Spatial Distribution of Shelf- and Slope-Dwelling Fishes Collected by Bottom Longline off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Abstract. A total of 1789 fish belonging to 38 families and 73 species were collected at depths between 18 and 1102 m during 216 bottom longline operations off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, between February 1994 and December 1995. For each species the depth distribution is provided. Length-weight and depth-size relationships are reported for three shelf-dwelling species. The bigger-deeper relationship found in two of them contrasts with the bigger-shallower pattern of the deeper living trichiurid Lepidopus caudatus . In November 1997, nine additional bottom longline operations were carried out off eastern Fuerteventura at depths between 805 and 1217 m. In this area, after earlier studies in October 1995, a spawning aggregation of the morid Mora moro was encountered for the second time. The catches of 1997 revealed a strongly male-biased sex ratio. Also, the males showed a significantly lower gonadosomal index than two years earlier. These findings indicate slight interannual variations in reproductive timing and an earlier arrival of male Mora moro at the spawning grounds. Clear variations in the number of fish collected at adjacent sites possibly reflect a preference for distinct microhabitats. Preliminary evidence of local upwelling of cold water above the spawning grounds is provided by satellite imagery.     

Factors governing abundance of hydrolyzable amino acids in the sediments from the N.W. European Continental Margin (47–50°N)

Fifty-six samples representing 6 sediment cores taken along the N.W. European Continental Margin from the shelf, slope and abyssal plain of the Goban Spur and Meriadzek Terrace were quantitatively analysed for total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and clay minerals. In descending order, the five most abundant amino acids making up more than 70% of the total were: aspartic acid, glycine, serine, alanine and glutamic acid. Clay mineral proportions were typical for the N.E. Atlantic, in order of descending abundance: illite, kaolinite, chlorite, smectite and mixed layers.The Meriadzek Terrace area is characterised by fine grain suspension sedimentation with a low pelagic carbonate input and the lowest content of THAA. In contrast, the Goban Spur transect is characterised by much higher carbonate inputs and more vigorous hydrodynamics as judged from granulometry and the high abundance of minerals of shelf and continental origin and a generally higher THAA content. The pelagic portion of THAA deposited at the sea floor is more readily mineralised during early diagenesis than the more ‘refractory', clay mineral-associated continental portion. Along this margin the average mineralization of THAA down to 25 cm in the sediment is about 54%. There is a significant affinity between chlorites and amino acids which we suggest may involve the formation of ionic bonds between the octahedral layers of the clay and the amino acids.     

Origin of peraluminous granites and granodiorites, Iberian massif, Spain: an experimental test of granite petrogenesis

The discrimination between potential source materials involved in the genesis of Iberian granites and granodiorites, as well as the role of mantle-crust interactions, are examined using constraints imposed by melting experiments, melting-assimilation experiments and Sr-Nd isotope systematics. The Sr-Nd isotope relationships indicate the existence of different genetic trends in which juvenile mantle materials are involved by different mechanisms: (1) a source trend, traced by a particular evolution of the pre-Hercynian basement and indicating mantle participation at the time of sedimentation; (2) a set of magmatic trends traced by gabbro-tonalite-enclave-granodiorite associations, implying the incorporation of new mantle material at the time of granite generation. These relationships strongly support a pure crustal origin for the peraluminous leucogranites, derived from partial melting of crustal protoliths, and a hybrid origin for the peraluminous granodiorites. These granodiorites are the most abundant granitic rocks of the Central Iberian zone (CIZ) of the Iberian massif, implying that processes of hybridisation by assimilation and/or magma mixing played an important role in granitoid production during the Hercynian orogeny. These hypotheses have been tested by means of melting and assimilation experiments. Melting experiments in the range 800–900 °C and at pressures of 3, 6, 10 and 15 kbar indicate that: (1) several potential source materials such as Bt-Ms gneisses and metagreywackes are suitable for the production of peraluminous leucogranite melts; (2) the melt compositions are always leucogranitic, regardless of pressure; (3) pressure exerts a strong influence on the fertility of the source: experiments at 3 kbar produce more than 20 vol% of melt, compared with less than 5 vol% of melt produced at 10 and 15 kbar and at the same temperature. The melting-assimilation experiments carried out at 1000 °C and 4, 7 and 10 kbar and using a proportion of 50% gabbro and 50% gneiss give high melt proportions (more than 50 vol.%) and noritic residues. These melts have the composition of leucogranodiorites, and overlap with part of the compositional range of peraluminous granodiorites of the Iberian massif. The generation of more mafic granodiorites may be explained by the incorporation of some residual orthopyroxene to the granodiorite magmas. The low solubility of Fe + Mg prevents the generation of granodiorite melts with more than 3 wt% of MgO + FeO at all crustal pressures. The large volumes of peraluminous, hybrid granodiorites, produced by assimilation of crustal rocks by mantle magmas, imply that an important episode of crustal growth took place during the Late-Palaeozoic Hercynian orogeny in the Iberian massif. Received: 30 June 1998 / Accepted: 27 November 1998     

Stratigraphic evidence for an Early Aptian sea-level fluctuation: the Graua Limestone of south-eastern Ethiopia

The occurrence of a thin band of marine limestone (Graua Limestone) within a thick succession of fluviatile sandstones in south-eastern Ethiopia is direct evidence of flooding of part of the East African craton (Horn of Africa). According to the presence of abundant orbitolinid foraminifers (Palorbitolina lenticularis Blumenbach andPraeorbitolina cormyi Schroeder), the age of the Graua Limestone can be referred to the Early Aptian. Stratigraphy and palaeogeographic reconstructions for the Early Cretaceous in the surrounding regions (Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Socotra, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Libya) show that the Early Aptian transgression was of regional extent. Our data seem to confirm that this transgression was of relatively short duration. This pulse cannot be related to tectono-eustatic mechanisms, which are too slow. A short-lived event should be invoked: either a regional tectonic pulse or the desiccation of the proto-South Atlantic.     

Reservoir rehabilitation: The new methodological approach of Economic Environmental Defence

This paper proposes a new methodological approach to silted reservoir management and defence, which combines the reservoir rehabilitation process and the utilization of the recovered water volumes and sediments. This approach, strategic from both the economical and environmental points of view, is here defined as Economic Environmental Defence (EED) of a reservoir. The EED approach is applied to the case study of Guardialfiera reservoir, where the available experimental data allowed the estimation of silta-tion up to date, the analysis of the distribution of sediment particle size along the reservoir bottom and the possibility to propose a feasible utilization of water and sediments resulting from the reservoir rehabilitation.     

Frontal dynamics boost primary production in the summer stratified Mediterranean sea

Bio-physical glider measurements from a unique process-oriented experiment in the Eastern Alboran Sea (AlborEx) allowed us to observe the distribution of the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) across an intense density front, with a resolution (～ 400 m) suitable for investigating sub-mesoscale dynamics. This front, at the interface between Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, had a sharp density gradient (Δρ ～ 1 kg/m³ in ～ 10 km) and showed imprints of (sub-)mesoscale phenomena on tracer distributions. Specifically, the chlorophyll-a concentration within the DCM showed a disrupted pattern along isopycnal surfaces, with patches bearing a relationship to the stratification (buoyancy frequency) at depths between 30 and 60 m. In order to estimate the primary production (PP) rate within the chlorophyll patches observed at the sub-surface, we applied the Morel and Andrè (J Geophys Res 96:685–698 1991) bio-optical model using the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) from Argo profiles collected simultaneously with glider data. The highest production was located concurrently with domed isopycnals on the fresh side of the front, suggestive that (sub-)mesoscale upwelling is carrying phytoplankton patches from less to more illuminated levels, with a contemporaneous delivering of nutrients. Integrated estimations of PP (1.3 g C m^?2d^?1) along the glider path are two to four times larger than the estimations obtained from satellite-based algorithms, i.e., derived from the 8-day composite fields extracted over the glider trip path. Despite the differences in spatial and temporal sampling between instruments, the differences in PP estimations are mainly due to the inability of the satellite to measure DCM patches responsible for the high production. The deepest (depth > 60 m) chlorophyll patches are almost unproductive and probably transported passively (subducted) from upper productive layers. Finally, the relationship between primary production and oxygen is also investigated. The logarithm of the primary production in the DCM interior (chlorophyll (Chl) > 0.5 mg/m³) shows a linear negative relationship with the apparent oxygen utilization, confirming that high chlorophyll patches are productive. The slope of this relationship is different for Atlantic, mixed interface waters and Mediterranean waters, suggesting the presence of differences in planktonic communities (whether physiological, population, or community level should be object of further investigation) on the different sides of the front. In addition, the ratio of optical backscatter to Chl is high within the intermediate (mixed) waters, which is suggestive of large phytoplankton cells, and lower within the core of the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. These observations highlight the relevance of fronts in triggering primary production at DCM level and shaping the characteristic patchiness of the pelagic domain. This gains further relevance considering the inadequacy of optical satellite sensors to observe DCM concentrations at such fine scales.     

Salinisation de l’aquifère libre de la Chaouia côtière (Azemmour-Tnine Chtouka), Maroc

L’aquifère libre de la Chaouia côtière constitue un exemple des aquifères les plus exploités au Maroc. Ce travail est consacré à l’étude des processus de la salinisation des eaux souterraines par l’analyse physico-chimique de 39 puits répartis dans la zone. Deux types de faciès ont été révélés, l’un est chloruré-sodique dans la frange côtière ; l’autre faciès est de type chloruré bicarbonaté-calcique caractérisant les eaux exploitées dans les calcaires marneux du Crétacé. L’influence marine (aérosols et intrusion marine), la dissolution/précipitation de la roche aquifère et l’infiltration des eaux d’irrigation, sont parmi les causes de l’augmentation de la salinité des eaux souterraines, en plus de l’exploitation excessive de l’eau souterraine.     

Nonlinear FE model updating and reconstruction of the response of an instrumented seismic isolated bridge to the 2010 Maule Chile earthquake

Nonlinear finite element (FE) modeling has been widely used to investigate the effects of seismic isolation on the response of bridges to earthquakes. However, most FE models of seismic isolated bridges (SIB) have used seismic isolator models calibrated from component test data, while the prediction accuracy of nonlinear FE models of SIB is rarely addressed by using data recorded from instrumented bridges. In this paper, the accuracy of a state‐of‐the‐art FE model is studied through nonlinear FE model updating (FEMU) of an existing instrumented SIB, the Marga‐Marga Bridge located in Viña del Mar, Chile. The seismic isolator models are updated in 2 phases: component‐wise and system‐wise FEMU. The isolator model parameters obtained from 23 isolator component tests show large scatter, and poor goodness of fit of the FE‐predicted bridge response to the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule, Chile Earthquake is obtained when most of those parameter sets are used for the isolator elements of the bridge model. In contrast, good agreement is obtained between the FE‐predicted and measured bridge response when the isolator model parameters are calibrated using the bridge response data recorded during the mega‐earthquake. Nonlinear FEMU is conducted by solving single‐ and multiobjective optimization problems using high‐throughput cloud computing. The updated FE model is then used to reconstruct response quantities not recorded during the earthquake, gaining more insight into the effects of seismic isolation on the response of the bridge during the strong earthquake.