Bioerosion by chemosynthetic biological communities on Holocene submarine slide scars

Geomorphic, stratigraphic, and faunal observations of submarine slide scars that occur along the flanks of Monterey Canyon in 2.0–2.5 km water depths were made to identify the processes that continue to alter the surface of a submarine landslide scar after the initial slope failure. Deep-sea chemosynthetic biological communities and small caves are common on the sediment-free surfaces of the slide scars, especially along the headwall. The chemosynthetic organisms observed on slide scars in Monterey Canyon undergo a faunal succession based in part on their ability to maintain their access to the redox boundaries in the sediment on which they depend on as an energy source. By burrowing into the seafloor, these organisms are able to follow the retreating redox boundaries as geochemical re-equilibration occurs on the sole of the slide. As these organisms dig into the seafloor on the footwall, they often generate small caves and weaken the remaining seafloor. While chemosynthetic biological communities are typically used as indicators of fluid flow, these communities may be supported by methane and hydrogen sulfide that are diffusing out of the fresh seafloor exposed at the sole of the slide by the slope failure event. If so, these chemosynthetic biological communities may simply mark sites of recent seafloor exhumation, and are not reliable fluid seepage indicators.     

Seagrass landscape-scale changes in response to disturbance created by the dynamics of barrier-islands: A case study from Ria Formosa (Southern Portugal)

This study documents long-term changes of a Zostera noltii landscape induced by a natural cyclic event in a coastal lagoon. The barrier-islands forming this system are very dynamic with drifting movements controlling ecological patterns and processes occurring in this area. Changes in the areal extent of the Z. noltii meadows were assessed using historical aerial photographs from 1940, 1980, 1989, 1996 and 1998. Landscape indices such as total patch area (TA), mean patch size (MPS), number of patches (NP), mean shape coefficient of variation (CV) and landscape fractal dimension (D) were calculated for each year and related to an index of disturbance intensity. The spatial distribution of the Z. noltii meadows varied greatly during the studied period and changes observed were related to the disturbance created by the barrier-islands' spatial dynamics. After an artificial inlet relocation the Z. noltii area, number of patches, patch mean size and coefficient of variation decreased. The fractal dimension of the Z. noltii landscape increased by 50% showing that besides a decrease in total area, number of patches, and patch mean area, patch fragmentation was an important consequence of this anthropogenic disturbance.Seagrass natural distribution patterns changed in response to natural and human-induced activities. This study emphasizes the importance of the landscape approach and the historical perspective when studying seagrass changes and the importance of taking into consideration long-term changes in seagrass landscapes to avoid confusion between man-induced effects with natural cyclic events.     

Cyclic inelastic behavior and analytical modelling of pile–leg interaction in jacket type offshore platforms

Structures in locations susceptible to severe seismic disturbances should be designed properly in order to resist lateral forces induced by earthquake motions. Steel offshore platforms are some of those structures which are built to withstand environmental and accidental loads during oil exploitation operation. Particular attention is being paid to earthquake loads in seismic active areas because it directly influences the capacity of the offshore installations.

In this paper, a small-scaled planar platform has been modelled analytically using nonlinear finite element program, based on an experimental test, conducted simultaneously in order to assess the local and global behavior of pile–leg interaction in Jacket Type Offshore Platforms (JTOPs). A combination of nonlinear beam column elements and fatigue affected elements are used to capture the inelastic cyclic behavior of planar frame as accurately as possible. Results of analytical tests are to be compared with experiments and it is concluded that an analytical approach can be best used for modelling JTOPs with reasonable accuracy regardless of the type and scale of the structure. Moreover, a special study on joints has been carried out and the best model has been selected to simulate brittle behavior of joints resulting from heat affected zone.     

Carbon stable isotopes in estuarine sediments and their utility as migration markers for nursery studies in the Firth of Forth and Forth Estuary, Scotland

The stable carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) of the organic fraction of intertidal sediments in the Forth Estuary and the Firth of Forth, Scotland, were measured to determine if terrestrially derived carbon was present in the estuarine sediments. It was hypothesised that differences in the inputs from marine vs. terrestrial sources to the organic carbon of estuarine and marine sediments, as well as differences in ambient seawater stable oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) ratios between the estuary and the Outer Firth, would allow the use of these two stable isotopes as habitat markers for juvenile plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), to allow determination of nursery habitats. Muddy and sandy sediments from the estuary and sandy sediments from the Outer Firth were sampled and δ¹³C measured. Juvenile plaice were caught at two estuarine sites and at two Outer Firth sites and otoliths were removed for δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O analysis. The sandy sediments in the estuary showed a strong gradient of δ¹³C enrichment with distance down the estuary, while the muddy sediments showed a much shallower gradient. δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O measured in the carbonate of juvenile plaice otoliths showed no clear difference between otoliths of fish caught at one of the estuarine sites and at the two Outer Firth sites. However, the isotope ratios of both carbon and oxygen in plaice otoliths from the other estuarine site showed the expected trend of depletion in the heavier isotopes. While the measurements recorded here did not conclusively distinguish between otoliths from juveniles caught in the estuarine site and those caught in the other three sites, they show that stable isotopes have potential to distinguish between estuarine habitats with terrestrial carbon inputs, and coastal marine habitats with predominantly marine carbon inputs.     

Pop-up bottom seismic recorder (PUBS) of the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences,U.K.

A pop-up bottom seismic recorder designed for seismic refraction experiments was built by the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences in 1968. The device is housed within a 71 cm diameter sphere weighing 270 kg when launched. signals picked up by a hydrophone are recorded in analogue form on magnetic tape in the band 2–100 Hz. The total continuous recording period is 12 hr but the lifetime of the system can be effectively extended by cycling the tape-recorders to allow shooting to go on for up to 3 days. Ballast release is by acoustic command or by pre-set clock. The instruments have been used in water depths from 150 to 4820 m making a total of 63 deployments with a 95% recovery rate. A new version with three-component geophones is being built.     

Performance of hemi-cylindrical and rectangular submerged breakwaters

A parametric experimental study is conducted to compare the reflection and transmission characteristics of submerged hemi-cylindrical and rectangular rigid and water-filled flexible breakwater models. The results show that, for the rigid breakwaters, rectangular models are more effective than hemi-cylindrical ones in terms of reduction of transmitted waves. As for the flexible breakwaters, the hemi-cylindrical models may give better wave reflection than rectangular ones. However, the energy loss induced by the rectangular breakwaters is much larger and more significant to result in an overall better efficiency in terms of reduction in wave transmission. The effects of internal pressure show that the lowest pressurized flexible models considered in this work are the most effective in the reduction of the transmitted wave height. Higher wave reflection, lower wave transmission and higher energy loss are obtained consistently at the lower submergence depth ratio.     

Preliminary attempt to characterize the rotation of seafloor in the Pito Deep area of the Easter Microplate using a submersible magnetometer

Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the rotation of the nearly north-south abyssal hill fabric formed on the East Pacific Rise north of the Easter Microplate to the nearly east-west trends in the northern microplate interior. Proposed mechanisms include rigid microplate rotation, transform fault – parallel shear, and bookshelf faulting during the transfer of lithosphere from the Nazca Plate to the microplate. We used a submersible magnetometer on a NAUTILE dive program to measure the magnetic vector rotation of a pillow basalt and dike spur near Pito Deep, the present location of the tip of the propagating rift system that created the microplate. Our results, although too limited to draw strong conclusions from, suggest clockwise rotations of the seafloor magnetic vectors inconsistent with the transform-parallel shear model, and larger than can be explained solely by rigid microplate rotation.     

Evolution of oceanographic conditions off Baja California: 1997–1999

This paper examines the oceanic response off Baja California, Mexico, to the 1997–1998 El Niño and the transition to La Niña conditions. The data presented were gathered during seven cruises over a grid based on the CalCOFI station plan, from lines 100–130, out to station 80. T–S diagrams with data obtained during the peak phase of El Niño, demonstrate that warmer and saltier (spicier) than normal conditions prevailed in the upper 600 m over this region. Temperature and salinity anomalies calculated for CalCOFI line 120 revealed waters near the coast at 50 m depth to be up to 8.7 °C warmer and S=0.8 saltier than the climatology during October 1997. These large anomalies persisted through January 1998, with some slight diminution in the magnitudes near the surface. This study suggests that anomalously warm and salty waters were fed from a source of spicy water to the southwest, identified as Subtropical Surface Water (StSW), and that low-salinity Tropical surface waters (TSW) were blocked to the southeast in the vicinity of the tip of the Peninsula. Subsurface waters associated with the California undercurrent (CU), fed from the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), were also warmer and saltier than normal, and indicate a significant expansion in volume of the CU, presumably a result of intensification of poleward flow at depth. We postulate that the well defined near-surface and deep poleward flows in the study area reflect anomalous large-scale cyclonic circulation affecting the flow in the southeastern region of the North Pacific subtropical gyre east of 125°W. Following the El Niño event, warm and salty upper waters retreated to latitudes south of Punta Eugenia. With the return to normal and cooler conditions, equatorward flow over the sampling grid predominated with an increased meandering and mesoscale activity. Transition to La Niña conditions would have been associated with re-establishment of normal anticyclonic flow in the southeastern quadrant of the Pacific subtropical gyre.     

Physiological and behavioral responses of Bathynerita naticoidea (Gastropoda: Neritidae) and Methanoaricia dendrobranchiata (Polychaeta: Orbiniidae) to hypersaline conditions at a brine pool cold seep

Bathynerita naticoidea (Gastropoda: Neritidae) and Methanoaricia dendrobranchiata (Polychaeta: Orbiniidae) are two of the most abundant invertebrates associated with cold‐seep mussel beds in the Gulf of Mexico. At the methane seep known as Brine Pool NR‐1 (27 °43.415 N, 91 °16.756 W; 650 m depth), which is surrounded by a broad band of mussels (Bathymodiolus childressi), these species have distinctly different patterns of abundance, with the gastropod being found mostly at the outer edge of the mussel bed (average density in November 2003: 817 individuals·m⁻² in outer zone, 20·m⁻² in inner zone) and the polychaete being found almost exclusively near the inner edge (average density in November 2003: 3155 individuals·m⁻² in inner zone, 0·m⁻² in outer zone), adjacent to the brine pool itself. The salinity of the brine pool exceeds 120, so we hypothesized that M. dendrobranchiata should be more tolerant of high salinities than B. naticoidea. The opposite proved to be true. The gastropods were capable of withstanding salinities at least as high as 85, whereas the polychaetes died at salinities higher than 75. Both species were osmoconformers over the range of salinities (35–75) tested. Behavioral responses of B. naticoidea to salinities of 50, 60, and 70 were investigated in inverted vertical haloclines. Gastropods generally did not enter water of salinity greater than 60, but tolerated short periods at 60. Behavioral avoidance of brine should limit the vertical distribution of B. naticoidea in the inner zone to the top 2.5–5 cm of the mussel bed. Behavior is also a likely (though unproven) mechanism for controlling horizontal distribution of this species across the mussel bed. Methanoaricia dendrobranchiata can tolerate short excursions into the brine, but probably avoids hypersaline conditions by aggregating on the tops of the mussels.