Eastern and Western Poor Cod (Trisopterus minutus capelanus) Populations in the Mediterranean Sea: Evidence from Allozyme and Minisatellite Loci

Abstract. Nine allozyme and two minisatellite loci were used to investigate potential genetic differentiation among three samples of Mediterranean poor cod, Trisopterus minutus capelanus, from the Gulf of Lion, the Tuscan Archipelago and the Aegean Sea. Both types of markers showed consistent results, with F_ST values of 0.0262 and 0.0296 (P < 0.0015, after Bonferroni correction for multiple tests) for allozymes and minisatellites, respectively. Allele frequency heterogeneity tests between pairs of samples showed a clear separation between the two western Mediterranean samples (Gulf of Lion, Tuscan Archipelago) and the eastern one (Aegean Sea). The results indicate that at least two reproductively isolated populations of poor cod occur in the Mediterranean.     

Physical and anthropogenic effects on observed long-term nutrient changes in the Irish Sea

The trend in Irish Sea nutrient concentrations over the last four decades has been considered to reflect changes in anthropogenic loading. Comparison of a long-term database for the Menai Strait, North Wales, with an established historic data set for the Cypris station, Isle of Man, indicates that climate also has a significant influence on observations of nutrient concentrations. Data are presented detailing long-term shifts in nitrate, phosphate and silicate measurements since the 1960s at these two fixed sampling sites in the Irish Sea. Broad systematic changes observed in all three nutrients over the decades show a rise from the 1960s through to the 1980s, followed generally by an overall decline in the 1990s. Decadal-scale salinity changes occur in the opposite sense to nutrient changes. Anthropogenic inputs from freshwater cannot fully account for observed nutrient trends, neither is there evidence for shifts in nutrient concentrations in oceanic waters over the past four decades. Climatically forced movement in the geographical position of the freshwater/seawater mixing zone over a decadal time scale could, however, give rise to the observed shifts in nutrient concentration and salinity. This cannot alter nutrient concentration and salinity per se, but causes the measurements taken at fixed sampling sites to fluctuate inversely over this time scale. It is concluded that there is complex interplay between anthropogenic loading and climate affecting the distribution of nutrients in the Irish Sea.     

Characterization of Estuarine Marine Clays for Coastal Reclamation in Pusan, Korea

Large scale reclamation works in coastal areas of the Nakdong River plain are at various stages of progress, since early 1990's on in-situ soft marine clay deposits. These deposits are of the order of 30 to 40 m thick. A realistic rapid characterization of soft ground would ensure success of any reclamation work in this area. In order to cope with the work carried out with different agencies, it is desirable to evolve a systematic methodology. In this study, engineering properties of clays at three coastal areas, Gadukdo, Noksan and Shinho, have been generated. The analysis of data has been done within the framework of classical developments in soil mechanics. Analysis has also been made by making use of the recent developments in dealing with soft clays. The dominant factors, namely, stress, time, and environment influencing the response of clay to loading are identified.     

Changes in the hydrography of Central California waters associated with the 1997–98 El Niño

Oceanographic conditions off Central California were monitored by means of a series of 13 hydrographic cruises between February 1997 and January 1999, which measured water properties along an oceanographic section perpendicular to the California Coast. The 1997–98 El Niño event was defined by higher than normal sea levels at Monterey, which began in June 1997, peaked in November 1997, and returned to normal in March 1998. The warming took place in two distinct periods. During June and July 1997, the sea level increased as a result of stronger than normal coastal warming below 200 dbars and within 100 km of the coast, which was associated with poleward flow of saltier waters. During this period, deeper (400–1000 dbar) waters between 150–200 km from shore were also warmed and became more saline. Subsequently, sea level continued to rise through January 1998, mostly as a result of the warming above 200 dbars although, after a brief period of cooling in September 1997, waters below 200 dbar were also warmer than normal during this period. This winter warm anomaly was also coastally trapped, extending 200 km from shore and was accompanied by cooler and fresher water in the offshore California current. In March and April 1998, sea level dropped quickly to normal levels and inshore waters were fresher and warmer than the previous spring and flowed southward.The warming was consistent with equatorial forcing of Central California waters via propagation of Kelvin or coastally-trapped waves. The observed change in heat content associated with the 1997–98 El Niño was the same as that observed during the previous seasonal cycle. The warming and freshening events were similar to events observed during the 1957–58 and 1982–83 El Niños.     

Imbalance in the carbonate budget of surficial sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean: variations over the last millenium?

Fluxes contributing to the particulate carbonate system in deep-sea sediments were investigated at the BENGAL site in the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (Northeast Atlantic). Deposition fluxes were estimated using sediment traps at a nominal depth of 3000 m and amounted to 0.37±0.1 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. Dissolution of carbonate was determined using flux of total alkalinity from in situ benthic chambers, is 0.4±0.1 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. Burial of carbonate was calculated from data on the carbonate content of the sediment and sedimentation rates from a model age based on ¹⁴C dating on foraminifera (0.66±0.1 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹). Burial plus dissolution was three times larger than particle deposition flux which indicates that steady-state is not achieved in these sediments. Mass balances for other components (BSi, ²¹⁰Pb), and calculations of the focusing factor using ²³⁰Th, show that lateral inputs play only a minor role in this imbalance. Decadal variations of annual particle fluxes are also within the uncertainty of our average. Long-term change in dissolution may contribute to the imbalance, but can not be the main reason because burial alone is greater than the input flux. The observed imbalance is thus the consequence of a large change of carbonate input flux which has occured in the recent past. A box model is used to check the response time of the solid carbonate system in these sediments and the time to reach a new steady-state is in the order of 3 kyr. Thus it is likely that the system has been perturbed recently and that large dissolution and burial rates reflect the previously larger particulate carbonate deposition rates. We estimate that particulate carbonate fluxes have certainly decreased by a factor of at least 3 and that this change has occurred during the last few centuries.     

A New Methodology for Incorporating Tide Gauge Data in Sea Surface Topography Models

As part of the Vertical Offshore Reference Frames (VORF) project sponsored by the U. K. Hydrographic Office, a new model for Sea Surface Topography (SST) around the British Isles has been developed. For offshore areas (greater than 30 km from the coast), this model is largely derived from satellite altimetry. However, its accuracy and level of detail have been enhanced in coastal areas by the inclusion of not only the 60 PSMSL tide gauges with long-term records around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland but also some 385 gauges established at different epochs and for different observation spans by the U. K. Admiralty. All tide gauge data were brought into a common reference frame by a combination of datum models and direct GPS observations, but a more significant challenge was to bring all short-term sea level observations to an unbiased value at a common epoch. This was achieved through developing a spatial-temporal correlation model for the variations in mean sea level around the British Isles, which in turn meant that gauges with long-term observation spans could be used as control points to improve the accuracy of Admiralty gauges. It is demonstrated that the latter can contribute point observations of mean sea level (MSL) with a precision of 0.078 m. A combination of least squares collocation and interpolation was developed to merge the coastal point and offshore gridded data sets, with particular algorithms having to be developed for different configurations of coastal topology. The resulting model of sea surface topography is shown to present a smooth transition from inshore coastal areas to offshore zones. Further benefits of the techniques developed include an enhanced methodology for detecting datum discontinuities at permanent tide gauges.     

Volcanogenic complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan (Comparative analysis)

Several coeval volcanogenic complexes indicating synchronous volcanic events in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk are defined. Volcanics from different-age complexes of the Sea of Okhotsk show many features in common and are attributed to the Pacific type of calc-alkaline series. They were formed in geodynamic settings of the active continental margin and point to its origination on the continental crust of the fragmented Asian continent margin. The volcanic rocks developed in the Sea of Japan reflect different rifting stages. The initial stage was marked by an eruption of calc-alkaline lavas (Paleocene-Eocene complex). At the stage of the marginal-sea spreading, erupted volcanics of the middle Miocene-Pliocene complex were melted from the depleted mantle and magmatism terminated by an eruption of postspreading Pliocene-Holocene volcanics melted from the enriched mantle EM I. Along with the differences, the magmatism in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk has some features in common. In both cases, the sialic component of the lithosphere substantially influenced the magma generation.