthening of the NECC observed in the central Pacific during El Niño events continues all the way to the coast, warming SST (by zonal advection) in a wider meridional band than the equatorially trapped thermocline anomalies, and pumping equatorial water poleward along the coast.The South Equatorial Current originates as a combination of equatorial upwelling, mixing and advection from the NECC, and Peru coastal upwelling, but its sources and their variability remain unresolved. Similarly, while much of the Equatorial Undercurrent flows southeast into the Peru Undercurrent and supplies the coastal upwelling, a quantitative assessment is lacking. We are still unable to put together the eastern interconnections among the long zonal currents of the central Pacific.