Biogeochemical cycles of carbon, sulfur, and free oxygen in a microbial mat

Complete budgets for carbon and oxygen have been constructed for cyanobacterial mats dominated by Microcoleus chthonoplastes from the evaporating ponds of a salt works located in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Included in the budget are measured rates of O2 production, sulfate reduction, and elemental exchange across the mat/brine interface, day and night, at various temperatures and times of the year. We infer from this data the various sinks for O2, as well as the sources of carbon for primary production. To summarize, although seasonal variability exists, a major percentage of the O2 produced during the day did not diffuse out of the mat but was used within the mat to oxidize both organic carbon and the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction. At night, most of the O2 that diffused into the mat was used to oxidize sulfide, with O2 respiration of minor importance. During the day, the internal mat processes of sulfate reduction and O2 respiration generated as much or more inorganic carbon (DIC) for primary production as diffusion into the mat. Also, oxygenic photosynthesis was the most important process of carbon fixation, although anoxygenic photosynthesis may have been important at low light levels during some times of the year. At night, the DIC lost from the mat was mostly from sulfate reduction. Elemental fluxes across the mat/brine interface indicated that carbon with an oxidation state of greater than zero was taken up by the mat during the day and liberated from the mat at night. Overall, carbon with an average oxidation state of near zero accumulated in the mat. Both carbon fixation and carbon oxidation rates varied with temperature by a similar amount. These mats are thus closely coupled systems where rapid rates of photosynthesis both require and fuel rapid rates of heterotrophic carbon oxidation.     

On the use of IPCC-class models to assess the impact of climate on Living Marine Resources

The study of climate impacts on Living Marine Resources (LMRs) has increased rapidly in recent years with the availability of climate model simulations contributed to the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Collaboration between climate and LMR scientists and shared understanding of critical challenges for such applications are essential for developing robust projections of climate impacts on LMRs. This paper assesses present approaches for generating projections of climate impacts on LMRs using IPCC-class climate models, recommends practices that should be followed for these applications, and identifies priority developments that could improve current projections. Understanding of the climate system and its representation within climate models has progressed to a point where many climate model outputs can now be used effectively to make LMR projections. However, uncertainty in climate model projections (particularly biases and inter-model spread at regional to local scales), coarse climate model resolution, and the uncertainty and potential complexity of the mechanisms underlying the response of LMRs to climate limit the robustness and precision of LMR projections. A variety of techniques including the analysis of multi-model ensembles, bias corrections, and statistical and dynamical downscaling can ameliorate some limitations, though the assumptions underlying these approaches and the sensitivity of results to their application must be assessed for each application. Developments in LMR science that could improve current projections of climate impacts on LMRs include improved understanding of the multi-scale mechanisms that link climate and LMRs and better representations of these mechanisms within more holistic LMR models. These developments require a strong baseline of field and laboratory observations including long time series and measurements over the broad range of spatial and temporal scales over which LMRs and climate interact. Priority developments for IPCC-class climate models include improved model accuracy (particularly at regional and local scales), inter-annual to decadal-scale predictions, and the continued development of earth system models capable of simulating the evolution of both the physical climate system and biosphere. Efforts to address these issues should occur in parallel and be informed by the continued application of existing climate and LMR models.     

Feeding Habits of Trisopterus minutus capelanus (Gadidae) Off the Eastern Coast of Spain (Western Mediterranean)

Abstract. The stomach contents of poor cod, Trisopterus minutus capelanus (Lacepède), were taken at monthly intervals off the eastern coast of the Gulf of Valencia (Spain). A total of 1276 were analyzed to determine diet according to fish size and season. The basic food consists of crustaceans (Mysidacea and Decapoda) and teleosts. Feeding habits varied with size: decapods and fishes were more abundant in the stomachs of larger specimens. Little seasonal variation in food habits was recorded.     

CURRENT CHANNELLING IN SQUARE PLATES WITH APPLICATIONS TO MAGNETOMETRIC RESISTIVITY1

The magnetometric resistivity (MMR) method uses a sensitive magnetometer to measure the low-level, low-frequency magnetic fields associated with the galvanic current flow between a pair of electrodes. While the MMR anomalies of simple structures such as dikes and vertical contacts have been determined analytically, there is a lack of systematic information on the expected responses from simple three-dimensional bodies. We determine the characteristic anomalies associated with square, plate-like conductors, which are excellent models of many base metal mineral deposits. The anomalies of plates of finite size are determined numerically using an integral equation method. A plate is subdivided into many sections and the current flow within each section is solved by equating the electrical field within each section to the tangential electrical field just outside it. When the plate size is small in relation to either the depth or the transmitter spacing, the shape and amplitude of the anomaly produced is closely approximated by a current dipole model of the same length and depth. At the other extreme, a large plate is represented by a half-plane. The dipole and half-plane models are used to bracket the behaviour of plates of finite size. The form of a plate anomaly is principally dependent on the shape, depth and orientation of the plate. A large, dipping plate near the surface produces a skewed anomaly highly indicative of its dip, but the amount of skew rapidly diminishes with increased depth or decreased size. Changes in plate conductivity affect the amplitude of the anomaly, but have little effect on anomaly shape. A current channelling parameter, determined from the conductivity contrast, can thus be used to scale the amplitude of an anomaly whose basic shape has been determined from geometrical considerations. The separation into geometrical and electrical factors greatly simplifies both the interpretation and modelling of MMR anomalies, particularly in situations with multiple plates. An empirical formula, using this separation, predicts the anomaly of two or more parallel plates with different conductances. In addition, the relation between the resolution of two vertical, parallel plates of equal conductance and their separation is determined. The ability of the integral equation method to model plate-like structures is demonstrated with the interpretation of an MMR anomaly in a survey conducted at Cork Tree Well in Western Australia. The buried conductor, a mineralized graphitic zone, is modelled with a vertical, bent plate. The depth to the top of the plate, and the plate conductance, is adjusted to fit the anomaly amplitude as closely as possible. From the modelling it would appear that this zone is not solely responsible for the observed anomaly.     

New data on paleontological characteristic of the Oligocene in the Il’pinskii Peninsula, northeastern Kamchatka

Fossil diatom algae first found in the Paleogene marine succession (Alugivayam Formation) of the Il’pinskii Peninsula, northeastern Kamchatka are studied, and new data on molluscan assemblages from the same sequences are presented. Some of the diatom forms identified suggest the Oligocene age of their host deposits. This is consistent with earlier inference from benthic groups of marine organisms.     

Iron ore workings near Horsham,Sussex, and the sedimentology of Wealden clay ironstone

The distribution of old workings, or ‘minepits’, for clay ironstone in an area between Horsham and Crawley is shown on geological sketch-maps. The geological structure of the area is described in outline. The old workings, except for those in two anomalous patches, are restricted to two argillaceous units in the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand and to an ironstone horizon some 2 m. below the Horsham Stone in the Weald Clay. Slags from two bloomery sites are described. The amount of ore dug from the minepits is estimated to correspond roughly to the requirements of local blast furnaces, of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century date. Depletion of iron ore reserves is suggested as a factor deciding against resumption of the iron industry in the area after the Civil War.     

ADAPTIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING THROUGH STOCHASTIC APPROXIMATION*

One of the problems in signal processing is estimating the impulse response function of an unknown system. The well-known Wiener filter theory has been a powerful method in attacking this problem. In comparison, the use of stochastic approximation method as an adaptive signal processor is relatively new. This adaptive scheme can often be described by a recursive equation in which the estimated impulse response parameters are adjusted according to the gradient of a predetermined error function. This paper illustrates by means of simple examples the application of stochastic approximation method as a single-channel adaptive processor. Under some conditions the expected value of its weight sequence converges to the corresponding Wiener optimum filter when the least-mean-square error criterion is used.