The perceptions of local fishermen towards a hotel managed marine reserve in Vietnam

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) often fail to meet ecological, social or economic objectives due to lack of effective management by government institutions. Partly in response to this failure, a number of marine reserves managed by the private sector, Hotel Managed Marine Reserves (HMMRs), have recently been established. In this study, we investigate changes to the social and economic conditions faced by local fishermen, following the establishment of two small reserves adjacent to a hotel in Vietnam, as well as their perceptions of the reserves' ability to produce spillover. The findings are used to gauge management performance and effectiveness of the HMMRs. Two surveys with different survey designs, targeting fishermen with different fishing techniques, produced conflicting results. Fishermen mainly dependent on beach seining mostly opposed the HMMRs and the prospect of more protected areas being established. Fishermen using other fishing techniques were generally in favor of the HMMRs, welcoming more protection and confirming spillover of fish, including large food fishes.     

Application of a vanishing, quasi-sigma, vertical coordinate for simulation of high-speed, deep currents over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico

Recent observations over the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico have revealed extremely energetic deep currents (near 1 m s⁻¹), which are trapped along the escarpment. Both scientific interest and engineering needs demand dynamical understanding of these extreme events, and can benefit from a numerical model designed to complement observational and theoretical investigations in this region of complicated topography. The primary objective of this study is to develop a modeling methodology capable of simulating these physical processes and apply the model to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. The very steep slope of the Sigsbee Escarpment (0.05–0.1) limits the application of ocean models with traditional terrain-following (sigma) vertical coordinates, which may represent the very complicated topography in the region adequately, can result in large truncation errors during calculation of the horizontal pressure gradient. A new vertical coordinate system, termed a vanishing quasi-sigma coordinate, is implemented in the Navy Coastal Ocean Model for application to the Sigsbee Escarpment region. Vertical coordinate surfaces for this grid have noticeably gentler slopes than a traditional sigma grid, while still following the terrain near the ocean bottom. The new vertical grid is tested with a suite of numerical experiments and compared to a classical sigma-layer model. The numerical error is substantially reduced in the model with the new vertical grid. A one-year, realistic, numerical simulation is performed to simulate strong, deep currents over the Escarpment using a very-high-resolution nested modeling approach. The model results are analyzed to demonstrate that the deep-ocean currents in the simulation replicate the prominent dynamical features of the observed intense currents in the region.     

Origin of transverse folds in an extensional growth-fault setting: Evidence from an extensive seismic volume in the western Gulf of Mexico

Growth faults in gravity-driven extensional provinces are dominated by coast-parallel trends, but coast-perpendicular (transverse) trends are far less documented. The Clemente–Tomas fault in the inner Texas shelf has corrugations that are transverse to the fault and that plunge downdip. A large (8500 km²), high-quality, 3D seismic survey allows a uniquely encompassing perspective into hanging-wall deformation above this corrugated fault surface. Synextensional strata in the hanging wall are folded into alternating transverse ridges and synclines, typically spaced 10 km apart. Forward modelling in dip profiles of an extensional fault having three ramps produces ramp basin-rollover pairs that compare with the seismically revealed ridges and synclines. As they translated down the undulose fault plane, ramp basins and rollovers were juxtaposed along strike, forming the hanging-wall ridges and synclines observed offshore Texas. Fault-surface corrugations correlate broadly with footwall structure. We infer that corrugations on the Clemente–Tomas fault formed by evacuation of an allochthonous salt canopy emplaced in the late Eocene to early Oligocene. Early salt evacuation (Oligocene) created an undulose topography that influenced incipient Clemente-Tomas fault segments as they merged to form an inherently undulose fault. Late salt evacuation (early Miocene) further deformed this fault surface.     

A collective approach to Pacific islands fisheries management: Moving beyond regional agreements

The sustainable management and profitable development of the Pacific island tuna fisheries is the key ocean governance challenge for the Pacific islands region in the short and medium term. Resolving these challenges is fundamental to the long term future of the region and its ability to implement oceans governance across all resource and conservation concerns.     

Deep-sea Fe-Mn Crusts from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean: Composition and Resource Considerations

Eighteen deep-sea ferromanganese crusts (Fe-Mn crusts) from 10 seamounts in the northeast Atlantic were studied. Samples were recovered from water depths of ～1,200 to ～4,600 m from seamounts near Madeira, the Canary and Azores islands, and one sample from the western Mediterranean Sea.

The mineralogical and chemical compositions of the samples indicate that the crusts are typical continental margin, hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts. The Fe-Mn crusts exhibit a Co + Cu + Ni maximum of 0.96 wt%. Platinum-group element contents analyzed for five samples showed Pt contents from 153 to 512 ppb.

The resource potential of Fe-Mn crusts within and adjacent to the Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is evaluated to be comparable to that of crusts in the central Pacific, indicating that these Atlantic deposits may be an important future resource.     

Using Mean Sea Surface Topography for Determination of Height System Differences across the Baltic Sea

The mean sea surface topography in the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters is reliably known in the Nordic height system NH 60. Using this knowledge we estimate differences between NH 60, based on the Amsterdam zero point, and Russian, Polish, and German height systems along the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, based on the Kronstadt zero point. The differences agree within a few centimeters. We also make a simple study of the mean sea level difference between Kronstadt and Amsterdam (which is found to have been approximately 25 cm when sea level was still to be seen there).     

Relationship between turbidity and fish diets in Lakes Waahi and Whangape,New Zealand

Abstract

Stomach contents of Gobiomorphus cotidianus,Retropinna retropinna, Gambusia affinis, and Anguilla australis were compared between two shallow lakes in the lower Waikato River basin, to examine the relationship between turbidity and diet. Lake Waahi and the south arm of Lake Whangape had been turbid (20–40 g suspended solids (SS) m^?3) and devoid of submerged macrophytes since the late 1970s and early 1980s, respectively. The main basin of Lake Whangape had been generally clearer (5 g SS m^?3) with dense beds of submerged macrophytes, but at the time of sampling (1987) water clarity had deteriorated (> c. 10 g SS m³) and submerged macrophytes had declined. The mysid Tenagomysis chiltoni was an important prey for all species of fish from turbid water bodies but was less important in stomachs of fish in the main basin of Lake Whangape. Apparently, mysids were not an important prey in Lake Waahi before it became turbid. Chironomid larvae and pupae dominated the diets of small fish in the main basin of Lake Whangape. Fish and mysids were the most important prey of shortfinned eels in both lakes, with mysids most important in Lake Waahi. High mysid densities in the turbid water bodies provide an alternative food resource apparently compensating for those lost by fish when water clarity declined and submerged macrophytes collapsed.     

Palynology and petroleum potential of the Kazhdumi Formation (Cretaceous: Albian–Cenomanian) in the South Pars field,northern Persian Gulf

The Kazhdumi Formation of the Bangestan Group is a well-known source rock that has produced abundant oil in most petroleum fields in the Zagros Basin, which stretches from northwest to southwest Iran over hundreds of kilometres. The formation reaches a thickness of 230 m at the type section in northwest Zagros but thins out to 40–50 m in wells studied from the South Pars giant petroleum field, where it comprises mainly grey shales with occasional intercalations of marls and sandstones. South Pars, best known as the Iranian part of the world's largest non-associated gas field, contains small quantities of oil above and below the Kazhdumi Formation.     

Ocean coast effect on magnetotelluric data: a case study from Kachchh, India

The effects of the ocean coast on magnetotelluric (MT) data have been studied and results are described in this article. MT soundings from various sites along coastal plains of Kachchh were acquired where volcanic rocks overlie Mesozoic sediments having potential resource prospects. The region of our study lies in the proximity of Gulf of Kachchh and Arabian Sea. This article describes the effects the presence of a conductive body on the acquired MT data. With the help of synthetic MT modelling and induction arrows we demonstrate the influence of shallow conductive body on the MT data. The modelling results when compared to the field observations show that much of the high frequencies are unaffected by the coast, however low frequencies of the data do seem to be distorted by onshore–offshore resistivity contrasts. The least affect on high frequencies can be attributed to very shallow water depth as well as to the fact that the onshore–offshore resistivity contrasts are not large enough to influence the high frequency data badly. The results presented here report for the first time the effect of the coast on the analysis on MT data from Kachchh. Due to several academic as well as industrial onshore–offshore MT experiments presently being carried out to explore its hydrocarbon potential, our results have an important bearing on designing and acquisition of future MT surveys in this region.     

The effect of bedform dynamics on computing suspended sediment fluxes using optical backscatter sensors and current meters

The sensitivity of the suspended sediment flux is tested with respect to rapid changes in bed-level across the surf zone of a sandy beach. The suspended flux was computed using a fixed instrument array, but bed-level changes due to ripple migration caused the instrument elevations to be significantly changed during the course of the experiment. The nominal elevations of the instruments were adjusted during data processing (using the MOBS array) to maintain a fixed elevation with respect to bed-level changes. The resultant suspended sediment concentrations and fluxes were significantly different from the unadjusted data, and for the present data set O(35%) less when averaged over the tide. The maximum difference between adjusted and unadjusted fluxes may be O(260%). The results indicate that changes in bed-level, particularly those due to bedform migration, must be accounted for when processing OBS data if reliable estimates of suspended sediment transport are to be obtained in the field.