Stratigraphic control of flow and transport characteristics

Ground water flow and travel time are dependent on stratigraphic architecture, which is governed by competing processes that control the spatial and temporal distribution of accommodation and sediment supply. Accommodation is the amount of space in which sediment may accumulate as defined by the difference between the energy gradient and the topographic surface. The temporal and spatial distribution of accommodation is affected by processes that change the distribution of energy (e.g., sea level or subsidence). Fluvial stratigraphic units, generated by FLUVSIM (a stratigraphic simulator based on accommodation and sediment supply), with varying magnitudes and causes of accommodation, were incorporated into a hydraulic regime using MODFLOW (a ground water flow simulator), and particles were tracked using MODPATH (a particle-tracking algorithm). These experiments illustrate that the dominant type of accommodation process influences the degree of continuity of stratigraphic units and thus affects ground water flow and transport. When the hydraulic gradient is parallel to the axis of the fluvial system in the depositional environment, shorter travel times occur in low-total accommodation environments and longer travel times in high-total accommodation environments. Given the same total accommodation, travel times are longer when sea-level change is the dominant process than those in systems dominated by subsidence.     

Monitoring the Prestige oil spill impacts on some key species of the Northern Iberian shelf

Selected key components of the continental shelf benthic and demersal communities were monitored for the two years following the Prestige oil spill (POS) in order to identify the possible ecological effects of the oil. This work includes the first results regarding changes in abundance, distribution and food habits of hake (Merluccius merluccius), four-spot megrim (Lepidorhombus boscii), Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) and Pandalid shrimp (Plesionika heterocarpus) populations of Galician and Cantabrian Sea shelves following the POS. Significant reductions in the abundance of Norway lobster, Plesionika heterocarpus and four-spot megrim were detected in the POS maximum impact area, located over the Galician shelf. Noteworthy recoveries were observed in the 2004 abundance indices of four-spot megrim and Plesionika. On the other hand, no significant effects were detected in the abundance or distribution of hake juveniles even though the tar aggregates were bound by the same oceanographic drift events as the hake recruits were during the winter of 2003 (Navidad current) in different water column layers of the Cantabrian Sea. Feeding patterns of the four species analysed did not present apparent modifications that can be related to the POS.     

Fisheries and aquaculture industries involvement to control product health and quality safety to satisfy consumer-driven objectives on retail markets in Europe

Over the past years the export of agricultural and fishery products from developing countries has substantially increased to markets within the OECD. Retailers and importers are expanding their international operations to meet consumer demands for year-round delivery of products. Moreover, consumers have become increasingly concerned about the safety of food, including those derived from aquatic resources [FAO/NACA/WHO Joint Study Group, 1999. Report food safety issues associated with products from aquaculture. WHO Technical Report Series No 883: VII, pp. 1-55]. Governments and leading businesses are responding by imposing new safety regulations and standards to the international food system (e.g. HACCP, EUREP-GAP), product liability and labeling [Reilly, A., Howgate, P., K?ferstein, F., 1997. Safety hazards and the application of HACCP in aquaculture. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Fish Inspection and Quality Control: A Global Focus, Arlington, VA, 19-24 May 1996. Technomic Publishing, Lancaster, PA, pp. 353-373]. Initial concerns for imports of aquacultural products from developing to industrialized countries focussed on bacterial contamination [Buras, N. 1993. Microbial safety of produce from wastewater-fed aquaculture. In: Pullin, R.V.C., Rosenthal, H., MacLean, J.L.(Eds.), Proceedings of ICLARM Conferences, vol. 31, pp. 285-295]. Today, if trade opportunities are to be maintained, these countries must adapt to a full array of regulations and standards. This paper describes four scenarios in aquaculture and fishing product trade between developing countries and countries in the European Union.     

Oceans and human health: Emerging public health risks in the marine environment

There has been an increasing recognition of the inter-relationship between human health and the oceans. Traditionally, the focus of research and concern has been on the impact of human activities on the oceans, particularly through anthropogenic pollution and the exploitation of marine resources. More recently, there has been recognition of the potential direct impact of the oceans on human health, both detrimental and beneficial. Areas identified include: global change, harmful algal blooms (HABs), microbial and chemical contamination of marine waters and seafood, and marine models and natural products from the seas. It is hoped that through the recognition of the inter-dependence of the health of both humans and the oceans, efforts will be made to restore and preserve the oceans.     

Kaili Biota: A Taphonomic Window on Diversification of Metazoans from the Basal Middle Cambrian: Guizhou, China

1 Introduction The Burgess Shale Biota was discovered in the Cambrian strata of western Canada by American paleontologist C. D. Walcott in 1909 (Walcott, 1911). The fauna contains more than 140 metazoan genera (Robison, 1991, Briggs et al., 1994), with a preservational range from hard skeletal parts, non-mineralized remains and internal soft-tissue and soft-body remains. Following that discovery up to 40 similar taphonomic locations have been found globally in Lower and Middle Cambrian …     

Trace element geochemistry and tectonic characterization of the granulite facies rocks from Southwest Obudu Plateau,southeastern Nigeria

The trace elements characteristics of the migmatitic gneisses (biotite-garnetand hornblende-biotite), granulite facies rocks (charnockitic gneisses) and meta-peridotite in the area of Southwest Obudu Plateau indicate that the area exhibits a high degree of geochemical variability. Compatible trace elements (Ni and Cr) are comparatively high in the granulite facies rocks and meta-peridotite. Ni ranges from 28×10-6 to 266×10-6 whilst Cr ranges from 62×10-6 to 481×10-6 for the granulite facies rocks (charnocki...     

Community Structure in the Amber Forest: Study of the Arthropod Syninclusia in the Rovno Amber(Late Eocene of Ukraine)

<正>Arthropodan syninclusions in the Late Eocene Rovno amber were examined using x~2 to reveal correlation of the component groups(some taxa of Diptera,ants,aphids,and mites) supposedly indicative of the biocoenotic relationships in the ancient amber forest.Three tightly correlated groups were identified,representing a putative aerial plankton guild(Chironomidae+Ceratopogonidae) and two tree-trunk guilds,one of which (Dolichopodidae+Germaraphis) is possibly connected to more open or/and more hygrophilous habitats than the other(Sciara zone Diptera +"Acarus"rhombeus).The ants were not linked with any of the above components.     

Radiating Dyke Swarms in the BAT Region on Venus: A Study from the Helen Planitia Quadrangle

正The Beta-Atla-Themis(BAT)region on Venus is characterized by large volcanic rises,major rift zones(chasmata),radiating,linear,and circumferential grabenfissure systems,and coronae.Its most prominent features