Adaptive balance of global development processes

We study the processes of global self-regulation of Earth’s biota (GAIA-theory) by applying the method of adaptive balance of causes proposed by the authors. By using, as an example, the Daisy World model constructed by this method, we reveal the phenomenon of preservation of the mean temperature of Earth’s surface due to the presence of the vegetation cover. We develop an integral model of global natural, social, and economic processes in which the World Ocean is one of the factors regulating the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The decrease in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by the GAIA-effects increases the number of hurricanes and floods on the Earth. As a result, the levels of ecological and social hazards for the mankind become much higher. To eliminate these threats, it is necessary to intensify the processes of self-organization of the society realized via the improvement of education, development of science, and global regulation of the competition for natural resources. We present the results of numerical experiments performed by using the model demonstrating possible scenarios of global development with regard for the processes of self-organization of the society. __________ Translated From Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 3, Pp. 62–80, May–June, 2007.     

Influence of capture stress, salinity and reproductive status on zinc associated with metallothionein-like proteins in the livers of three marine teleost species

The influence of capture stress, salinity and reproductive status on zinc associated with the metallothionein-like (MT-like) proteins in the livers of three marine teleost species was investigated. In striped mullet, Mugil cephalus L., the zinc associated with the MT-like protein, as determined by gel-permeation HPLC, increased significantly from approximately 102 to 1162 nmol zinc bound/g wet wt 7 days following capture in the field, handling, transportation to the laboratory and transfer to holding tanks. Significant increases were also observed following exposure to reduced salinity for 7 days. Smaller increases were observed in cultured red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, livers following exposure to reduced salinity and physical trauma for 7 days. Finally, there was approximately a 2·5-fold increase in the zinc associated with the MT-like protein in livers of female spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, collected during the reproductive season compared to regressed animals. These findings emphasize the need for establishing the natural fluctuations in MT levels as well as the response to common physical environmental variables before measurement of MT can be used reliably as a biochemical indicator of environmental contamination.     

The wadic project: A comprehensive field evaluation of directional wave instrumentation

The results of a comprehensive field trial of nearly all commercially available directional wave measurement systems at the Edda field in the North Sea during winter 1985-86 are presented. The results summarize the accuracy of the principal engineering wave parameters from each system and the dependence on sea state. Limiting factors on system performance and operational problems are also included in the assessment. Overall experience has been good with systems utilizing widely different measurement principles returning consistent results.     

The Feni Drift: The importance and meaning of slump deposits on the eastern slope of the Rockall Bank

Sedimentary facies of cores from the eastern side of the Rockall Bank and the Feni Drift (55°–58°N) have been studied. They confirm the existence of slumping which contributes only in small part to drift build-up.

These slumps occurred at different episodes during last Glacial and early Post-Glacial periods. They are sandwiched in between more important turbidites, and are found in places where the drift lies against the slope and so is acted upon by continental-rise sedimentary processes. The sea level rise periods with ice melting seems to favour gravity flow release.     

Horizontal and Vertical Structure of Geostrophic Currents in the Black Sea According to the Data of the Summer Survey Performed as a Part of the ComSBlack-92 Program

We describe the methodology and software developed for the numerical analysis of the characteristics of the horizontal and vertical structure of geostrophic currents. We present the results of computation of these characteristics according to the data of the summer survey of the Black Sea carried out as a part of the ComSBlack-92 program. The distinctive features of the space structure of geostrophic currents discovered as a result and the established parameters of their variability may supplement the existing data on the current field in the Black Sea.     

Average grain-size parameters of unlithified sediments in the World Ocean

The high diversity of grain-size parameters of marine and oceanic sediments is determined by hydrodynamical and gravitational processes. Grain-size spectra of the sediments in the World Ocean are represented by two main types. Filtering organisms that passively inherit the proportions of clayey fractions in suspended matter only accelerate the deposition of fine particles, not influencing their distribution at the bottom.     

Hydrocarbons in bivalve mollusks of Port Valdez, Alaska: Consequences of five years' permitted discharge

Petroleum hydrocarbons were investigated in Mytilus edulis and Macoma balthica at six intertidal sites in Port Valdez, Alaska after three to five years of oil terminal operation. Information about the concentrations of total hydrocarbons, unresolved complex mixture, normal alkanes, isoprenoids, olefins, hopanes and polycyclic aromatic hyrocarbons shows that petroleum accumulation in these bivalve mollusks is greatest at the Valdez municipal boat harbor and a crude oil terminal which has been permitted to discharge 170 kg oil day⁻¹. Accumulation two- to ten-fold less were observed at 3 km from the terminal and boat harbor. The temporal trends in petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in M. edulis and M. balthica reflect the effects of selective retention and depuration of different hydrocarbon classes as well as variation in hydrocarbon sources. It is not clear whether the petroleum concentrations in Port Valdez bivalves had reached steady state by 1982, the final sampling time reported here.