Imaging of Buried Archaeological Materials: The Reflection Properties of Archaeological Wood

Effective marine archaeological site management demands detailed information on not only the spatial distribution of artefacts but also the degradation state of the materials present. Although sonar methods have frequently been used in an attempt to detect buried wooden shipwrecks they are currently unable to indicate their degradation state. To assess the sensitivity of acoustic measurements to changes in the degradation state of such material, and hence the potential for sonars to quantify degradation, laboratory measurements of compressional wave velocity, as well as bulk density for oak and pine samples, in varying states of decay, were undertaken. These data enabled the calculation of theoretical reflection coefficients for such materials buried in various marine sediments. As wood degrades, the reflection coefficients become more negative, resulting in the hypothesis that the more degraded wood becomes, the easier it should be to detect. Typical reflection coefficients of the order of −0.43 and −0.52 for the most degraded oak and pine samples in sand are predicted. Conversely, for wood exposed to seawater the predicted reflection coefficients are large and positive for undegraded material (0.35 for oak, 0.18 for pine) and decrease to zero or slightly below for the most degraded samples. This indicates that exposed timbers, when heavily degraded, can be acoustically transparent and so undetectable by acoustic methods. Corroboration of these experimental results was provided through comparison with high resolution seismic reflection data that has been acquired over two shipwrecks.     

Multi-decadal synthesis of benthic–pelagic coupling in the western arctic: Role of cross-shelf advective processes

Using geographic information systems (GIS) software and geostatistical techniques, we utilized three decades of water-column chlorophyll a data to examine the relative importance of autochthonous versus allochthonous sources of reduced carbon to benthic communities that occur from the northern Bering to the eastern Beaufort Sea shelf. Spatial trend analyses revealed areas of high benthic biomass (>300 g m⁻²) and chlorophyll (>150 mg m⁻²) on both the southern and northern Chukchi shelf; both areas are known as depositional centers for reduced organic matter that originates on the Bering Sea shelf and is advected northward in Anadyr and Bering shelf water masses. We found a significant correlation between biomass and chlorophyll a in the Chukchi Sea, reflective of the strong benthic–pelagic coupling in a system that is utilized heavily by benthic-feeding marine mammals. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between biomass and chlorophyll in the Beaufort Sea, which by comparison, is considerably less productive (biomass and chlorophyll, <75 g m⁻² and <50 mg m⁻², respectively). One notable exception is an area of relatively high biomass (50–100 g m⁻²) and chlorophyll (80 mg m⁻²) near Barter Island in the eastern Beaufort Sea. Compared to other adjacent areas in the Beaufort Sea, the chlorophyll values in the vicinity of Barter Island were considerably higher and likely reflect a long-hypothesized upwelling in that area and close coupling between the benthos and autochthonous production. In the Bering Sea, a drop in benthic biomass in 1994 compared with previous measurements (1974–1993) may support earlier observations that document a decline in biomass that began between the 1980s and 1990s in the Chirikov Basin and south of St. Lawrence Island. The results of this study indicate that the benthos is an excellent long-term indicator of both local and physical advective processes. In addition, this work provides further evidence that secondary production on arctic shelves can be significantly augmented by reduced carbon advected from highly productive adjacent shelves.     

Long-Term Investigation of Spatio-Temporal Variations in Faunal Composition and Species Richness of Megabenthos in Ise Bay,Central Japan

Based on our long-term data from megabenthos sampling from 1993 to 2002 in Ise Bay, central Japan, we examined spatio-temporal variations in taxon composition, species richness and its distribution of megabenthos in the bay in relation to the occurrence of the oxygen-poor water (i.e. oxygen content less than 3 ppm) in bottom waters of the bay. A total of 261 species were identified including 6 cnidarians, 1 tentaculate, 5 annelids, 71 molluscs, 72 crustaceans, 16 echinoderms, 12 urochordates and 78 pisces. Of the most abundant 10 megabenthos species, the following 4 species of echinoderms made up more than the half of megabenthos biomass: Luidia quinaria, Echinocardium cordatum, Asterias amurensis and Astropecten scoparius. Species richness of megabenthos varied significantly between seasons and among stations. The severity and period of occurrence of the oxygen-poor water developing every summer play an important role in determining spatial distributions of species richness in the bay.     

The Dynamics of Covering Behaviour in Dominant Echinoid Populations from American and European West Coasts

Abstract.  The so-called 'covering behaviour' of echinoids is known to vary with habitat according to the types of covering items available, but the full extent of the role played by habitat characteristics in this behaviour is not known. Moreover, whether or not different species inhabiting similar environmental conditions and habitats also show similar patterns of this particular behaviour has yet to be investigated. In this study, two prominent west coast echinoid species, Paracentrotus lividus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus , were examined with respect to covering behaviour and spatial organisation. Populations of both species are found in exposed intertidal zones, occupying boreholes within tidepools. Important similarities were found in the spatial organisation of both species' populations, with lowest densities in upper shore pools. However, the size distributions of the two populations differed significantly; P. lividus within upper shore pools were significantly larger than those in mid or lower shore pools, whereas S. purpuratus on the lower shore were significantly larger than those at other shore heights. We found significant between-species variability in covering item use, although the number of covering items available at both sites was not significantly different. For example, greater densities of covering items were used by P. lividus than by S. purpuratus . We also found that the percent of echinoid surface area covered varied significantly in space for both species. These data emphasise the complex and multifaceted nature of covering behaviour, but most importantly, they also strongly suggest that habitat characteristics can only partly explain the extent of this behavioural variability amongst echinoid species.     

Relationship between Salinity and Nutrients in the Subsurface Layer in the Suruga Bay

We investigated the water structure and nutrient distribution in the Suruga Bay from April 2000 to July 2002, especially the Offshore Water, which occupies a large part of the bay. The maximum salinity in the upper 200 m varied between 34.49 and 34.71, indicating a temporal change in the influence of Kuroshio Water on the Offshore Water. Seasonal variation in nutrient concentrations was largest from surface to 50 m. On the other hand, the variance in nutrient concentrations within each season was largest in the subsurface layer of 100–300 m in spring, summer and fall. In the Offshore Water, the change of nutrients was negatively correlated with that of salinity in each season. This suggests that an increasing intrusion of saline water brings about a lower nutrient concentration in the Offshore Water. Likewise, negative correlations were observed between the change of the maximum salinity and chlorophyll a (Δ [chl.a-int])/nutrients integrated in the upper 200 m. Δ[chl.a-int] was significantly correlated with the changes of nitrate and phosphorus, but there were no significant correlations between Δ[chl.a-int] and the change of silicate. These results suggest that the concentrations of chlorophyll a and nutrients in the Offshore Water were decreased due to the increasing intrusion of Kuroshio Water. The Offshore Water is likely to be related to the regulation of primary production by nitrate.     

Drag Coefficient,Dynamic Roughness and Reference Wind Speed

Surface waves are the roughness element of the ocean surface. The parameterization of the drag coefficient of the ocean surface is simplified by referencing to wind speed at an elevation proportional to the characteristic wavelength. The dynamic roughness is analytically related to the drag coefficient. Under the assumption of fetch limited wave growth condition, various empirical functions of the dynamic roughness can be converted to equivalent expressions for comparison. For datasets covering a wide range of the dimensionless frequency (inverse wave age), it is important to account for the variable rate of wave development at different wave ages. As a result, the dependence of the Charnock parameter on wave age is nonmonotonic. Finally, the analysis presented here suggests that the significant wave steepness is a sensitive property of the ocean surface and a single variable normalization of the dynamic roughness using a wavelength or wave height parameter actually produces more robust functions than bi-variable normalizations using wave height and wave slope.     

Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Total Mass Flux around Coral Reefs in the Southern Ryukyus,Japan

Total mass flux, size distribution of sediment particles and some chemical components such as total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN) and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) were monitored monthly using a multi-cup sediment traps at seven coral reef sites (6 reef flat and 1 reef slope) of the Marine Protected Areas around Ishigaki, Kohama, Kuroshima and Iriomote Islands in the southern Ryukyus, Japan from September 2000 to September 2001. The size distribution of trapped sediments revealed mostly uni-modal fine sand to mud in the reef flat and gravelly to coarse sand in the reef slope. The total mass flux ranged between 0.54 to 872 gm⁻²d⁻¹, and showed a pronounced seasonality (high in summer-autumn and low in spring) at each site, which was consistent with the rainfall and typhoon regime. Exceptionally high values were observed on the reef slope (Iriomote) in February–March 2001 (1533 gm⁻²d⁻¹) owing to a large amount of bottom sediment re-suspension. On the reef flat (Todoroki South and North; Ishigaki), values obtained in July–August 2001 (872 gm⁻²d⁻¹) and August–September 2001 (800 gm^{− 2}d⁻¹) indicate the high terrestrial discharge from Todoroki River. Trapped sediment particles consist of CaCO₃ (1.2–27.1%) and a non-carbonate fraction (98.8–72.9%), which contains total carbon (4.9–26%), carbonate carbon (CO₂-C) (0.2–3.1%) and non-carbonate carbon (NC-C) (7.9–25.6%). Total nitrogen content was in the range 0.02–0.48%. TN is contained mainly in the carbonate fraction and NC-C may be contained in the non-carbonate fraction. The low TN/OC ratio of the trapped sediments suggests that they were mostly of terrestrial origin and that both fractions migrated. The high total mass flux derived from Todoroki River exceeded the threshold at which a lethal effect on coral community is caused. The results stress the importance of conducting seasonal studies of sedimentation over more than one year and at more than one location in south Japan coral reef ecosystems to gain an understanding of the processes controlling the total mass fluxes and their nutrients content, also to develop an awareness of how to prevent the damage of coral reef ecosystems and, if it does occur, to allow mitigation measures to be undertaken.     

Influence of Current Width Variation on the Annual Mean Transport of the East Sakhalin Current: A Simple Model

Recent observations suggest that the annual mean southward transport of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC) is significantly larger than the annual mean Sverdrup transport. Motivated by this observational result, transport of a western boundary current has been investigated using a simple numerical model with a western slope. This transport is defined as the instantaneous barotropic transport integrated from the western boundary to the offshore point where the barotropic velocity vanishes. The model, forced by seasonally varying wind stress, exhibits an annual mean of the western boundary current transport that is larger than that of the Sverdrup transport, as observed. The southward transport from October to March in the model nearly equals the instantaneous Sverdrup transport, while the southward transport from April to September decreases slowly. Although the Sverdrup transport in July vanishes, the southward transport in summer nearly maintains the annual mean Sverdrup transport, because the barotropic Rossby wave cannot intrude on the western slope. This summer transport causes the larger annual mean. Although there are some uncertainties in the estimation of the Sverdrup transport in the Sea of Okhotsk, the seasonal variation of the southward transport in the model is qualitatively similar to the observations.     

Mussels document loss of bioavailable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the return to baseline conditions for oiled shorelines in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured in mussels (Mytilus trossulus) collected between 1990 and 2002 from 11 sites on the shores of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, that were heavily oiled by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). This study, utilizing the methods of the NOAA Status and Trends Mussel Watch Program, found that concentrations of PAH released from spill remnants have decreased dramatically with time and by 2002 were at or near the range of total PAH (TPAH) of 3-355 ng/g dry weight obtained for mussels from unoiled reference sites in PWS. Time-series TPAH data indicate a mean TPAH half-life in mussel tissues of 2.4 years with a range from 1.4 to 5.3, yielding an annual mean loss of bioaccumulated TPAH of 25%. The petroleum-derived TPAH fraction in mussel tissues has decreased with time, reflecting the decreasing release of EVOS residues in shoreline sediments. These results show that PAH from EVOS residues that remain buried in shoreline sediments after the early 1990s are in a form and at locations that have a low accessibility to mussels living in the intertidal zone.