Seasonality and selectivity in the feeding ecology and reproductive biology of deep-sea bathyal holothurians

Chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments were determined from the gut sediments of five species of bathyal holothurian in the NE Atlantic, sampled shortly after the spring/summer phytoplankton bloom in 2001 and prior to the spring bloom in 2002. Three species, Laetmogone violacea, Paroriza pallens and Bathyplotes natans, sampled within a similar depth range (900–1100 m) in the summer of 2001 showed significant differences in their chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment concentrations. This suggests they may select for slightly different components from the available food resource. Four species sampled in early spring 2002, Laetmogone violacea, Paroriza pallens, Benthogone rosea and Benthothuria funebris, also had significant differences in their pigment concentrations. These species were sampled over a wider depth range (1000–3100 m) showing a bathymetric trend in pigment concentrations. There was a distinct seasonal change in the composition and concentration of the pigments, linked to a reduction in the availability of fresh organic material during autumn and winter periods.Ovarian tissue was also examined. The carotenoid pigments found in the ovary also occurred in the OM ingested by the holothurians. The dominant gonadal carotenoid pigments were β-carotene, echinenone and zeaxanthin. The potential for using these carotenoids to gain a competitive advantage through selectivity of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment biomarkers are discussed in relation to competition for food resources by deposit-feeders. The results were also compared with selectivity in abyssal species.     

Industry participation in stock assessment: the New Zealand SNA1 snapper (Pagrus auratus) fishery

We describe industry funded contributions to the assessment of the SNA1 snapper (Pagrus auratus) fishery during the 1990s and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of industry funded research. We also provide background on the history of fisheries management in New Zealand, on the current assessment and management processes, and on the SNA1 snapper fishery. In the SNA1 fishery, the contributions of industry and the cooperation with Government scientists has resulted in high quality assessments. In our opinion, the advantages of industry funded research out weigh the disadvantages and suggest that industry funded assessments are highly desirable and should be an integral part of any management system.     

Geomorphology and sedimentology of the continental shelf adjacent to Mac. Robertson Land,East Antarctica: A scalped shelf

During the Quaternary, the Mac. Robertson shelf of East Antarctica was deeply eroded by glaciers and currents exposing the underlying basement, resulting in a scalped shelf. Major geomorphic zones are: (1) high-relief, ridge and valley topography (200–1400 m); (2) smooth sea floors associated with low-energy, depositional shelf valleys and basins (400–800 m); (3) low-relief, planated banktops (100–200 m); and (4) iceberg gouged and current reworked seaward-bank margins and upper slope (200 to < 630 m). About 90% of the shelf's surface has net erosional conditions and about 10% is net depositional. The sedimentary processes and deposits may be common to large areas of the East Antarctic margin.     

Geochemistry of suspended matter from the Baltic Sea 2. Results of bulk trace metal analysis by AAS

In 1984, on a transect covering the whole Baltic Sea and parts of the adjacent North Sea, 160 water samples were taken and analysed for their concentrations of particulate and dissolved metals. In addition, the suspended materials were investigated for their elemental bulk composition.The particulate fractions represented from about 5% (Cd, Cu and Ni) to 50% (Fe and Pb) of the total (particulate plus dissolved) concentrations. For some elements (Ba, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn), the particulate matter from the surface microlayer was enriched with respect to those suspended materials taken from 0.2 m depth. This could reflect the atmospheric input of metal-rich aerosols. In anoxic deep waters, maximum contents of Zn (6400 μg g⁻¹), Cu (1330 μg g⁻¹) and Cd (12 μg g⁻¹) were observed in the particulate matter, indicating sulphidic forms. On the other hand, under oxic conditions the distribution coefficients (K_d) decreased with the water depth (Cd, Fe and Pb).Relative to global background levels, the particulate matter contained metal “excesses” amounting to more than 90% of the total contents (Cd, Mn, Pb and Zn). Automated electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPXMA) revealed that the elemental composition of sediments is mainly governed by post-depositional processes of early diagenesis and is only weakly related to the composition of suspended matter in the overlying water body. For instance, in relation to surface mud sediments of the central Baltic net-sedimentation basins, Zn, Cd, Cu and Mn had 30–100% higher levels in the suspended materials. The general pattern of metal contents of particulate matter taken from 10 m depth on a transect between the Bothnian Bay and the North Sea were—possibly as a result of anthropogenic inputs—rather similar for Pb, Zn and Cu. For Fe and Mn, the distribution patterns along the transect were probably governed by the natural loading characteristics and by the biogeochemistry of those elements.     

Significance of vertical flux as a sink for surface water DMSP and as a source for the sediment surface in coastal zones of northern Europe

In April 1997 and 1998 the significance of sedimentation as a sink for epipelagic dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) production and as a source for marine sediments was reassessed using a newly designed sediment trap. The behaviour of the traps in immersion was monitored continuously and the collection efficiency was evaluated with ²³⁴Th measurements. Net DMS(P) fluxes were corrected for some physical and biological losses during the whole sedimentation process providing reliable estimates of gross DMSP fluxes. It is shown that daily losses by sedimentation account for between 0.1% and 16% of seawater particulate DMSP (DMSPp) standing stocks, and between 3% and 75% of daily DMSPp production. In the Malangen fjord we observed temporal increases of DMSP production and standing stocks which resulted also in increases of DMSP vertical fluxes and DMS(P) concentrations at the sediment surface. This result illustrates how tight the coupling can be between pelagos and benthos, and confirms that DMS(P) concentration in the sediment was a reliable diagnostic indicator of vertical export from overlying waters in Malangen fjord. In Ullsfjord, however, DMS(P) concentrations in the sediment were poorly indicators of Phaeocystis pouchetii export during the early stage of growth of a bloom. The high load of DMS(P) in Balsfjord's sediments could neither be attributed to local vertical sedimentation nor to short-term lateral advection of fresh DMSP-containing phytoplanktonic material, and provides indication that this tracer sometimes also can be misleading. The highest loads of DMS(P) in sediments and the fastest rates of sedimentation occurred in the Southern Bight of the North Sea.     

Tidally incised valleys on tropical carbonate shelves: An example from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The formation of incised valleys on continental shelves is generally attributed to fluvial erosion under low sea level conditions. However, there are exceptions. A multibeam sonar survey at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua, mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 m deep that extends for more than 90 km across the continental shelf. This is the deepest shelf valley yet found in the Great Barrier Reef and is well below the maximum depth of fluvial incision that could have occurred under a − 120 m, eustatic sea level low-stand, as what occurred on this margin during the last ice age. These valleys appear to have formed by a combination of reef growth and tidal current scour, probably in relation to a sea level at around 30–50 m below its present position.

Tidally incised depressions in the valley floor exhibit closed bathymetric contours at both ends. Valley floor sediments are mainly calcareous muddy, gravelly sand on the middle shelf, giving way to well-sorted, gravely sand containing a large relict fraction on the outer shelf. The valley extends between broad platform reefs and framework coral growth, which accumulated through the late Quaternary, coincides with tidal current scour to produce steep-sided (locally vertical) valley walls. The deepest segments of the valley were probably the sites of lakes during the last ice age, when Torres Strait formed an emergent land-bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Numerical modeling predicts that the strongest tidal currents occur over the deepest, outer-shelf segment of the valley when sea level is about 40–50 m below its present position. These results are consistent with a Pleistocene age and relict origin of the valley.

Based on these observations, we propose a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. Tidal erosion on meso- to macro-tidal, rimmed carbonate shelves is enhanced during sea level rise and fall when a tidal, hydraulic pressure gradient is established between the shelf-lagoon and the adjacent ocean basin. Tidal flows attain a maximum, and channel incision is greatest, when a large hydraulic pressure gradient coincides with small channel cross sections. Our tidal-incision model may explain the observation of other workers, that sediment is exported from the Great Barrier Reef shelf to the adjacent ocean basins during intermediate (rather than last glacial maximum) low-stand, sea level positions. The model may apply to other rimmed shelves, both modern and ancient.     

Design of a 3D Chirp Sub-bottom Imaging System

Chirp sub-bottom profilers are marine acoustic devices that use a known and repeatable source signature (1–24 kHz) to produce decimetre vertical resolution cross-sections of the sub-seabed. Here the design and development of the first true 3D Chirp system is described. When developing the design, critical factors that had to be considered included spatial aliasing, and precise positioning of sources and receivers. Full 3D numerical modelling of the combined source and receiver directivity was completed to determine optimal source and receiver geometries. The design incorporates four source transducers (1.5–13 kHz) that can be arranged into different configurations, including Maltese Cross, a square and two separated pairs. The receive array comprises 240 hydrophones in 60 groups whose group-centres are separated by 25 cm in both horizontal directions, with each hydrophone group containing four individual elements and a pre-amplifier. After careful consideration, it was concluded that the only way to determine with sufficient accuracy the source–receiver geometry, was to fix the sources and receivers within a rigid array. Positional information for the array is given by a Real Time Kinematic GPS and attitude system incorporating four antennas to give position, heading, pitch and roll. It is shown that this system offers vertical positioning accuracy with a root-mean-square (rms) error less than 2.6 cm, while the horizontal positioning rms error was less than 2.0 cm. The system is configured so that the Chirp source signature can be chosen by software aboard the acquisition vessel. The complete system is described and initial navigational and seismic data results are presented. These data demonstrate that the approach of using fixed source-receiver geometry combined with RTK navigation can provide complete 3D imaging of the sub-surface.