Distribution and spatial variation of hydrothermal faunal assemblages at Lucky Strike (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) revealed by high-resolution video image analysis

Whilst the fauna inhabiting hydrothermal vent structures in the Atlantic Ocean is reasonably well known, less is understood about the spatial distributions of the fauna in relation to abiotic and biotic factors. In this study, a major active hydrothermal edifice (Eiffel Tower, at 1690 m depth) on the Lucky Strike vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR)) was investigated. Video transects were carried out by ROV Victor 6000 and complete image coverage was acquired. Four distinct assemblages, ranging from dense larger-sized Bathymodiolus mussel beds to smaller-sized mussel clumps and alvinocaridid shrimps, and two types of substrata were defined based on high definition photographs and video imagery. To evaluate spatial variation, faunal distribution was mapped in three dimensions. A high degree of patchiness characterizes this 11 m high sulfide structure. The differences observed in assemblage and substratum distribution were related to habitat characteristics (fluid exits, depth and structure orientation). Gradients in community structure were observed, which coincided with an increasing distance from the fluid exits. A biological zonation model for the Eiffel Tower edifice was created in which faunal composition and distribution can be visually explained by the presence/absence of fluid exits.     

Groundwater-level response to land-use change and the implications for salinity management in the West Moorabool River catchment, Victoria, Australia

The connection between the removal of native vegetation, rising water tables and increasing stream salinity has been established for many catchments across Australia. However, the West Moorabool River in south west Victoria is an example of a catchment where there has been little discernable effect on groundwater levels following land clearing. Over the past 150 years, a significant portion of the catchment has been cleared of dense forest for agricultural development. Historic standing water-level records from 1870–1871 and 1881 are compared with contemporary measurements (1970s to 2007) recorded in the government bore databases. The data show that the earliest recorded groundwater levels are well within the seasonal range of values observed today. By integrating geology and hydrogeology with historical observations of groundwater levels, climate data and land use, the contemporary field observations of stream salinity are linked to the changed water use and shift in rainfall. In contrast to the normally accepted axiom, reafforestation as a management strategy to mitigate the rising salinity in the West Moorabool River catchment would seem inappropriate.     

Governance and technology transfer in the Clean Development Mechanism in India

Despite significant technological advances in emerging economies, the further development of clean energy technologies in developing countries remains crucial to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with economic development. In this paper we address two significant gaps in the growing body of literature that has assessed the role of the Clean Development Mechanism in promoting the transfer of clean technologies to developing countries. First, we present a qualitative analysis of the governance of the Clean Development Mechanism in India. This provides a basis for understanding the extent to which and the ways in which governance may impact upon the likelihood that projects promote technology transfer. Second, we provide a novel quantification of the level and nature of technology transfer that has occurred in Indian Clean Development Mechanism projects, based on insights from literature on technological capability building. We find that the Clean Development Mechanism in India has produced a negligible number of projects that promote technology transfer if technology transfer is understood as a process of learning about technology. Together these qualitative and quantitative analyses show how politics and governance have contributed to the current form of the Clean Development Mechanism market in India, in which processes of building indigenous technological capabilities have been neglected.     

“Lessons for marine conservation planning: A comparison of three marine protected area planning processes”

Various approaches have been used to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) in different countries. In this paper we compare and review three processes to establish MPAs within the United States and Australia. These two countries share many similarities in their cultures, but their approaches to managing marine resources differ considerably. Each of these efforts to establish or review MPAs was motivated by concern about declines of targeted marine species or habitats. However, the government actions varied because of differences in governance, planning process including public input, and the role of science. Comparing these processes highlights effective approaches for protecting marine ecosystems and gaining public support.     

Oceanic fine structure

Abstract

Measurements by free fall instruments, in the San Diego Trough, the Florida Current, and the central Pacific, reveal the detailed structure of the vertical component of the oceanic temperature gradient. The temperature changes are concentrated into regions on the order of a meter thick wherein the measured gradients are often more than ten times the average gradient. The horizontal extent of the regions of high gradient is greater than 750 meters in the seasonal thermocline off San Diego, but is only a few hundred meters at depths greater than 400 meters.

Fine scale measurements show that the layers of high gradient consist of even finer fluctuations in gradient which are only a few centimeters thick. Time scales of the thinnest of these regions of high gradient are of the order of five minutes. The data also yields an estimate of the entropy generation. According to the results of an idealized model relating entropy generation to the turbulent heat transport, only 240 to 700 ergs per cm.² per sec were transported in a 25 meter vertical section measured in the San Diego Trough. This value compared with 3600 ergs per cm.² per sec estimated from the mean gradient and an eddy coefficient of 1 cm.² per sec.     

Interaction of glucose and cellulose with hydrogen sulphide and polysulphides

This paper describes simulation experiments in which glucose and cellulose were reacted with polysulphide and hydrogen sulphide at ambient temperatures in an aqueous environment. Organic sulphur containing compounds were formed that yield several thiophenes upon pyrolysis/evaporation. The experiments show that interaction of carbohydrates with hydrogen sulphide or polysulphides is a possible way for carbohydrates to react in very recent sediments. From the results of this study it can be concluded that carbohydrate carbon can be preserved in sediments in a form that is resistant to microbial attack and that will have a greater potential for survival during diagenesis than the carbohydrate precursor.     

Isotopic and trace-element profiles across the New Britain island arc,Papua New Guinea

New Pb-, Sr-, and Nd-isotopic data have been obtained for the rocks of volcanoes overlying a wide range of depths (100–580 km) to the Wadati-Benioff Zone (WBZ) in the New Britain island arc, Papua New Guinea. Well-defined trends consistent with two-component mixing are observed in combined Pb-isotope/trace-element plots. One of the components is believed to represent a slab contribution whose isotopic signature, unlike those noted for several other arcs, appears to be dominated by subducted, altered, oceanic crust rather than by sediment. This conclusion is consistent with the results of a recent Be–B study of New Britain rocks. The influence of the slab component is considered to decrease as depth to the WBZ increases. Higher abundances of high-field-strength elements correlate with increasing depths to the WBZ, and may be indicative of smaller degrees of partial melting of the mantle wedge as WBZ depths increase. Abundances of other incompatible elements appear to reflect a complex interplay between the slab-derived flux and melting process.