PCDD/F and PCB in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) from British Columbia: response to exposure to pulp mill effluents

Blubber of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) sampled from the Strait of Georgia, BC, in 1991 and 1992 contained higher concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) than did samples from Quatsino Sound on western Vancouver Island. The higher proportions of 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexachlorodibenzodioxin and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran in the Strait of Georgia samples probably reflect contamination arising from the discharge of effluents from bleached kraft mills. Higher concentrations of non-ortho- and mono-ortho substituted polychlorinated biphenyls were also found in the Strait of Georgia samples, probably as a result of general industrial activity in the region. Principal components analysis showed that residues were distributed differently between males and females. Within males, concentrations of PCDD, PCDF and PCBs appeared to increase with age. Toxic equivalents (TEQ) to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin in the Quatsino Sd. samples were close to the working guidelines for edible fish used by Health Canada; TEQ calculated for the Strait of Georgia samples exceeded these guidelines by up to a factor of five.     

Mineralogical and geochemical features of authigenic carbonates on seepings and hydrothermal fields (By the examples of the Black Sea reefs and the mounds of the lost city field)

Two genetically different types of authigenic carbonate mounds are studied: those within an active hydrothermal field related to serpentinite protrusions in the zone of intersection of a transform fracture zone and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and those in an active field of methane seepings in the Dnieper canyon of the Black sea. The general geochemical conditions under which authigenic carbonate formation occurs in the two fields considered were found. They include the presence of reduced H₂S, H₂, and CH₄ gases at the absence of free oxygen; the high alkalinity of the waters participating in the carbonate formation; the similarity of the textural and structural features of authigenic aragonite, which represents the initial mineral of the carbonate matter of the mounds; the paragenesis of aragonite with sulfide minerals; and the close relation of carbonate mounds with communities of sulfate-reducing and methane-oxidizing microorganisms. A new mechanism of formation of hydrothermal authigenic carbonates is suggested; it implies their microbial sulfate reduction over the hydrogen of the fluid in the subsurface zone (biosphere) of mixing between the hydrothermal solution and the adjacent seawater.     

Structure of the Wave Bottom Boundary Layer over Smooth and Rough Bottoms

The comparison of six well-known models of the wave bottom boundary layer shows that they are identical in the case of a smooth bottom but exhibit serious differences for the other types of conditions. The thickness of the wave bottom boundary layer and the coefficient of vertical diffusion of momentum are studied by using the relations of the k-ε-model. The validity of these estimates is checked by comparing the measured and computed values of the friction velocity. This comparison demonstrates fairly good agreement between the results characterized by a coefficient of correlation equal to 0.851. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 6, pp. 54–67, November–December, 2005.     

Marine mammals from northeast Atlantic: relationship between their trophic status as determined by delta13C and delta15N measurements and their trace metal concentrations

The relationship between trophic position through delta13C and delta15N and trace metal concentrations (Zn, Cd, Cu and Hg) was investigated in the tissues of six marine mammal species from the Northeast Atlantic: striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba, common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, Atlantic white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus, harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, white beaked-dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris, grey seal Halichoerus grypus stranded on French Channel and Irish coasts. White-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises, white-sided dolphins, common and striped dolphins display the same relative and decreasing trophic position, as measured by delta15N values, along both the Irish and French channel coasts, reflecting conservative trophic habits between these two places. Hepatic and renal Cd concentrations were significantly correlated to muscle delta13C and delta15N values while Hg, Zn and Cu did not. These results suggest that Cd accumulation is partly linked to the diet while other factors such as age or body condition might explain Hg, Zn or Cu variability in marine mammals. Combined stable isotope and trace metal analyses appear to be useful tools for the study of marine mammal ecology.     

Co–rich Mn crusts from the Magellan Seamount cluster: the long journey through time

The Magellan seamounts began forming as large submarine shield volcanoes south of the equator during the Cretaceous. These volcanoes formed as a cluster on the small Pacific plate in a period when tectonic stress was absent. Thermal subsidence of the seafloor led to sinking of these volcanoes and the formation of guyots as the seamounts crossed the equatorial South Pacific (10–0°S) sequentially and ocean surface temperatures became too high for calcareous organisms to survive. Guyot formation was completed between about 59 and 45 Ma and the guyots became phosphatized at about 39–34 and 27–21 Ma. Ferromanganese crusts began formation as proto-crusts on the seamounts and guyots of the Magellan Seamount cluster towards the end of the Cretaceous up to 55 Ma after the formation of the seamounts themselves. The chemical composition of these crusts evolved over time in a series of steps in response to changes in global climate and ocean circulation. The great thickness of these crusts (up to 15–20 cm) reflects their very long period of growth. The high Co contents of the outer parts of the crusts are a consequence of the increasing deep circulation of the ocean and the resulting deepening of the oxygen minimum zone with time. Growth of the Co-rich Mn crusts in the Magellan Seamount cluster can be considered to be the culmination of a long journey through time.     

Spectrophotometric determination of pH in seawater off Taiaroa Head,Otago, New Zealand: Full-spectrum modelling and prediction of pCO2 levels

Accurate measurement of seawater pH has long been sought by marine chemists (for example: [Dickson, A.G. 1993a. The measurement of sea water pH. Marine Chemistry, 44, 131–142, Dickson, A.G. 1993b. pH buffers for sea water media based on the total hydrogen ion concentration scale. Deep-Sea Research, 40, 107–118; Zhang, 1996; Tapp, M., Hunter, K.A., Currie, K. and Macaskill, B. 2000. Apparatus of continuous-flow underway spectrophotometric measurement of surface water pH. Marine Chemistry 72(2–4), 193–202; Friis, K., Koetzinger, A., Wallace, D.W.R. 2004. Spectrophotometric pH measurement in the ocean: Requirements, design and testing of an autonomous charge-coupled device detector system. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 2, 126–136]. Recently, such attempts have taken on greater significance as anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions may create rapidly changing oceanic pH. Spectrophotometric techniques have been accepted generally as the best for determination of seawater pH. Here we report a new technique using thymol blue as the indicator dye and fitting the entire spectrum from 400 to 900 nm rather than measuring the absorbance values at only two or three points in the spectrum. This full-spectrum modelling enables a reduction in signal to noise over other techniques. In the laboratory, we find with seawater samples a pH precision increase of five-fold “within” a sample and seven-fold “between” samples when comparing the full spectrum to the three-point method of analysis [Zhang, H., Byrne, R.H. 1996. Spectrophotometric pH measurements of surface seawater at in-situ conditions: absorbance and protonation behaviour of thymol blue. Marine Chemistry 52, 17–25].