Organochlorine residues in whales landed at Durban,South Africa

The levels of DDT and its metabolites found in the blubber of 29 minke, 6 fin and 1 sei whale landed at the Durban whaling station in 1974 were on average much lower than those found in baleen whales from the North Atlantic, but of the same order as those measured from the Antarctic and North Pacific. In 12 sperm whales examined at Durban the levels of DDT and its metabolites in the blubber were substantially lower than in any other locality so far examined, including the Antarctic, but this may partly reflect the comparative youth of the animals sampled. Low levels of Dieldrin were found in some minke whales only. No PCB could be detected in any of the whales examined.     

Abundance and seasonality of infauna and epifauna inhabiting a Halodule wrightii meadow in Apalachicola Bay,Florida

The fauna inhabiting a Halodule wrightii meadow in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, was studied from March 1975 through Feburary 1976. The infaunal community was sampled by monthly coring. Fifty-eight species were recorded, averaging 35 species per month. A maximum faunal abundance of 104,338 organisms per m² in April was one of the highest infaunal densities recorded in the literature. Sixteen species accounted for 84% of the total numbers and 80% of the total biomass over the study period. Numerical dominants were Hargeria rapax, Heteromastus filiformis, Ampelisca vadorum, Aricidea fragilis, and oligochaetes. Biomass dominants were Tagelus plebeius, Neritina reclivata, Ensis minor, and Haploscoloplos fragilis. Life history notes are given for several dominant species. Epibenthic fishes and macroinvertebrates were sampled by monthly trawling. Twenty-three species of fishes (mostly juveniles) were collected near the coring site, with most species and individuals recorded during the months May through September. Bairdiella chrysoura, Orthopristis chrysoptera, and Lagodon rhomboides comprised 76% of the total fish numbers. Eleven species of macroinvertebrates were collected mainly in June and July. Callinectes sapidus comprised 61% of the total invertebrate numbers. It is postulated that the influx of juvenile fishes and crabs into the Halodule meadow in summer months leads to a coincident decline in infaunal population densities (number per m²) through predation. Infaunal biomasses are largely unaffected by these predators since the biomass dominants are large or deep-burrowing species.     

Mineral-groundwater interactions and the formation of authigenic kaolinite within the southeastern intake beds of the Great Australian (Artesian) Basin,New South Wales,Australia

Petrographic studies undertaken on samples from outcrops of the Jurassic Pilliga Sandstone intake beds in the extreme southeastern portion of the Great Australian Basin reveal an abundance of low birefringent clay material filling pore spaces and detrital grain fractures. Thin-section petrography and scanning electron microscopy indicate that much of this material is authigenic and X-ray diffraction studies show it to be essentially monomineralic, consisting of well-ordered kaolinite. Although the Pilliga Sandstone is quartz-rich, micrometric analysis indicates that potassium feldspar is present in quantities up to 20% of the total detrital material. Sporadic biotite mica is also present, constituting up to 3% of the detrital volume.Mechanisms for the formation of authigenic kaolinite are discussed in terms of chemical equilibrium and detrital mineral stability in aqueous systems. Chemical data from bore water and surface waters from this stratigraphic unit indicate that kaolinite is the major stable mineral phase in contact with these natural waters and that minerals such as potassium feldspar or mica would chemically alter to kaolinite. Such alteration of detrital mineral grains is supported by thin-section petrography and this mechanism is considered to be the source for the majority of the authigenic kaolinite observed.The hydrogeological characteristics of the Pilliga Sandstone intake beds are related to the extent of development of authigenic kaolinite.     

Anthropogenic effects on sedimentary facies in Lake Baldeney,West Germany

Analysis of well logs of Lake Baldeney, a reservoir of the Ruhr River, yields four facies factors that reflect the effect of anthropogenic processes on the sediment. First, the sedimentation rate is directly related to the subsidence caused by mining. The extent of the subsidence was such that the sediment load of the river could not compensate for the sinking of the lake bottom. Discharged sediment filled about one-fifth of the basin within 40 years. In certain areas of the basin the sedimentation rate reached up to 10 cm per year. Second, the grain-size distribution of the sediment was influenced by long-term and short-term events. During the subsidence, grain-size distribution remained relatively constant. The destruction of the Möhne River dam during World War II resulted in the presence of an extremely large grain size as evidenced by the so-calledMöhnelage. The filling of the lake after 1961 was accompanied by a continual increase in medium grain size. Third, until 1975, the mode of the lake sediment reflects the effect of mining in the vicinity of the lake. High coal content can be traced to its origin. The introduction of modern production processes, modernization of coal dressing, and hydraulic hauling is documented in the sediment. Finally, the heavy metal content of the sediment corresponds to the industrial development in the drainage area the Ruhr River. The accumulation of Cd reached an extreme concentration, exceeding the natural content by a thousand times. Variation in concentration reflects an increase in industrial production, as well as measures undertaken to restore water quality.     

Lead analysis of sediment cores from seven Connecticut lakes

Lead analyses were performed on sediment cores from seven Connecticut lakes by dilute acid leaching. The absolute concentrations of lead varied from core to core, but the lead profiles were similar in all of the cores, and each depicted a point where the concentration of lead sharply increased above background levels. The background lead concentrations observed in the bottom portions of the cores ranged from 12-54 g Pb/g sediment with a mean of 30 g Pb/g, and increased to a mean maximum of 310 g Pb/g. In six of the lakes significant increases above background levels were not noted until between 1924 and 1952, suggesting that, at least for Connecticut lakes, the point in a lake sediment core where the concentration of lead began to increase was after ca. 1924, and on average about 1930. Lead concentrations declined in the surface sediments of only three of the lakes, mostly since the 1980's, and presumably in response to the phasing out of leaded gasoline. However, significant declines in lead concentrations were not observed in the remaining cores, possibly due to increased motor vehicle use within the airshed of the lakes and/or changes in the export of lead to the lakes from their watersheds.     

Luminescence-dating zeroing tests in Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, Antarctica

In two of the perennially ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, lakes Hoare and Bonney in the Taylor Valley, bottom water has ¹⁴C ages of 2.7 ka and 10 ka (respectively), rendering ¹⁴C ages of bottom sediments highly problematic. Consequently, we tested the effectiveness of thermoluminescence (TL) zeroing in polymineral fine silt material from several depositional environments around and on the lake (stream suspensions, ice-surface sand dune, and silty sand from near the top of the more-than-3m-thick ice). We also conducted TL and infrared-stimulated-luminescence (IRSL) dating tests on material from three box cores recovered from the bottom of Lake Hoare, in a transect away from the abutting Canada Glacier. We observed effective zeroing of light-sensitive TL in suspended silt from one input stream and less effective zeroing from another stream. We observed effective zeroing of light-sensitive TL also in silt from a glacier-proximal eolian ice-surface dune and from sand from within the upper 5 cm of ice. In contrast, in box-core 1, the bottom sediment yielded minimum TL apparent ages of 1500-2600 yrs, with no discernable stratigraphic depth trend. IRSL dating applied to the same box-core samples produced significantly lower age estimates, ranging from ~600 ± 200 yrs to 1440 ± 270 yrs top-to-bottom, an improvement over the depth-constant ~2200 yrs TL ages. In two other cores closer to the Canada Glacier, IRSL ages from ~600 ± 200 yrs (top) to ~ 2900± 300 yrs (at depth) were measured. Not only are the IRSL ages a significant improvement over the TL results, but the near-core-top IRSL ages are also a dramatic improvement over the ¹⁴C results (~2.7 ka). IRSL dating has a demonstrated potential to supplant ¹⁴C dating for such antarctic lacustrine deposits.     

Formation and pathways of North Atlantic Deep Water in a coupled ice–ocean model of the Arctic–North Atlantic Oceans

We investigate the formation process and pathways of deep water masses in a coupled ice–ocean model of the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans. The intent is to determine the relative roles of these water masses from the different source regions (Arctic Ocean, Nordic Seas, and Subpolar Atlantic) in the meridional overturning circulation. The model exhibits significant decadal variability in the deep western boundary current and the overturning circulation. We use detailed diagnostics to understand the process of water mass formation in the model and the resulting effects on the North Atlantic overturning circulation. Particular emphasis is given to the multiple sources of North Atlantic Deep Water, the dominant deep water masses of the world ocean. The correct balance of Labrador Sea, Greenland Sea and Norwegian Sea sources is difficult to achieve in climate models, owing to small-scale sinking and convection processes. The global overturning circulation is described as a function of potential temperature and salinity, which more clearly signifies dynamical processes and clarifies resolution problems inherent to the high latitude oceans. We find that fluxes of deep water masses through various passages in the model are higher than observed estimates. Despite the excessive volume flux, the Nordic Seas overflow waters are diluted by strong mixing and enter the Labrador Sea at a lighter density. Through strong subpolar convection, these waters along with other North Atlantic water masses are converted into the densest waters [similar density to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW)] in the North Atlantic. We describe the diminished role of salinity in the Labrador Sea, where a shortage of buoyant surface water (or excess of high salinity water) leads to overly strong convection. The result is that the Atlantic overturning circulation in the model is very sensitive to the surface heat flux in the Labrador Sea and hence is correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation. As strong subpolar convection is found in other models, we discuss broader implications.     

A crustal seismic velocity model for the UK, Ireland and surrounding seas

A regional model of the 3-D variation in seismic P -wave velocity structure in the crust of NW Europe has been compiled from wide-angle reflection/refraction profiles. Along each 2-D profile a velocity–depth function has been digitised at 5 km intervals. These 1-D velocity functions were mapped into three dimensions using ordinary kriging with weights determined to minimise the difference between digitised and interpolated values. An analysis of variograms of the digitised data suggested a radial isotropic weighting scheme was most appropriate. Horizontal dimensions of the model cells are optimised at 40 × 40 km and the vertical dimension at 1 km. The resulting model provides a higher resolution image of the 3-D variation in seismic velocity structure of the UK, Ireland and surrounding areas than existing models. The construction of the model through kriging allows the uncertainty in the velocity structure to be assessed. This uncertainty indicates the high density of data required to confidently interpolate the crustal velocity structure, and shows that for this region the velocity is poorly constrained for large areas away from the input data.