Viruses as potential regulators of regional brown tide blooms caused by the alga,Aureococcus anophagefferens

Blooms of the brown tide organismAureccoccus anophagefferens have recurred in the coastal bays in New Jersey since 1995 and in the coastal bays of Long Island since 1985. Intracellular viral-like particles (VLPs) were documented during 1999–2000 brown tide blooms in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, but it was not determined whether cells were infected during the termination of the bloom. The objective of this study was to determine if VLPs infected and lysed natural populations ofA. anophagefferens in coastal bays of New Jersey and New York in 2002 with the same frequency as in 1999–2000 and especially at the termination of the bloom. Our results confirmed that the highest percentage (37.5%) of VLP-infected cells occurred at the termination of the brown tide bloom in New Jersey in 2002. Intracellular VLPs were present throughout the bloom event. The percentage of visibly infected cells was higher at the beginning of the bloom than during the peak of the bloom. The intracellular VLPs in natural populations ofA. anophagefferens were consistent in size and shape (approximately 140 nm in diameter) and comparable to those in previous studies. Concentrated viral isolates, prepared from waters during brown tide blooms in New York and New Jersey in 2002, infected healthy laboratoryA. anophagefferens cultures in vitro. The viral isolates associated with the highest laboratory viral activity (lysis positive) were concentrated from water samples having the highest viral and bacteria concentrations. The intracellular viruses in these virally infected laboratory cultures ofA. anophagefferens were similar in size and shape to those found in natural populations. The successful isolation of a virus specific toA. anophagefferens from a brown tide bloom in the field, the similarity of ultrastructure of VLPs infecting both natural populations and laboratory infected cultures, and the pattern of VLP infection during bloom activity in combination with the observed high percentage of VLP-infected cells during bloom termination, supports, the hypothesis that viruses may be a major source of mortality for brown tide blooms in regional coastal bays of New Jersey and New York.     

Uplift and subsidence from oblique slip: the Ganos–Marmara bend of the North Anatolian Transform, western Turkey

Bends that locally violate plate-motion-parallel geometry are common structural elements of continental transform faults. We relate the vertical component of crustal motion in the western Marmara Sea region to the NNW-pointing 18° bend on the northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF-N) between the Ganos segment, which ruptured in 1912, and the central Marmara segment, a seismic gap. Crustal shortening and uplift on the transpressive west side of the bend results in the Ganos Mountain; crustal extension and subsidence on the transtensional east side produce the Tekirdağ Basin. We propose that this vertical component of deformation is controlled by oblique slip on the non-vertical north-dipping Ganos and Tekirdağ segments of the North Anatolian Fault. We compare Holocene with Quaternary structure across the bend using new and recently published data and conclude the following. First, bend-related vertical motion is occurring primarily north of the NAF-N. This suggests that this bend is fixed to the Anatolian side of the fault. Second, current deformation is consistent with an antisymmetric pattern centered at the bend, up on the west and down on the east. Accumulated deformation is shifted to the east along the right-lateral NAF-N, however, leading to locally opposite vertical components of long- and short-term motion. Uplift has started as far west as the landward extension of the Saros trough. Current subsidence is most intense close to the bend and to the Ganos Mountain, while the basin deepens gradually from the bend eastward for 28 km along the fault. The pattern of deformation is time-transgressive if referenced to the material, but is stable if referenced to the bend. The lag between motion and structure implies a 1.1–1.4 Ma age for the basin at current dextral slip rate (2.0–2.5 cm/year). Third, the Tekirdağ is an asymmetric basin progressively tilted down toward the NAF-N, which serves as the border fault. Progressive tilt suggests that the steep northward dip of the fault decreases with depth in a listric geometry at the scale of the upper crust and is consistent with reactivation of Paleogene suture-related thrust faults. Fourth, similar thrust-fault geometry west of the bend can account for the Ganos Mountain anticline/monocline as hanging-wall-block folding and back tilting. Oblique slip on a non-vertical master fault may accommodate transtension and transpression associated with other bends along the NAF and other continental transforms.     

Coastal processes and cliff recession between Gabicce and Pesaro (northern Adriatic Sea): a case history

Cliff recession on the high rocky coast between Gabicce and Pesaro Adriatic sea causes a wide range of mass movement processes on the whole slope, affecting both the bedrock and the overburden. The outcropping late Miocene rock formations are represented by marls, marly limestones, dark laminated mudstones and bedded sandstones and marls. Mass movements are common because of stratification and discontinuities in the rocks that, together with the presence of groundwater and weathering processes, reduce the overall strength of the slopes. A model for the evolution of this coastal area is proposed, which involves cyclic basal erosion, followed by mass movement that favours debris accumulation at the base of the cliff. The longshore currents have to then remove the material before a new cycle can begin.     

Towards a long-term monitoring of Central European water mite faunas (Acari: Hydrachnidia and Halacaridae) – considerations on the background of data from 1900 to 2000

The state of knowledge of the Central European water mite fauna and the research history are briefly surveyed. Several areas for which we are provided with rich data sets are of high value for the monitoring of faunistic trends on the background of local and global environmental change. The need for a database combining historical and actual faunistic information is stressed. It should facilitate the access to all data from former times, give a survey on actual activities by regular updates, and help for a better organization of future research activities. On the base of an update of the Limnofauna Europaea (K.O. Viets 1978, Gerecke in www.watermite.org) a first attempt is made to (1) recognize changes in the Central European fauna during the past 100 years; (2) emphasize species which may be endangered or have disappeared during the past 100 years. At the present state of knowledge, the degree of threat to water mite species in this area is best calculated from their preference for particular habitat types which are rare and in danger to disappear in cultivated landscapes. Our knowledge concerning neozoic water mites in the study area is discussed.     

Inviscid behaviour of fines-rich pyroclastic flows inferred from experiments on gas-particle mixtures

Experiments were carried out on granular flows generated by instantaneous release of gas-fluidised, bidisperse mixtures and propagating into a horizontal channel. The mixture consists of fine (< 100 μm) and coarse (> 100 μm) particles of same density, with corresponding grain size ratios of ∼ 2 to 9. Initial fluidisation of the mixture destroys the interparticle frictional contacts, and the flow behaviour then depends on the initial bed packing and on the timescale required to re-establish strong frictional contacts. At a fines mass fraction (α) below that of optimal packing (∼ 40%), the initial mixtures consist of a continuous network of coarse particles with fines in interstitial voids. Strong frictional contacts between the coarse particles are probably rapidly re-established and the flows steadily decelerate. Some internal friction reduction appears to occur as α and the grain size ratio increases, possibly due to particle rolling and the lower roughness of internal shear surfaces. Segregation only occurs at large grain size ratio due to dynamical sieving with fines concentrated at the flow base. In contrast, at α above that for optimal packing, the initial mixtures consist of coarse particles embedded in a matrix of fines. Flow velocities and run-outs are similar to that of the monodisperse fine end-member, thus showing that the coarse particles are transported passively within the matrix whatever their amount and grain size are. These flows propagate at constant height and velocity as inviscid fluid gravity currents, thus suggesting negligible interparticle friction. We have determined a Froude number of 2.61 ± 0.08 consistent with the dam-break model for fluid flows, and with no significant variation as a function of α, the grain size ratio, and the initial bed expansion. Very little segregation occurs, which suggests low intensity particle interactions during flow propagation and that active fluidisation is not taking place. Strong frictional contacts are only re-established in the final stages of emplacement and stop the flow motion. We infer that fines-rich (i.e. matrix-supported) pyroclastic flows propagate as inviscid fluid gravity currents for most of their emplacement, and this is consistent with some field data.     

Turbulent flow over a dune: Green River,Colorado

Detailed echo‐sounder and acoustic Doppler velocimeter measurements are used to assess the temporal and spatial structure of turbulent flow over a mobile dune in a wide, low‐gradient, alluvial reach of the Green River. Based on the geometric position of the sensor over the bedforms, measurements were taken in the wake, in transitional flow at the bedform crest, and in the internal boundary layer. Spatial distributions of Reynolds shear stress, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulence intensity, and correlation coefficient are qualitatively consistent with those over fixed, two‐dimensional bedforms in laboratory flows. Spectral and cospectral analysis demonstrates that energy levels in the lee of the crest (i.e. wake) are two to four times greater than over the crest itself, with minima over the stoss slope (within the developing internal boundary layer). The frequency structure in the wake is sharply defined with single, dominant peaks. Peak and total spectral and cross‐spectral energies vary over the bedform in a manner consistent with wave‐like perturbations that ‘break’ or ‘roll up’ into vortices that amalgamate, grow in size, and eventually diffuse as they are advected downstream. Fluid oscillations in the lee of the dune demonstrate Strouhal similarity between laboratory and field environments, and correspondence between the peak frequencies of these oscillations and the periodicity of surface boils was observed in the field. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.