The capacity of marine plankton, macrophytes and particulate matter to adsorb Cu in the presence of Mg

A complexometric titration technique was employed to measure the total capacity of a variety of marine organisms to adsorb Cu²⁺. Measured adsorption capacities were 0.22 meq g⁻¹ for phytoplankton, 0.3–1.0 meq g⁻¹ for macrophytes, 1.0–2.5 meq g⁻¹ for zooplankton and 0.3 meq g⁻¹ for suspended particulate matter. The capacity of these materials to adsorb Cu²⁺ was reduced significantly in the presence of Mg²⁺ at seawater concentrations. Competition between Mg^t2+ and Cu²⁺ for adsorption sites at pH 6 is described by an average conditional equilibrium constant of 10^3.7. This constant is such that very little Cu²⁺ may be adsorbed onto particulates and marine phytoplankton in the presence of Mg²⁺. Further, primary productivity data and estimates of the detrital carbon sedimentation in Long Island Sound suggest that the flux of particulate carbon is insufficient to remove significant amounts of Cu from the water column to sediments by adsorption mechanisms.     

Submarine-fan facies associations of the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene Gottero Sandstone,Ligurian Apennines,Italy

The Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene Gottero Sandstone was deposited as a small deep-sea fan on ophiolitic crust in a trench-slope basin. It was thrust northeastward as an allochthonous sheet in Early and Middle Cenozoic time. The Gottero, as thick as 1500 m, was probably derived from erosion of Hercynian granites and associated metamorphic rocks in northern Corsica. Outcrops of inner-fan channel, middle-fan channel and interchannel, outer-fan lobe, fan-fringe, and basin-plain facies associations indicate that the depositional model of Mutti and Ricci Lucchi for mixed-sediment deep-sea fans can be used. The original fan had a radius of 30 to 50 km.     

A hydrodynamic model of a submerged lenticular wave energy device

The wavemaking capability and energy absorbing characteristics of a single submerged body, constrained to move horizontally in a surge mode, are examined. The body possesses both a vertical axis of symmetry and a horizontal plane of symmetry and is ‘thin’ in the sense that the body draft is small compared to the length. The behaviour of a single body subject to a constraint being placed upon the amplitude of its displacement and the properties of an array of interacting identical devices are also discussed.     

Estimation of winds over the sea from land-based measurements

Simultaneous measurements of wind velocities at two different sites, one over the sea and the other over land, can differ substantially and therefore cannot be interchanged. In situations where the wind data at an offshore site are missing while simultaneous measurements from a land-based station exist, a linear mean-square estimation (LMSE) technique can be used to estimate the missing data. This technique relies on past wind data gathered simultaneously at the two locations, and it generates from the associated correlation a set of four transfer functions capable of predicting one data set from the other. In the present case, the LMSE technique is outlined briefly, and is then applied to construct seasonal transfer functions between a land-based station and two coastal/offshore sites in Kuwait. Comparisons between the actually observed wind characteristics and those predicted by the LMSE technique are favorable, and thus tend to confirm the applicability of the technique under appropriate conditions.     

Environmental overview of Eckernförde Bay,northern Germany

This environmental overview of Eckernförde Bay (northern Germany) summarizes the results of previous studies relevant to the Office of Naval Research's Coastal Benthic Boundary Layer (CBBL) Baltic field exercise conducted during 1993–1994. Significant environmental characteristics include the following: (1) surface sediment distribution is related to water depth, dictated primarily by hydrodynamic reworking of older glacial deposits; (2) the origin and characteristics of small-scale sedimentary structures depend on storm-generated waves and currents; (3) the proximity of the sea surface and sediment —water interface results in a pelagic—benthic coupling that drives biogeochemical processes and produces organicrich, acoustically turbid sediments; and (4) the bay floor is complicated topographically by pockmarks and manmade sedimentary structures.     

Sensitivity to stress of the estuarine bivalve Macoma balthica from areas between the Netherlands and its southern limits (Gironde)

Variation in the sensitivity to stress of Macoma balthica was measured in several French and Dutch estuaries. For adult and juvenile Macoma balthica exposed to copper under conditions of starvation, differences in mortality rate, condition, glycogen, burrowing rate and copper content were assessed. No significant differences were observed between adults and juveniles; the influence of treatment and origin was always evident. Animals from the most southern estuaries, Loire and Gironde, near to the species's southern limit of distribution, showed, in the field, the strongest deviations for the ecophysiological traits measured, and were in the experiments the most sensitive to stress.     

Late Quaternary Seismic Stratigraphy of the Eastern Bengal Shelf

An ultra-high-resolution seismic study of the eastern Bengal Shelf with the parametric narrow-beam echosounder Parasound allows the interpretation of late Quaternary depositional patterns in terms of seismic stratigraphy. Accommodation space was still present on the outer shelf during the last lowstand, where a prograding delta developed in the western survey area. Oolitic beach ridges were later formed on top of this lowstand delta. Farther east, large parts of the shelf were exposed to subaerial erosion and a river system extended seaward across the area. A subaqueous highstand delta prograded southwards following the maximum transgression about 7,000 years ago. Its foreset beds exhibit acoustic voids very likely generated by sediment liquefaction, possibly caused by episodic energetic events such as major cyclones and/or earthquakes. Bottomset sediments extend seaward close to the shelf break in the west, whereas no Holocene sediments cover the outer shelf in the east.     

Tectonic setting of the Azores Plateau deduced from a OBS survey

The studies of Azores seismicity generally show shocks with either normal faulting or right-lateral strike-slip along the ESE direction, compatible with a eastward relative motion of the Eurasian (EU) relative to the African (AF) plate. However, the 1 January 1980 earthquake was interpreted as a clear left-lateral strike-slip shock along the N150E direction. This pattern is difficult to explain in terms of the relative motion between the EU, AF and North American (NA) plates: all available models for the present day movement of this triple junction fail to explain the regional variability in the stress conditions of the area. Here we present data from a 34-day long Ocean Bottom Seismograph array deployment. We show that the seismicity is distributed along a band aligned with the island chain itself, and is concentrated along several faults with an approximate N150E strike, cutting the Azores plateau in all the area covered by the OBS network. The combination of these new results with other geophysical data permits us to conclude that the tectonic setting of the Azores plateau is characterised by the existence of two sets of faults, in the N120E and N150E directions, defining several crustal blocks, whose relative motion accommodates the interaction of the three megaplates. The deformation of these tectonic blocks is probably driven by the shear between the EU and AF plates. This model explains well the spatial variability of the stress conditions in the Azores domain, the combination of dextral and sinistral strike slip mechanisms and the observed seismotectonics of the Azores islands.