3,4-benzopyrene and perylene in mussels, Mytilus sp., from the Laguna Veneta,North-East Italy

From July, 1975 to November, 1976 mussels from the Laguna Veneta, north-east Italy, and the adjacent Adriatic Sea were collected bimonthly at ten stations and analysed for 3,4-benzopyrene (BaP) and perylene (Pe) content. Mean concentrations were in the range 12·0–135·1 μg/kg dry weight for BaP and 1·5–16·9 μg/kg for Pe, but values as high as 327 μg/kg for BaP and 71 μg/kg for Pe have been measured. The distribution of BaP and Pe closely matches previous results on petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in mussels from this area and indicates that the major portion of BaP and Pe in these bivalves is due principally to human activities.     

Studies on the determination of inorganic iodine in seawater

Existing methods for the determination of the various forms of iodine present in seawater are laborious or unwieldy in use. This paper describes modified forms of the iodate and total iodine methods described by Barkley and Thompson (1960), a spectrophotometric procedure for iodate determination derived from Johannesson's (1958) work, and an automatic method for total iodine determination. Procedures for iodate and total-iodine determination which are suitable for use aboard ship, are recommended. Both procedures for iodate determination returned a standard deviation close to 0.5 μg/l when several replicate samples of a seawater containing approximately 30 μg/l of iodate-iodine were analysed. The automatic method for total iodine determination yielded a standard deviation of 0.8 μg/l by the repeated analysis of a seawater containing a total of approximately 50 μg/l of iodine. Suitable methods for the filtration and storage of seawater are also described.     

Influence of structural flexibility and wave interference on dynamic behavior of idealized offshore platform

An approximate method is presented to estimate the hydrodynamic loading and structural response of an idealized offshore platform subjected to a regular train of linear surface waves. The platform is taken to consist of four bottom-mounted, flexible, circular cylinders supporting a rigid deck and is assumed to be aligned parallel to the incident wave direction. The response of each column is assumed to be one-dimensional and to be governed by linear beam theory. The solution technique for the fluid velocity potential involves replacing scattered waves by equivalent plane waves together with non-planar, first-correction terms, and can be shown to be a large spacing approximation.Numerical results are presented which show the effect of hydrodynamic interference and structural flexibility on the platform response.     

Microearthquakes along the back-arc spreading system in the eastern Bismarck Sea

OBS’s were deployed for 26 to 29 days in the eastern Bismarck Sea to investigate the back-arc spreading. Hypocenters of 186 shallow earthquakes were determined using P- and S-waves from at least five stations. In the western survey area, a transform fault zone is marked by a linear micro-earthquake activity striking N65°W and less than 5 km wide. The predominant type of their focal mechanisms is strike-slip. In the eastern area, several intermittent zones of micro-earthquakes and their strike-slip type focal mechanisms suggest the location of short-length transform faults separating en-echelon spreading ridges.     

The shape of deep-water siliciclastic systems: A discussion

Deep-water siliciclastic systems are classified primarily on their shape as: submarine fans with well developed or poorly developed morphology, slope drapes, for example, over relatively stable basin margins, fault-scarp aprons, canyons and large channels, under-supplied sheet systems such as abyssal plains, non-fan ponded systems such as over-supplied perched basins, and fan deltas. Collectively, or separately, these systems may form sedimentary basin fills that can be over or under-supplied with respect to the sediment input although most systems will tend toward over-supply/overflow with time. Finally, the sum total of the siliciclastic systems and basins can be used to define the tectonic milieux such as passive, strike-slip and convergent margins.