Late Quaternary sea‐level change and evolution of Belfast Lough,Northern Ireland: new offshore evidence and implications for sea‐level reconstruction

The interplay of eustatic and isostatic factors causes complex relative sea‐level (RSL) histories, particularly in paraglacial settings. In this context the past record of RSL is important in understanding ice‐sheet history, earth rheology and resulting glacio‐isostatic adjustment. Field data to develop sea‐level reconstructions are often limited to shallow depths and uncertainty exists as to the veracity of modelled sea‐level curves. We use seismic stratigraphy, 39 vibrocores and 26 radiocarbon dates to investigate the deglacial history of Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland, and reconstruct past RSL. A typical sequence of till, glacimarine and Holocene sediments is preserved. Two sea‐level lowstands (both max. ?40 m) are recorded at c. 13.5 and 11.5k cal a bp . Each is followed by a rapid transgression and subsequent periods of RSL stability. The first transgression coincides temporally with a late stage of Meltwater Pulse 1a and the RSL stability occurred between c. 13.0 and c. 12.2k cal a bp (Younger Dryas). The second still/slowstand occurred between c. 10.3 and c. 11.5k cal a bp . Our data provide constraints on the direction and timing of RSL change during deglaciation. Application of the Depth of Closure concept adds an error term to sea‐level reconstructions based on seismic stratigraphic reconstructions.     

A tool for site prioritisation of marine protected areas under data poor conditions

A challenge of managing data poor fisheries lies in overcoming uncertainties associated with a lack of information on biological and socio-economic conditions. This paper focuses on site prioritisation for marine protected areas, a process that usually imposes moderate to heavy demands on data, time, local expertise, and funds. A fuzzy logic decision support tool for zoning marine areas that is suitable for use in data poor conditions is developed. This tool, the Protected Area Suitability Index (PASI), assesses the suitability of sites for protection based on fishers’ preferences for that site and the site’s conservation value. Only eight input attributes are required to run the PASI, which operates on a series of heuristic rules to estimate a site suitability score that ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates that a site is highly suitable for being protected from fishing. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the PASI is relatively robust, and produces reliable results even as the system is degraded by the loss of data. Eighteen actively fished sites and 11 sites that are closed to fishing are assessed to evaluate how well the PASI is able to distinguish differences between sites. The estimated scores are significantly different (p<0.05), whereby non-fished sites are scored as being more suitable for protection than fished sites. The PASI can be used as a decision support tool to facilitate systematic marine spatial management under data poor conditions, especially in the task of identifying suitable sites for protection.     

An overview of socio-economic and ecological perspectives of Fiji's inshore reef fisheries

This paper reviews the socio-economic and ecological context of Fijian reef fisheries. This review is deemed necessary because improved understanding of the state and trends of Fiji's coral reef fisheries on a national level is required for designing an effective management plan for Fiji's inshore reef fisheries. The most important point that emerges from our review is that despite numerous studies of Fiji's reef fisheries, the current status of reef-associated fisheries at the national level is still uncertain due, mainly, to the lack of dependable data on the subsistence fisheries. This in turn leads to uncertainty about how the continuation of fishing, in particular, fishing focused on target species for the coral reef resources trade, will affect fishing communities and the ecosystem.     

Malthusian overfishing in Pulau Banggi?

We assess, based on fisheries and interview data collected on-site, whether Malthusian overfishing is occurring in Pulau Banggi, Sabah. Fisheries resources in Pulau Banggi have been perceived to be declining over the past 20 years, and characteristics of Malthusian overfishing are evident, although not at a magnitude comparable with other more heavily exploited artisanal fisheries in the Philippines. It appears that Pulau Banggi's reef fisheries are at an early stage of Malthusian overfishing, and this is therefore a critical time for addressing and mitigating drivers of overfishing to prevent inevitable and further decline of Pulau Banggi's reef fisheries.     

4-tert-octylphenol and 17beta-estradiol applied by feeding to flounder Platichthys flesus: induction of vitellogenin and accumulation in tissues

In order to simulate a possible natural administration route of xenoestrogens male flounder Platichthys flesus were exposed via the diet to the alkylphenol 4-tert-octylphenol. Treatment with 4-tert-octylphenol (10, 50 and 100 mg OP kg(-1) BW) or 17beta-estradiol (0.05 mg kg(-1) BW) every second day during a period of 11 days resulted in a significant increase in plasma vitellogenin (Vtg) concentrations. The induction of Vtg was greatest in the fish receiving 50 mg OP kg-' BW. A significant accumulation of 4-tert-octylphenol was found in liver and muscle tissue of the OP treated groups. The tissue concentrations of 4-tert-octylphenol and the plasma vitellogenin concentration were positively correlated. The results show that 4-tert-octylphenol accumulates in liver and muscles of flounder P. flesus, and exerts estrogenic effects such as vitellogenin induction.     

Phytoplankton composition and biomass across the southern Indian Ocean

Phytoplankton composition and biomass was investigated across the southern Indian Ocean. Phytoplankton composition was determined from pigment analysis with subsequent calculations of group contributions to total chlorophyll a (Chl a) using CHEMTAX and, in addition, by examination in the microscope. The different plankton communities detected reflected the different water masses along a transect from Cape Town, South Africa, to Broome, Australia. The first station was influenced by the Agulhas Current with a very deep mixed surface layer. Based on pigment analysis this station was dominated by haptophytes, pelagophytes, cyanobacteria, and prasinophytes. Sub-Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean were encountered at the next station, where new nutrients were intruded to the surface layer and the total Chl a concentration reached high concentrations of 1.7 ??g Chl a L⁻¹ with increased proportions of diatoms and dinoflagellates. The third station was also influenced by Southern Ocean waters, but located in a transition area on the boundary to subtropical water. Prochlorophytes appeared in the samples and Chl a was low, i.e., 0.3 ??g L⁻¹ in the surface with prevalence of haptophytes, pelagophytes, and cyanobacteria. The next two stations were located in the subtropical gyre with little mixing and general oligotrophic conditions where prochlorophytes, haptophytes and pelagophytes dominated. The last two stations were located in tropical waters influenced by down-welling of the Leeuwin Current and particularly prochlorophytes dominated at these two stations, but also pelagophytes, haptophytes and cyanobacteria were abundant. Haptophytes Type 6 (sensuZapata et al., 2004), most likely Emiliania huxleyi, and pelagophytes were the dominating eucaryotes in the southern Indian Ocean. Prochlorophytes dominated in the subtrophic and oligotrophic eastern Indian Ocean where Chl a was low, i.e., 0.043-0.086 ??g total Chl a L⁻¹ in the surface, and up to 0.4 ??g Chl a L⁻¹ at deep Chl a maximum. From the pigment analyses it was found that the dinoflagellates of unknown trophy enumerated in the microscope at the oligotrophic stations were possibly heterotrophic or mixotrophic. Presence of zeaxanthin containing heterotrophic bacteria may have increased the abundance of cyanobacteria determined by CHEMTAX.     

Pattern,style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet advance and retreat over the last 45 000 years: evidence from NW Scotland and the adjacent continental shelf

Predicting the future response of ice sheets to climate warming and rising global sea level is important but difficult. This is especially so when fast-flowing glaciers or ice streams, buffered by ice shelves, are grounded on beds below sea level. What happens when these ice shelves are removed? And how do the ice stream and the surrounding ice sheet respond to the abruptly altered boundary conditions? To address these questions and others we present new geological, geomorphological, geophysical and geochronological data from the ice-stream-dominated NW sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). The study area covers around 45 000 km² of NW Scotland and the surrounding continental shelf. Alongside seabed geomorphological mapping and Quaternary sediment analysis, we use a suite of over 100 new absolute ages (including cosmogenic-nuclide exposure ages, optically stimulated luminescence ages and radiocarbon dates) collected from onshore and offshore, to build a sector-wide ice-sheet reconstruction combining all available evidence with Bayesian chronosequence modelling. Using this information we present a detailed assessment of ice-sheet advance/retreat history, and the glaciological connections between different areas of the NW BIIS sector, at different times during the last glacial cycle. The results show a highly dynamic, partly marine, partly terrestrial, ice-sheet sector undergoing large size variations in response to sub-millennial-scale climatic (Dansgaard–Oeschger) cycles over the last 45 000 years. Superimposed on these trends we identify internally driven instabilities, operating at higher frequency, conditioned by local topographic factors, tidewater dynamics and glaciological feedbacks during deglaciation. Specifically, our new evidence indicates extensive marine-terminating ice-sheet glaciation of the NW BIIS sector during Greenland Stadials 12 to 9 – prior to the main ‘Late Weichselian’ ice-sheet glaciation. After a period of restricted glaciation, in Greenland Interstadials 8 to 6, we find good evidence for rapid renewed ice-sheet build-up in NW Scotland, with the Minch ice-stream terminus reaching the continental shelf edge in Greenland Stadial 5, perhaps only briefly. Deglaciation of the NW sector took place in numerous stages. Several grounding-zone wedges and moraines on the mid- and inner continental shelf attest to significant stabilizations of the ice-sheet grounding line, or ice margin, during overall retreat in Greenland Stadials 3 and 2, and to the development of ice shelves. NW Lewis was the first substantial present-day land area to deglaciate, in the first half of Greenland Stadial 3 at a time of globally reduced sea-level c. 26 kabp , followed by Cape Wrath at c. 24 kabp. The topographic confinement of the Minch straits probably promoted ice-shelf development in early Greenland Stadial 2, providing the ice stream with additional support and buffering it somewhat from external drivers. However, c. 20–19 kabp , as the grounding-line migrated into shoreward deepening water, coinciding with a marked change in marine geology and bed strength, the ice stream became unstable. We find that, once underway, grounding-line retreat proceeded in an uninterrupted fashion with the rapid loss of fronting ice shelves – first in the west, then the east troughs – before eventual glacier stabilization at fjord mouths in NW Scotland by ~17 kabp. Around the same time, ~19–17 kabp , ice-sheet lobes readvanced into the East Minch – possibly a glaciological response to the marine-instability-triggered loss of adjacent ice stream (and/or ice shelf) support in the Minch trough. An independent ice cap on Lewis also experienced margin oscillations during mid-Greenland Stadial 2, with an ice-accumulation centre in West Lewis existing into the latter part of Heinrich Stadial 1. Final ice-sheet deglaciation of NW mainland Scotland was punctuated by at least one other coherent readvance at c. 15.5 kabp , before significant ice-mass losses thereafter. At the glacial termination, c. 14.5 kabp , glaciers fed outwash sediment to now-abandoned coastal deltas in NW mainland Scotland around the time of global Meltwater Pulse 1A. Overall, this work on the BIIS NW sector reconstructs a highly dynamic ice-sheet oscillating in extent and volume for much of the last 45 000 years. Periods of expansive ice-sheet glaciation dominated by ice-streaming were interspersed with periods of much more restricted ice-cap or tidewater/fjordic glaciation. Finally, this work indicates that the role of ice streams in ice-sheet evolution is complex but mechanistically important throughout the lifetime of an ice sheet – with ice streams contributing to the regulation of ice-sheet health but also to the acceleration of ice-sheet demise via marine ice-sheet instabilities.